Slovenian nuclear plant begins transfer of spent fuel to new dry storage facility

Slovenia’s only nuclear power plant, Krsko, has successfully transferred the first container of spent nuclear fuel to a newly built dry storage facility.

The new storage facility is said to be large enough to store spent fuel for at least the next century (Photo: AdobeStock)

The move to dry storage aligns Krsko with modern safety standards, and other countries that use dry storage include Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, Spain, the UK, and parts of the US.

The newly constructed storage facility is part of a €100 million, eight-year upgrade to the plant says RTV Slovenia.

The new storage facility is said to be large enough to store spent fuel for at least the next century, and passive storage will allow for a simpler, cheaper, and safer method of storage. After five years of storage and cooling in a water pool, spent fuel will be moved into the dry storage facility.

Sixteen containers, holding 592 fuel cells, will be moved from the wet storage pool in the first campaign, with three more campaigns to follow.

The dry warehouse has enough space for 70 containers, or roughly 2,600 fuel elements. Stane Rozman, who has been president of NEK management for 34 years, is handing over management to Gorazd Pfeifer, the former NEK production manager. NEK has received environmental approval for operation until 2043.

Krsko is a joint venture between Slovenia’s state-owned energy group Gen Energija and Croatian national power company Hrvatska Elektroprivreda.