The Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD) has signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with Finland’s Posiva Oy and its subsidiary Posiva Solutions as well as with Spain’s Enresa to strengthen cooperation in radioactive waste management. Posiva, jointly owned by Finnish nuclear power companies TVO and Fortum has developed geological disposal facility at Olkiluoto. Enresa is scheduled to begin operating the world’s first high-level radioactive waste disposal facility in 2025.
KORAD said that, through the MOUs, it will strengthen cooperation on issues including: the establishment of radioactive waste management policy and site selection process; and the treatment, transport, storage and disposal of radioactive waste.
The signing of the agreements with Posiva and Posiva Solutions was attended by Posiva Board Chairman Ilkka Poikolainen and Posiva Solutions President Mika Pohjonen. KORAD said the agreements with Finland are “expected to serve as a cornerstone for securing technological capabilities in high-level radioactive waste management projects, including sharing experiences in constructing and operating underground research facilities, promoting joint research, and operating human resource development programs through expert exchanges”.
The signing of the MOU with Spanish decommissioning and waste management firm Enresa was attended by Enresa President Jose Luis Navarro Rivera. Enresa was created in 1984 as a public, non-profit organisation responsible for the management of radioactive waste, with the aim to perform an essential public service: collecting, treating, conditioning, storing and disposing of the radioactive waste produced throughout the Spanish State. It has been operating the low and intermediate-level radioactive waste disposal facility in El Cabril since 1992, while high-level radioactive waste is currently managed in NPP on-site storage facilities.
KORAD said that under the MoU with Enresa “we plan to expand the foundation necessary for promoting the corporation’s future projects by sharing information on the treatment and disposal of decommissioning waste and the operation of an interim storage facility for high-level radioactive waste”.
