NEWS |
round up
NUCLEAR FUEL FRAMATOME HAS SIGNED a collaboration agreement with EDF to begin reactor tests of its enhanced accident tolerant fuel (EATF) technology at a French NPP. Framatome will manufacture and deliver four lead fuel assemblies (LFAs) that will be inserted in one of the EDF’s reactors in 2023 ss part of its PROtect EATF programme.
US-BASED WESTINGHOUSE Electric Company has signed an contract extension with EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Limited (NGL) to supply fuel for the UK’s Advanced Gas Cooled Reactors (AGRs) from its Springfields fuel fabrication facility in the UK. Springfields is the UK’s only commercial fuel fabrication facility, and produces fuel for its NPPs.
RADWASTE AN INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC Energy Agency Integrated Review Service for Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management, Decommissioning and Remediation (ARTEMIS) mission concluded that Croatia is committed to addressing the challenges of managing its radioactive waste.
RUSSIA HAS BEGUN work on construction of an underground research laboratory at the site of the Zheleznogorsk branch of radwaste national operator NO RAO in Krasnoyarsk. The underground research laboratory is a research complex in which, in 2025-2040, it is planned to study natural and engineering security barriers, handling technology and final isolation radwaste and other factors affecting safety.
SPAIN’S EL CABRIL storage centre at Sierra Albarrana in Córdoba province received 2,129.30 cubic metres of very low and low and medium activity radioactive waste during 2022. Radioactive waste management agency Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radiactivos SA (Enresa) said the wastes arrived in 213 expeditions: 173 from nuclear facilities and 40 from radioactive facilities.
D&D
A PUBLIC CONSULTATION is under way with respect to the decommissioning of the RBMK units at units 1&2 of Russia’s Leningrad NPP. The two units ceased operation in 2018 and 2020 after 45 years. Preparatory work for decommissioning has already begun. Fuel has been completely removed from unit 1 and fuel unloading will be completed at unit 2 by the end of 2023.
Russia
Rosatom testing MOX fuel for VVERs Mixed uranium-plutonium oxide (MOX) fuel elements intended for VVER reactors are now being tested using the Mir research reactor at the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (NIIAR - part to Rosatom) in Dimitrovgrad (Ulyanovsk region). Based on the results of the tests and further investigations, Rosatom scientists aim to justify the efficiency and safety of the operation of MOX fuel in VVER reactors, which are widely used in Russia as well as abroad. This is a further step towards closing the
nuclear fuel cycle. Currently, in Russia, MOX fuel is produced only for fast neutron reactors, including the BN-800 at the Beloyarsk NPP. For VVERs Rosatom has developed uranium- plutonium REMIX fuel, used in VVER-1000 units. REMIX (regenerated mixture) fuel is a Russian development for light-water thermal reactors, which is made from a mixture of reprocessed uranium and plutonium, with the addition of enriched uranium. The content of plutonium in REMIX fuel is up to 1.5%. MOX fuel is a mixture of oxides of plutonium separated from used fuel, as well as oxides of depleted uranium. MOX fuel for VVERs is expected to contain approximately 5.5-7.5% plutonium. This will ensure greater flexibility in the use of regenerated nuclear materials and optimise the costs of fabricating uranium-plutonium fuel during the transition to its large-scale implementation. “Today, as in the past, nuclear fuel for VVERs is enriched natural uranium, and in a few cases regenerated uranium. However, in the near future, having confirmed a preference for uranium-plutonium fuel, we will be able to offer the full range of possibilities for fuel composition, depending on the requirements of the reactor installation and the fuel cycle strategy,” says Alexander Ugryumov, Senior Vice President at fuel company TVEL. “Given that the basis of nuclear energy is light-water thermal reactors, we will be able to expand their resource base, process irradiated fuel instead of storing it, and significantly reduce the volume of nuclear waste generated.” For tests in the Mir reactor, 21 assemblies with
a plutonium content of 5-12% were developed and manufactured by TVEL enterprises, including the AА Bochvar Research Institute of Inorganic Materials (VNIIINM), Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (NCCP) and the Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC). Initially 12 have been loaded. The other nine will be will be gradually added to replace them as they are removed for post-reactor examination. “In order to obtain the necessary
experimental data, our specialists have completed all the necessary preliminary work, said NIIAR Director Alexander Tuzov. “In particular, test methods were developed and preliminary calculations were performed, a material research programme and design documentation was prepared. We can undertake a complete set of both reactor and post-reactor studies.”
12 | August 2023 |
www.neimagazine.com
Romania Nuclearelectrica and KHNP forge ties Romanian nuclear utility SN Nuclearelectrica (SNN) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation in the field of nuclear fuel to further develop fuel processing and ensure the resilience of fuel production capabilities. Both Romania’s Cernavoda NPP and South Korea’s Wolsong NPP operate Candu- type pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs). Under the MOU the SNN and KHNP will
collaborate to investigate the planning and development of activities for technical uranium concentrates processing, with the aim of qualifying SNN as a potential supplier of sinterable UO2
powder to KHNP. It will also
explore possible collaboration in the area of fuel assembly fabrication. In December 2022, SNN completed acquisition
of certain assets related to uranium concentrate processing from Cernavoda NPP’s Feldioara Branch. SNN is planning to refurbish and modernise the production line. The acquisition was aimed at preserving and developing an integrated Romanian nuclear fuel cycle. SNN sought to integrate the manufacture of
Candu-type nuclear fuel through the acquisition. The deal aimed to ensure the optimal operation of SNN’s Fabrica de Combustibil Nuclear fuel fabrication plant in Pitesti (FCN Pitesti) and of Cernavoda NPP, given plans to expand the plant. KHNP as the owner and operator of Candu
reactors in Korea, is an experienced producer of advanced Candu 6 fuel assemblies and is interested in diversifying its sources of uranium dioxide powder. Romania’s Cernavoda NPP currently comprises two Candu 6 reactors. Earlier, KHNP also signed a contract with SNN worth $200m to construct a tritium removal facility at Cernavoda. SNN believes tritium removed from the reactors and other installations at Cernavoda may be in demand in the future as fuel for fusion reactors. Using technology developed by the Romanian
National Research & Development Institute for Cryogenic & Isotopic Technologies (ICSI Ramnicu Valcea), it will be the world’s third and Europe’s first tritium removal facility. Currently only two such facilities are in operation, in South Korea and Canada. SNN believes it will open the possibility for Romania to become a European hub for tritium production. KHNP was selected as an EPC contractor
following a public procurement procedure and is operating a similar facility at its Wolsong NPP. The project completion is estimated at 50 months, and the tritium produced will be stored in specialised containers ready for future use. South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry
& Energy said the project was worth €195m ($212m). The order amounted to about 38% of South Korea’s total exports to Romania in 2022. The project will run from July to August
2027, and KHNP will be responsible for design, equipment supply, construction and commissioning.
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
