NEWS |
round up
COMPANY NEWS US-BASED NUSCALE says it is laying off 28% of its workforce following cancellation of its project with Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) to build six SMRs at the Idaho National Laboratory. NuScale said it is taking steps to transition from R&D to commercialisation and aims to focus resources in key strategic to strengthen its position going forward. These actions “are projected to result in approximately $50-60m in annualised savings”.
NUCLEAR FUEL US-BASED NAC International has received approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for its patented OPTIMUS-L packaging and transport system for High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) TRISO (TRI-structural ISOtropic) particle fuel, which will be used in advanced reactors.
USED FUEL MOLTEX ENERGY CANADA has been granted a patent in Canada for its used nuclear fuel recycling process. The patent covers Moltex’s process for converting any uranium oxide fuel into molten salt reactor fuel, known as WAste To Stable Salt (WATSS). Using this process, used fuel is converted into several parts. Transuranics along with some uranium and fission products are extracted into a salt.
INDIAN PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi has dedicated to the nation the Demonstration Fast Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Plant (DFRP) at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam. The DFPR built at a cost of about INR4bn ($48m) is the world’s only industrial-scale plant capable of handling both carbide and oxide used fuels from fast reactors.
UKRAINIAN NUCLEAR UTILITY Energoatom said it has begun transporting used nuclear fuel from its operating reactors to the newly built and commissioned Holtec-engineered Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility known as a Consolidated Interim Storage Facility in the US. Equipment includes the HI-STORM 190 vertical ventilated storage system, the HI-STAR 190 Universal Transport Cask, the HI-TRAC 190 Transfer Cask, and an array of ancillary equipment to load, dehydrate, and weld the double wall Multiple Purpose Canisters at each operating plant site.
Europe
Rosatom prepares ITER wall Specialists at Russia’s DV Efremov Institute of Electrophysical Apparatus (NIIEFA, part of Rosatom) in St Petersburg have completed acceptance tests of the full-scale prototype panel for the first wall of the vacuum chamber of ITER, under construction at Cadarache in France. The last stage was measurement of the geometric parameters of the prototype. The supply agreement, signed with the ITER
Organisation is for the manufacture and supply of 179 panels. To verify the designs and their manufacturing technologies ready for start of serial production, a phased approach was taken from experiments on small samples to the manufacture and testing of a full-scale prototype. “The next step will be to obtain permission to start mass production, this will require the preparation and approval of a large volume of documents,” said Deputy General Director for Thermonuclear and Magnetic Technologies at NIIEFA, Rustam Enikeev. According to NIIEFA, the panels of the
first wall of the reactor are among the most important and technically complex components of ITER. Together with the diverter, they are in direct contact with the hot plasma. Each panel consists of 40 “fingers”. Each is a complex multi-layered construction of 16mm by 16mm beryllium cubes soldered onto copper- chromium-zirconium alloy, which is bonded to the steel base by diffusion welding. Each panel, weighing around 800kg, measures about 2x1.5x0.5 metres. The panels have different shapes. NIIEFA has developed 40 designs.
China Two new nuclear projects approved China’s State Council has approved two new nuclear power projects and called for intensified support for the innovation and development of the nuclear power industry. Approval has been granted for the Taipingling nuclear power project in Guangdong province, as well as the Jinqimen nuclear power project in Zhejiang province, according to an executive meeting of China’s Cabinet chaired by Premier Li Qiang. The meeting highlighted the importance of
the security of nuclear power, emphasising the need to adhere to the highest global safety standards while advancing project construction. Taipingling will eventually host six Hualong
One reactors. The construction of units 1&2 (Phase One) began in 2019 and 2020. The first unit is scheduled to start up in 2025. Once all six units are completed the annual generation will be about 50TWh, according to China General Nuclear (CGN). Jinqimen, in Fan’Ao Town, Xiangshan, Ningbo in Zhejiang is in the pre-construction stage. In June, the Ministry of Ecology & Environment accepted the environmental impact assessment document for units 1&2. Construction is expected to take 60 months, with 10 months between the two units. Unit 1 is expected to be put into operation by the end of 2028.
10 | February 2024 |
www.neimagazine.com
United Kingdom JET to be repurposed The Joint European Torus (JET) at the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA’s) Culham facility has performed its final experiments, marking the end of 40 years of groundbreaking science. JET delivered pulse number 105,842 on 18 December over four decades after it delivered its first pulse on 25 June 1983. UKAEA CEO, Professor Sir Ian Chapman, who was present for the final plasma experiment, said: “This is the final milestone in JET’s 40-year history. Those decades of research using JET by dedicated teams of scientists and engineers have played a critical role in accelerating the development of fusion energy.” According to UKAEA, JET’s final day of plasma
“continued to push scientific boundaries, firstly attempting an inverted plasma shape for the first time at Culham before deliberately aiming electrons at the inner wall to improve understanding of beam control and damage mechanisms”. JET, has achieved a number of landmarks over the years, holding the title of the largest reactor of its type in the world until Japan’s Torus-60 Super Advanced (JT-60SA) fusion device began operation in November. JET also achieved the world’s first controlled release of fusion energy and in 1997 set a record thermal power output of 16 MW. In 2022 JET doubled previous records by producing a total of 59 megajoules of heat energy from fusion over a five second period. JET will move on to the next phase of its
life cycle in early 2024 for repurposing and decommissioning, which will last until around 2040. However, even the decommissioning of JET will provide valuable information for the fusion community. “The decommissioning will look at analysing what has happened to the [reactor] materials and how they have changed,” said Fernanda Rimini, JET Senior Exploitation Manager.
Kazakhstan Kazakh-Chinese fuel qualification National Atomic Company Kazatomprom has announced that the Kazakhstan-China joint venture, Ulba-TVS LLP, which produces fuel for Chinese NPPs has completed the qualification process for the production of AFA 3G type A fuel assemblies. Technology holder France’s Framatome has confirmed the announcement. Work on the certification began in March 2023 and took place in four stages. The qualification allows the plant to produce
AFA 3G type A fuel assemblies, in addition to AFA 3G AA fuel assemblies they already supply to China, thereby expanding the product line, the company added, noting that it plans to commission industrial production of AFA 3G type A fuel assemblies and supply a batch to China in 2024. Ulba Metallurgical Plant (UMZ) with 51% and CGNPC Uranium Resources Company Limited (CGNPC-URC – part of China General Nuclear Power Group) with 49%.
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