We are pleased to report that the turnkey installation and commissioning effort of an independent spent fuel storage facility at the Laguna Verde site has made great strides in the past three months since the contract's inception in December 2014. Mexico's national utility, Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) owns Laguna Verde's two BWRs located on Mexico’s Gulf Coast in the state of Veracruz. Back in 1991, Holtec had equipped the Laguna Verde twin fuel pools with high density fuel storage racks under a successful turnkey contract.

Aerial View of Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant

The present dry storage contract is of the turnkey genre with Holtec assuming the responsibility to design and build the storage pad, supply all required hardware to load an initial installment of thirteen (13) HI-STORM FW vertical ventilated modules with MPC-89 fuel baskets, perform the dry runs, and carry out the fuel loadings. The design of the pad and associated infrastructure as well as associated structural qualifications have already been completed.
 
The Laguna Verde project exploits several of the innovations introduced by Holtec in prior dry storage projects completed by the Company. One example, the transfer of the loaded canister from the HI-TRAC VW transfer cask to the HI-STORM FW vertical ventilated modules will occur in Holtec's patented subterranean Canister Transfer Facility (CTF) (Patent No. US7139358B2) which has been adopted by numerous HI-STORM users including Diablo Canyon, Vogtle, ANO, Fermi, Jose Cabrera and others. Laguna Verde is the 71st global user of Holtec's dry storage technology.
 
"Holtec's maximum capacity above-ground spent fuel storage system, called HI-STORM FW (flood/wind) will be deployed at Laguna Verde giving Mexico the most rugged, corrosion and flood resistant design licensed by the USNRC. I am proud of Holtec's project team which is making good progress with the client's help to meet the rigorous schedule to store the fuel for the Laguna Verde plants," says Dr. William S. Woodward of Holtec.