On August 29, representatives of the Norwegian agency Norsk Nukleær Dekommisjonering (NND) and the Norwegian Institute of Energy Technology (IFE), the main bodies responsible for the decommissioning of research reactors and other related nuclear infrastructures in Norway, who are currently working on decommissioning the Halden and Kjeller reactors, visited us and our partners Createc and Catenda at our Santander offices.

The three-day meeting was mainly dedicated to a detailed review of the project to digitize the decommissioning and management of waste from nuclear reactors that the NND awarded to ICCircle, a consortium led by INGECID in association with British company Createc and Norwegian firm Catenda. This twelve-year project, which has a budget of more than €14 million , will cover the entire spectrum of design, development and maintenance of IT solutions for digitalizing the decommissioning, waste management and radiological characterization processes. INGECID will contribute its combined experience in decommissioning and waste management processes, nuclear engineering, software development and BIM methodology.

The attendees took advantage of the occasion to visit the Santa María de Garoña nuclear power plant, where INGECID is also participating in the decommissioning project. During the visit, ENRESA, the national company responsible for the decommissioning of nuclear power plants in Spain, and Nuclenor, owner of the Santa María de Garoña Nuclear Power Plant, reported in situ about the strategy followed and the lessons learned in decommissioning projects in Spain.

The meeting also included a visit to the facilities of Equipos Nucleares, S.A. (ENSA), in order to analyze first-hand the capabilities of the members of the Nuclear Industry Cluster of Cantabria (CINC).

This meeting has further strengthened our relationship with NND and IFE, helping to position the ICCircle consortium as a leader in the decommissioning and management of nuclear waste. According to Javier Alonso, spokesperson for ICCircle, the consortium immediately identified with NND's aims in carrying out the new digitalization process for decommissioning and waste management. Between them, the three ICCircle organizations have all the capabilities needed, plus extensive experience in the field of decommissioning and waste management and in software development and the application of BIM methodology in the nuclear sector. Innovative solutions from the three ICCircle organizations will be applied in this project, with a final solution centralized on the Vircore platform to maximize safety and efficiency.