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round up


NUCLEAR FUEL ROSTOV 2 HAS started pilot operation using new TVS-2M fuel assemblies. Three assemblies were loaded into the VVER-1000 core, each containing 12 fuel elements: six made using chromium as a structural material with nickel alloy  cladding and chromium coating.


KOREA HYDRO & Nuclear Power and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories have signed a memorandum of understanding for technical cooperation in the field of used nuclear fuel.


RADWASTE BELGIUM’S RADIOACTIVE WASTE management company, ONDRAF, said that  developed a unique transport vehicle with integrated packaging for solid medium- and high-level waste.


GERMANY HAS CLOSED the Gorleben salt dome in Lower Saxony, which was withdrawn from the list of potential sites for a repository for geological reasons based on an interim report in 2020.


NUCLEAR TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS, which operated Oceanic Pintail, had set Dales Marine Services the challenge of ensuring 98% of the former nuclear cargo vessel was reused.


ISOTOPES


FRANCE’S ORANO GROUP marked the construction of the stable isotope laboratory on its Tricastin site. The 3200m2 facility represents an investment of some €15 million and is expected to begin production in the second half of 2023.


RUSSIA’S KURSK NPP is preparing to use a unique technology for industrial production of cobalt-60. Work began with the loading in November 2018 of additional cobalt absorbers into the Kursk 4 RBMK.


BRUCE POWER HAS received approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to take the next step forward for new isotope production. It will become the first power reactor globally to commercially produce lutetium-177.


LAURENTIS ENERGY PARTNERS, a subsidiary of Ontario Power Generation has announced a new programme to produce Helium-3, a rare isotope used in quantum computing, neutron research, border security and medical imaging.


V innovative mox fuel to more than 60%, which will bring us closer to…the creation of a new technological platform based on a closed nuclear fuel cycle.” Initially, the BN-800 reactor was launched


with a hybrid core, partly equipped with uranium fuel produced by Mashinostroitelny Zavod in Elektrostal (Moscow Region), and partly with experimental mox assemblies manufactured at the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (NIIAR) in Dimitrovgrad. The first 18 serial mox fuel assemblies were loaded into the reactor in January 2020 and the first refuelling using only mox took place in February 2021 when another 160 assemblies were added (making the core one third mox). Completion of the transition to a full core of mox fuel is scheduled for 2022.


International


Russia and US look to hydrogen production Russian state nuclear corporation has outlined its plans to produce hydrogen from nuclear power, while the US Department of Energy (DOE) has given a funding boost to a demonstration project in the USA. In Russia, work is current underway on


several hydrogen projects involving nuclear power plants, Anton Moskvin, vice president for marketing and business development of Rusatom Overseas said in a discussion on Hydrogen Future of Russia and the World at the Russian Energy Week in October. A feasibility study is being developed for the use of the free capacity of the Kola NPP for production of hydrogen by electrolysis. “We are now working on this technology. At


the same time, we are assessing the prospects for the sale of this hydrogen and its application — on the one hand in the Murmansk region, on the other hand, for export,” Moskvin said. Rosatom is also considering the


production of hydrogen from NPPs to support decarbonisation of Russian industry. Rusatom Overseas (part of Rosatom) and Gazprom Neft have agreed to work together to study the transport and storage of carbon dioxide generated during hydrogen production on Sakhalin Island. Meanwhile, the US DOE has announced


$20 million in funding to demonstrate technology that will produce clean hydrogen energy from nuclear power. This approach will allow clean hydrogen to serve as a source for zero-carbon electricity and represent an important economic product for nuclear plants beyond electricity, DOE noted. The project, based in Arizona, will make progress on DOE’s H2@Scale vision for clean hydrogen across multiple sectors and help meet the department’s Hydrogen Shot goal of $1 per 1 kilogram in one decade. The project, led by PNW Hydrogen, will


receive $12 million from the DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) and $8 million from DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy


10 | November 2021 | www.neimagazine.com


(NE) for a total award of $20 million. The project will produce hydrogen from nuclear power at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Phoenix, Arizona. Six tonnes of stored hydrogen will be used to produce around 200MWh electricity during times of high demand and may be also used to make chemicals and other fuels. The project will provide insights about integrating nuclear energy with hydrogen production technologies and inform future clean hydrogen production deployments at scale.


Australia Minerals Council of Australia looks at small modular reactors The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has released a new report, Small Modular Reactors in the Australian Context, which offers an overview of SMRs, their potential role in Australia and likely operating costs. Even with conservative assumptions that include higher than expected construction costs, SMRs could be Australia’s lowest cost 24/7 zero emission power source that underpins reliable and secure electricity supplies, the report said. It looked at three advanced SMR designs that


are currently undergoing regulatory approval — NuScale’s Power Module, GE-Hitachi’s BWRX- 300 and Terrestrial Energy’s Integral Molten Salt Reactor. It pointed to the enhanced safety features and potential uses of SMRs. The MCA stressed the need to consider zero


emission nuclear energy, along with carbon capture use and storage, and renewable energy to decarbonise the economy. It believes SMRs offer part of the solution to addressing this requirement. Australia has a third of the world’s uranium reserves and its uranium mining sector, supplies about 10% of global demand. However nuclear power is banned at both federal and state level. “Australia should take advantage of growing international interest in nuclear energy and look to expand its already significant uranium sector,” MCA said. The 36-page report described SMRs as “power


generators of typically 300MWe or less that use nuclear fission to provide clean, fully reliable heat and power, on-grid or off-grid”. In Australia they could connect directly to the existing grid and could, be used to power regions or independently supply mines due to their compact size, fuel density and ability to air cool. As to costs, the report stated: “Robust estimates suggest that by 2030 and beyond, SMRs could offer power to grids from $64-$77MWh, depending on size and type.” ■


Clarification Romain Polin was the lead author of the article RUTA: a district heating solution for Finland? published in the October issue of Nuclear Engineering International (p39-42).


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