MoU is latest of in a number signed by state company Sogin
Italian state-owned nuclear decommissioning and waste management company Sogin has signed an agreement with the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to launch a joint effort on decommissioning techniques for graphite-moderated nuclear reactors.
The five-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) is part of the NDA’s plans to explore issues related to the decommissioning of graphite reactors, Sogin said. The agreement provides Sogin with an opportunity to share and expand its experience in planning the decommissioning of Magnox-type reactors such as the one at the Latina nuclear power plant in Italy.
The MoU follows those signed in recent weeks with Italian graphite decommissioning company Graphicore and Japan Atomic Power Company and is part of Sogin’s commitment to expanding and strengthening its collaboration with international partners.
The UK’s fleet of advanced gas-cooled reactors are now the only power producing nuclear reactors in the world that have a graphite-moderated, carbon-dioxide cooled core
Italy’s Latina is an early generation graphite-type Magnox reactor designed in the UK. It began commercial operation in 1964 and was shut down in 1987.
The UK built a total of 26 Magnox reactors at 11 different sites between 1956 and 1971, marking the world's first generation of commercial-scale nuclear power stations. They were all shut down by 2015 and are being decommissioned by the NDA.
The Soviet Union developed the RBMK (high-power channel reactor), a water-cooled, graphite-moderated type, known for its role at Chornobyl.
