NEWS |
round up
PLANT OPERATION THE FIRST OUTAGE of the 1,600 MWe EPR at unit 3 of Finland’s Olkiluoto NPP (OL3) will be extended by a week. Initially the outage was supposed to end on 8 April, but owner operator Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) says the outage will now be completed by 15 April. The shutdown of the unit and preparation for the fuel unloading have taken more time than planned, TVO noted.
DIGITAL & SOFTWARE THE LAUNCH OF Atomic Canyon along with Neutron, a custom-built AI search platform for the nuclear energy sector, has been announced by CEO and Founder Trey Lauderdale. The platform was trained on millions of pages of documents from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and “marks a pivotal step in advanced AI (artificial intelligence) search capabilities”.
US-BASED TALEN Energy Corporation has sold its Cumulus data centre campus in Pennsylvania to Amazon subsidiary Amazon Web Services for $650m. This includes a long-term agreement to provide power from Talen’s Susquehanna NPP. The 2,500 MWe adjacent Susquehanna Steam Electric Station currently supplies power to the data centre.
POLICY THE US DEPARTMENT of Energy (DOE) released its Fiscal Year 2025 budget request, which includes nearly $1.59bn for the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE). This includes $694.2m in research and development activities “that will help advance important reactor and fuel technologies, address gaps in the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain, and harness the latest AI and machine learning tools”.
FRANCE’S MINISTER FOR the Economy, Finance, Industrial & Digital Sovereignty, Bruno Le Maire announced, during a visit to the Orano La Hague site that France intended to continue its treatment- recycling strategy for used nuclear fuel beyond 2040. In France, 10% of nuclear electricity is generated by recycling reusable materials in the form of mox. This rate can increase to 25% and to almost 40% with multi-recycling of mox
REFLECTING A GROWING interest in nuclear-powered shipping, the Nuclear Energy Maritime Organisation (NEMO) has been set up with its headquarters in London. NEMO will work with the International Maritime Organisation and the International Atomic Energy Agency to establish global standards and regulations for the deployment, operation and decommissioning of nuclear power in the maritime environment
Barakah unit 4 launched
The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) has announced that its operating and maintenance subsidiary, Nawah Energy Company, has successfully launched the reactor of unit 4 of the Barakah NPP in the Al Dhafra Region of Abu Dhabi. This marks its initial production of heat through nuclear fission. In the coming weeks, Unit 4 will be linked to the national electricity grid and will gradually increase its power output to full capacity. Barakah is the first multi-unit operational
nuclear plant in the Arab world, with the operational teams starting up a unit every year since 2020. Construction of the Barakah NPP began in 2011. Korea Electric Power Company (Kepco) led the consortium that is building the plant comprising four APR1400 reactors. Unit 1 was connected to the grid in 2020, followed by unit 2 in 2021. Unit 1 began commercial operation in April 2021 and unit 2 in March 2022 and unit 3 was connected to the grid in October 2022. Once all four units are operating at full power, they will contribute up to 25% of the UAE’s National Determined Contributions to Net Zero and be the largest source of dispatchable clean electricity. Enec said each unit was started up
more efficiently than the previous one, as institutional knowledge and experience were applied to each subsequent unit. Unit 3 was delivered four months faster than the unit 2 schedule, and five months faster than the unit 1 schedule, demonstrating the significant benefit of building multiple units within a phased timeline. Enec Managing Director & CEO Mohamed Al Hammadi said the start-up of Barakah 4 is
Kenya Strategic nuclear plan revealed Kenya has launched a strategic plan and roadmap for nuclear power development. Alex Wachira, Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Energy & Petroleum, told journalists that the plan provides guidelines for developing the infrastructure to safely construct, operate, maintain and decommission nuclear facilities. “The strategic plan proposes practical interventions to ensure Kenya commences construction of its first nuclear power plant in 2027 and commissions it in 2034,” he said. Justus Wabuyabo, CEO of the state-owned
Nuclear Power & Energy Agency (NuPEA) said that the strategy will ensure Kenya complies with international nuclear conventions. Already, two possible NPP sites have been identified in Kilifi and Kwale counties and technical and feasibility studies have been conducted. The government is currently training
8 | April 2024 |
www.neimagazine.com
a significant achievement “as we now enter into a new era to deliver the full promise of the Barakah Plant”. He added: “In the past five years, the UAE has added more clean electricity per capita than any other nation globally, with 75% coming solely from the Barakah Plant, demonstrating how pivotal nuclear energy is in decarbonising the country’s power sector. The knowledge and expertise of our local teams positions us well ahead of the curve, setting the nation on a pioneering course towards sustainable economic and environmental prosperity. Our journey reflects a bold vision, coupled with rigorous standards of quality and safety, to effectively deploy civil nuclear energy as a proven, viable solution for tackling energy security and climate change.” Based on the knowledge gained from developing Barakah, Enec aims to expand the UAE’s nuclear sector by advancing research and development and adopting the latest technologies. This includes small modular reactors and advanced reactors to generate clean electrons and molecules, as well as providing process heat for various industries. Enec says it is working with local and international stakeholders to identify technology and project collaboration opportunities to progress deployment. Meanwhile, the UAE Federal Authority
for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) has officially launched the Emirates Nuclear & Radiation Academy (ENRA). ENRA is a digital platform offering training and development programmes that enables meeting the current and future manpower needs in the nuclear and radiation sector in the UAE. ■
Kenyans in nuclear-related courses both locally and abroad. The 2023-2027 plan launched by NuPEA will
also see an enhanced understanding, social acceptance, and support for the nuclear power and research reactor programmes as well as increased stakeholder support and participation in energy research. NuPEA Board Chair Ezra Odhiambo called on all stakeholders to support the full implementation of the strategic plan. He said in developing the framework, they engaged all relevant stakeholders including the public. Wabuyabo said Kenya has signed memoranda of understanding with various countries including the US, South Korea and China on implementation of its plan. The project for a 1,000 MWe plant is estimated to cost KES500bn ($3.6bn). The tendering process for the project is set for 2027. Kenya became an IAEA member in 1965. It began considering nuclear power in 2010.
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 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57
