NEWS |
round up
EQUIPMENT A STABILISER PILOT safety valve engineering prototype jointly developed by China National Nuclear Corporation’s (CNNC’s) China Nuclear Power Research & Design Institute and CNNC’s Sufa Technology Industrial Company (STIC) has completed seismic identification testing STIC reported. It also passed on-site examination by the Nuclear & Radiation Safety Centre of the National Nuclear Safety Administration and the Nuclear Equipment Safety & Reliability Centre of the Institute of Mechanical Science.
SOUTH KOREA’S DOOSAN Enerbility has signed a contract with Canada’s Candu Energy to produce and supply feeder pipes for unit 1 of Romania’s Cernavoda NPP. This is the fifth order for feeder pipes, following those for NPPs in China and Canada. Feeder pipes are an important part of a pressurised heavy water reactor. Under this contract, Doosan Enerbility will supply a total of 1,520 feeder pipes to Candu Energy by 2027.
DIGITAL & SOFTWARE CALIFORNIA-BASED STARTUP Atomic Canyon has announced a new project with the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), to build a safe, efficient open-source AI model for the nuclear sector. Atomic Canyon will use ORNL’s Frontier supercomputer – the world’s fastest supercomputer – to train the company’s AI model to understand complex nuclear terminology.
POLICY
FINLAND’S POWER COMPANY Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) has issued a seven-year green bond worth $600m ($650m), the net proceeds of which will be used to finance or refinance eligible green projects including nuclear. The bond, with a coupon rate of 4.25%, was issued under the company’s bond programme and is listed on the Luxembourg stock exchange.
DURING HIS RECENT visit to France, Chinese President Xi Jinping advocated increased cooperation in a number of areas, including “nuclear energy, innovation and finance”. French President Emmanuel Macron said France was “ready to step up cooperation with China” in areas including “nuclear energy for civilian use”.
IRAN’S 1ST INTERNATIONAL Conference
on Nuclear Science & Technology as well as the 30th National Nuclear Conference have been held in Isfahan. The Atomic Energy Organisation if Iran said more than 500 scientific articles were submitted to the conference, which included 16 specialised panels, round-table meetings, and an exhibition.
Slovakia plans NPP
The Slovak government has ordered the economy and finance ministers to draw up a plan for a new 1,200 MWe NPP by the end of October, including a selection process for a supplier as well as timing and financing for the project.
The new plant would be built at the site of
the Jaslovske Bohunice NPP. The site hosts two VVER-440 V-230 reactors, supplied by Atomenergoexport of Russia and Škoda, which were connected to the grid in 1978 and 1980. Despite major upgrade work on the V-230 units, they were shut down in 2006 and 2008 as a condition of Slovakia’s accession to the European Union. State-owned Nuclear Decommissioning Company (JAVYS – Jadrová a Vyradovacia Spolocnost) owns the two closed units. Power utility Slovenské Elektrárne (SE)
carried out a major modernisation programme on the two V-213 units bringing the capacity of each unit from 440 MWe gross to 505 MWe gross (472 MWe net). SE is planning to extend the licences of the units to 2045 following further upgrading. Anticipating the government’s decision to build a new unit, Prime Minister Robert Fico said: “We want to use the existing infrastructure of the atomic power plant in Jaslovské Bohunice because it significantly shortens the permitting procedures”. It should be a similar technology to that already in use, he added. This is not a completely new project. The plan
for the new nuclear unit in Bohunice has been under consideration for years by the semi-state Slovak Atomic Energy Company (JESS – Jadrová Energetická Spolocnost Slovenska) which was established in 2009. JESS is owned 51% by JAVYS
Canada New Candu development mooted Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), and AtkinsRéalis have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore opportunities to collaborate on heavy water production for Candu reactors. Under the MOU, the three organisations will consider working together, as well as with additional strategic partners with the expertise to accelerate technologies, to either produce or upgrade heavy water. This could be used in the commissioning and operation of new Candu reactors in Canada, the construction of which would need significant volumes of heavy water that would require the construction of new facilities in Canada. Heavy water production in Canada ceased
more than 25 years ago. The Bruce Heavy Water Plant built by AECL operated from 1973 until 1998. It was owned and operated by Ontario Power Generation. Because heavy water is recycled in Candus the plant’s output was no
8 | June 2024 |
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and 49% by Czech utility CEZ JESS and originally planned to start building the new nuclear reactor as early as 2014. However, both Fico and Economy Minister
Denisa Sakova insisted that the new unit should be entirely state-owned, which would rule out involvement of JESS. “The government wants to manage the decision so that it is completely owned by the Slovak Republic. We have had experience here from the energy crisis, which clearly states that the state should have these strategic enterprises and elements of critical infrastructure in its hands. And that’s why we would like to build that new nuclear unit with 100% state participation without any other companies,” Sakova said. This also raises questions over the potential role of SE, which is owned only 34% by the state through the National Property Fund, and 66% by Slovak Power Holding BV. She said the supplier of the new unit would
be picked in a tender, but that Russia’s Rosatom would be excluded. She said she expects French, US or Korean companies as potential bidders to build the plant. In this case, however, it would be a different technology from that already in place at Bohunice. Apart from Russian companies, the only
other company that could build a technology compatible unit at Bohunice is Škoda JS, which is part of the Czech Republic’s ČEZ Group. Škoda has to date manufactured and delivered 21 complete VVER 440 nuclear reactors and three VVER 1000 reactors. Since the 1990s, it has also focused on Western markets and technologies. Sakova stressed that the tender is “open” and “of course, we will evaluate the performance, price, quality and safety of the new unit”. ■
longer needed after sufficient stockpiles had been accumulated. Decommissioning of the plant was completed in 2006. Now, with growing interest in the possible
construction of new Candu reactors, AECL, CNL and AtkinsRéalis have a shared goal in advancing this technology. This also goes beyond commercial opportunities and would contribute to wider national policy objectives in Canada, including decarbonisation and energy security. In addition to the current collaboration, AECL and CNL intend to play a role in additional initiatives to support the revival of Canada’s nuclear industry. As the owner and operator of Canada’s
national nuclear laboratories, AECL and CNL together have the necessary expertise, technology, facilities and intellectual property (IP) for the production, management and upgrading of heavy water. These capabilities complement those of AtkinsRéalis. AtkinsRéalis has also introduced a next-generation Candu reactor – the 1,000 MWe Candu MONARK.
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