NEWS |
round up
SAFETY & SECURITY THE UK OFFICE for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has identified leaks from low-level radioactive waste pits in its latest inspection at the Dounreay former fast reactor test site in Scotland, now being decommissioned.
AN INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC Energy Agency Safety Aspects of Long Term Operation team has completed a review of operational safety of the Koeberg NPP in South Africa. Unit 1 extended its licence to continue operating until 2044 this year, and Eskom is planning to extend operations of unit 2 until 2045.
UNIT 3 OF France’s Flamanville NPP shut down automatically just one day after it began operation. EDF teams carried out the first divergence operations but the following morning the reactor automatically stopped. Initial technical diagnosis suggests the incident “could be linked to an inappropriate configuration of the installation”.
THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT has agreed to improve the evacuation procedure at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings’ (Tepco’s) Kashiwazaki- Kariwa NPP in Niigata Prefecture. Local media said the move is intended to gain the understanding of local residents for a restart of the plant.
REGULATION THE UK’S OFFICE for Nuclear Regulation, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission have jointly published a paper, Considerations For Developing Artificial Intelligence Systems In Nuclear Applications, looking at the principles that all participants in the AI lifecycle should consider in the nuclear sector.
THE US NUCLEAR Regulatory Commission (NRC) has directed agency staff to amend regulations for licensing “non-power production or utilisation facilities,” to make licence renewal criteria more consistent with the limited risk such facilities pose to public safety. This will eliminate licence terms for research reactors and medical therapy facilities so that they will no longer need to apply for renewed licences to continue operating.
SHIPPING ITALY’S SAIPEM AND UK-based nuclear start-up newcleo have signed a collaboration agreement to identify innovative solutions for the offshore application of newcleo’s nuclear technology. The agreement includes a feasibility study on the development of floating nuclear prototypes.
The 150 MWt multi-purpose sodium-cooled
fast neutron MBIR reactor will be the world’s largest facility of its kind. It is expected to provide the nuclear industry with a modern and technologically advanced research infrastructure for the coming 50 years. Its technical characteristics will make it possible to solve a wide range of research problems to support the development new competitive and safe NPPs, including fast reactors based on closing the nuclear fuel cycle. Research time needed at the new reactor will be several times less in comparison with the currently operating installations. Rosatom says the construction of MBIR is the most important project for the long-term development of the experimental base of Russia’s domestic nuclear industry, “which will ensure Russia’s leadership in the development of innovative reactor technologies for the next half century”.
MBIR will be the basis of an international
research centre (ICC MBIR). It will replace the BOR-60 experimental fast reactor that has been in operation at NIIAR since 1969. BOR-60 is due to close in 2025. MBIR will be used for materials testing for Generation IV fast neutron reactors. It will be capable of testing lead, lead-bismuth and gas coolants and will enable reactor and post-reactor experiments, perfecting technologies for the production of isotopes and modified materials.
Sweden Nuclear key to 2025 green budget In the budget bill for 2025, the government is proposing investments of more than SEK1bn ($96m) to ensure an increased and secure energy supply and to promote the green transition. Sweden’s climate change, competitiveness and welfare are based on secure access to fossil-free energy at competitive prices, the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Climate & Business said in a press release. Sweden has targeted net zero emissions by 2045, which will require “a powerful expansion of fossil-free electricity generation – with all types of power”. These investments include, among other
things, “new support to increase the electricity system’s capabilities, compensation to municipalities for wind power expansion, an increased investment in pilot and demonstration projects in the nuclear field and efforts to improve the conditions for new fossil- free electricity generation”. The Government intends to submit these
proposals to Parliament in the Budget Bill for 2025. The proposals are based on an agreement between the government and the Swedish Democrats. Finance Minister Niklas Wykman noted: “Now we are working quickly on the financing model for new nuclear power. Nuclear power is an important part of securing Swedish growth in the future.” In October 2022, Sweden’s incoming centre- right coalition government adopted a positive
10 | October 2024 |
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stance towards nuclear energy. In November 2023, it unveiled a roadmap which envisages the construction of new nuclear generating capacity equivalent to at least two large-scale reactors by 2035, with up to 10 new large-scale reactors coming online by 2045. The government’s work to enable the
expansion of new nuclear power is now entering a more intensive phase, the Government said. Proposals to improve the conditions for new nuclear power include: • Investment in pilot and demonstration projects in the nuclear field. “Research and innovation in the energy field contribute to the transformation of the energy system. The investments required will largely be made with existing technology, but new innovative solutions will also be required both within individual technologies and at the system level. The Government is therefore investing SEK100m ($9.6m) in 2025 to support pilot and demonstration projects in the nuclear field.
• Developing guidance for effective permit processes. “The Government continues its work for new nuclear power with an effort to develop guidance for efficient permit processes. Preparedness needs to be available for an efficient process”.
• Efforts for new nuclear power. “Further work will be required to strengthen the conditions for new nuclear power. The Government therefore allocates SEK30m ($3m) in 2025 for this purpose. Furthermore, SEK35m is expected to be allocated in 2026 and SEK25m in 2027.”
Japan Joyo fast reactor prepares to restart Japan’s only experimental fast reactor, Joyo, in Oarai Town, Ibaraki Prefecture, has secured consent from local governments to begin the safety construction work necessary before it can restart. Joyo’s operator, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), is aiming to restart the reactor in the second half of fiscal 2026 after completing safety construction work, including measures related to cooling and countering accidents. Oarai Mayor Kunii Yutaka handed over a
document showing the town’s consent to a senior JAEA official after Ibaraki Prefecture also conveyed its consent via a document. The two local governments said that, under the agreement signed with JAEA, no other procedures are necessary for the operator to secure consent from hosting entities. JAEA hopes to use the experimental reactor
for research and development of fast reactors and also plans to offer the reactor for the production of medical radioisotopes. The sodium-cooled fast reactor began
operation in 1977, and is Japan’s only fast reactor since the closure of Monju in 2016. Monju, which achieved criticality in 1994, was shut down in 1995 after a sodium coolant leak and fire. It was restarted in 2010 but was shut down three months later after a fuel handling machine was accidentally dropped into the
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