All news 2020

On 1 December 2020, Daniel Oehr (43) will be the new Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service mbH. He will succeed Dr Hannes Wimmer (57), who has been chairman since 2011. From him, Daniel Oehr will also take over the management of the GNS subsidiary WTI Wissenschaftlich-Technische Ingenieurberatung mbH in Jülich on 3 December 2020.

GNS is commissioned by the German nuclear power plant operators to safely return all residues from the reprocessing of German fuel elements abroad. The first of three shipments of vitrified HLW from the UK to Germany has now been completed successfully. Six casks of the type CASTOR^® HAW28M, each containing 28 canisters of HLW in the form of vitrified residues, arrived at the Federal interim storage facility in Germany on 4 November 2020 after more than one week en route exactly within schedule.

Yesterday evening the "Pacific Grebe", a dedicated vessel for the transport of radioactive materials, left the English port of Barrow-in-Furness. On board are six casks containing radioactive waste from the reprocessing of German fuel elements in Sellafield, England. Previously, the casks of the type CASTOR^® HAW28M had been transported by rail from the reprocessing plant in Sellafield to the port about 65 km away and loaded onto the ship there.

With its packaging system comprising CASTOR® casks and the GNS IQ® Integrated Quiver System, GNS offers the comprehensive solution for the safe packaging of all irradiated fuel assemblies and damaged fuel rods from the operation of the German nuclear power plants. The casks and quivers designed and manufactured by GNS allow loading after a particularly short decay time and thus a speedy entry into dismantling. With the now concluded contract on the last three quivers for the Isar nuclear power plant of PreussenElektra all quivers for the German market have been commissioned. This sums up to a total of 65 quivers for the defueling of all nuclear power plants of the four large German utilities.

The preparations for the repatriation transport of vitrified radioactive waste from the reprocessing plant in Sellafield/UK to the Federal interim storage facility in Biblis, which was suspended in spring due to the beginning COVID 19 situation, have been resumed. Today, the German Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) issued the amendment of the transport licence in accordance with § 4 AtG (German Atomic Energy Act) which was implemented as part of the postponement of the transport. After consultation between the Ministries of the Interior and the police authorities responsible for escorting the transport, the transport can thus be carried out this year.

On 31 March 2020, GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service mbH vacated its former premises in Duisburg-Wanheim, returned the buildings and the premises to the lessor and thus terminated its activities at the site after 35 years.

The repatriation transport of vitrified radioactive waste from the reprocessing plant in Sellafield/UK to the interim storage facility in Biblis, scheduled for this spring, is suspended. As the German police authorities responsible for escorting and executing the transport have stated, the police operation is currently not responsible in view of the current "corona spread" and therefore cannot be carried out in spring as planned.

In spring 2020, GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service mbH plans on behalf of the German nuclear power plant operators the first of three obligatory return transports with radioactive residues from the reprocessing of German fuel elements at Sellafield in England. The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) today issued the required transport licence for the transport to the federally owned interim storage facility in Biblis in accordance with § 4 AtG (German Atomic Energy Act).

The project managed by GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service mbH, called ReaDi ("Reactor Dismantling"), comprises the complete dismantling as well as the packaging of the six pressure vessels, each weighing between 400 and 500 tons, for final disposal. The project is expected to last a total of 10 years.

GNS supplies 62 spent fuel casks of the type CASTOR® V/19 for the spent fuel elements from the nuclear power plants Grohnde (KWG) and Brokdorf (KBR) of PreussenElektra GmbH.

During an international tender procedure, GNS has been awarded a contract by Taiwan Power Company (TPC) for the development of containers for the transport and interim storage of intermediate and low-level radioactive waste.