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measures at the plant and to provide further advice as necessary. In 2014, Japan accepted the 2005 Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM), which establishes legal obligations regarding the physical protection of nuclear material used for peaceful purposes. The IAEA team assessed and observed physical protection measures against the amended CPPNM and relevant IAEA Nuclear Security Guidance documents. The team observed the facility management’s
commitment to improving nuclear security and identified continuous improvements in several areas of the physical protection system since 2018, when the IAEA conducted an International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) Follow-up Mission in Japan. Most of the improvements have been completed, and some requiring significant resources and time to complete were being implemented.
Canada Clean Core’s Canadian vendor design review Chicago-based Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) has completed Phase 1 of the pre- licensing Vendor Design Review (VDR) process with Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). No issues were identified by CNSC that could present a fundamental barrier to the licensing of Clean Core’s ANEEL fuel in Canada. The fuel is made of thorium and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), developed for use in pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) and Canada deuterium uranium (Candu) reactors. Clean Core says the fuel can offer significantly improved performance with existing proven heavy water reactor systems by leveraging thorium’s inherently superior nuclear, thermal and physical properties. It also retains the same external dimensions and configuration design as in currently used natural uranium (NU) fuel bundles. Clean Core, founded in 2017, has been
engaged with CNSC since 2022, including submissions across nine focus areas in the review, building a licensing basis and safety case for the fuel. Completion of Phase 1 pre-licensing represents “a major milestone for the company and nuclear industry as the first thorium-based fuel for Candu reactors to successfully complete this phase of the CNSC pre-licensing process for new fuel designs”. Clean Core has signed a Strategic Partnership
Project Agreement with the US Department of Energy (DOE) and has begun irradiation testing and qualification in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Labs (INL) aiming to achieve burnup targets of up to 60 GWd a tonne. As part of that agreement, INL has received
more than 300 ANEEL fuel pellets fabricated by Texas A&M University’s Department of Nuclear Engineering under INL’s quality assurance requirements. As each planned burn-up target is achieved, the test capsules containing irradiated ANEEL pellets will be sent to INL’s Materials & Fuels Complex for examination.
Turkiye Commissioning Akkuyu 1 begins Rosatom has begun commissioning at unit 1 of the Akkuyu NPP under construction in Turkiye. A delegation of Rosatom officials, led by Director General Alexey Likhachev, paid a working visit to the construction site to assess progress. “On the nuclear island work is going
according to plan,” said Likhachev. “This year, we will fully test all systems including the primary circuit, conduct hydraulic tests, and load fuel simulators directly into the reactor. We are doing our best to ensure that next year unit 1 of the Akkuyu NPP will become part of the energy system of the Republic of Turkey.” He added: “All our efforts and the work
of Turkish companies are focused on this. There are a great many of them here, and they demonstrate, of course, great professionalism and the same mobilisation.” This came a few weeks after some of the subcontractors at the plant took industrial action in face of delayed wage payments. Tension with subcontractors has periodically caused problems and delays at plant. Rosatom said Akkuyu NPP specialists had
completed hydraulic tests of the fuel holding pool, and were assembling a reloading machine that will be used for loading and unloading fuel from the reactor. The assembly of electric motors for the main circulation pumping units is well underway. A key task will be tightening the steel ropes of the prestressing system of the protective shell to ensure the strength and reliability of the reactor building. In parallel with the work on the main
facilities, auxiliary infrastructure is being commissioned at the site, and general station buildings are being constructed. The fresh fuel storage facility and the first stage of the training centre are operating normally, with four shifts of NPP operators already trained. The operational workshops are gradually being completed. The construction of water treatment facilities, steam supply systems, and heat utilities is being completed. Equipment is being installed at the unit 1 pumping station, and the main lifting mechanisms have been put into operation. Rosatom said commissioning works are the final stage at unit 1. Akkuyu, Turkiye’s first NPP, will eventually
host four VVER-1200 reactors. The pouring of first concrete for unit 1 took place in April 2018, for unit 2 in June 2020, for unit 3 in March 2021, and for unit 4 in July 2022. Rosatom is constructing the reactors according to a build- own-operate model. To date, the project is fully funded by the Russian side. However, Rosatom has the right to sell a share of up to 49% in the project to other investors. Under the terms of the Intergovernmental
Agreement between Russian and Turkiye, commissioning of unit 1 was scheduled to take place within seven years after receiving all necessary permits. As the construction licence for unit 1 was issued in 2018, commissioning is formally due by 2025.
round up
RADWASTE THE UK NUCLEAR Restoration Services (NRS) says 2,100 tonnes of solid radioactive waste have been retrieved and safely stored at the Hunterston A Magnox NPP in Scotland. This waste comprises contaminated metallic components, debris removed from used fuel elements and 30,000 fuel element graphite sleeves.
WORKERS AT THE US Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment & Immobilisation Plant have launched the second of two 300-tonne melters that has now reached the operating temperature of 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit as part of US Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste programme.
LITHUANIA’S STATE ENTERPRISE Ignalina NPP has developed a general concept for the construction of a geological disposal facility (GDF) the with assistance from Finnish waste management company Posiva Solutions Oy, a subsidiary of Posiva, under a one year contract signed in January 2022. Posiva has developed Finland’s GDF at Olkiluoto, which is expected to begin operations in the mid-2020s – the world’s first such facility.
SWITZERLAND’S NATIONAL Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) will establish two new subsidiaries to be responsible for the construction and operation of the planned deep geological repository (GDR) Nagra gTL AG) will be responsible for the GDR and Nagra BEVA AG for the associated encapsulation plants.
ADVANCED REACTORS SOUTH AFRICA’S KOYA Capital has signed a partnership with Stratek Global to assist in securing financing for construction of a high temperature modular reactor. The ZAR9bn ($480m) HTMR-100 is based on South Africa’s Pebble Bed Modular Reactor.
UK NUCLEAR TRADE association, the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) has applied for a justification decision for newcleo’s lead-cooled fast reactor design, the LFR-AS-200. The application makes the case that the benefits of clean, firm, flexible power from the LFR-AS-200 would far outweigh any potential risks.
THE NUCLEAR HEATING project based on China’s demonstration High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor-Pebble-bed Module (HTR-PM) at Shidaowan in Shandong province has been connected to the heating grid and put into operation. The HTR-PM features two 250 MWt reactors that drive a single 210 MWe steam turbine.
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