Posiva is seen and heard internationally

Posiva’s President and CEO, Ilkka Poikolainen at the ICGR Conference in Busan, South Korea, where he outlined the current status of Posiva’s project and the Company’s future plans.

Posiva’s President and CEO, Ilkka Poikolainen, was one of the keynote speakers at the worldwide conference on the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel, ICGR-7 (International Conference on Geological Repositories), currently underway in Busan in South Korea. The themes of the Conference include, for example, “We have a solution”, “Game changer”, and “Forerunner”.

Poikolainen’s presentation addressed the current status of Posiva’s project as well as the Company’s future plans, such as the Trial Run of Final Disposal (TRFD) scheduled to start in August and the subsequent, actual production stage. The entire final disposal process of spent nuclear fuel is tested in the TRFD using simulated fuel elements; the test covers not only the seamless operation of the equipment but also the readiness of the organisation for the production stage.

Posiva is about to become in mid-2020s the first in the world to start the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel and consequently was one of the few companies invited to give a country overview presentation during the main session in Busan.

Running from Monday 27 May to Friday 31 May, ICGR is one of the most significant conferences of the industry. The Conference is attended by participants, presentation speakers, and panelists from all over the world. In practice, all the organisations responsible for nuclear waste in the world participate in the Conference.

- This is a great opportunity for Posiva and for Finland to be seen and heard internationally. That is why I also wanted to bring up the expertise of our commercial company Posiva Solutions and the services marketed by the company, says Poikolainen.

ICGR-7 is organised by the Korean final disposal organisation KORAD, OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), and the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In addition to Mr. Poikolainen, the conference was also attended by Posiva’s Director of Development and Responsibility, Ms. Tiina Jalonen, as well as the Managing Director of Posiva Solutions, Mr. Mika Pohjonen and Mr. Antti Ikonen from Posiva Solutions.

Text: Pasi Tuohimaa