12.10.2026
GNS’s CASTOR® HAW28M dual-purpose casks will play a key role in Italy’s radioactive waste return programme. Sogin, Italy's state-owned nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management company, has awarded a contract for five CASTOR® HAW28M casks to German company GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service mbH.
Under international agreements, Italy is required to take back radioactive waste from the reprocessing of Italian spent nuclear fuel in the United Kingdom and France. To facilitate these return shipments, Sogin has selected the CASTOR® HAW28M system. This cask type has already been in use in Germany and Switzerland for the safe transport and interim storage of vitrified high-level radioactive waste from the reprocessing facilities at La Hague (France) and Sellafield (UK).
Sogin’s order comprises five CASTOR® HAW28M casks as well as related equipment and services. The casks will be assembled at GNS’s Cask Manufacturing Center in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany.
The order marks another international reference project for GNS and their CASTOR® casks for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste and underscores the company’s leading position in the European market for nuclear transport and storage solutions. It also highlights the continued demand for proven cask technologies that meet international requirements for the transport and interim storage of high-level radioactive waste.
The CASTOR® HAW28M is a dual-purpose cask specially designed by GNS for vitrified high-level waste from reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. Each cask can accommodate up to 28 vitrified waste canisters and a maximum heat load of 56 kW. It complies with IAEA regulations for Type B(U)F packages for transport by road, rail and sea and fulfils the acceptance criteria of the reprocessing facilities in La Hague (France) and Sellafield (UK). The cask is currently approved for long-term interim storage in Germany and Switzerland.
To date, a total of 51 CASTOR® HAW28M casks have been loaded at La Hague and Sellafield. After transport by road, rail and sea, these casks are now safely stored at five interim storage facilities in Germany and one in Switzerland.