Fortum Supplies Purification Systems For Radioactive Liquids To Grafenrheinfeld Plant In Germany

Fortum will supply a NURES® technology-based purification system for radioactive liquids and a boron removal system to Germany’s Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant. Fortum’s delivery is a comprehensive solution, the first phase of which consists of the design of a plant-customised system for the Grafenrheinfeld power plant owned and operated by the German PreussenElektra GmbH. The second phase consists of the building of the system and the purification process and finally removal of the system.

At the bidding stage a successful pilot was carried out with Fortum’s solution at the Grafenrheinfeld power plant which resulted in pure boron, water, and a very small amount of waste for final disposal.

"For us at Fortum, responsible waste management and safety are number one priorities. The solutions we have developed over the past 30+ years are ideal for the purification of radioactive liquids also in demanding targets, like riverside plants. Our technical solution is very cost-efficient and competitive. We are pleased that with the Grafenrheinfeld project we will also be able to offer our expertise to Germany's extensive nuclear decommissioning market," notes Petra Lundström, Vice President, Fortum's Nuclear Services.

Fortum has long experience in treating waste that contains radioactive impurities. Fortum has developed ion exchange materials used for the purification of liquids, and, in addition , Fortum has developed the boron removal system. These purification solutions are sold globally to many different types of users. Fortum's ion exchange materials have been used, among other things, to clean the radioactive waters of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan.

Read more about NURES® and BORES:
Developed by Fortum, the NURES® product is designed to remove caesium, strontium, cobalt and antimony, particularly from large volumes of difficult-to-treat liquids for which the purification is typically very difficult and expensive. In the NURES® product, radioactive substances adhere to the highly selective ion exchange materials CsTreat®, SrTreat®, CoTreat® and SbTreat®. A very small amount of these materials are needed compared to the amount of liquid to be purified. The purified liquid doesn’t contain any harmful materials and, e.g., the purified water can be released into a waterway. With the NURES® product, substantially less storage space is needed for the interim storage and final disposal of radioactive liquids.

Fortum has also developed a boron removal system, The BORES. The BORES system can separate boron from the liquid in pure form, and the end result of the process is crystallised, solid, and free of radioactivity boron.

Fortum
Fortum is a leading clean-energy company that provides its customers with electricity, heating and cooling as well as smart solutions to improve resource efficiency. We want to engage our customers and society to join the change for a cleaner world. We employ some 8,000 professionals in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia, Poland and India, and 62% of our electricity generation is CO2 free. In 2016, our sales were EUR 3.6 billion. Fortum's share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.fortum.com.

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