Spain’s Equipos Nucleares SA (Ensa) has shipped its first ENUN 24P used fuel storage and transport cask to China. The cask, which can hold 24 pressurised water reactor (PWR) fuel assemblies, arrived in Shanghai in mid-May and had been delivered to the Daya Bay nuclear plant in Guangdong province.
CGN Uranium Resources Company ordered the cask from Ensa for transporting used fuel from Daya Bay and the nearby Ling Ao nuclear power stations for interim storage at the Lanzhou Nuclear Fuel Complex in Gansu province. The ENUN 24P is a dual-purpose cask, designed for both the transport and storage of high burnup used fuel.
It has the capacity for transporting up to 24 non-damaged PWR fuel items and meets the requirements of the Chinese Regulatory Board. To meet the limitations of the transportation route through China, Ensa has had to optimise the design of the cask with “female” pins instead of the usual “male” ones. Ensa has also developed the ancillary loading equipment. Cold tests will now be performed, and the local personnel will complete training.
Ensa is part of Grupo SEPI, a corporate holding which includes a total of 15 state-owned companies and has direct minority shareholding participations in a further nine as well as, indirect holdings in more than 100 companies.
