Norway’s unused nuclear fuel is to be used in the UK, following a new agreement.
The Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) in Norway has agreed to send three tonnes of unirradiated uranium to the British fuel manufacturing business Springfields Fuels Limited, which will use it to produce new fuel to be used in commercial nuclear power plants.
The fuel would otherwise have been classed as nuclear waste and disposed of, as Norway has closed down its last two research reactors.
The export is expected to take place within two years.
In addition to the research reactors, there are several other nuclear facilities that will be decommissioned, the IFE suggests.
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Norway's Institute for Energy Technology has signed a contract with Westinghouse subsidiary Springfields Fuels Limited for the transfer of 3 tonnes of un-irradiated research reactor fuel to the UK for processing into new fuel for use in commercial nuclear power plants. The uranium fuel would otherwise have been treated as waste, stored and disposed of in Norway.
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28 January 2021
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Sweden s Studsvik has signed a contract worth SEK134 million (USD16 million) with Norway s Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) for loading equipment, transport, handling equipment, examination and pre-treatment of nuclear fuel from the JEEP I research reactor at Kjeller. The fuel is currently held in an ageing storage facility at the site which does not meet current requirements.
Used nuclear fuel from the Jeep I reactor stored in Stavbrønnen in Kjeller (Image: IFE)
JEEP I was the first reactor in the Nordic region, built in partnership with the Netherlands. The heavy-water research reactor, with a thermal output of 350 kilowatts, operated between 1951 and 1967. It was used as a producer of radioisotopes, a source of neutrons for experimental physics, and a reactivity measuring facility. Used fuel from JEEP has been stored in the Stavbrønnen dry storage facility, which was built in 1952. IFE said that, although the facility is monitored and there are no