INGECID attended the inauguration of the DECOM Cluster in Halden (Norway) strengthening its position in the Norwegian market. We were invited thanks to our close collaboration with the Institute of Energy Technology (IFE). INGECID leads a consortium with Createc Ltd and Catenda AS for the development of an IT solution for the decommissioning and waste management of the Halden and Kjeller reactors.

The DECOM cluster comprises the following organizations: IFE, Norsk nukleær dekommisjonering (NND), Halden kommune, Smart Innovation Norway, Kongsberg Innovasjon, Halden Næringsutvikling and Norsus. Its objectives include:

• Strengthening the focus on education and skills development and ensuring the recruitment of qualified employees in the industry.
• Helping existing businesses to work in decommissioning and develop the new industry, to meet the demand for decommissioning and repurposing.
• Sharing knowledge among nuclear decommissioning entities and other industries in need of decommissioning.
• Developing a sustainable cluster that represents the entire value chain for decommissioning, with a long-term financial plan.
• Achieving international impact through collaborative development. Cluster members gain access to contacts, capital and skills, and raise their profile through national and international projects and networks.

The opening ceremony was attended by Christian Vestre, Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry and Anne-Kari Holm, Mayor of Halden. The event was followed by a workshop with members of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and international experts, including Javier Alonso, Director of INGECID’s Department of Nuclear Engineering, who gave a talk on 'Decommissioning competence building in Spain'.

Javier Alonso summarized the situation in Spain regarding the decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants (both now and in the future), highlighting the challenges facing the nuclear sector as all its reactors are progressively shut down. He spoke of INGECID's important role, given its ample experience in the sector, in the decommissioning process in Spain, using tools such as Vircore, a platform being used to decommission the Santa María de Garoña Nuclear Power Plant that integrates a 3D model of the plant (NPPIM, Nuclear Power Plant Information Modelling) with various modules for physical and radiological inventories, planning control, cost control, etc. In short, a tool that optimizes the decommissioning process and allows us to face the future with confidence.