NEWS |
round up
COMPANY NEWS ROLLS ROYCE GROUP has reached agreement with Qatar Investment Authority to invest £85 million ($112m) in Rolls-Royce SMR Limited. QIA will join Rolls-Royce Group, BNF Resources UK Ltd and Exelon Generation Ltd as shareholders, taking a 10% equity share.
EDF SUBSIDIARY CYCLIFE has acquired UK-based Aquila Nuclear Engineering from Calder Group for an undisclosed amount. Cyclife is the EDF subsidiary in charge of international dismantling and radwaste management.
NUSCALE POWER AND state-owned Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants LLP have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore deployment of NuScale small modular reactors in Kazakhstan.
NUCLEAR MEDICINE THE WORLD’S HIGHEST altitude Centre for Nuclear Technology Research and Development, under construction by Rosatom in El Alto, Bolivia, has completed testing of its radiopharmaceuticals production line.
US SECRETARY OF Energy Jennifer Granholm and US Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra have jointly certified that there is now enough worldwide supply of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 made without using highly enriched uranium to meet the needs of patients in the USA.
FRAMATOME AND EXELON Generation have signed of a memorandum of understanding to develop solutions to produce cobalt-60 in pressurised water reactors operated by Exelon.
FUSION MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES (MHI) has been awarded a first contract from Japan’s National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology for manufacture of six units of divertor outer vertical target additional components for ITER.
A PROTOTYPE OF the central assembly of the divertor for ITER has delivered to the construction site in France. The full-scale prototype was manufactured at Russia’s DV Efremov Scientific Research Institute of Electrophysical Apparatus.
R&B SWITCHGEAR GROUP, has been appointed to deliver a project with the UKAEA to design and build a fully bespoke switchboard solution to replace 30 obsolete power distribution systems at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy.
V (with a two-year window either side). However, both units were taken offline in 2018 after new cracks in their graphite cores were identified during routine inspections. The UK Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) approved short-term restart of B2 in August 2020 and B1 in September 2020. The Scottish government has long been opposed to building new nuclear power stations. Nuclear energy will still be generated in Scotland at the newer Torness power station in East Lothian. However, in December, EDF Energy announced that Torness would close two years earlier than the planned date of 2028 because of similar problems with graphite cracks. A Scottish government spokesperson
confirmed its opposition to the building of new nuclear plants in Scotland. “Significant growth in renewables, storage, hydrogen and carbon capture provide the best pathway to net zero by 2045, and will deliver the decarbonisation we need to see across industry, heat and transport. We recognise that planning will be crucial to ensure that economic and social opportunities from the transition are not missed.” Hunterston B will now begin a three-year
process of removing the used fuel, which will be sent to Sellafield for reprocessing. During defuelling, 125 of the 480 employees will either retire or be redeployed to other sites. The site will be transferred to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority so that its Magnox subsidiary can continue with dismantling. Hunterston A comprised two 180MWe Magnox
reactors which shut down in December 1989 and March 1990, after operating since 1964.
Belgium Belgium to phase out nuclear by 2025 Belgium’s government said in December that it expected to close all its nuclear reactors by 2025 but it would continue to invest in future technologies, in particular small modular reactors (SMRs). The statement followed weeks of debate within the governing seven-party coalition of liberals, socialists and Greens from Flemish and French-speaking parts of the country as well as the Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V). Belgium has seven PWRs: three at Tihange
near Liege and four at Doel near Antwerp. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Liberal)
and Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten (Greens), developed the agreement following intense discussions. De Croo said the agreement was concluded “with an open look to innovation” and the desire to develop expertise. De Croo said the first objective of the
agreement would be to ensure security of energy supply. The agreement allows for two new gas-fired plants to make up the power shortfall, although the government will revisit the plan in March over possible permit issues. De Croo said it was possible the newer reactors could be extended as a safety net but added this was “very unlikely”.
10 | February 2022 |
www.neimagazine.com Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten said
research would focus on sustainable, flexible, and carbon-neutral energy sources. “We already have a lot of expertise in this area in our country. We must now use this expertise so as not to miss the boat. Being early always pays off,” he said. Funding of €100 million ($113m) over four
years has been promised for research on SMRs. A new energy law is planned for this purpose, the objective of which remains carbon neutrality in 2050.
Hungary New head for Hungary’s nuclear regulator Hungary’s President Viktor Orban on 1 January formally appointed Andrea Beatrix Kádár as the new head of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Agency (HAEA). The appointment will run until the end of 2030. The Hungarian Parliament on 9 November
adopted an amendment to the Atomic Energy Act, by 133 votes to 55. HAEA said the change will make it more independent financially and organisationally, while keeping its regulatory independence, “which will provide the framework for efficient work even with the expanding tasks”. The President of HAEA will report directly to Parliament and its regulatory responsibility will be increased. It is independent of the government and can issue decrees and impose fines on the institutions under its supervision. Kádár can only be replaced following a court
conviction or failure to fulfil her duties over a long period of time. The biggest task facing HAEA is licensing of
the expansion of Paks nuclear power plant. HAEA has issued a partial pit excavation permit and the government, in negotiations with Russia, gave assurances that there would be no slippage in the project. It wants to put the two new reactors into production by 2029/30, and HAEA is expected to issue an application for a permit in 2022. ■
Clarification An article on the 70th anniversary of Atomic Energy Canada Ltd (AECL: the company that launched a nuclear nation, NEI December 2021, pp19-22) referenced the development of the NPD plant and the organisations involved. It correctly noted the development was a partnership between AECL and Ontario Hydro. It also referenced collaboration with General Electric and the US Atomic Energy Commission. It should have stated the plant was built by Canadian General Electric. While AECL did work collaboratively with the US AEC as it considered design elements, US AEC was not a project partner. ■
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