Holtec International has shipped the first state-of-the-art Spent Fuel Storage Racks to India for deployment at the six-unit Kudankulam NPP with VVER-1000 reactors built with Russian technical collaboration in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Holtec said the racks are made of Metamic with the highest reactivity suppression capacity and structural strength metrics.
The completed modules, co-produced by Holtec Asia in Pune and its parent Holtec International, will be installed in a freestanding configuration in a new wet storage facility being built at the Kudankulam site. The hexagonal cross-section of the VVER-1000 fuel differs from Western pressurised water reactors (PWRs) which have a square cross-section.
A separate shipment containing a multi-purpose transport cask, HI-STAR 149, also co-produced by Holtec International and Holtec Asia featuring the latest radiation-shielding technology is also on its way to India to be used for transferring used fuel stored in Kudankulam’s reactor building pools to the wet storage facility.
The rack modules and the transport cask represent the latest in the nuclear criticality safety, radiation blockage and superb structural strength based on several proven Holtec innovations protected by more than 250 patents. They will form the key equipment needed to execute fuel management operations at Kudankulam.
US-based Holtec International said these projects have served as an important vehicle for Holtec International to infuse design, state-of-the-art Quality Assurance and Project Management technologies to Holtec Asia which will help it to serve India’s rapidly expanding nuclear programme with the latest technical know-how. Kudankulam is the 148th plant in Holtec’s client roster to use the Company’s used fuel storage and transport solutions.
