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RUSSIAN DEVELOPMENT COMPANY METR is planning to establish a museum in Kazakhstan to commemorate the world’s first ever fast neutron reactor – the BN-350. The sodium-cooled industrial fast reactor, was launched in Aktau in Kazakstan in 1972. By 1995, the plant’s operating licence had expired but operation was extended on an annual basis until 1999.
EL SALVADOR’S VICE Minister of Foreign Affairs Adriana Mira inaugurated a national workshop on the roles and functions of the Organisation for the Implementation of the Nuclear Programme. The week-long workshop, organised by the Río Lempa Hydroelectric Executive Commission, aimed to promote the peaceful use of atomic energy in El Salvador.
REGULATION CANADIAN NUCLEAR LABORATORIES (CNL) and UAE regulator, the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on nuclear science and technology. Under the agreement CNL and FANR will collaborate across a wide range of nuclear fields to pursue economic development, reduce emissions, and advance innovative technologies.
US-BASED AALO Atomics has submitted a pre-application regulatory engagement plan (REP) with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its Aalo-1 microreactor. The REP, which details the planned pre-licensing application interactions with NRC, can reduce regulatory uncertainty and add predictability to licensing advanced technologies.
THE RISE OF small modular reactors points to a step change for nuclear applications in shipping if regulatory hurdles can be overcome, according to d a new report from Lloyd’s Register. Nuclear power could transform the maritime industry but regulation and safety considerations must be addressed for its widespread commercial adoption, the report says.
COMPANIES ALL SHARES IN Nukem Technologies Engineering Services GmbH, as well as valuable assets of its parent company NUKEM Technologies GmbH, have been acquired by the Tokyo-based company Muroosystems Corp.
Niger
GoviEx mining licence revoked Canada’s GoviEx Uranium no longer has rights over the perimeter of the Madaouela mining permit after the Niger revoked its licence to develop one of the world’s largest uranium projects. GoviEx had been concerned that its licence might be revoked if mining could not start by 3 July – the deadline set by Niger’s military leaders who came to power a year ago. The government of Niger holds a 20% stake in Comima SA, the Nigerien company set up to develop the Madaouela project. A GoviEx statement said that the licence
withdrawal “does not follow the procedure prescribed under the applicable mining code” in Niger, and that it reserves the right to challenge the decision before the competent national or international jurisdictions. GoviEx added that it believes the government’s decision to withdraw the mining rights for the Madaouela project will have a negative impact on the economic and social development of the region. This follows the revocation in June of the
permit for France’s Orano to operate the Imouraren mine, also containing one of the world’s largest uranium reserves. That permit was awarded in 2009 but was put on hold by the company pending favourable market conditions. GoviEx began operations in Niger in 2007,
since when it has completed 650,000 metres of drilling to advance the project through periods of low uranium prices. The project reached its feasibility stage in late 2022. The technical report estimated that the Madaouela project could host proven and probable reserves of 5.4m tonnes grading 0.87 kg per tonne of uranium oxide (U3 kg) of U3
O8 O8 ) for 12.3m pounds (5.6m forecast at 50.8m pounds (22.7m kg) of U3
. Production over the life of mine was O8
, or
nearly 2.7m pounds (1.2m kg) a year. Over the past year, the company had secured
more than $200m in expressions of interest for debt financing, had updated environmental assessments and initiated engineering designs. It had also begun preliminary groundwork, including road construction at the project site. In June it received a radiological certificate needed to start production. With initial capital expenditure of $343m, the project was expected to generate up to 800 jobs over 20 years and contribute royalties and taxes.
Norway Municipalities look to SMRs Norway’s Norsk Kjernekraft has entered into a cooperation agreement with Lyngdal municipality in southern Norway’s Agder county to investigate a possible future small nuclear power plant in the area. This came just a few days after the company signed a similar agreement with the nearby municipality of Farsund, also in Agder county. Norsk Kjernekraft is seeking to build, own and operate small modular reactor (SMR) power plants in Norway in collaboration with power- intensive industry. The agreements involve
10 | August 2024 |
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initial investigation of all relevant locations for SMR power plants in the municipality. The previous week, Norsk Kjernekraft had signed a cooperation agreement with Lund municipality in the southern county of Rogaland for the establishment of a nuclear plant in anticipation of increased power demand. In June Norsk Kjernekraft had submitted a
proposal to Norway’s Ministry of Energy for an assessment into the construction of a power plant based on multiple SMRs in the north- eastern county of Finnmark. Agreements were signed with a number of municipalities in 2023 to explore the feasibility of nuclear power. In June 2023 a letter of intent was signed with TVO Nuclear Services (part of Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj) to jointly investigate the deployment of SMRs in Norway. This included the possible development of nuclear power in the municipalities of Aure (Møre og Romsdal county), Heim (Trøndelag county), Narvik (Nordland county) and Vardø. November 2023 also saw Norsk Kjernekraf submit a proposal to the Ministry of Oil & Energy to assess the construction of a SMR power plant in Aure and Heim. Then in April this year, the company launched an impact assessment of a plot of land in Øygarden municipality (Vestland county) to assess establishing a plant based on five SMRs. In addition, a new company, Halden
Kjernekraft AS, has been set up by Norsk Kjernekraft, Østfold Energi and the municipality of Halden (Østfold county) to investigate the construction of a nuclear plant based on SMRs at Halden.
China
Industrial steam supply project China’s first nuclear-powered industrial steam supply project has been launched in the city of Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province, according to the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA). The project, Heqi-1, is located at the Tianwan NPP. Heqi-1 uses heat from Tianwan plant to
produce industrial steam via a multi-layered isolation system. The industrial steam will then be transported through pipelines to the petrochemical industrial base using multi-stage heat transfer. “This is the very first application of such
scale in the world,” said Jiangsu Nuclear Power Co Chairman Zhang Yi. He added: “Unlike those before, Heqi-1 can produce 600 tonnes of industrial steam in just one hour”. The industrial park for the project is some 23 kilometres away from the power plant. Wan Falin, General Manager of Jiangsu
Fangyang Energy Technology Co, explained: “The nuclear-powered industrial steam fills the need gap in the industrial park. It is stable, and also achieves the goals of carbon reduction.” The project is expected to deliver 4.8m
tonnes of steam annually to the petrochemical base of Lianyungang, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by more than 1m tonnes, SOx by 184 tonnes, and NOx by 263 tonnes.
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