Sweden-based nuclear services company Studsvik has signed what it called a “landmark” agreement to manage Norway’s legacy spent nuclear fuel.
The agreement with Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND), the Norwegian state agency responsible for decommissioning the country’s nuclear facilities, runs until 2055 and has an estimated contractual minimum value of about SEK 875m (€78m, $88m) and a potential total value for Studsvik of SEK 3-4bn.
It covers transport, treatment of waste to meet long-term storage requirements and the interim storage of spent fuel from Norway’s former research reactors at Halden and Kjeller.
Studsvik said the final value of the contract will depend on the scope and budget set in a planned pre-study that will define the detailed project plan and budget.
Studsvik will transport spent fuel to its facilities in Sweden, inspect and treat it, and store it until it is returned to Norway.
This agreement runs until 2055 with most of the work to be carried out over the coming two decades.
Studsvik said Norway holds about 16.5 tonnes of spent fuel from six decades of running nuclear research reactors. Much of it cannot be stored long term or disposed of in its current form. The inventory includes metallic uranium fuel, aluminium-clad fuel and experimental fuels.
Norway has never had commercial nuclear power plants, but operated the Halden and Kjeller research reactors for the production of medical radioisotopes and research purposes.
Hydropower accounts for about 88% of Norway’s power production capacity, with wind farms making up another 11%.
