US-based Holtec International announced that its India based subsidiary in Pune, Holtec Asia, had received an order for two transport casks from Mumbai-based Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to serve the away-from-reactor storage facility for the Kudankulam NPP (KKNPP).
The casks will serve units 1 and 2 of the Russia-supplied VVER-1000 reactors at the Kudanulam site, located on the east coast of Tamil Nadu.
“The new casks, named HI-STAR 149, join the family of HI-STAR transport casks that have distinguished themselves as the most robust radioactivity containment vessels at numerous nuclear plants around the world, earning loyalty of clients with superb dose blocking, heat dissipation and criticality control capabilities,” Holtec said.
Like the larger HI-STAR 190, HI-STAR 149 incorporates Holtec’s patented hex-crate fuel basket made from nanotechnology-based Metamic HT extrusions with their heat transfer and criticality control properties. (All Holtec latest model fuel baskets for storing used nuclear fuel from both Russian-origin and Western reactors employ Metamic HT as the principal constituent material for criticality control and structural strength.)
The design and safety analyses of components provided by Holtec International to transport and store VVER fuel are performed by the Holtec corporate technology centre in Camden, New Jersey, in collaboration with Holtec Asia and the Holtec Ukraine operation centre based in Kyiv.
“We gratefully acknowledge this NPCIL’s award which will now pave the way for Holtec Asia to share Holtec’s globally respected storage and transport cask know-how with India’s domestic manufacturers within the constraint of USG laws. Holtec Asia’s corporate mission is aligned with Prime Minister Modi’s call for India’s manufacturing renaissance to transform the country into the world’s workshop through heightened self-sufficiency,” said Holtec Asia’s President, Jyoti Chatterjee. “Reflecting the social responsibility ethos of our US parent, we plan to significantly boost our contribution to public service causes commensurate with our growing business footprint in India,” he added.
Holtec Asia is a major Holtec subsidiary with its engineering offices located in Pune, Maharashtra and its manufacturing plant located in Dahej, Gujarat. The Dahej plant specialises in the manufacture of Air-Cooled Condensers and other engineered weldments. The Pune operation centre is a full-spectrum engineering services facility with engineering design and analysis, site services, IT, project management and quality assurance capabilities.
Photo: Third HI-STAR 190 cask for transporting VVER fuel from Ukraine’s reactors being readied for Shipment to Ukraine’s Odessa Port (Credit: Holtec)
