NEWS |
round up
NEW BUILD ELECTRICITY GENERATION AT Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 EPR has again been postponed to the end of February following an unplanned reactor shutdown that occurred in January. Regular electricity generation is now expected in July 2022.
SLOVAKIA’S MOCHOVCE 3 has moved a step closer to trial operation after the Nuclear Regulatory Authority published a draft second-instance decision in which it rejected the objections of the Austrian organisation Global 2000.
RUSSIA HAS ANNOUNCED plans to complete the construction of the fifth power unit with a BN-1200M fast reactor at the Beloyarsk plant by 2035.
BRAZIL’S MINISTRY OF Mines and Energy (MME) has signed a cooperation agreement with the Electric Energy Research linked to Eletrobras, to study sites for new nuclear power plants.
ROSATOM SAID THE Egyptian Nuclear Power Plant Authority had handed over to the Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority ahead of schedule the documents required to obtain a permit for the construction of El Dabaa 3&4.
EDF HAS “ADJUSTED the schedule for the Flamanville 3 project, taking into account the state of progress of the operations and the preparation for start-up in an industrial context made more difficult by the pandemic”. The fuel loading date has been rescheduled from the end of 2022 to the 2nd quarter of 2023.
A BILL REMOVING the ban on construction of new nuclear power plants in the US state of West Virginia has been approved by both the Senate and the House of Delegates. It will now go to the state’s governor for signature. The ban has been in place since 1996.
OPERATION THE HIGH FLUX reactor (HFR) operated by NRG at Petten in the Netherlands is still undergoing investigation following discovery in January of a technical defect had been found in a cooling system.
STARTUP OF FANGCHENGGANG 3&4 in Guangxi Autonomous Region has been postponed, China General Nuclear (CGN) announced. Unit 3 will still start up this year but later than previously planned and unit 4 will start up in 2024. Both units are HPR1000s.
part of EU taxonomy Nuclear and gas
The European Commission (EC) has approved in principle a Complementary Climate Delegated Act including, under strict conditions, specific nuclear and gas energy activities in the list of economic activities covered by the European Union (EU) taxonomy. “The criteria for the specific gas and
nuclear activities are in line with EU climate and environmental objectives and will help accelerating the shift from solid or liquid fossil fuels, including coal, towards a climate-neutral future,” the EC said. The Complementary Delegated Act (CDA)
comes after consultations with expert groups and feedback from the European Parliament. The European Parliament and the Council will have four months to scrutinise the document, and, should they find it necessary to object to it. Both institutions may request an additional two months. The Council will have the right to object to it
by reinforced qualified majority, which means that at least 72% of member states (at least 20 member states) representing at least 65% of the EU population are needed to object to the Delegated Act. The European Parliament can object by most of its members voting against in plenary (at least 353 MEPs). “Once the scrutiny period is over and if neither of the co-legislators objects, the Complementary Delegated Act will enter into force and apply as of 1 January 2023.” The Act comprises 20 articles which
detail how nuclear and gas can qualify to be considered part of the taxonomy and explains limitations on their inclusion. Among other things, it says that technical screening criteria for nuclear energy related economic activities should ensure that no significant harm is done to other environmental objectives due to potential risks arising from the long-term storage and final disposal of nuclear waste. It notes that accident-tolerant fuel has
become available in the market and that “the use of that type of fuel should be set out as a requirement in the technical screening criteria.” It says that, although Generation IV reactors are not yet commercially viable, technical screening criteria should be laid down for such reactors “in light of their potential contribution to the objective of decarbonisation and minimisation of radioactive waste”. The CDA notes that, in view of the long lead
times for investments in new nuclear generation capacity, extending the service time of selected existing nuclear installations can support the decarbonisation of the energy system in the near to medium term. The technical screening criteria for such extensions should, however, require modifications and safety upgrades to
4 | March 2022 |
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ensure that those nuclear installations comply with the highest achievable safety standards. The technical screening criteria related to
climate change mitigation or climate change adaptation objectives should ensure that economic activities do not cause significant harm to any of the other environmental objectives. “Specifically for nuclear energy related economic activities, it is necessary to ensure that the long-term disposal of waste does not cause significant and long-term harm to the environment…. It is therefore appropriate to set out in the technical screening criteria specific requirements for a radioactive waste management fund and a nuclear decommissioning fund, which can be combined, in line with the principle that waste generators should be responsible for the cost of managing it, and to require operational final disposal facilities for all radioactive waste, which should prevent any export of radioactive waste for disposal in third countries.” The CDA says non-financial and financial
undertakings must provide investors with a high degree of transparency concerning their investments for which technical screening criteria should be laid down. EU Financial Services Commissioner Mairead McGuinness emphasised that the EU Taxonomy is not an energy policy instrument and that member states remain fully responsible for deciding their own energy mix. It is a voluntary tool that neither mandates nor prohibits investments in the sectors it covers. Nuclear trade association Foratom welcomed
the EC’s decision but noted that some of the criteria put forward for nuclear will prove very challenging. “Any state in which a nuclear project is located must have operational final disposal facilities for low and intermediate waste and plans in place for an operational disposal facility for high level waste. As of 2025, existing and new build projects must also use Accident-Tolerant Fuel, certified and approved by the national regulator. These criteria will prove very challenging, even if we respect that the goal is to push for continuous improvement,” said Foratom director general Yves Desbazeille. “For example, Accident- Tolerant Fuels are still in the testing phase and will thus not be commercially available (nor certified and approved) by 2025 making it impossible for projects to meet these criteria.” World Nuclear Association said: “Nuclear
energy has been included in the taxonomy but only on a transitional basis, with expiry dates set for both existing reactors (2040) and new reactors (2045). The adopted CDA also sets criteria for eligibility that could limit the number of nuclear projects that qualify.” ■
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