GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) announced that it has completed the safe dismantling of reactor internals at Oskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 in Oskarshamn Municipality in Sweden.
Image: GE Hitachi completes decommissioning of reactor internals at OKG Unit 2. Photo: Courtesy of General Electric.
GEH has employed most advanced technology to dismantle, segment and pack reactor internals at the OKG Unit 2, which is a boiling water reactor that started operations in 1974 and closed in 2015.
The handling and segmentation of reactor internals was carried out underwater and the segmentation was mainly conducted using the Primary Segmentation System that was designed by REI Nuclear.
OKG AB CEO and managing director Johan Dasht said: “This is a historical milestone for the decommissioning of OKG units 1 and 2. Removal and disposal of reactor internals takes place directly after defueling of the units in order to simplify further decommissioning and improve the environment in the plant.”
GEH executive vice president Lance Hall said: “We supported our customer with strong project execution and completed this work for OKG on schedule and on budget. Through our experience, expertise and rigor, we will continue to support our customers throughout the nuclear power plant lifecycle.”
GEH said it will continue with the dismantling and segmentation of reactor internals at OKG Unit 1, a boiling water reactor that started operations in 1972 and closed in 2017.
In January 2017, GEH secured a three-year contract by Swedish plant operator OKG to support the dismantling of two reactors at the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant. The contract included the segmentation of reactor pressure vessel internals for units 1 and 2.
GEH claims that it has gained experience from reactor internals replacement projects in Japan and segmentation scope for extended power uprate projects in the US.
The Primary Segmentation System used by the GEH was designed by South Carolina-based technology and tooling design company REI Nuclear, whose businesses and certain assets were acquired by GEH in December 2018.
REI Nuclear is specialized in carrying out preliminary design, testing, tooling, project management, technical support, segmentation planning and waste management for nuclear facility decommissioning and dismantlement (D&D) projects.