Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Achieves Milestone with First Export of Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Casks to the United States

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyewon] Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has succeeded in exporting casks, which are spent nuclear fuel storage containers for nuclear power plants, overseas for the first time among domestic companies.

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction announced on the 25th that it recently supplied five sets of casks (VCC·Vertical Concrete Cask) to the TMI Nuclear Power Plant located on Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, USA.

Casks are special containers used to transport and store spent nuclear fuel discharged after combustion in a reactor. Because the radiation and heat of spent nuclear fuel must be safely managed, special design and advanced manufacturing technology are required. The casks exported by Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction are heavy items with a height of about 5.7m, a diameter of 3.4m, and a weight exceeding 100 tons.

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction supplied five sets of casks this time under a supply contract signed with the US company NAC at the end of 2019. Last year, it additionally signed a supply contract for two sets of canisters (Transportable Storage Canister), which are major components of the casks, and plans to deliver them in June.

Nagiyong, Head of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction's Nuclear BG, said, "Through business cooperation with NAC, we have laid the foundation for full-scale entry into the overseas cask market and have been able to further advance Korean-style cask manufacturing technology. Since continuous demand is expected domestically as well, we will actively target both domestic and international cask markets."

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction is building a diverse lineup of casks suitable for domestic conditions. After signing a 'Korean-style Cask Joint Development Agreement' with NAC in 2015, it developed the Korean-style dry storage system 'Doosan-DSS21' in 2017 through technology transfer, which complies with domestic nuclear safety laws and environmental requirements. Subsequently, it secured its own design capabilities and developed the DSS24 and DSS32 models with increased storage capacity, as well as the DPC-24 cask for both transport and storage. To prove design safety, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction applied for design approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 2019 and is expected to obtain the approval in June.

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has established a supply chain for cask manufacturing together with domestic small and medium-sized partner companies and plans to supply casks that combine safety and economic efficiency through this.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.