Nuclear Power
for future Chinese AP 1000 projects. Tis agreement has a strategic importance for both Alstom and DEC as China resumes building nuclear power plants and moves towards Generation III nuclear power technology. It is also in line with the Chinese government’s commitment to steady growth in the sector under the current five year plan, with a top level of safety which fully meets the standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). According to the agreement, DEC’s turbine and generator packages related to future AP 1000 projects will be based on Alstom’s Arabelle technology. Te Arabelle steam turbine is suitable for all types of nuclear reactors including AP 1000 and is renowned globally for providing higher efficiency and reduced installation and maintenance costs. AP 1000 belongs to the Generation III pressurised water reactor (PWR) and has been identified as one of the major standards for China’s future nuclear development. Tis agreement also marks the first introduction of the long last-stage blade Arabelle LP69 module in China. Tis proven technology will provide a significant advantage to the customers in the Chinese market, says Alstom. Te first contract under this agreement is expected to be signed shortly. In terms of the China’s current nuclear activities,
Ningde 1, the first of four home-designed CPR-1000 PWRs being built at a site in Fujian Province, began commercial operation this April after a 58-month construction period. Te 1080 MWe unit was connected to the grid in late December last year and underwent a 168 hour trial operation before it began commercial operation. In other news, Turkey has chosen Japan as its
partner to develop the Sinop nuclear power project in the Black Sea province which would see the installation of four units of ATMEA1 Generation III reactors. Having got governmental agreement, an international consortium of Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Itochu Corporation, French
utility group GDF Suez and the Turkish Electricity Generation Company Incorporated (EUAS) will now undertake further development and negotiation towards the contract to build and operate the 4400 MWe nuclear plant. Commercial operation of the first nuclear unit is targeted at 2023.
Enriched uranium Te research, development and demonstration (RD&D) programme to advance USEC’s American Centrifuge - America’s next generation of uranium enrichment technology – continues to make solid progress in achieving its milestones. Five of the programme’s nine milestones have been completed and certified by the US DOE. USEC successfully completed the sixth milestone to test the effects of a power loss to the uranium centrifuge machines earlier in the summer, and DOE certification of that milestone is pending. Te three remaining milestones are scheduled for completion by the end of the programme in December. Over the course of this summer, the integrated systems testing programme was completed for the 120-centrifuge commercial cascade, which would be duplicated 96 times in a proposed commercial plant. All of the commercial-grade centrifuges are now spinning individually at target speed, and the process of conditioning the centrifuges and related piping on uranium hexafluoride gas is underway. USEC expects to operate the centrifuges as an interconnected cascade later in the year (Fig. 1). Beyond proving the reliability and readiness of the American Centrifuge technology, the RD&D programme will ensure that the USA has its own indigenous uranium enrichment technology to meet national security needs. With the recent cessation of enrichment at the gaseous diffusion enrichment facility in Paducah, Kentucky, the country for the first time in more than 60 years is without its own technology in operation to enrich uranium. ●
Entergy go-ahead to continue operations at Indian Point E
ntergy has received US Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) formal notice that, while the
licence renewal process is ongoing, it can continue operating Indian Point unit 2 under its existing NRC licence. Since purchasing the plants, the
company has invested more than US$1 billion (€752 million) upgrading and enhancing the facility and preparing it for continued safe operation during the 20-year period of a renewed operating licence. Through the period of extended
operations, Entergy will be operating unit
2 in accordance with NRC requirements and commitments made in the license renewal proceedings, a process initiated by the company in April 2007 when it filed its application for license renewal. As it always does, the NRC will provide continuous oversight through this period, and has performed many thousands of hours of inspections and reviews beforehand specifically to ensure appropriate safety preparations were made for this period. NRC staff had previously
recommended that the licences for the two operating units at Indian Point
be renewed for an additional 20 years of operation, noting the plants can be operated safely and that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude licence renewal. Additionally, while not part of the
license renewal review process, Indian Point’s security programme is regularly inspected by the NRC through established oversight programmes. Entergy has invested more than US$100 million (€75 million) at the site since 9/11 to strengthen security, and its security programme meets all NRC performance review and inspection criteria. ●
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