Innovative crane helps nuclear facility make critical 125-ton lifts

Constellation Energy in N.Y., USA needed to upgrade their ability to handle spent nuclear fuel kept in dry storage casks. The existing building was not designed to support the loads of the new crane, so a solution needed to be found.

The Konecranes technical team assigned to this project worked closely with the customer and regulatory personnel to assess various potential designs and to address the high-level technical challenges associated with this project. The team also provided detailed reports to verify and validate that all project requirements could be achieved.

As a result of this detailed analysis, we developed a specialized design for the new crane that did not impose any additional load on the existing building.

The new system used a rolling-bridge telescoping boom system that transferred the crane loads stress to a location outside of the building.

Innovation in design and efficiency

The innovative rolling-bridge telescoping boom system allowed the crane to make the critical 125-ton lifts that were required inside the building, without the need for extensive and expensive structural analysis and building modifications.

The 125-ton single failure proof crane we provided is possibly the most technologically innovative crane of its kind ever built for the nuclear industry. This unique crane system is now utilized by our client to handle nuclear dry storage casks safely, efficiently and reliably.

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