NEWS |
round up
NEW BUILD CONSTRUCTION WORKERS HAVE started concreting the third tier of the inner containment at unit 2 of Russia’s Kursk-II NPP. Meanwhile, Atommash has begun welding circumferential seams on the upper semi-vessel of the reactor for unit 2.
THE CONSTRUCTION ARM of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has secured a significant order from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for its Heavy Civil Infrastructure (HCI) business to build natural draught cooling towers and a cooling water pump house for the Rawatbhata atomic power project units 7 and 8.
LOCALISATION OF THE construction of the El-Dabaa NPP being built in Egypt by Rosatom will be more than 25%. Rosatom Director General Aleksey Likhachev. Rosatom expects that the localisation of work at the El-Dabaa plant could reach 50% or more during construction.
THE US NUCLEAR Regulatory Commission has authorised Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNOC) to load nuclear fuel and begin operation at unit 3 of the Vogtle NPP in Georgia, the first reactor to reach this point in the agency’s combined licence process. SNOC recently informed the agency that the company had completed the inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria needed to begin safe operations.
THE HEAD OF the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, said construction of a new research reactor in the central city of Isfahan will begin in the coming weeks. One of its tasks will be to test nuclear fuel for other reactors. He made the announcement during a visit to the Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) at the Isfahan site.
PLANT OPERATION FRENCH REGULATOR AUTORITÉ de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN) has temporarily modified its rules governing thermal discharges from several NPPs including Blayais, Bugey, Golfech, Saint-Alban and Tricastin.
GERMAN ENERGY COMPANY Eon said it had not planned to continue operation of its Isar 2 NPP in Lower Bavaria, but indicated that it is ready to discuss the possibility.
for Fukushima water Deadline relaxed
Above: Tanks holding contaminated water at Fukushima Diiachi are expected to reach capacity next year Photo credit: Tepco
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco) now estimates that tanks containing treated water at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP are likely to reach capacity around the autumn of 2023. This is somewhat later than the initial prediction of spring 2023, after the accumulation of radioactive water slowed down in fiscal 2021. This provides more time to deal with any obstacles to plans for the discharge of the treated water into the sea from next spring. China and South Korea as well as local fishing communities continue to oppose the plan. About 1.3 million tonnes of treated water have
accumulated at the plant since the 2011 nuclear disaster, stored in around 1000 huge tanks. However, the volume of radioactive water has decreased by some 20 tonnes a day compared with a year earlier to about 130 tonnes a day in fiscal 2021, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Meti). The original projected timeline to reach full tank capacity was calculated based on the assumption that about 140 tonnes of contaminated water would be generated a day. Meti noted that the storage tanks could still reach their capacity around the summer of 2023 if heavy precipitation or some unexpected events occur. The water became contaminated after being pumped into the reactor buildings to cool melted reactor fuel. It then mixed with rainwater and groundwater. It is treated using an advanced liquid processing system (ALPS) that removes all radionuclides except for tritium and will be released 1 km off the coast through an underwater pipe. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been conducting safety reviews of the discharge plan and will support Japan before, during and after the release of the water. Japan’s new industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura says the government and Tepco intend to proceed with the discharge but will also strengthen communications with local residents and fishermen, as well as with
6 | September 2022 |
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neighbouring countries, to overcome their objections. Some 12 countries and regions still have restrictions on food imports from Japan. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed Nishimura to focus on the planned discharge of ALPS-treated water that will be diluted with seawater to 1/40th of the maximum concentration of tritium permitted under Japanese regulations. Tepco will also cap the total amount of tritium to be released. Meanwhile, the Kishida government is to set up a JPY30bn ($227m) fund to support the fisheries industry and agreed to buy seafood if demand dries up due to negative perceptions of the product. Construction of discharge facilities at the
Fukushima plant started earlier in August, while work to slow the infiltration of rain and groundwater is also continuing. Tepco said it was able to reduce the pace of accumulation of contaminated water by fixing the roof of a reactor building and cementing soil slopes around the facilities, among other measures. As part of preparations for the planned
discharge, the Environment Ministry has started measuring tritium concentration at 30 locations on the surface of the sea and seabed around the Fukushima plant, four times a year. Similarly, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has increased the number of locations where it monitors tritium levels by eight to 20. The Fisheries Agency has started measuring tritium concentration in marine products caught along the Pacific coast stretching from Hokkaido to Chiba Prefecture. Given that it is expected to take several
decades to complete the release of treated water, NRA and Meti officials urged Tepco to further curb the generation of contaminated water at the plant to about 100 tonnes or less by the end of 2025. NRA approved Tepco’s water release plan in July, including construction of the facilities. Fukushima Prefecture and the town governments of Futaba and Okuma gave their approval in early August, which allowed Tepco to begin construction of the facilities including the undersea tunnel. However, the mayors of Okuma and Futaba, the two towns that host the Fukushima plant, and Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori called on the central government to take measures to prevent “reputational damage” to marine products. Uchibori urged the company to make every
effort to improve employees’ awareness of the treatment process. “We’ll continue to thoroughly inform
local residents of our future operations and related risks,” said Tepco President Tomoaki Kobayakawa. ■
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