NEWS |
round up
OPERATION CANADIAN NUCLEAR LABORATORIES has completed a project to refuel the Royal Military College of Canada’s SLOWPOKE-2 nuclear reactor after work extended the operating life of the reactor by another 30 years.
EQUIPMENT CANDU ENERGY, PART of the SNC-Lavalin Group announced that its consortium with BWXT Nuclear Energy Canada had been awarded a contract for the provision of 38 drive mechanisms for reactivity control at Bruce A&B.
A FULL-SCALE, first of its kind, mock-up of the main vessels of an advanced modular reactor was revealed at an event hosted by U-Battery and Cavendish Nuclear.
Above: Shin-Hanul units 1&2 Photo credit: KHNP
NUCLEAR FUSION DEVELOPER Tokamak Energy said it has demonstrated a “transformative magnet protection technology” that improves the commercial viability of fusion power plants.
POLICY THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC Energy Agency (IAEA) has published two reports — Nuclear Science and Technology for Climate Adaptation and Resilience and Nuclear Energy for a Net Zero World — highlighting nuclear power’s role in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.
THE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY Agency’s latest World Energy Outlook says transition to a clean energy system is progressing too slowly for the world to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. It provides analysis of how the world could limit global warming to 1.5°C but sees no key role for nuclear power.
PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON said France aims to become a leader in green hydrogen by 2030 and build new, smaller nuclear reactors as he announced a five-year investment plan aimed at fostering industry and innovation.
THE SOUTH AFRICAN Nuclear Energy Corporation has welcomed the Cabinet’s decision to approve the acquisition and construction of a new Multipurpose Reactor. It will replace the existing 20MW Safari-1 research reactor near Pretoria.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has finished loading nuclear fuel assemblies into unit 1 of the Shin-Hanul NPP in South Korea. KHNP obtained permission to load fuel from the Nuclear Safety & Security Commission (NSSC) in July. After loading of 241 fuel assemblies into the reactor, KHNP is conducting reactor physics and systems testing under normal operating temperature and pressure conditions. KHNP expects commercial operation for Shin-Hanul 1 in 2022. Groundbreaking for the first two units at Shin-Hanul (formerly Shin Ulchin) took place in May 2012. First concrete for unit 1 was poured two months later, and for unit 2 in June 2013. The APR1400 pressurised water reactors were originally expected to enter service in April 2017 and April 2018. Following delays, fuel loading in Shin-Hanul 1 had been scheduled for June 2019 but was further delayed pending safety checks by the NSSC and some modifications. Commercial operation of unit 1 was then expected in July 2021, and unit 2 in May 2022, but there have been further delays.
Canada Further progress in SMR development The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) in October renewed Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG’s) licence for a project eventually building a small modular reactor (SMR) at its Darlington site. The 10-year licence allows OPG to do work to prepare the site for construction of a future SMR nuclear plant, called the Darlington New Nuclear Project. Last year, OPG announced it was resuming its planning activities for the SMR project, and said it hopes to deliver the plant by 2028. However, further federal approvals will be needed for construction and commissioning of the project.
6 | November 2021 |
www.neimagazine.com Shin-Hanul 1, which has a capacity of
1400MWe, is the 27th nuclear power unit in South Korea and the fifth APR1400 reactor approved for commercial operation in the world, following Shin-Kori 3&4, and Barakah 1&2 in the United Arab Emirates. Five more APR1400 reactors are under
construction, including Shin-Hanul 2, Shin-Kori 5&6, and Barakah 3&4. Once they are completed, there will be ten APR1400 reactors operating globally with 14GWe installed capacity. In November 2017, the European Utility
Requirements (EUR) certificate was issued to KHNP for its EU-APR design – a modified design of the APR1400 – demonstrating the design met European codes and standards. The APR1400 also received a Standard Design Approval and a Design Certification from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2019 – the first foreign reactor design to achieve such approval. Shin-Hanul 1 is also the first reactor constructed using domestically-developed reactor technologies, including reactor coolant pumps and digital control systems. ■
October also saw Canada’s Terrestrial Energy
and Cameco Corporation sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to examine potential partnership opportunities to deploy Terrestrial Energy’s Integrated Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) nuclear power plants in North America and worldwide, and to evaluate possible opportunities for the supply of uranium, fuel and other services. As part of these activities, the companies are investigating the potential of Cameco’s Port Hope uranium conversion facility in southern Ontario for IMSR fuel salt supply. This follows Terrestrial Energy’s earlier
agreements with Cameco to supply uranium products for its ongoing fuel testing U
Fuel loading for Shin-Hanul 2
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