Fuel management

​​The plant pool hosts 64 elements of irradiated fuel from the Uranium-Thorium cycle. As specified in the Operating License Decree of the Ministry of Economic Development, the dry storage of the Elk River fuel must be implemented; this kind of fuel cannot be reprocessed due to the absence of industrial facilities able to treat it. Upon completion of the operations the poll will be emptied.

In 2013, the handling system for the fuel elements of the pool will be installed to carry out their shipment in shielded metallic tanks, called cask; in this regard, design and supply activities are under development. Among the different dry storage technologies, the dual-purpose metallic casks strategy has been selected, due to its suitability for both transport and storage. The 64 irradiated fuel elements will be placed in two casks that will be subsequently stored before their shipment to the National Repository.