NEWS |
round up
NUCLEAR FUEL THE BN-800 FAST reactor at unit 4 of Russia’s Beloyarsk NPP will be fully loaded with innovative uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (mox) fuel for the first time. The unit was disconnected in June for scheduled refuelling, maintenance and preventive maintenance of equipment.
US-BASED CLEAN Core Thorium Energy announced a new strategic partnership agreement with the US Department of Energy for testing its innovative fuel for NPPs at Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL’s) Advanced Test Reactor.
AUSTRALIA-BASED SILEX Systems Limited has announced the execution of a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) between Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) and Constellation Energy Generation for the purpose of assessing areas of cooperation in the nuclear fuel supply chain.
RADWASTE CANADA’S NUCLEAR WASTE Management Organisation has completed a full-scale demonstration of the engineered barriers that will safely contain and isolate Canada’s used nuclear fuel in a deep geological repository. This was the culmination of more than eight years of work.
RUSSIA’S ANGARSK ELECTROCHEMICAL Combine is to commission an innovative plant for sorting radioactively contaminated soils, the plant said. Work has begun on commissioning a FREMES facility developed by German company NUKEM Technologies (part of Rosatom).
THE ARMENIAN NPP in Metsamor is preparing to build a new storage facility for low- and medium-level solid waste. Before the end of the year, the plant intends to select contractors (from specialist companies) and conclude a construction contract.
ADVANCED REACTORS
AND SMRS CANADA’S TERRESTRIAL ENERGY announced that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission had completed a first joint technical review of Terrestrial Energy’s Generation IV Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR).
BWX TECHNOLOGIES WILL build the first advanced nuclear microreactor in the US under a contract from the Department of Defense (DOD) Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO). The Project Pele full-scale transportable microreactor prototype will be completed and delivered in 2024 for testing at the Idaho National Laboratory.
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Japan IAEA releases report water discharge at Fukushima Daiichi The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Task Force established to review Japan’s discharge of treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station has released a report setting out their initial observations of the proposed Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) treated water discharge. The regulatory aspects are one component
of the Task Force’s three-pronged review, to be carried out before, during and after the discharge of treated water. The other two components are the review of technical aspects related to safety (the first report was released in April), and conducting independent sampling and analysis. IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi
noted that Japan has made significant progress. “Nuclear safety is a national responsibility and Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) holds the responsibility for assessing the safety of the proposed discharge of the treated water. The IAEA’s assessment of their work will provide the international community with credible assurances that the discharge is conducted in line with the IAEA safety standards, the global reference for protecting people and the environment from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation.” The Task Force will return to Japan for another mission covering regulatory aspects in early 2023. Japan intends to start discharging the ALPS treated water in 2023. The IAEA review aims to assess safety related
aspects of the implementation of Japan’s Basic Policy on handling the ALPS treated water against IAEA international safety standards. The current approach outlined in the Basic Policy is to conduct a series of controlled discharges of ALPS treated water into the sea over a period of approximately 30 years. Before the discharge of the ALPS treated
water, IAEA will issue a full report containing the combined final conclusions of the Task Force across all aspects of the review.
Russia Rapid progress continues at Russia’s Kursk-II NPP The VVER-TOI reactor pressure vessel (RPV) was installed at unit 1 of the Kursk-II NPP under construction in Russia, three weeks ahead of schedule. The RPV was delivered to the site in September 2021. Kursk-II will be the first plant to have the new design VVER-Toi reactors. “The VVER-TOI reactor vessel has its own characteristics. It differs from the VVER-1200 project not only with a more symmetrical arrangement of nozzles, but also in the smaller number of welds – four instead of six – as there are no welded joints in the core area,” said Alexei Volnov, Chief Engineer of Kursk NPP. “This improves performance, as radiation exposure adversely affects the structure of a weld. This will make it possible, after 60 years of
12 | July 2022 |
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operation, to extend the service life of the hull twice more, each time by 20 years.” The VVER-TOI RPV weighs 340 tonnes and is 12 m long. It is able to withstand a pressure of 250 atmospheres, 1.4 times more than the previous RPV. The equipment was manufactured at the Atommash plant in Volgodonsk. Currently, equipment is also being tested at the pumping station for feeding the storage reservoir for Kursk-II. Two of the four pumping units have already been tested and are ready for operation. The station is located on the banks of the Seim River. Pumps are located in the underground part of the station, and electric motors are installed above ground. This arrangement of pumps is a distinctive feature of the Kursk-II project. Kursk-II is a replacement station for the
current Kursk nuclear plant. Commissioning of the first two units with the new design VVER-TOI reactors will be synchronised with the decommissioning of the RBMK reactors at Kursk 1&2 of the operating plant. Kursk 1 of the existing plant was permanently closed down in December 2021.
United Kingdom First waste removed from Sellafield storage silo Teams at the UK’s Sellafield site are starting to remove the waste held inside the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo. Standing in the oldest part of the Sellafield site, the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS) has stored nuclear waste in its water-filled chambers for the last 60 years. The building stored the casings removed from used fuel rods from Magnox reactors so that the fuel inside could be reprocessed. Now, due to the age of the building, the
contents held inside, and the fact that it was never built with decommissioning in mind, it is one of the most hazardous nuclear facilities on the Sellafield site and in the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s (NDA) estate. Sellafield teams are removing the waste, putting it into purpose-built stainless steel containers and moving it to modern storage on the site. The head of the MSSS programme, Chris
Halliwell, explained some of the challenges they have faced: “As well as maintaining the original concrete structure of the building, we have designed and are installing purpose- built retrieval machines. The first of our three retrievals machines has now started the job which will take another 20 or so years to complete.”
He added: “Eventually those metal waste
boxes will be held safely inside a new highly engineered store currently being built on site. So that we can get waste out as soon as possible, we are making use of existing stores at Sellafield until the new one is ready. All of the waste will eventually be sent to a geological disposal facility when that becomes available. Once empty of waste, our attention will turn to decommissioning and ultimately knocking down the silo building.” ■
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