The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has certified AREVA’s new dry storage system for used nuclear fuel, allowing the product to go onto the market, the company announced this week.
The NUHOMS Extended Optimized Storage (EOS) system from AREVA subsidiary TN Americas can be used for transport and storage of high burn-up fuel from closed nuclear reactors, according to a July 31 press release. The horizontal container’s high heat dispersal capacities would enable utilities to move fuel from wet storage to dry storage faster than with other systems, AREVA said.
The NRC formally said it had added the system to its list of approved spent fuel storage casks in a July 25 Federal Register notice. The certification expires on June 7, 2037.
One EOS model can be used to hold and ship 37 pressurized water reactor assemblies, while the other has capacity for storage of 89 boiling water reactor assemblies. The cost of each system is competitive information that cannot be released, AREVA spokesman Curtis Roberts said by email.
Two utilities representing four nuclear power plants have to date ordered 90 of the storage systems, according to Roberts. He said AREVA was not yet identifying the companies or locations: “We may have future announcements specific to the projects with more details.”
