NEWS |
round up
SMRs NORWAY’S NORSK KJERNEKRAFT has submitted a proposal to the Energy Ministry for an assessment into the construction of a small modular reactor (SMR) power plant in Finnmark county in the extreme northeastern of Norway as the first step in the formal process required for plant construction.
ROSATOM AND THE Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) have signed an agreement to ensure the conditions for the efficient launch of a low-powered NPP (ASMM - Atomnoi Stantsii Maloi Moshnosti) and the development of related electric power infrastructure. The Yakutia Government , together with federal executive bodies and relevant departments, intends to organise all the electrical infrastructure necessary for the ASMM, including distribution networks.
ISOTOPES CHINA ISOTOPE & Radiation Corporation, a subsidiary of China Baoyuan Investment Co Ltd, a member company of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), has won the bid to construct a gamma irradiation station for the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture. The facility is mainly designed to disinfect and sterilise bacteria of foods, medical devices, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, conduct quarantine inspections and extend the shelf life of products.
ORANO GROUP SUBSIDIARY Orano Med has launched its first ATLab (Alpha Therapy Laboratory), in the US at Brownsburg near Indianapolis. ATLab Indianapolis is the world’s first industrial- scale pharmaceutical facility dedicated to the production of lead-212-based radioligand therapies. Targeted Alpha Therapy with lead-212 combines the natural ability of biological molecules to target cancer cells with the short-range cell-killing capabilities of lead-212 generated alpha emissions.
CURIUM HAS SIGNED a long-term partnership with the Institut Laue– Langevin for irradiation services at their high-flux nuclear reactor in Grenoble, France to produce non-carrier added lutetium-177 (Lu-177). Curium said this will add additional security of supply while bringing a high-flux reactor within the Curium irradiation reactor landscape.
SHIPPING UK-BASED START-up Core Power CEO Mikal Bøe said that the company is expecting to see its first orders for vessels equipped with nuclear reactors before 2030. This includes both floating NPPs and nuclear-powered ships.
12 | July 2024 |
www.neimagazine.com United Kingdom
Wylfa preferred site for new NPP The UK government has selected Wylfa in Anglesey, North Wales, as its preferred site for a new NPP similar in scale to the one under construction at Hinkley Point C in Somerset. In March, Great British Nuclear (GBN) the arms-length body set up by the government to help deliver that extra capacity, acquired the Hitachi-owned sites for new nuclear at Wylfa and at Oldbury-on-Severn in southwest England for £160m ($203m). Both were considered as prospective sites for a new NPP but Wylfa has now been prioritised. Wylfa on the North Wales coast, is ideally-
suited to host a plant “given its proximity to cooling water and nuclear heritage” the project “would revive the nuclear history of Wylfa and bring thousands of jobs and investment to the area, boosting the local economy”. The government says it is now kickstarting
talks with global energy firms to explore building the new plant. According to the Financial Times, Korea Electric Power Company (Kepco) has been in preliminary talks with ministers over the new Wylfa power plant. Bechtel and Westinghouse are also reported to have expressed interest.
Finland Research reactor decommissoned The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Fortum have completed decommissioning of the FiR1 research reactor, Finland’s oldest nuclear reactor. FiR1, a water-cooled, pool- type TRIGA Mark II 250 kWth research reactor, was commissioned by Helsinki University of Technology in 1962. It was used for versatile research purposes and also served the healthcare sector. Operational responsibility for the reactor was
transferred to VTT in 1971. Although licensed to operate until 2023, in 2012 VTT decided close FiR1 for financial reasons. In 2017, VTT submitted an application for permission from the Council of State to decommission the reactor. The total decommissioning costs amounted to approximately €24m ($25.7m), pre-funded by the Finnish Nuclear Waste Management Fund. In 2020, the used fuel was transferred to the US. A total of 103 used nuclear fuel rods, weighing approximately 300 kg, were removed. The decommissioning licence was issued
in 2021 and Fortum, the main contractor, began dismantling in June 2023. The work was completed in April 2024. Fortum will continue with the final disposal of waste in the Loviisa NPP’s final repository for low and intermediate- level waste. A total of approximately 60 cubic meters of waste, mainly concrete, was generated for delivery to the Loviisa repository. A six- metre-high water tank and a two-metre-thick concrete shell surrounded the reactor. “The process of decommissioning a nuclear
reactor has now been comprehensively tested in Finland for the first time,” said Markus Airila, VTT’s principal scientist, who led the project.
Russian Federation Regulatory progress for BN-1200M Russia’s Beloyarsk NPP in the Sverdlovsk Region. has received a positive opinion from the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources, Rosprirodnadzor, for siting of the new BN-1200M power unit. The BN-1200 sodium-cooled fast reactor is planned to be built as unit 5 of the Beloyarsk NPP. Two similar but smaller units are currently operating at the plant - unit 3 with a BN-600 fast neutron reactor, which started up in 1980 and unit 4 with a BN-800 fast reactor, which started up in 2015. These are the world’s largest units with fast neutron reactors and the only ones operating on a commercial basis. The BN- 1200 will break these records. Rosatom plans to obtain a licence for
the construction for the BN-1200 in 2027. Construction of Beloyarsk 5 is scheduled for 2035. Rosprirodnadzor has now studied the materials of the licence justification submitted for the state environmental review, including materials on an environmental impact assessment. The package of documents has now been passed on to the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological & Nuclear Supervision, Rostekhnadzor for examination. Rosatom is developing technologies for the
transition to a competitive two-component energy system based on a closed nuclear fuel cycle by pairing the operation of traditional VVER thermal power reactors with fast neutron reactors. VVER used fuel can be recycled for use in the fast reactors, which can also burn dangerous radionuclides produced during reprocessing (minor actinides), thereby significantly reducing waste volumes.
United States New used fuel railcar approved The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has approved for operation the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) new railcar designed to transport used nuclear fuel. Atlas is a 12- axle railcar designed by DOE to safely and securely transport shipments of used nuclear fuel weighing up to 480,000 pounds. The project took ten years to complete and cost approximately $33m. AAR certified the Atlas railcar system to operate on all major freight railroads in the US. The railcar, fully equipped with high-tech
sensors and monitoring systems will be used to transport US commercial used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The entire railcar system includes Atlas, two buffer railcars, and a rail escort vehicle that was developed in partnership with the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Programme. Final testing in autumn 2023 involved a
1,680 mile round-trip journey from Pueblo, Colorado to Scoville, Idaho. Atlas is one of two railcars DOE is developing to provide flexibility in transporting used fuel and high-level radioactive waste to future federal interim storage facilities and disposal sites. ■
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