NEWS |
round up
SAFETY AND SECURITY US XCEL ENERGY says workers have repaired the leak at the Monticello NPP, which will resume power production shortly. The company temporarily shut down the plant, after monitoring equipment detected a second lead of radioactive tritium in groundwater. A short-term repair failed to fix an earlier, larger leak last November.
COMPANY NEWS A JOINT SPECIAL purpose vehicle, PGE set up by Polish public company ZE PAK – both Treasury owned - to implement the central Poland comprising comprise two APR1400 reactors supplied by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.
ADVANCED REACTORS PACIFICORP, OWNER OF the Wyoming coal plant selected in 2021 as the future site for TerraPower’s Natrium reactor project, is considering the possible addition of two more Natrium units to the company’s generation resource mix by 2033, according to its 2023 Integrated
US-BASED X-Energy Reactor has joined forces with Kinectrics to design, construct and operate a commercial-scale helium to test and verify the performance of critical structures, systems and components of X-Energy’s Xe-100 advanced small modular reactor in helium-based high-temperature and high-pressure environments.
THE US SENATE Energy & Public Works Committee has introduced new legislation based on bipartisan support for advanced nuclear reactor developments, including expanding levels of interagency and international cooperation in advanced nuclear, with many provisions of the bill directed at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
SMRs
US-BASED ULTRA agreement with Polish chemical company Grupa Azoty Police and the West parties will prepare a comprehensive research programme and will jointly develop a plan for the construction, operation and maintenance of a nuclear Micro-Modular Reactor technology.
Japan
Fukushima evacuation part lifted The nuclear evacuation order has been lifted for three designated special reconstruction base districts in the Fukushima Prefecture town of Namie. Evacuees from the Tsushima, Murohara and Suenomori districts in the town, northeastern Japan, are now allowed to live in their home districts for the first time in 12 years. The districts cover a total of 6.61 square kilometers, or 3% of the entire town. However, some 80% of the town remains in the difficult-to-return zone, comprising more than 10% of the town, where entry is heavily restricted as radiation levels still remain high following the 2011 reactor meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings’ Fukushima Daiichi NPP. At the time of the accident at the NPP, about 4,000 people, or more than 20% of the town’s population, lived in the area. As of January, 897 residents in 329 households
were registered in the areas that will see evacuation orders lifted. The aim is to increase this to 1,600 in five years. In Tomioka, 2,580 people in 1,143 households were registered as residents in affected areas as of 1 March . The order was lifted in a roughly 3.9-square- kilometre area designated as a reconstruction base, covering mainly the Yonomori district. This has increased the habitable area of Tomioka to about 93% of its total area, up from some 88% following the earlier lifting of some evacuation orders in 2017. The Yonomori district is famous for its 2.2km-long road lined with some 400 cherry trees, which attracts many tourists in the spring. At a ceremony in Murohara, Namie Mayor Eiko Yoshida said: “Work is progressing to build infrastructure essential to daily lives in the special reconstruction areas in order to facilitate the return home of local residents.”
South Korea NPP export plans stall The US government has rejected Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power’s (KHNP’s) report on the tender for a nuclear power plant project in the Czech Republic. This has increased concerns that Korea’s plans to boost its nuclear reactor exports may continue to be stalled by ongoing litigation with Westinghouse Electric Company. The documents, which were submitted to the
US District Court in Washington, showed that KHNP had submitted the relevant paperwork to the Department of Energy (DOE) in December in compliance with the US Code of Federal Regulations. This requires DOE approval, or a prior report to the DOE, in order to transfer certain nuclear power technologies. According to the Code, companies planning
to export NPPs to the Czech Republic only need to report the activity within 30 days of the beginning of related operations. Having taken the necessary steps, KHNP said it should have been given the right to export its NPPs to the Czech Republic. However, ongoing litigation with Westinghouse is complicating the situation.
12 | May 2023 |
www.neimagazine.com In January, DOE said in a letter to KHNP that
the report to DOE must be submitted by “US Persons”, namely Westinghouse, which earlier filed a lawsuit with a US federal court against KHNP and Kepco. Westinghouse in October 2022 alleged that Korea’s APR1400 reactors were copied from the System 80 reactor designed by Combustion Engineering, which was acquired by Westinghouse in 2000. The litigation was a move by Westinghouse to stop the Korean companies from selling reactors to Poland, which was then evaluating offers from Westinghouse, KHNP and France’s EDF. Although Westinghouse won that tender from state-owned Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe for its AP1000 technology, Korea subsequently signed an agreement with private companies ZE PAK and PGE (Polska Grupa Energetyczna) to supply its APR1400 reactors at another site. Westinghouse insists that the Korean
companies are using its technologies and so they need to obtain the approval of the US government before exporting to a third country. Westinghouse is also asking the court to block KHNP’s potential deal with Saudi Arabia. Korea, on the other hand, claims that while
early development of its reactor technology was supported by Westinghouse, the current models it is seeking to export were developed using its own technologies and are not subject to US restrictions. KHNP says the company has developed original reactor technology over the past 30 years and now owns the intellectual property rights to its nuclear power plant technology. For the time being, the legal wrangling continues.
China Fangchenggang 3 begins ops Unit 3 of China’s Fangchenggang NPP in the southern Guangxi Autonomous Region has begun commercial operation. China General (CGN) said reactor had completed a 168-hour trial test run “officially meeting the conditions for commercial operation”. Fangchenggang 3 achieved first criticality
in December 2022 and was connected to the grid in January. The 1,180 MWe pressurised water reactor (PWR) is the first of two Hualong One (HPR1000) demonstration reactors under construction at the site. First concrete for the nuclear island of Fangchenggang 3 was poured in December 2015, and for unit 4 a year later. Unit 3 was originally expected to be launched in 2019 and unit 4 in 2020 but both were subsequently postponed until 2022 due to delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Fangchenggang is 39% owned by Guangxi
Investment Group and 61% by CGN. The is planned to house six 1000 MWe reactors. The first phase comprises two CPR-1000 units which were put into commercial operation in 2016. CGN said the plant is expected to have an annual power generation of over 34.5 TWh after both phases are put into operation. Two additional Hualong One reactors are planned (units 5&6), originally expected to be Westinghouse AP1000.
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