German-based GNS (Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service) said on 13 April that it had developed the CASTOR® geo26JP cask especially for the requirements of the Japanese market. The used fuel cask is designed for the storage and transport of up to 26 pressurised water reactor (PWR) fuel assemblies – the largest available capacity for fuel assemblies from the PWR nuclear power plants most widely used in Japan. It is based on the CASTOR® geo cask family for PWR and boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel assemblies of various designs, which was conceived to meet the needs of international customers for "high capacity casks" and is already in use in Belgium and Switzerland. Dr Linus Bettermann, Director of Sales at GNS said the CASTOR® geo26JP “offers the most efficient packaging solution for Japanese PWR fuel assemblies” because of its capacity and price.

Following the application for a type certificate submitted to the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) in March, GNS will now closely accompany the licensing procedure locally. To this end, it founded the subsidiary GNS Japan KK at the beginning of the year as a corporation under Japanese law with headquarters in Tokyo. The office of the new company will be set up in the premises of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Japan at the beginning of its business activities. The board of the new comprises Dr Linus Bettermann (CEO), GNS Head of Legal Affairs Christoph Kohn (CFO) and GNS Team Manager for Cask Development Tobias Fischer-Wasels (CTO). Dirk Schlauch (Director Controlling at GNS) will support the Executive Board as Company Auditor.