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Posiva

Posiva Oy, specialists in nuclear waste management, built a spent nuclear fuel disposal facility in the Olkiluoto bedrock, at a depth of some 430 meters.

Comatec was in charge of the Canister Installation Machine (CIM) of spent nuclear fuel, and specifically the vehicle’s compliance with regulations, its safety, design, supervision of manufacture, deployment, project management and procurement related to it.

 

Goals and objectives:

  • This was the world’s first device for this purpose; you could not model any earlier products.
  • CIM consists of an innovation chain that had to include all main functions.
  • The design had to comply with strict safety requirements, because it is a device falling under nuclear safety category 3 (TL3).
  • The project required not only technical equipment and vehicle technology expertise but also diverse competence in managing the design work and requirements.

Results:

  • The device and its functions were designed for a space just 4.1 meters in height in order to keep the tunnels as small as possible, to save costs as the tunnels will eventually be filled with bentonite clay.
  • The vehicle was designed with a fully electric power transmission for added safety.
  • The selection of battery chemistry was made with fire safety in mind in particular; the risk of a serious battery fire is practically non-existent.
  • The battery size has been optimized to ensure that the vehicle can complete the disposal of one canister with a single charge.
“Comatec’s innovation has been excellent. We reached such technical goals that cannot be even requested from every design organization, or maybe even consider to be possible.” – Jarkko Stenfors, Posiva