Ukraine Names U.S. Company To Establish Spent-Fuel
The facility will be located in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, an egg-shaped area of about 30 sq km contaminated by the 1986 explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear powerplant, the worlds worst nuclear powerplant accident. The site has not yet been selected, says Joy Russell, Holtec spokeswoman.
Holtec will finance about 90% of the above-ground, vertical-storage facility, which will use the same storage overpacks that the Atomic Safety Licensing Board routinely certifies for use in the U.S. They are composed of concentric, 1-in.-thick shells of carbon steel separated by 27 in. of concrete. Overall, the cylindrical casks are 132.5 in. dia and 230 in. long, weighing 180 tons fully loaded. Holtecs Pittsburgh office will handle most front-end design, but Holtec expects to select a fabricator for manufacturing in the Ukraine.