South African utility company Eskom has signed a $15.6 million contract with U.S.-based Holtec International for the first phase of a new nuclear fuel storage program. The first step is for Holtec to supply Eskom with seven nuclear waste dry-storage casks that will be put to use at the two-unit, 1,800 (total capacity) MW Koeberg nuclear power plant, 35 kilometers from Cape Town.
Phase two of the storage plan calls for an additional 30 to 40 storage casks that will alleviate pool pressure at the plant that generates 32 metric tons of spent fuel per year. Phase three involves moving the dry casks to an on-site interim storage facility to be built by 2019.
The contract also calls for design and supply of cask transportation and handling equipment.
"We are pleased to announce that Holtec has been awarded a contract for supply of the HI-STAR 100 dual-purpose metal casks for Koelberg Nuclear Power Station," Holtec said. The deal was signed in May 2015 following a rigorous international bidding competition that lasted over a year.
The dual-purpose casks, first licensed for storage in the United States in 1999, are designed for storage and transportation of Pressurized Water Reactor spent fuel assemblies. At this point, spent fuel holding pools at the Koeberg plant are 70 percent full, according to media reports.
Low and medium-level contaminated waste is stored at a off-site facility hundreds of kilometers away at the isolated Vaalputs Radioactive Waste Storage Disposal Facility. It is expected that a facility to be completed by 2025 will also take high-level spent fuel waste.
“An off-site central interim storage facility is planned to be available by 2025 … Dry storage casks will be transported from the interim storage to this facility,” Eskom said.
Contracts with South Africa's only nuclear power plant could develop into larger deals down the road, given the country's nuclear power ambitions. In the intermediate future, South Africa has announced plans to add an additional 9,600 MW of generating capacity through nuclear power.
"We understand the critical importance for Eskom of ensuing continued operation of the Koeberg units through 2018 and our vertically-integrated supply chain, which includes our proven Holtec Manufacturing Division, will be pivotal in supporting the compressed project schedule," said Holtec Director of International Projects Dr. Rick Springman.