Orano and Tepco cooperate further on decommissioning

04 October 2019

France's Orano Group recently signed a cooperation agreement with Japanese utility Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) to strengthen their cooperation on the decommissioning of nuclear facilities at the Fukushima Daiichi site.

The signing of the agreement by Ono (Left) and Champalaune (right) (Image: Orano)

The agreement was signed in Tokyo on 11 September by Patrick Champalaune, Orano Group senior executive vice president for sales and marketing, and Akira Ono, chief decommissioning officer at Tepco.

Under the terms of the agreement, Orano will share its experience relating to safe and innovative technological solutions for the design, manufacture and operation of facilities for the recovery and processing of nuclear waste.

Orano will also provide Tepco with its technical expertise in the operation of facilities for the treatment, management and storage of radioactive residues.

Champalaune said, "With this agreement, Orano wishes to strengthen its long-term relationship with Tepco, whose choice confirms interest in our solutions and our expertise in the dismantling of nuclear installations and waste management. This important step forward is a reward for the effort put in by the teams working with our customer."

Orano said it has been present in Japan for 50 years and works with its power utility customers throughout the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium supply to used fuel recycling and the supply of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel assemblies.

Tepco has signed several cooperation agreements with overseas companies and organisations since the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

On its website, the utility says: "Gathering wisdom from various research institutes and companies inside and outside Japan, we are making the utmost efforts in the decommissioning operation, which is the first of its kind in the world. In addition, by leveraging the technologies and knowledge gained from such experience in a variety of areas throughout the world, we will ensure that the lessons learned from the accident continue to provide benefit in the future."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News