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round up
SAFETY AND SECURITY FINLAND’S TEOLLISUUDEN VOIMA (TVO) said several cases of signal failures in safety-classified temperature measurements had been detected the EPR reactor at unit 3 of the Olkiluoto NPP (OL3) in 2022-2023. In February, it was found that some connectors of temperature measurements were missing either one or both of the required seals.
THE AFRICAN COMMISSION on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE) has launched a five-year programme, which aims to strengthen nuclear material control measures in Africa. The programme is being implemented with expert support from Finland’s Radiation & Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK - Säteilyturvakeskus).
THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC Energy Agency (IAEA) has completed an advisory service mission (INSServ) to Georgia to assess the security regime for nuclear and other radioactive material out of regulatory control (MORC). The team said Georgia has made progress in the development of arrangements to detect and respond to criminal or intentional unauthorised acts involving MORC.
THE US NUCLEAR Regulatory Commission (NRC) has launched a special inspection at the Urenco USA (UUSA) uranium enrichment facility in Eunice, New Mexico. The inspection follows an April 2021 incident involving the operation of a crane near a building that handles uranium hexafluoride without the required safety controls present.
COMPANY NEWS US FUEL TECHNOLOGY company Lightbridge Corporation has joined two public-private nuclear power groups: the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) Consortium, and the US Department of Commerce International Trade Administration’s Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Working Group.
THE ANUSHAKTI VIDHYUT Nigam Limited, an atomic power joint venture (JV) between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is amending the terms of the agreement signed 13 years ago. NPCIL and NTPC have amended their agreement to a 50:50 partnership from the earlier arrangement in which the equity holding was 51% for NPCIL and 49% for NTPC.
Westinghouse launches AP300 SMR
Westinghouse President & CEO Patrick
Above: The AP300 from Westinghouse is based on its AP1000 design
Westinghouse has launched its AP300 small modular reactor (SMR), a 300 MWe single-loop pressurised water reactor, which is a scaled- down version of its AP1000. Westinghouse claims it is the only SMR “truly based on an Nth-of-a-kind operating plant” and describes it as a “game-changer”. It will utilise identical AP1000 technology,
to include major equipment, structural components, passive safety, proven fuel, and I&C systems. Westinghouse says the AP300 “will bring to bear a mature supply chain, constructability lessons learned, fast load- follow capabilities and proven O&M procedures and best practices from 18 reactor years of safe AP1000 operations.” The advanced passive safety system
“automatically achieves safe shutdown without operator action and eliminates the need for backup power and cooling supply”. This also directly translates into a simplified design, lower CAPEX and smaller footprint. Like the AP1000, the AP300 is designed to operate for an 80+ year life cycle. Westinghouse notes that the Gen III+
technology has regulatory approval in the US, the UK and China, as well as compliance with European Utility Requirements (EUR) standards for NPPs. “Design certification is anticipated by 2027, followed by site specific licensing and construction on the first unit toward the end of the decade.”
Egypt First concrete for El Dabaa 3 Russia’s Rosatom has poured first concrete for the foundation slab of unit 3 at Egypt’s El-Dabaa NPP, marking the formal start of construction. This followed the issue of a construction permit by the Egyptian Nuclear & Radiological Regulatory Authority (ENRRA). The Egyptian Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) applied to ENRRA for construction licences for units 3&4 in January 2022, six months after applying for licences for units 1&2.
8 | June 2023 |
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Fragman said it is “the only SMR offering available that is based on deployed, operating and advanced reactor technology”. He added: “It is using the DNA of the AP1000 in terms of technology.” It “has unique advantages in terms of robustness of the safety case, simplicity of the design, with huge implications in terms of costs and time to construct and obviously an ease of deployment because, with the AP1000 being already deployed, the AP300 SMR will leverage the existing supply chain, the existing design, the existing licensing pedigree”. Fragman described it as “no more and no less than an AP1000 with one loop instead of two loops”. This means it is reusing a majority of components, systems, equipment. “The fuel is identical, the constructability lessons are identical,” he said. Dr Rita Baranwal, currently Westinghouse
Chief Technology Officer, has been named as Senior Vice President in the Energy Systems business unit and will lead the team developing the AP300 SMR. Currently, the AP1000 is not licensed or
operating anywhere in Europe. In the USA, two AP1000 reactors are under construction at the Vogtle NPP (units 3&4) in Georgia. Unit 3 was finally connected to the grid in April and unit 4 is nearing completion. However, both are significantly delayed and overbudget. When construction began in 2009 they were expected to cost about $14bn and to enter service in 2016 and 2017. The cost has more than doubled. Two Westinghouse AP1000 units are in
operation at each of China’s Sanmen and Haiyang NPPs after some delays and two CAP1000 units, the Chinese version of the AP1000, are being built as the second phase at each station. The proposed construction of four CAP1000 reactors (units 1-4) at China’s Lufeng NPP was approved by the National Development & Reform Commission but has not yet received State Council approval. Plans to build further AP1000 units in China, however, have been dropped in favour of Chinese Hualong-One units. ■
NPPA Board Chairman Dr Amged El-Wakil
noted that several key project milestones were achieved in 2022, including the pouring of first concrete for units 1&2 and the delivery of a melt containment device for unit 1. “The work on the project is proceeding in accordance with the agreed time schedules,” he said. Alexander Korchagin, Senior Vice President
for NPP Construction Project Management at Rosatom’s JSC ASE said the project is gaining momentum. “For JSC ASE, construction of power units based on the VVER-1200 project
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