NEWS |


round up


POLICY THE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY Agency’s (IEA’s) 2024 Ministerial Meeting and 50th Anniversary saw nuclear mentioned in one small paragraph of the 46-paragraph ministerial communique. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol noted: “For the first time, there was a full paragraph in the recognition of nuclear power to address energy security and climate change issues….It is clear that it is up to countries to pick nuclear or not – it is optional.”


THE UK’S NUCLEAR sector has launched Destination Nuclear, its first sector-wide initiative to attract and recruit people over the next two decades into the civil and defence nuclear workforce. It brings together Government, sector organisations and their supply chains, education institutions with the aim of attracting and recruiting more people into the industry to help fill critical skills gaps.


BRAZIL’S NUCLEAR UTILITY Eletronuclear and the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) held a meeting to discuss “issues of importance to the development of the sector”, CNEN said. Topics included “the need to increase cooperation between organisations to streamline and ensure the processes of extension of the useful life of Angra 1, which ends in December this year… and the continuity of the works of Angra 3”.


PUERTO RICO IS favourably positioned for the introduction of advanced micro and small modular reactors, according to the latest study by Puerto Rican-led not-for-profit organisation the Nuclear Alternative Project (NAP).The 52-page report, “Advanced Small Nuclear in Puerto Rico - Economic Study” said.


SAFETY & SECURITY TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER Co. Holdings (Tepco), owner-operator of Fukushima Daiichi NPP, has reported that contract workers identified a leak of radioactive water from a pipe connected to a caesium adsorption device. Tepco estimates that some 5.5 tonnes of water leaked from the pipe and may contain 22bn becquerels of radioactive materials, such as caesium and strontium.


JAPAN’S NUCLEAR REGULATION Authority is to review its evacuation guidelines after the earthquake in January that devastated the Noto Peninsula. The 7.6 magnitude quake damaged roads around the Shika NPP in Ishikawa Prefecture that would be used by local residents during an evacuation and also destroyed many buildings, leaving some areas inaccessible for more than a week.


GDA for AP300 SMR


Westinghouse Electric Company has formally submitted an application to the UK Department of Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) for approval to enter the General Design Assessment (GDA) process for its AP300 small modular reactor (SMR). The AP300 SMR design is based on


Westinghouse’s AP1000 technology, which has regulatory approval in the UK, US and China, as well as compliance with European Utility Requirements (EUR) standards for NPPs. The AP300 SMR was recently selected for the next phase of Great British Nuclear and selected by Community Nuclear Power (CNP), which seeks to build four units in Northeast England. Westinghouse says these projects will also leverage its 75-year history of nuclear fuel manufacturing operations in the UK at its facility in Springfields, Lancashire. “The UK regulators are already very familiar with the AP300 SMR’s underpinning technology,” said David Durham, Westinghouse Energy Systems President. Westinghouse’s AP300 SMR will utilise the AP1000 engineering, components and supply chain, enabling


Bulgaria Kozloduy 7&8 deal signed Bulgaria and the US have signed a formal agreement to collaborate on the construction of two new units at the Kozloduy NPP (7&8). According to Bulgarian Energy Minister Rumen


Radev, the cost of electricity generated by new units will be capped at €65/MWh ($70/MWh). The total cost of construction is estimated at €14bn though the end of March is the deadline for Westinghouse to submit an engineering report with an indicative price. Radev said the government views the


construction of the two units as a national endeavour, with state participation of 25-30% and financing secured through loans, partly backed by state guarantees. However, he was optimistic that total project cost could be reduced. He affirmed that arrangements have been made for fixed terms and prices. Earlier in February, Kozloduy NPP subsidiary,


Kozloduy NPP-Newbuild announced that five companies had expressed interest in building Kozloduy 7&8 under an EPC contract. The units are to have Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. Currently, Kozloduy NPP operates two Soviet- built VVER-1000 reactors (units 5&6). In January 2023, the Bulgarian Parliament by decided on the need to build two new reactors using AP1000 technology. In March KZNPP- NM and Westinghouse set up a joint working group to plan deployment and in June signed a FEED contract. According to the parliamentary schedule, the construction company must be selected by 30 April 2024 and will then join a consortium with Westinghouse.


8 | March 2024 | www.neimagazine.com


streamlined licensing and leveraging available technical skills. “Together, these factors provide confidence that the first operating unit will be available in the early 2030s, Westinghouse said.


The GDA process is carried out by two UK


regulators – the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency – to assess the safety, security, and environmental protection aspects of a nuclear power plant designs. It allows the regulators to assess the safety, security and environmental implications of new reactor designs, separately from applications to build them at specific sites. GDAs have previously been completed for the


EDF/AREVA UK EPR, the Westinghouse AP1000, the Hitachi-GE UK ABWR and the CGN/EDF/ GNI UK HPR1000 designs. A GDA assessment is currently ongoing for Rolls-Royce SMR Limited’s Small Modular Reactor design, and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy in January announced that its BWRX-300 SMR design is to enter the GDA process. DESNZ has asked ONR, the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales to begin a GDA for Holtec International’s SMR-300. ■


Russia Lead-cooled reactor testing launch Russia’s Siberian Chemical Plant (SCC part of Rosatom fuel company TVEL) is to begin testing a small-scale model of the steam generator for the planned lead-cooled fast reactor – the BR-1200 – in April 2026. This will be a more powerful version of the experimental Brest- OD-300, under construction at SCC as part of the pilot demonstration power complex (ODEK – Opitno Demonstratsionovo Energo-Kompleksa), to demonstrate closed fuel cycle technology. The lead circuit parameters in the BR-1200


test bench – a lead temperature 350-550oC, and nominal lead coolant consumption of 134 kg per second – will be specified during design. It is expected that construction will begin this year for completion in March 2026 and commissioning the following month. The technical design of the test bench


was developed by the NA Dollezhal Scientific Research & Design Institute of Power Engineering (NIKIET which earlier developed a model for the Brest-300. According to Rosatom, a technical proposal for a high-power reactor unit with lead coolant has been prepared. SCC has been responsible for implementing ODEK since 2011 which will also include a module for fabrication and refabrication of nuclear fuel (MFR) and a module for reprocessing irradiated fuel. The MFR is almost complete and planned for commissioning this year. Construction of the Brest-300 began in 2021 and the launch is planned for 2027-2029. Construction of the reprocessing unit is planned for 2025-2026 for commissioning in 2030.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45