Category: Holtec Highlights

On April 19, 2012, Holtec International presented a new subterranean multi-purpose canister (MPC) based storage system in a pre-submittal briefing to the USNRC. In development since 2010, HI-STORM UMAX (for Underground MAXimum capacity) is physically sized to store all of the used nuclear fuel produced in the United States and all canisters currently licensed in dry storage in the country making it a truly universal on-site storage facility. HI-STORM UMAX, like its forerunner HI-STORM 100U certified by the USNRC in 2009, stores the MPC entirely below-ground and emits virtually zero dose. HI-STORM UMAX (Docket Number 72-1040) has heat rejection capacity in excess of 47 kW and stores up to 37 PWR and 89 BWR assembly MPCs. Like HI-STORM 100U, HI-STORM UMAX is “security-friendly”, providing a clear, unobstructed view of the entire ISFSI (see figure below) from any location and the closure lid is a massive steel weldment filled with concrete.

On behalf of the associates of our seven operation centers based on three continents, we extend our New Year greetings to Holtec International’s clients and suppliers – our vital stakeholders – who helped make 2011 a splendidly successful year for the Company.  In 2011, Holtec completed 25 years of operation with a proud record of continuously rising employment in our factories and offices fueled nearly entirely by the sale of new products and systems developed by the Company’s own engineers.  In its core business of spent fuel management, Holtec’s relationship base in wet and dry storage/transportation grew to over 120 nuclear plants around the globe. Holtec’s committed and derivative backlog across all product lines offered by the Company now exceeds $5 billion.  In 2011, Holtec became the first company to establish a comprehensive training center for dry storage implementation and in November became the first company to complete a Client Assisted Turnkey dry storage project (at Waterford). The second Client Assisted Turnkey dry storage project, at Comanche Peak, is scheduled begin the final phase of the project, fuel loading of 12 HI-STORM systems, in February of 2012 (dry runs were completed July 2011).

Last month a new exhibit sponsored by Holtec International was unveiled at the PSEG Energy & Environmental Resource Center (EERC) located near the Salem and Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations in Salem, New Jersey (see photos on next page). The EERC is a community learning center focused on fostering an improved understanding of energy, environmental challenges and strategies for balancing energy demand with environmental stewardship. The center opened in January 2010 and has already hosted over 10,000 visitors.

We are pleased to announce that the Holtec Training Center for used fuel outage implementation, long in the making, is nearing completion. The Training Center is housed at the Holtec Manufacturing Division (HMD), a 460,000 sq. feet, ASME Code Section III fabrication facility located in east Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Holtec is the only provider of dry spent fuel storage systems that manufactures 100% of its equipment destined for domestic clients in the United States. Holtec is also America’s largest exporter of manufactured SSCs to foreign markets, generating much needed manufacturing jobs in our country.

We are proud to announce that our Pittsburgh based Holtec Manufacturing Division’s (HMD) on-time delivery of capital equipment has reached a record high of over 98% in 2011. This record of on-time shipment applies to both nuclear components as well as to the commercial ASME Code equipment, which includes large Surface Condensers and Feedwater Heaters fabricated for our Power Plant Component Division (PPCD) which is a leading global supplier of capital heat transfer equipment. Photos of recently delivered heat exchanger equipment, some mammoth in size and weight, are shown below.

As our readers are aware, Holtec International is tasked with placing Chernobyl’s 21,217 fuel assemblies in dry storage for the 100-year service life. The Chernobyl dry storage project is a multi-national donor funded project administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Holtec Highlights interviewed Mr. Igor Gramotkin, Chernobyl’s Director General, to seek his insights in decommissioning a stricken plant that might be valuable in tackling the challenges at Fukushima. (Japan is a donor country involved in funding the Chernobyl Project.)