Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND) signed a frame agreement in Halden on Friday, 16 October 2026, with Sweden’s Studsvik AB for used fuel from the former Halden and Kjeller research reactors. The signatories were NND director Pål Mikkelsen and Studsvik chief executive Karl Thedéen. NRK reported from Halden; NND and World Nuclear News confirmed the deal.

Norway holds about 16.5 tonnes of used fuel from six decades of research reactors. Much of it cannot be stored long term in its present form. The inventory includes metallic uranium, aluminium-clad fuel and experimental fuels, World Nuclear News wrote. NND says this contract covers fuel now stored at the Halden plants; a prior agreement already covers part of the Kjeller inventory.

The contract runs until 2055. Studsvik is to transport the fuel to its licensed facilities outside Nyköping, inspect it and, where needed, treat it — including oxidation of metallic uranium — then keep it in interim storage until it returns to Norway for final disposal. Sweden does not take over geological-disposal responsibility.

If all fuel is moved out by 2035, NND estimates a contractual minimum of about SEK 875.5 million. Studsvik has put the total value, including work orders, at SEK 3–4 billion. The final sum depends on a six-month pre-study, permits in both countries and the orders NND places. NND is not bound to buy every service the frame agreement allows.

The research reactors — Halden’s fuel-and-materials test reactor and JEEP-II at Kjeller — were declared permanently shut in June 2018 and April 2019. World Nuclear News wrote that the clean-up is estimated at more than NOK 21 billion and will last at least 20 years. Physical export awaits the pre-study and licences; this is not an immediate shipment.

NND has the right and duty to demand return if the material cannot be treated acceptably. The contract is irrevocable on Studsvik’s side until 2055. NND may walk away after the pre-study, with notice, World Nuclear News reported.

This article describes a technical contract and temporary storage, not a finished geological repository and not an export without return.

Image: FinnWikiNo, Halden reactor, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; archive facility, not a photograph of the 16 October 2026 signing.

Sources consulted: Norge sender atomavfall til Sverige i ny milliardavtale — NRK; NND signerer avtale med svenske Studsvik AB om håndtering av det brukte brenselet — NND.