Holtec International and Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy have signed an agreement to implement Holtec’s HI-STORM UMAX dry cask storage canisters in Japan.
The technology provides an alternative to the typical spent fuel dry storage technologies currently used in Japan, a Holtec press statement said. Japanese storage technologies are challenged by unique conditions such as regulator-mandated extremely low radiation limits, conservative regulatory release limits and high seismic levels, the release said.
Japan, which like the United States lacks a permanent waste disposal repository, announced plans to move forward with a nuclear fuel recycling program that would involve extracting plutonium from spent fuel last month.