The Fort Calhoun nuclear power station in Nebraska. Orano TN, a US subsidiary of the French nuclear fuel cycle company Orano, has completed installation of a dry storage system and the transfer of used fuel from storage pool to dry storage at the shutdown Fort Calhoun-1 nuclear power plant in Nebraska.

The company said the work, carried out under a 2018 contract with Omaha Public Power District, was completed on budget and more than two weeks ahead of schedule.

Orano also conducted an extensive inspection of the emptied used fuel pool with underwater cameras and radiation detectors to ensure that all fuel debris had been collected and loaded into Nuhoms dry storage canisters.

The Nuhoms canisters were manufactured in the US at Orano’s fabrication facility in Kernersville, North Carolina.

Fort Calhoun, a 482-MW pressurised water reactor unit, began commercial operation in 1973 and was permanently shut down in 2016.