During an international tender procedure, GNS has been awarded a contract by Taiwan Power Company (TPC) for the development of containers for the transport and interim storage of intermediate and low-level radioactive waste. Within the upcoming national decommissioning projects, this is the first contract awarded internationally by TPC after the decommissioning of Chinshan Nuclear Power Plant had been announced in 2019. The containers are dedicated for metallic waste from the dismantling of the reactors and primary peripherals from all Taiwanese nuclear power plants.
The order comprises the development of a total of five different container types (1x type B(U), 4x type IP-2). The containers are based on the proven GNS designs SBoX® (type B(U)) and steel sheet containers (type IP-2).
The scope of supply also includes the complete handling and loading equipment, as well as the preliminary plan for cutting the reactor and primary peripherals. Additionally, the order also comprises five prototypes, which will be manufactured by domestic partner companies in Taiwan, training courses and the cold handling at Chinshan NPP.
Edward H C Chang, Director of Nuclear Backend Management Department at TPC, said: “During the open tender process, GNS convinced Taipower with their experienced packaging solutions and their proven technology, which are believed as reliable and efficient. We expect that through this bilateral cooperation, Taipower will achieve the localisation of container‘s mass production in the future.”
Dr Linus Bettermann, Head of Sales Department Casks at GNS, said: “The order from Taiwan proves the international competitiveness of our container systems. The decision of TPC underlines the leading role of GNS as a supplier of packaging for nuclear waste, which occurs in large quantities, especially during nuclear power plant decommissioning.”