| NEWS


Key Brest reactor equipment delivered


The turbogenerator and the stator of the generator set for Russia’s Brest-OD-300 reactor power unit have been delivered to the construction site in the city of Seversk, Tomsk Region. The Brest-OD-300 lead-cooled fast reactor is being built at the Siberian Chemical Combine (SKhK) in Seversk, Tomsk region. Brest is part of the pilot demonstration


power complex (ODEK), being built under the Breakthrough (Proryv) project intended to demonstrate closed fuel cycle technology. As well as Brest, ODEK also includes on-site nuclear fuel cycle facilities: a module for fuel fabrication and refabrication and a module for reprocessing and recycling irradiated fuel. The turbogenerator and stator were


transported via the Northern Sea Route and the Tom and Ob Rivers, with the final leg completed by special road transport after transshipment at a river port. The 245-tonne stator is 8 metres long, approximately 4.5 metres high, and 4.8 metres wide. The 98-tonne turbogenerator was also delivered by water and then by rail. Regulator Rostekhnadzor issued a construction licence for Brest in 2021. At the moment, at the construction site installation of a cooling tower has been completed, the walls of the reactor building have been erected, the reactor shaft has been erected, and the enclosing structure of the reactor vessel has been installed. Work to install the bridge crane in the turbine


hall began in May and in June, tests of the analytical simulator for the Brest reactor were completed at the All-Russian Research Institute for the Operation of Nuclear Power Plants (VNIIAES), part of Rosatom’s Electrical Energy Division, where it had been under development since December 2022. Earlier in August, six items, together weighing


more than 1,000 tonnes, manufactured at the Atommash plant in Volgodonsk were shipped


Poland


KHNP withdraws from NPP project South Korea’s Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has withdrawn from a Polish NPP project. The move follows KHNP’s settlement in January of an intellectual property (IP) dispute with US-based Westinghouse Electric Company. KHNP President Whang Joo-ho said, during a


National Assembly audit, that the company “has effectively withdrawn” from the Polish project. “We were pursuing both government-led and state-owned enterprise-led projects, but Poland decided not to proceed with the state-owned enterprise project after a new government came into power there,” Whang explained. This is the fourth time KHNP has withdrawn from a European market since its settlement


to the construction site – the central void shell and inner casing for the core support barrel. These components will hold nuclear fuel once installed. The Izhora plant in St Petersburg shipped four peripheral cavity shells, which will house steam generators and coolant pumps. Together with the shipping packaging, the


total weight of these deliveries was almost 2,000 tonnes. The height of some of the shipped products exceeded 15 metres, and the width with packaging was 10 metres. This is much larger than the dimensions of reactors and steam generators for traditional NPPs. “To organise logistics to protect products on


the road, we have developed and manufactured unique packaging weighing 1000 tonnes. Unimpeded travel was provided along the entire route. It was agreed to allocate to us so-called windows, during which we could transport cargo through railway crossings”, noted the technical director of the Izhora plant, Maxim Isaev. Meanwhile transportation of equipment for


Brest from various enterprises of Rosatom’s Mechanical Engineering Division continues. The journey to Siberia takes more than two months. To deliver large cargos roads are blocked, train schedules are changed, power lines are raised along the entire route, and in some cases, traffic lights are even dismantled. Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev


told Russia-24: “I think that in 2028-2029 we will launch Brest as a reactor”. Pilot operation of the fuel fabrication/refabrication plant began in January. The module for reprocessing irradiated fuel from Brest is planned to begin construction in 2025-2026 for commissioning in 2030. The experience of design, construction,


commissioning and operation of ODEK will pave the way for an industrial energy complex based on a larger lead-cooled fast neutron reactor BR- 1200 with a capacity of 1,200 MWe. ■


with Westinghouse in January, with the company giving up on nuclear bids in Sweden, Slovenia, and the Netherlands. According to Korean media, KHNP ceded


leadership of nuclear projects in Europe when it settled its dispute with Westinghouse. The settlement came after the USA and South Korea initialled a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Principles Concerning Nuclear Exports and Cooperation in November 2024. The dispute arose over competition between


Westinghouse and KHNP for contracts in Poland and the Czech Republic. Westinghouse in October 2022 filed the suit alleging that Korea’s APR1400 reactors copied the System 80 reactor designed by Combustion Engineering and acquired by Westinghouse in 2000.


round up


THE SIX POWER units of the Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP) are again not planned to be used in heating the satellite city of Energodar in the 2025-2026 heating season, ZNPP Communications Director Evgenia Yashina told TASS. All six units will remain in cold shutdown. She recalled that during the 2024-2025 heating season. The city of Energodar was provided with heat for the first time in winter without any ZNPP power units..


THE US DEPARTMENT of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright has released a loan disbursement to Holtec to help fund the restart of the Palisades NPP. This represents $83,234,156 of the up to $1.52bn loan guarantee and is the fifth disbursement since September 2024. To date, $335,112,194 of DOE-guaranteed loan funds have been disbursed to Holtec as it continues to make progress toward restart.


EQUIPMENT RUSSIAN COMPANY NPP Doza has completed production of an additional batch of 93 continuous and periodic radiation monitoring stands for the Akkuyu NPP under construction in Türkiye. The RK stand is designed for continuous monitoring of the radiation situation i and technological systems of nuclear fuel cycle enterprises.


DIGITAL & SOFTWARE US-BASED EQUINIX, a major internet and data centre provider, has signed agreements with California-based startup Radiant Nuclear, Netherlands ULC-Energy and France-based startup Stellaria for future access to small modular reactors (SMRs) to power its data centres. Equinix said this is part of its diversified portfolio power strategy to help mitigate potential power constraints in the future.


GOOGLE, KAIROS POWER, and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) are to collaborate on power supply and advanced nuclear energy. Through a power purchase agreement (PPA) signed between Kairos Power and TVA, Kairos Power’s Hermes 2 plant in at the Heritage Centre in Oak Ridge, will deliver up to 50 MWe to the TVA grid that powers Google data centres in Tennessee and Alabama.


POLICY


PHILIPPINES BIGGEST POWER utility Manila Electric Co (Meralco) is expanding its links with South Korean companies as it considers nuclear development. Meralco officials visiting South Korea have finalised a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with DL Engineering & Construction to explore the potential deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) in the Philippines.


www.neimagazine.com | September 2025 | 7


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