NEWS |
round up
SMRs ESTONIAN PRIVATE COMPANY Fermi Energia has applied the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Communications to begin a state “spatial plan” for its planned 600 MWe small modular reactor (SMR). In July 2019, the company launched a feasibility study and in 2023, the company selected GE Hitachi’s SMR for potential deployment by the early 2030s.
THE TENNESSEE VALLEY Authority (TVA) has announced it is leading a bid for $800m in funding under the US Department of Energy’s Generation III+ Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Programme. The initiative includes a coalition of industry partners, utilities, and research organisations aiming to accelerate the development of advanced nuclear technology in the US.
NUCLEAR MEDICINCE UNITED KINGDOM NATIONAL Nuclear Laboratory (UKNNL) and Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) have received funding from UK Research & Innovation to support development of innovative approaches for new cancer treatments. The funding allows UKNNL and MDC to finalise the case to scale up the harvesting of precision nuclear medicines from the UK’s used nuclear material.
SHIPPING
US-BASED BECHTEL Plant Machinery Inc (BPMI), has been awarded a $175.6m contract modification from the US Navy for the production of naval nuclear propulsion components. The US Department of Defense said BPMI will perform work for the cost-plus-fixed-fee modification in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, and Schenectady, New York. The project should be completed by September 2033.
THE WORLD’S FIRST floating NPP, Russia’s Akademik Lomonosov, has has delivered its first billion kWh to the isolated Arctic network of the Chown- Bilibinsky energy station of Chukotka in Pevek since its inclusion in the network in December 2019. Akademik Lomonosov began commercial operation in May 2020.
FUSION UK INDUSTRIAL FUSION Solutions Ltd (UKIFS) has announced the shortlisted organisations competing to become Engineering Partner and Construction Partner for STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production), the UK’s programme to design and build a prototype fusion plant at West Burton in Nottinghamshire. The shortlisted companies will now enter detailed discussions with final partner selection in late 2025/early 2026.
Belgium Reactor phase out reversal Belgium’s new coalition government, formed after months of tough negotiations, has outlined plans to continue operating two of the country’s reactors for another 10 years, beyond the 10-year extension already agreed, and construct new reactors. This effectively reverses plans to phase out nuclear power. Belgium has seven nuclear power reactors
– three at Tihange near Liege and four at Doel near Antwerp. All seven units are pressurised water reactors operated by Electrabel, part of Engie. Apart from Doel 1&2, which are 430 MWe plants, the others have a capacity of approximately 1000 MWe. Doel 3 was permanently shut down in September 2022 followed by Tihange 2 in January 2023 after 40 years of operation. Nuclear power hads long been a contentious
issue in Belgium. After more than 20 years of debate, Belgium in 2020 decided to phase out nuclear power. However, in 2021, the authorities put forward two scenarios: plan A, to phase out nuclear power by 2025; and plan B to extend the life of two units for 10 years in the event of supply problems. Plan A was initially favoured but following
the conflict in Ukraine and resulting energy shortages plan B was adopted in March 2022
14 | February 2025 |
www.neimagazine.com RFEOI process allows us to engage
technologies developers to determine whether there is commercial interest in exploiting these innovative designs, which would help advance these important causes, while making the most of AECL’s Intellectual Property on behalf of Canadian taxpayers.” The Slowpoke family of reactors offer ‘safe
by physics’ characteristics of the design, which simplify operations and licensing, and allow unattended operation for up to 24 hours. Slowpoke reactors have been operated safely for approximately five decades in Canada and Jamaica, on university campuses and government installations, for applications that include neutron activation analysis, neutron radiography, and education. The success of small Slowpoke research
reactors has also motivated exploration of the potential for larger versions of the concept, which could be used for district heating. This initiative began with the Slowpoke Demonstration Reactor (SDR), a 2 MWt test reactor built at AECL’s Whiteshell Laboratories near Pinawa, Manitoba. The SDR first went critical in 1987. AECL’s Nuclear Battery concept was developed and advanced by AECL in the 1980s and 1990s. It is envisioned for electricity or industrial heat processes. A combination of design features that include accident-tolerant fuel, a passive cooling system, a large thermal reservoir, and negative temperature feedbacks makes the technology inherently safe. The Nuclear Battery is also appropriate for off-grid applications.
with a decision to extend the lives of Tihange 3 and Doel 4 until 2035. The two reactors, which have been in service since 1985, are 89.8% owned by Electrabel and 10.2% by EDF’s subsidiary Luminus. Federal and regional elections in 2024 saw
the so-called Arizona coalition of parties begin talks on forming a coalition government and eventually agreed on the key points that will set out the next government’s programme. “We are targeting a 4 GWe share of nuclear power in our electricity mix,” the agreement states. “The government is committed to ensuring the extension of existing capacity in the short term and in the longer term we are investing in building new capacity.” The government wants to change the nuclear
phase out law to facilitate the construction of new NPPs and also wants to look into the extension of Doel 1, Doel 2 and Tihange 1. These reactors are the oldest in the country and are already in the process of being decommissioned. In addition, the government wants to work
out a concrete plan to support the construction of the first small modular reactor (SMR) in Belgium. According to Energy Minister Mathieu Bihet the plan is to double the existing 4 GWe of nuclear capacity.
United States Oak Ridge restores waste processing The US Department of Energy (DOE) said the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and contractor UCOR have reestablished full production capacity at the Transuranic Waste Processing Centre (TWPC). The centre occupies 25 acres at the Oak Ridge
Reservation and has 38,000 square feet of waste processing buildings and support facilities. Since 2008, employees have completed more than 7,200 waste shipments from the centre to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. Following recent repairs, teams at the
facility are working full speed again as they process and repackage waste for shipment and permanent disposal at WIPP. Decades of defence-related research conducted primarily at Oak Ridge National Laboratory generated Oak Ridge’s transuranic material. A large, 900 lb waste-drum crusher at the centre had broken requiring teams to replace the equipment. When drums arrive at the centre for
processing, employees empty them to access, process and repackage the waste for shipment and disposal. Once emptied, the drums are reduced in size using the crusher. Its outage had presented multiple challenges. With the crusher out of commission, workers
had to wear protective suits and manually cut and reduce the size of the old drums. While this approach kept work moving forward, it also presented more risks, took more time and was more labour intensive. The equipment’s failure also impacted activities in the work area below the crusher. ■
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