Norway: NDD granted licence to own and operate Halden reactor

Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND – Norsk Nukleær Dekommisjonering) has been granted a licence to own and operate the testing reactor at Halden by the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority. NDD will be responsible for decommissioning the reactor and its related nuclear infrastructure. It will also manage the safe handling, storage, and disposal of nuclear waste. NDD was officially created in 2018 by the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Fisheries for decommissioning research reactors and other nuclear facilities. It is still in development, but once it has obtained the necessary permits, it will handle Norway’s historic nuclear plants and their waste.
The licence for the Halden site is a first step in this direction. It grants control over three facilities: the Halden reactor, the JEEP-II neutron scattering facility at Kjeller, and a combined storage and disposal facility for low and intermediate-level radioactive waste (KLDRA) in Himdalen. Both Halden and JEEP-II were shut down in 2018 and 2019. The licence is valid from April 1 for an unlimited period but can be revoked under certain circumstances. It also includes the right to trade nuclear material, but only to a limited extent and by precise agreements. The Halden reactor started operations in 1959 and was mainly used for testing. The reactor was a joint undertaking of national organisations in 19 countries under the auspices of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. As the host country, Norway covered 30% of its cost. In 2018, the Institute of Energy Technology (IFE), which managed the structure, said it would not apply for an extension of the reactor’s operating licence, which was due to expire in 2020. After such a date, the reactor was permanently shut down.