The materials developed by Fortum to clean radioactive waste will be used in the upcoming months to treat the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant’s radioactive liquids in Japan.
Fortum is the key ion exchange media supplier to EnergySolutions LLC for a project to decontaminate water from the damaged Nuclear Power Plant at Fukushima. The radioactive liquid purification process used in the project will use ion exchange materials developed by Fortum. Fortum will supply thousands of kilos of ion exchange materials in granule form to EnergySolutions for the purification process. Fortum has worked closely with EnergySolutions who have been selected by Toshiba Corporation as the technology supplier for the Project.
Fortum has over 20 years of experience in treating waste containing radioactive impurities. Developed and registered by Fortum, CsTreat® and SrTreat®, the highly selective ion exchange media, will be used in the system to treat the Fukushima liquids which contain a lot of radioactive impurities.
Large volumes of radioactive liquids were generated, during efforts to stabilize the damaged reactors, following the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in March 2011, and Fortum’s products suit perfectly for purifying them. Since spring 2011, Fortum has offered assistance in the world’s biggest operation to purify radioactive liquids. Already prior to the agreement signed now, Fortum has supplied smaller commercial deliveries and test batches to Fukushima.
”For Fortum, safety is the number-one priority in nuclear power operations and in nuclear waste issues. For us, this has meant 30+ years of international networking and sharing know-how with others in the sector. The project being launched now is testimony to this. I am extremely proud that we can use Fortum’s expertise in solving Fukushima’s difficult nuclear waste problem,” says Matti Ruotsala, Executive Vice President, Power Division, Fortum.
Corporate Communications
Additional information:
Heikki Andersson, Vice President, Power Solutions, Fortum, tel. +358 50 453 4092
NURES® product and ion exchange materials
NURES® is designed to remove caesium, strontium and cobalt especially from large volumes of liquids that are particularly difficult to treat and which would be very difficult or expensive to purify. NURES® product contains extremely selective ion exchange materials CsTreat®, SrTreat® and CoTreat® to absorb radioactivity; a very small amount of the materials are needed compared to the volume of liquid to be purified. The purified liquid doesn’t contain any harmful substances and the purified water can be released into a water system. NURES® product significantly reduces the need for intermediate and final disposal repository space for radioactive liquids. NURES® product and CsTreat®, SrTreat® and CoTreat® materials have been sold around the world to many different types of users.
Fortum
Fortum’s purpose is to create energy that improves life for present and future generations. We provide sustainable solutions that fulfil the needs for low emissions, resource-efficiency and energy security, and deliver excellent value to our shareholders. Our activities cover the generation, distribution and sales of electricity and heat as well as related expert services.
Fortum’s operations focus on the Nordic countries, Russia, Poland and the Baltics. In the future, the integrating European and fast-growing Asian energy markets provide additional growth opportunities. In 2011, Fortum’s sales totalled EUR 6.2 billion and comparable operating profit was EUR 1.8 billion. The Group employs approximately 10,800 people. Fortum’s shares are quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.
Additional information: www.fortum.com
EnergySolutions
EnergySolutions offers customers a full range of integrated services and solutions, including nuclear operations, characterization, decommissioning, decontamination, site closure, transportation, nuclear materials management, processing, recycling, and disposition of nuclear waste, and research and engineering services across the nuclear fuel cycle.
Additional information: www.energysolutions.com