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SAFETY & SECURITY THE US DEPARTMENT of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration said Japan and the US had removed all highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s Japan Materials Testing Reactor Critical Assembly) two years ahead of schedule.
TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER Holdings (Tepco) plans to excavate a massive slope near the used fuel pool at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP to avert the danger of a landslide, according to Asahi Shimbun. The Nuclear Regulation Authority has requested Tepco to deal with the 24-metre- high slope comprising soft ground would present a risk in the event of an
earthquake.
EDF ENERGY SAID the International Atomic Energy Agency had published its review of Heysham 2 power station’s operational safety following a visit by an Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) to the station in 2023. The review team noted nine areas of good practice at Heysham 2 which can be replicated globally and provided eight recommendations for further improvement.
COMPANIES NUKEM TECHNOLOGIES ENGINEERING Services GmbH (NUKEM) has filed for insolvency under self-administration and is undergoing debtor-in-possession restructuring. Despite this measure, NUKEM says business will continue as normal. NUKEM Technologies GmbH is currently 100% owned by Russia’s ASE Group (Atomstroyexport – part of Rosatom).
THE EDF GROUP is reorganising its nuclear business to improve efficiency in preparation for planned government investment in the nuclear power sector. EDF said the new organisation of its nuclear business and of the Innovation, Corporate Responsibility & Strategy Directorate aimed at grouping expertise and skills into major specialisms.
NUCLEAR FUEL NETHERLANDS-BASED AMG Critical Materials has established a new company, NewMOX SAS in Grenoble, France, to service the nuclear fuel market. NewMOX is a subsidiary of ALD Vacuum Technologies based in Hanau, Germany. ALD’s MOX technology has been applied in Germany, the USA, France, Belgium, the UK and recently ALD has been delivering furnace systems to China.
Ukraine
Khmelnitsky construction begins Workers at Ukraine’s Khmelnitsky NPP have poured a symbolic cubic metre of concrete for two new reactors which are to use Westinghouse technology and fuel. Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that the plans were Ukraine’s most significant modernisation project since World War II. Also attending the ceremony was Petro Kotin, head of Ukrainian nuclear utility Energoatom. The two US-designed AP-1000 reactors
intended for units 5&6 will use Westinghouse technology while two new, Soviet-designed VVER-1000 units will be constructed at units 3&4 using Russian-made equipment imported from Bulgaria’s cancelled Belene project. Kotin said when all six reactors are operational, the Khmelnitsky NPP will become Europe’s largest plant. Units 1&2 at the plant are VVER-1000 reactors. Half of Ukraine’s energy is generated by
its NPPs. Ukraine operates seven VVER-1000 reactors, including three at South Ukraine NPP, as well as two at Rivne NPP and the two at Khmelnitsky. Rivne NPP also operates two VVER-440 reactors. Six VVER-1000 units at the Zaporizhia NPP have been under Russian control since early March 2022. While all Ukraine’s operating reactors are of Soviet design, they are currently using nuclear fuel from the US. “Westinghouse is our reliable strategic
partner: in the development and loading of alternative fuel into VVER reactors, in the creation of a fuel production line in Ukraine, and in the construction of new power units using Westinghouse AP1000 technology,” said Kotin.
US Ambassador Bridget Brink said: “These units at the Khmelnitsky NPP will be the first of nine using AP1000 technology, which are planned to be built in Ukraine together with Westinghouse.” Khmelnitsky’s first reactor was connected
to the grid in 1987, but work on three others stopped in 1990 when unit 3 was 75% complete. Work on the second reactor restarted and it was connected to the grid in 2004 but units 3&4 remain unfinished. Reactors currently stored at Bulgaria’s cancelled Belene NPP are expected to be used to complete these units. However, talks with Bulgaria are still ongoing. Halushchenko said earlier this year that unit 3 could begin operation in as little as two and a half years. However, no firm timeline has been established for any of the new reactors. Earlier it was reported that the two planned AP1000 reactors for units 5&6 would use reactors currently in storage in the US. Energoatom said in December 2023 that “quite favourable conditions were obtained for the supply of equipment, which is already manufactured and ready for delivery”. The equipment was manufactured for the VC Summer NPP. However, the project was cancelled in 2017.
10 | May 2024 |
www.neimagazine.com
Japan Kashiwazaki-Kariwa 7 fuel loading Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco) began loading 872 fuel assemblies into the reactor at unit 7 the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture after the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) granted approval. However, the timing of the restart remains uncertain. Once loading is complete, Tepco will confirm safety by a month of tests including the function of the control rods and emergency core cooling systems. Furthermore, it has been reported that Tepco suspended fuel loading just two days after it started because of an equipment problem. Tepco said in a statement that there were no safety-related issues. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa houses seven boiling
water reactors with a total gross electrical capacity of 8,212 MWe. It is located between Kashiwazaki City and Kariwa Village on the coast of the Sea of Japan. Although the plant was unaffected by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami all seven of the plant’s reactors had been offline for two to three years following the earlier 2007 Niigata-Chuetsu earthquake, which caused damage to the site. Work has since been carried out to improve
the plant’s earthquake resistance. Tepco applied for NRA approval of its design and construction plan for Kashiwazaki-Kariwa units 6&7 (1,356 MWe advanced boiling water reactors) in September 2013. NRA cleared safety screenings for the two units in 2017 but security breaches and delays in completing safety upgrades caused delays. The plant was found to be vulnerable to unauthorised entry at multiple locations because of defective intruder detection systems and backups, with security flaws discovered since January 2021. NRA had prohibited the transportation or loading of reactor fuel stored at the plant in April 2021 due to insufficient counterterrorism measures, ordering Tepco to take corrective action. In January, NRA confirmed that measures to
prevent the leakage of radioactive materials had been enhanced through an additional 4,268 hours of inspections. NRA made the decision based on an assumption that continued improvements can be expected at the plants in terms of both hardware and policy. In terms of policy, Tepco has established a Physical Protection Monitoring Office at the plant under the direct supervision of the company’s President Tomoaki Kobayakawa. Niigata Governor Hideyo Hanazumi has yet to
agree to restart the reactor. Hanazumi has said challenges remain concerning how to evacuate residents if an accident occurs. However, mayors in the two municipalities that host the facility support the proposed restart. Earlier in 2024, an International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts has completed a nuclear security mission at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa at Tepco’s request The purpose of the mission was to assess the enhancement of the physical protection
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