NEWS |
round up
RADWASTE FOLLOWING A SERIES of high-level meetings in Minsk, the Belarus Ministry of Energy and Rosatom’s fuel company TVEL signed a number of agreements strengthening co-operation on radioactive waste management, the eventual decommissioning of Belarus NPPs and construction of a radioactive waste storage facilities.
FINLAND’S RADIOACTIVE WASTE management company, Posiva Oy has completed of the first two deposition holes at the used fuel disposal facility under construction at Onkalo. Posiva staff used a new DHBM boring machine to drill the holes, which are located at a depth of 430 metres in the deposition tunnel built for the Joint Functional Test.
A GROUND-BREAKING ceremony has been held at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN) in Mol for its Recumo facility. From 2026, SCK CEN will use the new facility to transform radioactive residues into low-enriched uranium and to purify them. The residues are from the production of medical radioisotopes at the Institut National des Radioéléments (IRE) in Fleurus.
D&D
RESEARCHERS AT FRANCE’S Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) have create a 3D image of the G2 reactor at Marcoule using muons. Such imaging will aid in dismantling the reactor, which is now undergoing decommissioning. The research has been published in the journal Science Advances.
V The government’s decision came after a
Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) statement of the lifetime extension in January. STUK stated that operations Loviisa 1&2 were safe until 2050. Fortum has also applied for a licence to use
the low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste final disposal repository located at the Loviisa site until 2090. This licence process is ongoing at the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Employment (MEAE) and the government may make a decision in the spring. Used fuel from the Loviisa plant will be disposed of at the Posiva nuclear final disposal repository, jointly owned by Fortum and Teollisuuden Voima (TVO). Loviisa was the first NPP in Finland and
has two Soviet-supplied VVER-440 units that began operation in 1977 and 1980. The operating licences for the units were renewed in 1998 and 2007. The current licences must be renewed by the end of 2027 and 2030. In 2018, the plant completed the largest modernisation programme in its history, which included the full renewal of the plant automation system.
United Kingdom Clean plasma demonstrated at JET Experiments at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA’s) Joint European Torus (JET) in Culham have managed to achieve “clean” plasma by creating a heat barrier. To withstand the intense heat produced during the fusion process, metals with a high melting point such as tungstenhave to be used in the tokamak’s inner walls. However, tungsten can contaminate and dilute the plasma. The impurities created can excessively cool the plasma by absorbing heat, which is then lost from the plasma in the form of light. This reduces power from fusion reactions. Scientists from EUROfusion and UKAEA have
found that by creating a particular type of “heat barrier” the tungsten contaminants are prevented from entering the core of plasma. This resembles a thin skin on the outside of the plasma, in the form of a large temperature drop of 20m degrees Celsius. This method
of maintaining “clean” plasma was just hypothetical before being demonstrated at JET. The method contributed to JET breaking the world-record in sustained fusion energy in 2022. The results will support work at ITER. Dr
Alberto Loarte, head of ITER’s Science Division said the results confirm a long-standing prediction that high-performance plasmas can shield themselves from tungsten impurities.
Poland Westinghouse pre-project deal State-owned Polish utility Polskie Elektrownie Nuclearowe (PEJ) has signed an agreement with US-based Westinghouse Electric Company to begin work that will lead up to Poland’s fi rst NPP. The contract covers front-end engineering, early procurement work and programme development. In September 2021, Poland announced plans
to build six large pressurised water reactors with a combined installed capacity of 6-9 GWe by 2040 to reduce its reliance on coal. The construction of the first NPP is expected to start in 2026 for commissioning in 2033. Subsequent units will be implemented every 2-3 years. The coastal towns of Lubiatowo and Kopalino in Poland’s Choczewo municipality in Pomerania province of have been short-listed as the preferred location for first plant. PEJ President Tomasz Stępień said: “Today
we are implementing this milestone, moving from the conceptual phase to the pre-project and preparatory phase. And this year we will sign the first contract for the design of the plant.” The agreement covers 10 main areas. These include developing a detailed investment implementation model; preparing a safety assessment; a quality control programme; and identifying potential suppliers, with an emphasis on Polish companies. The agreement will allow PEJ and Westinghouse to start pre- project work before the executive agreement is agreed. PEJ said it also provides for preparation of the principles for external financing, namely an initial estimate of its value. U
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10 | March 2023 |
www.neimagazine.com
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