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RADWASTE JAPAN’S APPROACH FOR recycling and disposing of soil and radioactive waste from decontamination activities after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident as currently planned is consistent with IAEA Safety Standards, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report says. The findings, presented by the IAEA to Japan’s Minister of the Environment Shintaro Ito, were the result of a 16-month safety review.
D&D
THE UK OFFICE for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has approved EDF Energy’s application to start decommissioning Hunterston B NPP at the North Ayrshire site in Scotland. The approval followed a public consultation and a detailed assessment by ONR specialist inspectors of EDF’s environmental statement.
IN RUSSIA’S FAR East, all 82 nuclear submarines decommissioned before 2022 have been disposed of, Rosatom reported. All accumulated used nuclear fuel has been transferred outside the region. Radiation hazardous waste has also been removed from the former coastal technical base of the Navy in Krasheninnikova Bay, and work has begun on its decommissioning.
THE UK OFFICE for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has overseen defueling of one of the two reactors (units 3&4) at EDF Energy’s Hinkley Point B NPP in Somerset. Work at has reactor 4 has been completed and similar work is due to start at reactor 3. The removed nuclear fuel will be transported by rail to Sellafield in Cumbria for storage.
CLEAN-UP TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER Company Holdings has begun to retrieve the first sample of melted fuel debris from inside the damaged reactor at unit 2 of the Fukushima Daiichi NPP. The operation was initially scheduled to begin in August but was suspended when workers noticed that five 1.5-metre pipes to be used to push the robot into the reactor had been arranged in the wrong order.
ADVANCED REACTORS TERRESTRIAL ENERGY, DEVELOPER of the Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR), has signed a memorandum of understanding with Numerical Advisory Solutions (NAS) based in Cary, North Carolina, to collaborate further on site evaluation, plant development, and project deployment for the IMSR.
The Federal Council said it is undisputed
that electricity demand in Switzerland will continue to increase in the coming years. If the NPPs are shut down, the loss of electricity must be compensated for by other domestic production facilities. “It remains to be seen whether the expansion of renewable energies will take place quickly enough to be able to cover the lost capacities and the increasing electricity demand in good time,” the Federal Council noted. “In the sense of responsible planning of security of electricity supply, the Federal Council is therefore striving for openness to technology. The existing ban on new construction for nuclear power plants is not compatible with the goal of open technology and also harbours risks for the dismantling of existing plants.” The Federal Department of Energy &
Communications is expected to submit an amendment to the Nuclear Energy Act to the Federal Council by the end of 2024, with a consultation process set to run until March 2025. Following this, the Swiss Parliament will discuss both the initiative and the government’s counter-proposal. Energy Minister Albert Rösti told a press
conference new nuclear power was “not an option” in the short or even medium term. “But to be ready, if it is necessary in the long term, in the next 15 years I would say, we must start now,”
He added: “We are not saying that in 10 years
there will be a new power plant... but we are responsible for leaving the door open to all possible technologies” If the process was not initiated now, it may be “too late in 20 years.
United States Molten salt gets NRC go-ahead The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a construction permit to Abilene Christian University (ACU) to build a liquid salt-fuelled reactor, the Natura MSR-1. The development is the first ever liquid salt-fueled reactor licensed by the NRC. MSR-1 is also the first US university research reactor approved in more than 30 years. The first deployment of the 1 MWth Natura
MSR-1 ACU’s molten salt research reactor (MSRR) will be at ACU’s Dillard Science and Engineering Research Center, the nation’s first advanced reactor demonstration facility outside of a national lab. Natura Resources brought together ACU’s NEXT Lab with Texas A&M University, The University of Texas at Austin and Georgia Institute of Technology to form the Natura Resources Research Alliance to license and deploy the MSRR. The construction permit approval followed a series of reviews. ACU’s environmental review was completed in March with a finding of “no significant impact.” The recently completed safety review found that the preliminary design of the Natura MSR-1 meets federal regulations and is safe to construct. ACU will now work with Natura to apply for an operating license, while
12 | October 2024 |
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Natura will complete the detailed design of the MSR-1. ACU and Natura hope to submit the operating license application in the first half of 2025.
The research reactor will be Natura’s first deployment and accelerates the development of 100 MWe systems for commercial applications. To that end, Natura is working to develop a small modular MSR system and recently announced a partnership with the Texas Produced Water Consortium to explore the deployment of the molten salt technology to provide dispatchable energy paired with water treatment facilities. “ACU is thrilled to have Natura as a partner
as we work together to answer the world’s increased demand for reliable energy, medical isotopes, and clean water through the deployment of liquid-fueled molten salt reactors. With the NRC’s issuance of the construction permit, we are one step closer to making that a reality. The performance-driven approach of Natura Resources to advanced reactor deployment has quickly moved them from a relative unknown to a leader in the upstart advanced reactor industry,” said Dr. Phil Schubert, ACU president. Douglass Robison, Natura Resources founder
and president, added: “The Natura MSR-1 deployment at ACU will not only demonstrate successful licensure of a liquid-fueled molten salt reactor but will provide operational data that will allow us to safely and efficiently design and deploy our commercial systems.”
France Molten salt gets NRC go-ahead Work on the final decommissioning of Brennilis NPP in the Monts d’Arée region of Brittany, should begin by the end of this year, according to the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN – Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire). Brennilis, which has been shut down since 1985, is expected to be fully dismantled by 2041. The plant is a prototype 75 MWe gas-cooled
heavy water reactor that began operation in 1972. Fully supported by EDF, the dismantling should cost €850m ($950m). During the next 3-4 years, the aim will be
to clear the area around the reactor building, explained Gaetan Lafforge-Marmet, who heads ASN’s Caen division. This clean up phase is intended to facilitate subsequent dismantling of the reactor. However, EDF must ensure that the deadlines prescribed for carrying out the periodic inspections are met and that the materials are traceable. EDF was last year authorised to begin the
third and final phase of the decommissioning. The first decommissioning phase, which involved the removal of all fuel and the dewatering of its systems, was completed in 1992. The second phase, completed in 2005, saw the dismantling of equipment and all buildings except the reactor building. “Brennilis today contains few radioactive substances, and the risks are limited,” Lafforge-Marmet noted. ■
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