NEWS |
round up
PLANT OPERATION THE RBMK-1000 reactor at unit 2 of the Kursk NPP will be permanently shut down in 2024, plant director Alexander Uvakin announced. “Last year, as planned, unit 1 was closed and ceased power generation. Work is now underway to prepare for decommissioning.
EQUIPMENT ROSELECTRONICS, PART OF Russia’s Rostekh State Corporation, will supply radiation-resistant video surveillance systems for the Akkuyu NPP under construction in Turkiye. The equipment supports the loading of nuclear fuel in the reactor compartment.
SOUTH KOREA’S DOOSAN Enerbility has signed a contract worth KRW1,600 billion ($1.2bn) with Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) for construction of the turbine island for the El Dabaa in Egypt being built with the assistance of Rosatom.
THE STEAM GENERATING Team (SGT), a joint venture between Framatome and United Engineers & Constructors has completed the steam generator replacement project at unit 2 of the US Tennessee Valley Authority Watts Bar NPP. The plant returned to full operations after all four original steam generators were replaced during the scheduled outage.
POLICY IRAN SAID IT had started enriching uranium to a purity level of 60% at its Fordow facility in response to a resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors, drafted by the USA, UK, France and Germany, criticising its nuclear programme. The changes were implemented in the presence of the IAEA’s inspectors.
THE JAMAICAN GOVERNMENT is looking to incorporate nuclear power in the country’s energy mix Minister of Science, Energy, and Technology Daryl Vaz said. He added that it will be used as a medium to long-term option. He said the government “recognises the importance of science to nation building”, and that “it must become a way of life in Jamaica”.
SAFETY AND SECURITY AN EXPERT MISSION to support the Moscow Centre of the World Association of Nuclear Operators was completed at the Akkuyu NPP construction site in Turkiye as part of the preparation for an International Atomic Energy Agency Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) visit.
Westinghouse fuel for Loviisa
although it is now supplying fuel for Soviet- designed VVER-1000 reactors in Ukraine. In September, Westinghouse and Spain’s
Enusa Industrias Avanzadas announced their intention to collaborate on VVER-440 fuel fabrication with the aim of delivering a Western alternative to Russian fuel in the European market. Westinghouse and ENUSA have partnered since 1974 in support of plants in Spain, Belgium, and France among others. Between 2001 and 2007, BNFL/Westinghouse
Above: Westinghouse will supply a new fuel type for the Loviisa NPP in Finland
Fortum has signed an agreement with US-based Westinghouse Electric Company for the design, licensing, and supply of a new fuel type for the Loviisa NPP in Finland. The new fuel type is based on a British Nuclear Fuel Limited design that was supplied to the Loviisa plant from 2001 to 2007 and used in parallel with the fuel supplied by the Russian TVEL in the early 2000s. Taking the new fuel into use is a multi-year project requiring regulatory approvals. “The new and parallel fuel supplier will
diversify our fuel strategy, improve security of supply and ensure reliable electricity production at the Loviisa power plant also in the future,” said Sasu Valkamo, Vice President, Loviisa NPP. Loviisa NPP comprises two Soviet designed VVER-440 units, which were commissioned in 1977 and 1980. TVEL began supplying fuel to Loviisa in 2007.
Loviisa’s current fuel agreement with TVEL is valid until the end of the current operating licences in 2027 and 2030. In spring 2022, Fortum applied for a new operating licence for both units until 2050 and announced that a tendering process will be arranged for fuel supply for the new operating period. Currently Westinghouse does not produce VVER-440 assemblies,
USA
US funds Diablo Canyon but refuses Palisades The US Administration, through the Department of Energy (DOE), has announced the conditional selection of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California to receive the first round of funding from the $6bn Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) programme, funded by President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill. As the nation’s
8 | December 2022 |
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delivered a total of 741 VVER-440 fuel assemblies to the Loviisa NPP in Finland which were manufactured by ENUSA in Spain. The fuel assembly design – NOVA E-3 (fixed assembly) and NOVCA (follower) – was developed in a 1996-1998 programme involving BNFL (UK), IVO (Finland) and PAKS (Hungary). The programme included extensive testing and qualification of the new design. In June 1998, the manufacturing of five Lead Test Assemblies – four fixed and one follower assembly – in Springfields, UK, was completed and the fuel was delivered for insertion in Loviisa unit 2. The NOVA E-3 and NOVCA designs were
integrated into the Westinghouse fuel product portfolio, and all the intellectual property for the VVER-440 fuel was transferred from BNFL to Westinghouse in 2005-2006. However, after failing to extend the Loviisa fuel contract and failing to win any other VVER-440 delivery contracts, Westinghouse decided to withdraw from the market in 2008. Then, in 2014 reactivation of the VVER-440
market was considered in view of the demand for increased security of energy supply in Europe. Westinghouse, in a consortium comprising nine organisations, applied for a Euratom-funded programme for diversification of the VVER fuel market in Europe, and was granted €2m in 2015 to run the ESSANUF programme.
The new design being developed within the
ESSANUF project is taking the earlier operating experience from Loviisa into consideration, as well as the operating records of Westinghouse fuel from other types of plant and especially VVER-1000. ■
largest source of carbon-free power, America’s current fleet of nuclear reactors is a vital resource for achieving the President’s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035 and a net-zero emissions economy by 2050, DOE said. “This is a critical step toward ensuring that our domestic nuclear fleet will continue providing reliable and affordable power to Americans as the nation’s largest source of clean electricity,” said US Secretary of Energy U
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