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PLANT OPERATION US-BASED HOLTEC International says it has submitted a filing with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to begin the process of seeking federal reauthorisation of power operations at the Palisades NPP. The single-unit 800 MWe pressurised water reactor at Palisades NPP in Michigan began commercial operation in 1971. The reactor was removed from service by previous owner Entergy in May 2022, and was defuelled. Its sale to Holtec was completed in June 2022.
GEORGIA POWER HAS reported the discovery of a malfunctioning coolant pump at unit 4 of its Vogtle NPP, resulting in a delay in commissioning of the unit. The problem in one of the reactor’s four pumps was found during pre-operational testing and startup of the unit, which had been expected begin operation later this year.
UPGRADES KOREA HYDRO & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has signed a consortium agreement with Romanian nuclear utility Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica (SNN), Canada’s Candu Energy and Italy’s Ansaldo Nucleare, to jointly support refurbishment of unit 1 at Romania’s Cernavoda NPP.
FINNISH POWER UTILITY Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) has started the environmental impact assessment procedure for the possible extension of the operating permit and possible power increase of units 1&2 at its Olkiluoto NPP. Currently, the units’ operating licences extend to 2038.
EQUIPMENT A 40-METRE-high mast, which is part of the ASRO (automated radiation monitoring system), has been installed in the vicinity oif the Akkuyu NPP under construction in Turkiye. The mast is designed to accommodate meteorological equipment and antenna-feeder devices.
US ENERGYSOLUTIONS IS establishing an advanced nuclear fabrication and manufacturing facility to support nuclear plant life extension and new NPP construction as part of its new Nuclear Services division. The new facility will be located in an existing 200,000 square foot EnergySolutions industrial building in Tennessee, and refurbishment will begin immediately.
Akademik Lomonosov First refuelling for
Above: The Akademik Lomonosov floating NPP Photo credit: Grigorii Pisotsckii/
Shutterstock.com
Rosatom’s fuel company TVEL has supplied nuclear fuel for reactor 1 of the world’s only floating nuclear power plant (FNPP), the Akademik Lomonosov. The vessel is currently moored at the city of Pevek, in Russia’s Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The fuel was transported along the Northern Sea Route and the first ever refuelling of the FNPP is planned to begin before the end of the year. Delivery and loading of fuel to the second reactor is planned for 2024. The manufacturer of nuclear fuel for all Russian nuclear icebreakers, as well as the Akademik Lomonosov, is the Mashinostroitelny Zavod (MSZ) which is part of TVEL. It is located in Elektrostal, in the Moscow Region. The FNPP includes two KLT-40S reactors in which nuclear fuel is not replaced in the same way as in standard NPPs – partial replacement of fuel once every 12-18 months. Instead, once every few years the entire reactor core is replaced with a full load of fresh fuel. KLT-40S cores have a number of advantages
compared with standard NPPs. For the first time, a cassette core was used, which made it possible to increase the fuel cycle to 3-3.5
United States MARVEL approaches final design The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) MARVEL microreactor has achieved 90% of the final design. This is a key step that will allow the project to move forward with fabrication and construction. MARVEL will be the first new reactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in more than four decades and is expected to be completed in early 2025. The MARVEL reactor will be used to help demonstrate applications, evaluate systems for remote monitoring, and develop autonomous control technologies for new reactors. The MARVEL design is a sodium-potassium-cooled microreactor that will generate 85 kW of thermal
8 | November 2023 |
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years before refuelling, and also reduces the fuel component in the cost of the electricity produced by a factor of one and a half. The operating experience of the FNPP also provided the basis for the design of the new series of nuclear icebreaker reactors (series 22220). So far, three such icebreakers have been launched. The Akademik Lomonosov was connected to the power grid in December 2019, and put into commercial operation in May 2020. Electricity generation from the FNPP at the end of 2023 amounted to 194 GWh. The population of Pevek is just over 4,000 people. However, the plant can potentially provide electricity to a city with a population of up to 100,000. The FNPP solved two problems. Firstly, it replaced the retiring capacities of the Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant, which has been operating since 1974, as well as the Chaunskaya Thermal Power Plant, which is more than 70 years old. It also supplies power to the main mining enterprises located in western Chukotka. In September, a 490 km 110 kV power transmission line was put into operation connecting Pevek and Bilibino. ■
energy. It will be built inside the Transient Reactor Test Facility at INL with future plans to connect it to a microgrid. The DOE’s microreactor programme recently
completed MARVEL’s final design report, which included more than 200 supporting documents detailing the engineering analysis, specifications, requirements, and drawings of the reactor design. The 90% threshold allows for minor changes that might arise due to unforeseen complexities during construction and assembly. The design will not be considered 100% final until the microreactor is cleared for operation. However, the current stage permits INL to award contracts and proceed with the next steps.
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