NEWS |
round up
USED FUEL RESEARCH IS NOW underway to develop new technologies for a reprocessing facility being built at the Russia’s Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC) in Seversk under the Breakthrough (Proryv) project intended to demonstrate closed fuel cycle technology. ODEK includes a module for fabrication and refabrication of mixed nitride uranium fuel, a 300 MWe Brest-300 lead-cooled fast reactor, and a module for reprocessing and recycling irradiated fuel.
D&D US NORTHSTAR GROUP Services has finalised an agreement to accept ownership of the Vallecitos Nuclear Center, in Sunol, California from GE Vernova and GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas (GEH) for nuclear
decontamination, decommissioning, and environmental site restoration. The deal, announced in May 2023, followed Nuclear Regulatory Commission approvals,
ADVANCED REACTORS NUCLEAR START-UP newcleo has acquired a French site in Chusclan (Gard) to build FASTER (Fuel process Assembly Storage Training and Enhanced Reality), an R&D innovation and training centre. It has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Italy-based iron and steel company Danieli & C Officine Meccaniche. Newcleo is developing a LFR-AS-200 small modular lead-cooled fast reactor, which is currently in the conceptual design stage
TERRAPOWER AND SOUTH Korea’s HD Hyundai have begun a strategic collaboration to develop the global manufacturing supply chain for Natrium reactor components. Terrapower’s Natrium technology features a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system.
RESEARCHERS AT THE US Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have demonstrated a new method to track chemical changes in molten salt in real time. The details, recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, will help pave the way for development of new sensing technologies for MSRs.
AFTER FIVE YEARS of research, scientists at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) believe they have created the perfect recipe to fuel the world’s first fast- spectrum molten salt reactor. The Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE) at INL aims to evaluate the safety and physics of a molten chloride fast reactor (MCFR) that Southern Company and TerraPower plan to build.
India
Bharat SMR design complete The “concept design” stage of India’s planned Bharat Small Modular Reactor (BSMR) has been completed and is in the process of being approved, Union Minister of State for Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha (parliament). Once the project is sanctioned, it will take 60-72 months to be constructed. BSMRs are modified versions of India’s
existing 200 MWe pressurised heavy water reactor (PWHR). They will be fuelled with “slightly enriched uranium” and are being jointly developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL). Manufacturing and delivery of equipment
and components developed by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) will be undertaken by various indigenous nuclear vendors. “Critical items”, such as low alloy steel forgings required for manufacturing the reactor pressure vessel and reactivity control drive mechanisms, will be procured by domestic private vendors. BSMRs will be used by energy intensive industries and can supply electricity in remote areas. They can be installed by repurposing decommissioned thermal power plants. The BSMR reactor will have passive safety features as well as several engineered safety systems. In addition, systems are planned to handle used fuel and its storage in-situ, Dr Singh said in a written response to parliament. In her July 2024 budget speech, Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government would partner with the private sector to set up Bharat Small Reactors (BSRs), research & development of BSMRs, and research & development of newer nuclear technologies. The 2025 budget includes an allocation of INR200bn ($2.5bn) for the design and deployment of SMRs. BSRs are smaller (55 MWe) reactors in a
nascent stage of design and are intended for deployment in remote locations. The first two lead 55 MWe BSR units will be built at a DAE site by 2033, Dr Singh said. Earlier this year, NPCIL issued a Request for
Proposals from “visionary Indian industries” to finance and build a proposed fleet of 220 MWe BSMRs. Currently, India has 8 GWe of nuclear capacity, operated by NPCIL. The 2025 budget announced measures to promote private sector participation, and accelerate deployment of advanced technologies such as SMRs. Recently, state-run NTPC (formerly the
National Thermal Power Corporation), revealed plans to invest $62bn over the next two decades to construct 30 GWe of nuclear generation capacity. Private companies that have expressed interest in developing nuclear power include Naveen Jindal Group, which has launched a wholly-owned subsidiary, Jindal Nuclear Power, with plans to deploy up to 18 GW of nuclear. Tata Power Co is also looking for opportunities in the SMR space, following the government’s nuclear expansion plans.
10 | April 2025 |
www.neimagazine.com
United States Last Energy planning 30 reactors US-based start-up Last Energy has announced plans to build 30 microreactors in Haskell County, Texas, to serve American data centre customers. Since it was founded in 2019, the company had raised capital totalling $64m by late 2024. The company is developing a 20 MWe modular microreactor, the PWR-20, designed to be fabricated, transported, and assembled within 24 months, and is sized to serve private industrial customers. Last Energy says it will own and operate the plant on the customer’s site, “bypassing the decade-long development timelines of electric transmission grid upgrade requirements”. The company has obtained site control in
Texas and will supply power to offtakers via a mix of private wires and grid transmission. The company has already filed for a grid connection with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and is preparing to file for an Early Site Permit with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Last Energy is a founding member of the
Texas Nuclear Alliance, which aims to accelerate nuclear deployment across the state. Texas is currently home to over 340 data centres which consume nearly 8 GW of power and make up 9% of all Texas electricity demand. In the Dallas-Fort Worth region alone, data centres are expected to drive 43 GWe of demand. Last Energy previously built two full-scale
prototypes in Texas with local manufacturing partners. The company is also exploring projects in Utah and has secured its first full core load of fuel, scheduled to arrive in September 2026. In the UK, Last Energy has entered the Office
for Nuclear Regulation site licensing process for plans to develop four 20 MWe microreactors in South Wales.
Russian Federation Site prep to begin for BN-1200M Following a high-level meeting at Russia’s Beloyarsk NPP, site preparation for the construction of unit 5 with a BN-1200M reactor will begin in the summer. Engineering surveys are already under way. The BN-1200M will be the world’s first 1,200 MWe sodium-cooled fast neutron power unit. Beloyarsk NPP already hosts the 600 MWe (unit 3) and 800 MWe (unit 4) sodium-cooled fast reactors, which began operation in 1980 and 2015. Atomstroyexport (part of Rosatom) plans
to begin the first work of the preparatory earthworks by the end of summer 2025. Contractors will need to remove more than 1.5m cubic metres of waste from the site, which was formed during the construction of the previous units. Specialists will also carry out logging and begin the construction of temporary buildings and structures. Atomstroyexport is now conducting market
research on the availability of technology and specialised organisations that will be able to perform the necessary work.
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