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POLICY
ADDRESSING AN INTERNATIONAL conference in Tashkent, Uzbekistan’s Deputy Energy Minister, Umid Mamadaminov, said: “Going nuclear is not only a solution for grid stability; it’s also a strategic investment for the country….We need another alternative source of energy, and nuclear is one of the best solutions.”
SLOVENIANS WILL VOTE in November in a consultative referendum on the construction of a new unit at the Krško NPP. The referendum vote will not be a final decision on a new reactor but on whether to give the government and the investor a mandate to continue their work on preparing the project. Prime Minister Robert Golob said the final decision may be adopted in 2027 or 2028.
SAFETY & SECURITY THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC Energy Agency (IAEA) is taking the first practical steps towards additional monitoring near the Fukushima Daiichi NPP in Japan. The IAEA carried out marine sampling as an initial step, leveraging the presence of experts from various countries who were in Japan for a mission to collect samples for the latest IAEA interlaboratory comparison related to the ALPS treated water discharge.
THE CHORNOBYL NPP (ChNPP) announced that a new project aimed at supporting restoration of safety, security and infrastructure has begun at the site. ChNPP is the client for the project, and Ukrainian company UTEM-Engineering has been contracted to act as consultant. The new project is funded through a grant from the International Chernobyl Cooperation Account (ICCA), established in November 2020 by the EBRD at the request of the government of Ukraine.
NUCLEAR FUEL THE US DEPARTMENT of Energy (DOE) has approved the Conceptual Safety Design Report (CSDR) for the Okla’s Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). US-based Oklo in July completed of the first end-to-end demonstration of the key stages of its advanced fuel recycling process, in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory and INL.
FRANCE’S FRAMATOME HAS been selected by Spanish operator CNAT – Centrales Nucleares Almaraz-Trillo – for the long-term supply of high thermal performance (HTP) fuel assemblies and related services to unit 1 of Trillo NPP. The contract includes nine successive fuel assembly deliveries and related services from 2026-2035.
Construction of GB-II, had previously been the subject of a public debate in 2004, which considered increasing the plant’s capacities from the planned 7.5m to 11m SWU. Currently GB-II is running at full capacity of 7.5m SWU. In the US, Urenco has installed the first
new centrifuges of an expansion project at the company’s enrichment site in Eunice, New Mexico. The project will provide an approximately 15% increase in capacity, providing an additional 700,000 SWU a year. Urenco USA is on schedule to begin producing enriched uranium from newly installed centrifuges in 2025. Urenco CEO Boris Schucht said this was only
the latest step. “We are intending to further expand our capacity in the US, subject to market needs, as the strong momentum in the nuclear industry continues.” Urenco’s Eunice site is the only commercial enrichment facility in the US. In 2023, its annual production was 4.4m SWU. The site has the physical space and licence to expand annual production to 10m SWU. The site’s expansion project, scheduled for completion in 2027, is the first to be delivered under Urenco’s capacity expansion programme. In total, under Urenco’s current expansion
programme, 1.8m SWU will be delivered across three projects, including two others at Urenco’s sites in Germany and the Netherlands. Urenco is also building a high-assay, low enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel plant at its UK site in Capenhurst, following co-investment from the UK Government. Urenco is continuing to participate in the US Department of Energy’s HALEU request for proposal process to provide a domestic supply in the USA.
United Kingdom MAST international participation The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) said an international team is spearheading a series of ambitious experiments using the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST) Upgrade, at its Culham Campus near Oxford. The national fusion energy laboratory will work with more than 100 scientists from 37 institutions worldwide on MAST Upgrade’s fourth round of experiments. MAST Upgrade is a compact fusion machine designed in the shape of a cored apple, in contrast to conventional ring-shaped tokamaks. It tests plasma science theories using deuterium fuel. This fourth scientific campaign will focus on:
● Maximising the core plasma pressure to determine effects on the plasma’s properties.
● Understanding methods to control the plasma’s exhaust.
The scientists aim to conduct over 50 experiments, the largest number ever run by MAST Upgrade in a campaign, to generate up to 1,600 plasma pulses. MAST Upgrade has played a key role in the design of the UK’s prototype fusion energy
10 | November 2024 |
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power plant, Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP). The latest experiments will see MAST Upgrade
operate at higher temperatures (35m degrees Celsius up from 15m degrees Celsius), creating conditions closer to those expected in future machines, such as STEP. MAST Upgrade is recognised for addressing
plasma exhaust, the intense heat that escapes from the plasma, which is one of fusion’s major challenges. Dr Fulvio Militello, Director of Plasma Science and Fusion Operations, said: “Previous results have demonstrated the effectiveness of MAST Upgrade’s innovative Super-X divertor, showing a 10-fold reduction in exhaust temperature without impacting the hot core plasma. This campaign aims to build on these impressive results and will explore whether more compact and cost-effective divertors can achieve similar reductions.” MAST Upgrade received significant
enhancements earlier in 2024, including the addition of a cryoplant. The £5m ($6.5m) enhancements were funded by UKAEA and the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council.
Vietnam State nuclear investment proposal The Vietnamese government has proposed that the state should be the sole investor in nuclear power development, according to the draft amended law on electricity presented to the National Assembly by Minister of Industry & Trade Nguyen Hong Dien. According to the draft, the Prime Minister
will regulate special mechanisms on investments, construction and operation of nuclear power plants. This aims to ensure national energy security, in line with Vietnam’s power development plan VIII (PDP VIII). The government believes the state should be the sole investor as they are important and related to national security, although National Assembly Committee on Science, Technology & Environment Chairman Le Quang Huy said: “It’s necessary to create mechanisms to attract investors, as well as to increase feasibility of projects and efficiency of state management”. Vietnam currently has no nuclear power
project. In September, the Ministry of Industry & Trade was tasked with studying development of nuclear power as a baseload source to ensure energy security and annual power supply growth of 12-15%, given economic growth projections of over 7% a year. Vietnam’s current national power development plan (PDP VIII), approved in May 2023, does not include nuclear, but Vietnam is considering small modular reactors, including floating reactors, with a capacity of 300 MW each. The plan would increase total installed power generation capacity to over 150 GW by 2030 from over 80 GW at the end of 2023. The amendment of the power development plan is aimed at “fully tapping the country’s energy potentials,” Dien said.
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