Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to cooperate on research related to spent nuclear fuel.
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Under terms of the agreement, the organizations will engage in knowledge sharing and other joint activities to advance storage, transportation and disposal practices for spent CANDU nuclear fuel, and to explore opportunities to collaborate on nuclear decommissioning and waste management initiatives.
Informing the research under the MOU is data on the dry storage of spent fuel that has been gathered by CNL (and previously Atomic Energy of Canada Limited) for decades based on actual conditions. CNL and KHNP will leverage this research to ensure safe and informed decision making on future fuel storage, transportation and disposal activities.
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories has decades of experience and expertise in dry and wet storage of spent nuclear fuel.
CNL (and previously AECL) has not only operated multiple CANDU prototype and test reactors at the Chalk River, Douglas Point, Gentilly, and Whiteshell sites, the company has also managed spent fuel and performed supporting research for these and other commercial reactors for many decades.
The Chalk River Laboratories campus is also home to shielded facilities and advanced materials research capabilities that are uniquely equipped to conduct post-irradiation examination on spent CANDU fuels.
Similar to Canada, South Korea is home to a number of nuclear power plants that account for a significant portion of the country’s clean energy supply, including three units that are Canada-designed CANDU pressurized heavy water reactors.
A fourth CANDU unit in South Korea has been permanently shut down. To safely manage the spent fuel from these operations, KHNP has been preparing to initiate a research project this year that will focus on the long-term management of CANDU spent fuel in dry storage. ■
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