Bechtel and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy on Wednesday announced a partnership to provide decommissioning services for nuclear power plants in Germany and Sweden.
In a joint press release, the two companies emphasized their decades of experience in decommissioning, covering advance planning, licensing, project development and management, dismantlement, demolition, waste management, and site closeout.
“Our companies are committed to safety and efficiency across the entire nuclear plant lifecycle,” James Taylor, general manager of Bechtel’s Environmental business, said in a press release. “Bechtel has performed work from design to dismantlement for more than 150 nuclear plants over the last 60 years. This experience will be critical to delivering quality as Germany and Sweden move forward.”
Bechtel’s work in the government and commercial spheres includes construction of the Waste Treatment Plant at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, decommissioning of Three Mile Island Unit 3 in New York state, and partnering in the design of the safe confinement arch placed over the damaged Chernobyl reactor in Ukraine.
The GE-Bechtel partnership has not yet secured contracts, but will pursue deals, Bechtel spokesman Fred DeSousa said by email.
Germany is in the midst of a total nuclear power phaseout following the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan. Eight of Germany’s 17 nuclear power reactors are operational, but they are to close by 2022, according to the World Nuclear Association. The price tag for decommissioning the 17 reactors, along with six additional commercial units, has been forecast at 48 billion euros.
Sweden has nine power reactors, with one already shut down and another three due for decommissioning by 2020, WNA said. GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy has already been contracted to support dismantlement of Units 1 and 2 at the Oskarshamn plant; that work will remain separate from the new partnership, a company spokesman said Wednesday.
