AREVA, Kobe JV deliver casks to store spent fuels of Fukushima nuclear plant

TransNuclear has delivered the first three of the 11 metallic casks to Japan-based electric utilities company Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) for the dry storage of spent fuels of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The joint venture company TransNuclear is formed by France-based energy and mining conglomerate, Areva and Japanese materials and machinery manufacturer Kobe Steel.

TEPCO is planning to use the metallic casks to store the spent fuels from the pools of the damaged nuclear units 1 to 4 and transfer it to the common pool, which was not affected during the earthquake and tsunami disaster on 11 March 2011.

The dry storage casks with spent fuels will be stored in TEPCO’s under construction storage facilities. The metallic casks will play a vital role in the decommissioning process of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

TransNuclear will supply the remaining eight casks in the coming weeks. The 11 metallic casks are expected to store a total of 452 spent fuels.