NEWS |
round up
POLICY THE SASKATCHEWAN AND Alberta governments have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to support collaboration in key areas of nuclear power generation. It supports both provinces achieving net zero by 2050. The MOU covered: nuclear supply chains and workforce development; security of supply of fuels; and development and regulation of nuclear technologies, including SMRs.
COMPANIES CPS ENERGY HAS entered into an agreement to acquire an additional 2% ownership of the South Texas Nuclear Project (STP) from US Constellation, bringing CPS Energy’s ownership of STP to 42%. Constellation’s ownership will be reduced to 42%, and Austin Energy’s ownership will remain at 16% following the transaction.
THE MAYOR OF Genkai in Japan’s Saga Prefecture, Shintaro Wakiyama, has agreed to the central government’s request to conduct a “literature review” for selection as a final disposal site for radioactive waste. A literature review is the first of three steps in the process that will take more than 20 years to select a suitable site.
US NAVARRO RESEARCH & Engineering, and Deep Isolation have entered into a strategic partnership to advance the safe disposal of high-level nuclear waste in deep geologic boreholes. Navarro and Deep Isolation will jointly develop strategies to demonstrate the feasibility of Deep Isolation’s solutions for disposal of high-level waste in the US and abroad.
AT THE IGNALINA NPP (INPP), the project Improving the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management at INPP, largely funded by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, has been completed. Through the project, a number of important tasks were resolved, including the development of concepts for a bituminous waste storage facility and a GDF, as well as advanced training of personnel.
US NORTHSTAR GROUP Services has agreed to accept transfer of ownership of the GEH Vallecitos Nuclear Centre, in California, from GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) for nuclear decontamination, decommissioning, and environmental site restoration. The deal should close after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves the transfer including licence transfer from GEH to NorthStar and all other conditions.
France
Flamanville EPR commissioning French nuclear regulator, Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN), has authorised the commissioning of the EPR reactor at unit 3 of the Flamanville NPP. The decision follows a public consultation held from 27th March to 17th April. ASN has issued technical requirements, including supervising the start-up tests, monitoring feedback from other EPR reactors worldwide, and specifying deadlines for replacing certain components. Construction of the 1,650 MWe Flamanville
3 reactor began in December 2007, with an initial target of commercial operation in 2013. However, the project has faced significant delays and cost overruns, with the latest estimate by EDF putting the total cost at €13.2bn ($14.2bn). EDF teams began loading 241 fuel assemblies
into the EPR reactor vessel just a day after ASN authorised its commissioning. Start-up, control and testing operations are expected to take several months and will be undertaken in close co-operation with and under the control of ASN. Grid connection is planned for summer 2024. ASN confirmed that it will continue to monitor Flamanville 3. This monitoring will look primarily at whether the safety circuits are operating correctly during the staged increase in operational power to 25% and then 80% of the unit’s total capacity. The Flamanville EPR is the first of its kind
in France, following the commissioning of EPR reactors in China (Taishan 1&2) and Finland (Olkiluoto 3), all of which were also significantly delayed.
United Kingdom First steam generator arrives at HPC The first of eight 520-tonne steam generators manufactured by Framatome has been delivered to the UK’s Hinkley Point construction site after arriving by sea and road. The steam generator travelled the final four miles (6 km) by road transporter after arriving from Avonmouth at Combwich Wharf on the River Parrett. Construction of Hinkley Point C began in
December 2018. The first of two EPR 1630 MWe reactors was originally scheduled to start up by the end of 2025, before that was revised to 2027 in May 2022. This was further delayed in January when EDF announced that the “base case” was now for unit 1 being operational in 2030, with the cost revised from £26bn ($32bn) to £31-34bn in 2015 prices. When operational, the plant is expected to provide enough power for 6 million homes for at least 60 years. Four steam generators will be placed in
each reactor building, operating at an average temperature of 295°C for at least 60 years. Their design, manufacturing and testing took six years. The 25 metre-long steam generators will take heat from the nuclear reactors to create steam to power the turbines. The first nuclear reactor is expected installed later this year. It was delivered in February 2023.
10 | June 2024 |
www.neimagazine.com
Italy End of nuclear phase-out planned Italy’s Environment & Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto has said the government aims to pass the necessary legislation to make Italy’s return to nuclear power possible by the end of the current parliamentary term. Italy was a leading nuclear power-producing
country in the 1960s but chose to phase out all nuclear plants after a 1987 referendum following the Chornobyl disaster. It closed its last two operating plants, Caorso and Trino Vercellese, in 1990. The fourth Berlusconi government attempted to launch a new nuclear power programme but that was also rejected by a referendum in 2011, shortly after the Fukushima accident. Italy’s Lower House of Parliament has since
passed two motions aimed at reversing Italy’s earlier decision to abandon nuclear energy. The text commits the government to “consider including nuclear power as an alternative and clean source of energy production in the national energy mix” so as to “accelerate Italy’s decarbonisation process.” The current government believes the
phase-out policy should be revised, given that nuclear’s low carbon footprint and European and international targets for combating the climate crisis. Italy is also seeking to boost its energy security and is looking to the possible development of small modular reactors (SMRs) Pichetto was asked by Radio 24 whether
the legislative framework for nuclear energy could be changed by the end of parliament. “This is this mandate of the government and of parliament. I am acting via a working group that is taking care of the judicial framework. If you want to acquire a small, modular reactor, there has to be a compatible judicial framework,” he said. He confirmed that the government was looking into the possibility of Generation 4 reactors.” Pichetto continued: “There’s talk of having
the necessary conditions to produce these small reactors at the end of this decade. That means we have to have everything ready in this parliamentary term.” Support for a nuclear revival is also coming
from the nuclear industry. In October 2023, Edison said it had the ambition of developing new nuclear power if the conditions were created for its return to Italy. In particular, Edison aims to launch two nuclear plants of 340 MW each with SMR technology between 2030 and 2040. In March 2023, EDF, Edison, Ansaldo Energia
and Ansaldo Nucleare signed a Letter of Intent for new nuclear development. The aim was to leverage the specific expertise of the companies to assess potential industrial cooperation for the development of nuclear power in Europe, specifically SMRs. The aim of the agreement was to use the expertise of the Italian nuclear power sector, headed by Ansaldo Nucleare, to support development of EDF Group’s new nuclear projects.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49
