During the Waste Management Symposium 2024 in Phoenix (Arizona, USA), German radioactive waste specialist Gesellschaft fu¨r Nuklear-Service (GNS) and US-based EnergySolutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on future cooperation in Asia. The companies want to offer nuclear services in the Asian markets in the future to dispose of large components from the upcoming dismantling of Asian NPPs by EnergySolutions in the USA. GNS will be responsible for transporting the components to the US using its expertise in packaging and qualification of components.
Customers in Asia will have the opportunity to recycle metals for reuse in the nuclear industry. The partnership will primarily focus on large components, but will also explore ways to recycle other metals to reduce the amount of metal waste needing disposal. This reduces the amount of waste to be stored and at the same time enables the consumption of new resources.
"We have the opportunity to work with GNS to improve our capabilities to serve the Asian nuclear market," said EnergySolutions President & CEO Ken Robuck. "By partnering with GNS, we can give our customers the certainty that the materials we process meet all legal requirements for safe and compliant metal management, transport and recycling.”
GNS Chairman & CEO Daniel Oehr noted: "After several successful joint projects for melting scrap from our European customers, this new cooperation enables us to offer a unique solution for the disposal of large components from the dismantling of nuclear power plants in Asia. It is a perfect fit for our strategy to further expand our business to Asia."
Image (L-R): Ken Robuck, EnergySolutions President & CEO; Colin Austin, EnergySolutions Senior Vice President, International Business; Daniel Oehr, GNS CEO; and Linus Bettermann, GNS Director of Sales & Marketing (courtesy of GNS)
