By Antonia Stuart

The agreement covers the design, licensing, construction and operation of a facility modelled on Holtec's HI-STORM UMAX dry storage system.

President and CEO of Holtec Kris Singh stated that the company expects to apply for a permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) within a year and that the facility could be operational within the next four to five years.

The announcement comes at a critical time for the US nuclear industry as it deals with the spent fuel accumulating at the nuclear reactors that have prematurely shut down as well as at the operating plants around the country. One of the major tasks includes moving spent nuclear fuel from the fuel pool to dry cask storage, which once it is moved, currently has to be held on site at the nuclear power plant indefinitely. The political disagreement over where used nuclear fuel should be stored in the long-term leaves the industry with limited options as to what it should do in the meantime.

Although increasing pressure is being placed on the federal government to reignite efforts into deep geological repository options, little progress is being made. This has led the industry itself to push forward with initiatives such as the Holtec International and the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance partnership in order to allow utilities to remove used nuclear fuel from their sites.

As Silver Sponsor of the 2nd Annual Nuclear Decommissioning and Used Fuel Strategy Summit (5-6 October – Charlotte, North Carolina), Holtec’s Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer, Pierre Oneid, will exclusively address the 300+ audience of senior nuclear executives about their ground-breaking interim storage facility project.

As well as Mr Oneid, the conference, organized by Nuclear Energy Insider, has already welcomed a host of industry leading speakers to the line-up including Thomas Palmisano, SVP and CNO of SONGS; Barrett Green, CFO and Vermont Yankee Project Executive at Entergy and Pam Cowan, Director of Spent Fuel & Decommissioning at Exelon.

Siobhan O’Meara, Senior Project Director for the 2nd Annual Nuclear Decommissioning and Used Fuel Strategy Summit said; “We are delighted to announce that Holtec International will join the conference as Silver Sponsor. With the new interim storage facility on the horizon, there are many critical discussions to be had regarding licensing, construction, consent based siting and more. Mr Onied will provide essential insight into how Holtec and ELEA will address these challenges.”

As the US’ largest and most senior-level conference dedicated exclusively to nuclear decommissioning and used fuel, don’t miss out on your chance to network with and learn from the industry’s leading figures. Find out more here: http://bit.ly/nuc-decomusedfuel