Nuclear Energy

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/behind-the-scenes-of-an-iaea-mission-integrated-regulatory-review-service-irrs-in-bangladesh

Read the source link for more details like photos and graphs that I didn't copy.

Satyajit Ghose has spent nearly 30 years in the field of nuclear safety, of which the last 15 years he worked as a regulator for Bangladesh’s nuclear sector. Last year, his daily regulatory activities included preparing for and hosting a complex international peer review to assess how Bangladesh is ensuring the protection of people and the environment from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation.

The review was timely, as Bangladesh is embarking on a nuclear power programme. Its first nuclear power plant (NPP), Rooppur NPP, is under construction, and earlier this month, Bangladesh officially received its first uranium shipment to fuel the NPP. Once operational, Rooppur NPP will provide 2400 MW of clean energy, supporting the country’s efforts to decarbonise and become a developed economy by 2041. “Bangladesh stands as a success story for newcomer countries in nuclear power development, advancing its programme under the IAEA’s guidance,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. “The IAEA will continue to support their nuclear journey.”

The IAEA offers more than 30 peer review and advisory services to help countries strengthen and enhance their nuclear-related practices. Peer reviews, which are organized upon request, compare the country’s national infrastructure and practices with IAEA safety standards and other publications. These services, often referred to as ‘missions,’ focus on an array of specialties, from nuclear safety and security to safeguards and the health sector. The Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) is one such mission that reviews a country’s regulatory infrastructure against IAEA safety standards with a view to improve nuclear and radiation safety and facilitate global harmonization.

“The IRRS mission in Bangladesh was particularly important to review and strengthen regulatory infrastructure required for ensuring the safety of the country’s nuclear power programme,” said Zia Shah, Senior Nuclear Safety Officer at the IAEA. Shah was the Team Coordinator of the IAEA’s IRRS in Bangladesh, from 26 November to 8 December 2022. “This IRRS mission provides an opportunity for the country to optimize efforts and resources for effective regulatory oversight of the nuclear power plant and all other nuclear-related facilities and activities in line with the IAEA safety standards.”

The IAEA safety standards reflect an international consensus on what constitutes a high level of safety. “While the mission brings experts from many different countries, the mission is based on IAEA safety standards, not national practices, which contributes to the international harmonization of nuclear safety practices,” said Hilaire Mansoux, Head of Regulatory Infrastructure and Transport Safety at the IAEA.

Mansoux, who has personally completed more than 30 IRRS missions, was the Deputy Team Coordinator of the IAEA’s IRRS mission in Bangladesh. “Good preparation, efficacy and professionalism of all those involved are key to a successful mission,” he said.

Here is an account of what happened before, during and after the IRRS in Bangladesh.

Before the mission

The IRRS in Bangladesh – the first for the country – was years in the making. “The Government formally requested the mission in 2017 to fulfil its international obligation to peer review regulatory effectiveness,” said Ghose, Chief Scientific Officer and Project Director of the Nuclear Regulatory Infrastructure Development Project at Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA). The IAEA, together with Bangladesh, followed up with preparatory work to conduct the mission initially planned in 2019, but actually implemented in 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions.

Before hosting the IRRS mission in Bangladesh, Ghose observed the IRRS in Spain in October 2018 and then participated as a team member of the IRRS in Turkey in September 2022. “The valuable experiences I gained and the lessons learned from other experts helped my team and me to organize and conduct a successful mission in Bangladesh,” he said.

The IAEA and BAERA organized the scope of the mission into ten modules: the responsibilities and functions of the government; the global nuclear safety regime; the responsibilities and functions of the regulatory body; the management system of the regulatory body; and the activities of the regulatory body, which includes: authorization; review and assessment; inspection and enforcement; development of regulations and guides; and emergency preparedness and response. The scope of an IRRS may vary from country to country, depending on the country’s nuclear-related facilities and activities.

“Within BAERA, active preparation for the IRRS began in July 2021, as we designated groups and set responsibilities to complete the self-assessment response and analysis activities,” said Ghose, who served as the liaison officer for the mission. In line with IRRS guidelines, BAERA conducted a thorough self-assessment, prepared a preliminary action plan for improvement and submitted advance reference materials in September 2022.

Meanwhile, the IAEA recruited a team of 15 regulatory and safety experts from ten different countries. For some, this was the first time they had participated in an IRRS, while others had been part of previous missions or had hosted an IRRS in their own country. It was the fourth mission for Mahalakshmi Sivaramakrishnan of India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. She completed the IAEA training course for potential reviewers in 2015 and was then invited to participate in missions, given her expertise in the protection of patients in medical uses or ionizing radiation. “The result of the IRRS mission is impactful for both the host country and the team,” she said. “It is an opportunity to learn from each other, from our teammates and host country, and to take these lessons learned back to our home countries.”

Each member of the team, based on their expertise, was assigned a type of facility or activity to review, such as nuclear power plants, research reactors, decommissioning, waste management or medical exposure. The work of the IRRS team, supported by five IAEA staff, began two months before they convened on-site in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka. Prior to the mission, each team member spent time reviewing BAERA’s advance reference materials to understand the regulatory infrastructure in place in Bangladesh and within BAERA.

“The team’s pre-work and their first impressions of the legal and regulatory framework in Bangladesh have set us up well for the two weeks of the mission,” said Mark Foy, Team Leader of the IRRS in Bangladesh, on the first day of the mission. Foy is the Chief Executive and Chief Nuclear Inspector at the United Kingdom's Office for Nuclear Regulation. “The preparation provided the team members with a basic understanding of the arrangements in Bangladesh. They have identified areas where they need additional information and clarity of the framework, its implementation and compliance with international safety standards, which is why we are here in Dhaka.”

After the mission

In July 2023, the IAEA sent the final IRRS mission report to Bangladesh.

The value of the IRRS mission is widespread. “One important IRRS attribute is its contribution to strengthening and harmonizing the global nuclear and radiation safety regime. I trust each of us will take some useful information and practices that was shared by our BAERA colleagues,” said Anna Bradford, Director of Nuclear Installation Safety at the IAEA. “Similarly, I am sure that Bangladesh will continue sharing the valuable insights and experience it has gathered during this mission with the international community.”

Based on the mission’s findings and report, BAERA has updated its action plan for improvement of its regulatory system. “We are working to enhance BAERA’s regulatory effectiveness based on the IRRS findings to strengthen our regulatory infrastructure in line with international standards,” Ghose said. “Per the action plan, BAERA is working on finalizing the draft regulatory documents and developing policy documents, in addition to developing training programmes for newly recruited regulatory inspectors.”

In due course, a follow-up mission will assess Bangladesh’s progress in implementing the mission’s recommendations and suggestions.

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/update-187-iaea-director-general-statement-on-situation-in-ukraine

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts were today granted access to the rooftop of reactor unit 2 of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and did not observe any mines or explosives there, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.

From the top of the building, the IAEA team could also observe the entire rooftop of its turbine hall as well as parts of the rooftops of the reactor buildings and turbine halls of units 1 and 3, also without seeing any mines or explosives, Director General Grossi said.

The team will continue making its long-standing request to also visit the rooftops of reactor units 1, 5 and 6 to monitor compliance with the five concrete principles for protecting Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP) during the military conflict in Ukraine, which state that it should neither be attacked nor be used as a base for heavy weapons.

Today’s development comes after IAEA experts on 3 August were allowed access to the rooftops of units 3 and 4, following reports that explosives may have been placed there. Also at that time, they did not observe any mines or explosives.

“After repeated requests in recent months, we were at last able to go to one more reactor rooftop. While this is a step in the right direction, we still need more access to assess adherence to the five principles, which were presented and gained support at the United Nations Security Council. We will continue to insist until this is granted,” Director General Grossi said.

The IAEA experts also require access to all six turbine halls to be able to confirm the absence of any materials and equipment that may contravene the five principles. This request has not yet been approved and the IAEA team can only confirm the status of one turbine hall at a time.

Highlighting the risks facing the plant during the military conflict, the IAEA team at the site has continued to hear explosions almost every day. Usually, they appear to occur some distance away from the plant, but yesterday four blasts took place closer to the site.

“Without any doubt, the nuclear safety and security situation at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant remains highly precarious. We will continue to do everything we can do help prevent a nuclear accident during the war in Ukraine,” Director General Grossi said.

Of the ZNPP’s six reactors, five remain in cold shutdown, while unit 4 continues to be in a state of hot shutdown to generate steam to heat water for the nearby town of Enerhodar – where most plant staff live – and to process liquid radioactive waste.

As previously reported, Ukraine’s national regulator, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU), has issued regulatory orders to limit the operation of all six units of the ZNPP to a cold shutdown state. In addition, the IAEA has been strongly encouraging the ZNPP to find an alternative source of steam generation to cover the plant’s needs and allow for all the reactors to be maintained in a cold shutdown state.

The ZNPP is continuing to conduct maintenance activities on unit 6 following its transition to cold shutdown earlier this month. The IAEA experts were informed that the site performed testing on two of the unit’s steam generators due to the presence of boron in the secondary circuit, which is an indicator of a leak, albeit much smaller than that found in one of the steam generators of Unit 4, which was subsequently repaired. In unit 6, the tests performed by the ZNPP identified small water leaks in one tube of each steam generator, which have now been repaired and testing is being performed to confirm the successful repair.

The IAEA experts are also continuing to monitor the water situation at the plant following the destruction of the downstream Kakhovka dam in early June. To find alternative sources of cooling water for the reactors and spent fuel, the plant has recently completed the construction of 11 underground wells which are together supplying around 250 cubic metres per hour, which the site had estimated would be sufficient to maintain the level of all 12 sprinkler cooling ponds, which have remained steady following some issues with their levels in late September.

Over the past week, the IAEA team has conducted walkdowns across the site, including within the site perimeter, in the main control room and reactor building of unit 5 and in the reactor building of unit 6. The experts have also observed testing of the safety system of unit 2 and maintenance activities on the transformer of unit 6. During these walkdowns, the team did not observe any new mines or explosives.

As part of these activities, the IAEA experts also closely observe the performance of the operating staff as the team collects more information about the status of staffing and the training and licensing of staff at the plant.

IAEA teams at Ukraine’s three other NPPs and the Chornobyl site report safe and secure operations of these nuclear facilities despite the continuation of the armed conflict.

The IAEA team based at the Rivne NPP said it had completed scheduled maintenance of unit 2, including the successful loading of a new type of fuel into this reactor. After it was re-started, the reactor was today reconnected to the grid.

Over the past week, the IAEA completed its 27th and 28th deliveries of equipment and other items designed to enhance nuclear safety and security in Ukraine, providing two Starlink terminals with associated equipment to the Khmelnytskyy NPP to support reliable communications to and from the site as well as a mobile helium leak detector with accessories for tightness control to the South Ukraine NPP. The equipment was procured with funds provided by the European Union, including the European Commission.

Since the 1960s, researchers have been turning to an unlikely harvesting ground for uranium: the world's oceans. Now, an Australian-led team has moved the prospect of sea-based uranium harvesting another step forward with a cheap and easy-to-make material.

As the planet begins its slow move away from carbon-based fuel sources, alternative energies are coming to the fore. While solar, wind, and hydroelectric technologies tend to steal the spotlight in this arena, nuclear energy is still a mighty contender. In fact, in 2017, it contributed to about 10% of the world's energy production and in 2022, 8 GW of new nuclear power joined the global grid.

Key to nuclear power generation is uranium, an element that is only found on land in a few countries, where underground supplies will continue to diminish as nuclear power plants proliferate. Not so with the underwater supply, however. It is estimated that there are about 4.5 billion tonnes of the element in the world's oceans, compared to just about six million on land. That's enough to generate power planet-wide for thousands of years.

Retrieving all that uranium has proven tricky though, as it is present in seawater in extremely small concentrations.

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory saw early success with fibers doped with amidoxime chemical groups, which have an affinity for uranium. Researchers at Stanford later added electricity to the fibers, and were able to harvest even more of the radioactive element. More recently, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory was able to pull five grams of yellowcake – a powdered form of uranium – out of seawater with a specialized type of acrylic yarn. Casting a narrow net

Still, these methods fall short of harvesting uranium on the industrial scale that would be necessary to fuel nuclear plants around the world. And trying to find a material that can grab uranium without netting other sea-based elements has been a challenge.

Seeking to overcome these difficulties, researchers from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), the University of New South Wales, and other colleagues turned to layered double hydroxides (LDH). These relatively easy-to-make materials consist of layers of positively and negatively charged ions. The team doped these LDHs with various chemicals including neodymium, terbium, and europium, soaked them in seawater, and analyzed the results using intensive imaging from X-ray adsorption spectroscopy.

The researchers found that when neodymium was combined with LDHs, the resulting compound was able to grab uranium from seawater over 10 other more abundant elements. These include sodium, calcium, magnesium and potassium, which are present in quantities that are about 400 times greater than that of the uranium. According to the researchers, this selectivity, along with the low cost of producing the doped LDH material should go a long way toward making the large-scale harvesting of uranium from seawater a greater likelihood.

"These findings indicate that dopant engineering of LDHs provides a simple, effective method for controlling selectivity and producing adsorbents capable of challenging separations such as uranium extraction from seawater," wrote the researchers in the study, which has been published as a cover story in the journal Energy Advances.

• Source: https://www.ad.nl/enschede/hoezo-is-kernenergie-niet-haalbaar-en-betaalbaar~aae2dc4f/
• Zonder paywall: https://archive.ph/Z9ZXp

Lezersbrief: PvdA-lijsttrekker Frans Timmermans beweert ten onrechte dat nieuwe Nederlandse kerncentrales niet haalbaar en niet betaalbaar zijn. Dat schrijft Johan Pot uit Neede.

Na te zijn afgewezen voor de functie van hoogste EU-baas, wil de klimaatpaus nu trachten premier van Nederland te worden. Maar weet wel wat je zegt! En dat is bepaald niet zijn sterkste kant. Timmermans beweert namelijk, dat nieuwe Nederlandse kerncentrales niet haalbaar en niet betaalbaar zijn. Baarlijke nonsens. Er zijn volgens hem niet voldoende studies gedaan. Dat is onwaar, want die studies zijn er wel.

Evenveel energie als 6000 turbines

Even de feiten. Een kerncentrale levert evenveel energie op als 6.000 windmolens, en is veel goedkoper en schoner, en vriendelijker voor dieren. Eenvoudig wat googelen levert al het volgende op. TNO (toch een respectabel instituut) schat in dat de bouw zo’n 10 miljard euro kost en zeker elf jaar duurt. Hoezo, te duur in vergelijking met 6000 windmolens en nagenoeg geen CO2. En dan dezelfde opbrengst.

Langs dezelfde meetlat

Je moet alle energiebronnen langs dezelfde meetlat te leggen zeggen onderzoekers . Vergelijk zon, wind en kernenergie op dezelfde manier. Bekijk ze over hun hele levensduur en neem ook alle verborgen kosten (en opbrengsten!) mee. Want kerncentrales gaan bijvoorbeeld heel lang mee: zestig tot tachtig jaar is mogelijk. De kosten van kernenergie blijken dan best in balans te zijn met andere bronnen. Te duur in vergelijking met de 25 miljard euro die nu in het stikstoffonds zit?

Diagnostisch gebruik

En toch komt Timmermans alleen te staan met zijn aversie tegen kernenergie. Nu ook D66 voluit voor kernenergie kiest, en zelfs Volt positief aarzelt, blijven alleen anti-kernenergiepartijen als SP en Partij voor de Dieren (onbegrijpelijk jaarlijks 50.000 vogels dood door windmolens) over om mee te regeren. Deze liberale lezer geeft Timmermans graag een gratis tip. ‘Eerlijkheid is het eerste hoofdstuk in het boek der wijsheid.’ U bent toch al eens eerder betrapt op een leugentje om bestwil? En als het volgens u geen leugentje was, doe dan eerst gedegen onderzoek. En trouwens: de medische wereld kan niet meer zonder nucleaire toepassingen. Denk aan radioactieve stoffen - medische isotopen - die gebruikt worden in nucleaire medicijnen, voor zowel therapeutisch als diagnostisch gebruik.

Johan Pot,

Neede

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/first-ever-nuclear-energy-summit-to-be-held-in-brussels-in-march-2024

Following the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Atoms4NetZero initiative, leaders from around the world will gather at a Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels early next year to highlight the role of nuclear energy in addressing the global challenges to reduce the use of fossil fuels, enhance energy security and boost economic development, the IAEA and Belgium announced today.

Hosted jointly by the IAEA and Belgium, the Summit will take place on 21-22 March 2024.

Co-chaired by IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, it will be the highest-level meeting to date exclusively focused on the topic of nuclear energy, which is attracting growing interest from many countries because it can both help to cut the consumption of fossil fuels while meeting rising demand for low-carbon dispatchable electricity.

“More and more countries are either planning to introduce nuclear power in their energy mix or expand already existing nuclear energy programmes. We have seen a clear positive shift in recent years, with a growing realization that nuclear energy is an indispensable part of the solution to some of the most pressing global challenges of our time,” Director General Grossi said.

“The Nuclear Energy Summit will highlight this renewed momentum for nuclear power and also provide a high-level forum to showcase solutions for some of the issues the sector is facing in order to realize its full potential, including from an industrial perspective. In this regard, it will also be a venue for building closer ties between political and industry executives, which are of paramount importance for the future of nuclear power,” he said.

Prime Minister De Croo said: "The European energy landscape has changed profoundly. We need to rapidly decrease our use of fossil fuels. This goes hand in hand with the fight against global warming, the consequences of which have never been so visible. This dual emergency calls for a determined, balanced response. Alongside important investments in renewable energy and hydrogen production, nuclear energy and technology can be part of the solution to power our industrial future."

Around 30 countries are expected to participate in the Summit. Industry leaders are also expected to attend, as are the heads of think-tanks, experts, and representatives from civil society.

The Summit will consist of a high-level segment with heads of state and government as well as a scientific debate with leading experts about issues ranging from new reactor technologies to hybrid energy systems integrating both nuclear power and renewable energy, and innovation throughout the entire fuel cycle and the life cycle of nuclear facilities.

A separate policy debate will focus on the hurdles that are hindering the early deployment of new nuclear technologies and the solutions and opportunities identified worldwide to overcome them. It will examine challenges such as the security of supply and safe dismantling of nuclear power reactors. In addition, the Summit will showcase the IAEA’s Atom4NetZero initiative, which provides decision makers with comprehensive, data-driven energy scenario modelling that also includes the full potential of nuclear power in contributing to net zero emissions.

"In Belgium, with the extension of the Doel 4 and Tihange 3 power plants, we have shown that nuclear technologies have their rightful place in the energy mix. They contribute to energy security and the competitiveness of our economy, while helping to drive down the use of fossil fuels. Belgium has the ambition to lead the way in research into the safe dismantling of nuclear facilities, medical applications for radioisotopes, and innovative research into small modular reactors,” Prime Minister De Croo said.

Director General Grossi said: “Leaders will have an opportunity to outline their visions on how nuclear power can help them meet both their net zero and sustainable development goals. With the world struggling with a climate crisis, while at the same time requiring more and more energy, this Summit could not be more important or timely. We must all join forces in this existential fight that we are facing. Nuclear power is a clean and reliable source of energy, and the world needs much more of it.”

The IAEA’s new annual nuclear power outlook high case projection predicts installed nuclear capacity will more than double to 890 gigawatts by 2050, compared to 369 gigawatts today. This represents an almost 25% increase from the Agency’s prediction in 2020, with its projections revised up for a third consecutive year.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Complete-dismantling-of-experimental-French-reacto

EDF has been authorised to begin the third and final phase of the decommissioning of the Brennilis nuclear power plant in the Monts d'Arée in Brittany, France. The plant is a unique 75 MWe gas-cooled heavy water reactor that operated between 1972 and 1981.

The first phase of the plant's decommissioning - the removal of all fuel and the dewatering of its systems - was completed in 1992. The second phase - the dismantling of equipment and all buildings (with the exception of the reactor building) - was completed in 2005.

On 26 September, EDF obtained the "complete dismantling" decree, signed by the Minister of Energy Transition, which makes it possible to launch the dismantling of the reactor, the cleaning up of the civil engineering, the demolition of the reactor building and the final rehabilitation of the Brennilis site.

This authorisation is based on a file describing precisely the operations that will be carried out and the way in which EDF will conduct these operations. Before being submitted to the ministry, this file was the subject of a public inquiry among the 15,000 inhabitants of the neighbouring municipalities, at the end of which the prefect and the commission of inquiry issued a favourable and unreserved opinion in March 2022.

"The final deconstruction of Brennilis is a complex operation," noted Cédric Lewandowski, director of the nuclear and thermal fleet at EDF, on LinkedIn. "Indeed, this prototype, unique in France, using heavy water reactor technology, is contained in a concrete cube measuring 20 metres on each side and 1.5 metres thick. Inside, the equipment to be dismantled is tightly packed into a very cramped space.

"To carry out this work on time and to guarantee the protection of personnel, the EDF Deconstruction and Waste Projects Department (DP2D) is working with its industrial partners on innovative tele-operation and robotics solutions."

The dismantling of the reactor's peripheral circuits, entrusted by DP2D to Onet Technologies and Cyclife Engineering, will begin later this year.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Special-investment-contract-signed-for-Russian-med

Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade, representatives from the Kaluga region and the city of Obninsk, and Rosatom have signed a special investment contract for the construction of what Rosatom says will be Europe's largest plant for the production of radiopharmaceuticals.

The contract was signed by Russia's Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov, Governor of the Kaluga Region Vladislav Shapsha, head of the city government of Obninsk Gennady Artemyev and Director General of Rosatom Healthcare Igor Obrubov, on the first day of the Biotechmed 2023 Forum.

Obrubov said: "The special investment contract signed today clearly demonstrates the importance for the country of the work that Rosatom is doing today to increase the length and improve the quality of life of Russians. We see strong demand from the state for the development of domestic technologies for the production of radiopharmaceuticals. In parallel with the construction of the plant, we are conducting clinical and preclinical studies of a number of innovative radiopharmaceuticals, which are planned for production at the plant."

He said that construction work on the building’s frame is currently under way, with the plan being to complete the facility in 2024.

Obninsk has a long scientific history - it was home to the world's first nuclear power plant to supply electricity across a conventional transmission grid. The Atom Mirny (Peaceful Atom) 5 MWe water-cooled graphite moderated prototype reactor unit began operating in June 1954 and was shut down in April 2002.

Rosatom said that a wide range of radiopharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients will be produced, including products based on iodine-131, samarium-153 and molybdenum-99. The plant will also present promising active radiopharmaceutical substances and radiopharmaceutical drugs based on lutetium-177, actinium-225, radium-223 and other isotopes. Radiopharmaceuticals can be used to diagnose and treat patients with a wide variety of cancers and other conditions.

The centralisation of production and location of the new facility - with an associated aviation hub - will help to reduce the cost of radiopharmaceuticals and will ensure the speedy supply to medics across the country and in other countries - Rosatom says it already supplies medical isotopes to more than 50 countries.

According to the World Nuclear Association's Radioisotopes in Medicine paper, more than 40 million nuclear medicine procedures are performed each year, and demand for radioisotopes is increasing at up to 5% annually. Sterilisation of medical equipment is also an important use of radioisotopes.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/TVO-eyes-extended,-expanded-use-of-Olkiluoto-units

Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) announced it has initiated an environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure for a possible operating licence extension and potential power uprating of units 1 and 2 at its Olkiluoto nuclear power plant.

Olkiluoto units 1 and 2 - which were first connected to the grid in September 1978 and February 1980, respectively - currently meet 15% of Finland's electricity demand.

In September 2018, the Finnish government approved a 20-year extension to the operating licences of both units. The new licence replaced TVO's then current operating licences, issued in 1998, which were valid until the end of 2018. The two boiling water reactors are currently permitted to operate until the end of 2038.

TVO said it is now considering extending the operating licences by at least a further 10 years.

"Extending the lifespan would support domestic year-round and weather-independent electricity production as well as Finland's and Europe's climate goals," said TVO's Director of Electricity Production, Marjo Mustonen.

The company noted the units have been modernised throughout their service lives by means of annual maintenance and major investments, which means "they remain in excellent operational condition". TVO said about EUR50 million (USD53 million) are invested annually in Olkiluoto 1 and 2.

The investments, it said, have also enabled power uprates of the units from their original capacities of 660 MWe (net) to the current 890 MWe.

In addition to the operating licence extension, TVO said it has also looked at opportunities to further uprate the power of the units. An uprating of 80 MWe is being investigated for both units, increasing power levels from 890 MWe to about 970 MWe. This would mean an annual production increase of 1.2 TWh, TVO noted.

The company said that decisions regarding the licence extensions and power uprates will be made after the completion of the EIA report.

Unit 3 of the Olkiluoto plant attained first criticality on 21 December 2021 and was connected to the grid on 12 March 2022. The EPR, a 1600 MWe pressurised water reactor, then entered a phase of test production during which some 3300 tests were conducted and more than 9000 test reports collated. It entered commercial operation on 1 May this year. OL3 produces about 15% of Finland's total electricity consumption.

Integrated effects test being carried out at TerraPower lab in US.

US-based nuclear technology companies Southern Nuclear and TerraPower and UK-based Core Power have begun a hot salt pumping experiment which is expected to further the development of TerraPower’s demonstrator molten chloride fast reactor (MCFR) technology.

Southern Nuclear’s parent company Southern Company said in a statement that pumped-salt operations have started for the integrated effects test (IET) experiment at a TerraPower laboratory in Everett, Washington state, dedicated to the development of its Generation-IV molten salt reactor project.

The statement said chloride salt has been loaded into the primary coolant salt loops at the facility, kicking off a multi-month test campaign expected to provide valuable salt operations data for the MCFR programme.

Southern Company and TerraPower have been cooperating on the IET, a non-nuclear, externally heated, up to 1-MW multiloop system, construction of which was completed in late 2022.

Since construction was completed the IET has undergone mechanical, electrical and controls verification. Commissioning included the application of hot argon and chloride salts to confirm readiness by filling and flushing drain tanks and ensuring the operability of freeze valves.

TerraPower has said the IET is to help learn how the MCFR technology will scale and behave at larger, commercial sizes. The experiment is the world's largest chloride salt system developed by the nuclear sector.

The company has said MCFR technology operates at higher temperatures than conventional reactors, generating electricity more efficiently and without emissions.

According to Southern Company, the IET will support the design, licensing and operation of an approximately 180-MW MCFR demonstration planned for the early 2030s.

TerraPower, founded by Bill Gates, has been developing advanced nuclear power projects, including the MCFR, a travelling wave reactor, and the Natrium sodium-based nuclear reactor technology.

Core Power was set up in 2018 with the aim to build and commercialise sea-based reactor plants for power generation and maritime propulsion uses.

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/iaea-mission-recognizes-saudi-arabias-commitment-to-radiation-safety-identifies-areas-for-further-improvement

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has demonstrated commitment to safety for all applications and occurrences of radiation sources in the country. The team recommended actions for improvement, including the establishment of a national strategy for radioactive waste management.

The Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission, the first to Saudi Arabia, was conducted at the request of the Government of Saudi Arabia and hosted by the Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission (NRRC). The ten-day mission took place from 1 to 10 October 2023.

Using IAEA safety standards and international good practices, IRRS missions are designed to strengthen the effectiveness of the national regulatory infrastructure while recognizing the responsibility of each country for nuclear, radiation, radioactive waste and transport safety.

In 2018, Saudi Arabia’s Government announced its national policy for an atomic energy programme for peaceful uses, committing to achieve the highest safety and security standards in nuclear and radiation facilities, activities and practices. The country uses radioactive sources in medicine, industry, research, and education and has an important Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) industry, areas that were the focus of this IRRS mission. The NRRC regulates all nuclear and radiological activities and facilities.

The IRRS team - consisting of senior regulatory experts from ten IAEA Member States, three IAEA staff members and one observer – met with officials from the NRRC to assess Saudi Arabia’s regulatory framework for radiation safety against IAEA safety standards. The IRRS team members observed the working practices during inspections carried out by NRRC at the nuclear medicine facility at Alhabib Hospital, the Sure Beam Middle East, L.L.C industrial irradiator facility, the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and a radioactive waste storage facility. The IRRS team members also visited NRRC’s environmental monitoring laboratories. The team noted that relationships between the regulatory body and authorized parties were constructive and open.

“Overall, we found that the regulatory programme of Saudi Arabia is well established, considering that it was only established four years ago,” said Paul Dale, from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in the United Kingdom and Team Leader for the mission. “The regulatory oversight of radiation safety is solid, established and progressing, the IRRS team welcomes the commitment of NRRC to continue to progress its regulatory systems and to continually improve.”

The team found that Saudi Arabia has adopted the policies, principles, and strategies to further continue the development of the regulatory programme for radiation safety and concluded that it is fully committed to safety in all applications of atomic technology in the country.

The IRRS team observed the following good practices:

• The establishment of a Joint Government Organizations Policy (JGoP) as a legally binding mechanism for ensuring legal division of labour to deliver effective joint working arrangements and coordination between the NRRC and other relevant government agencies and for the tasks and responsibilities to be clearly assigned to avoid any omissions, undue duplication or conflicting requirements.
• The establishment of a certified business continuity management system by the NRRC for maintaining the regulatory oversight of facilities and activities continuity of its critical regulatory functions in any disruptive or emergency situation.

The IRRS team also made recommendations and suggestions for the Government and NRRC which will enhance the effectiveness of the regulatory framework and functions in line with the IAEA safety standards, including:

• To establish a national strategy for radioactive waste management to outline arrangements for ensuring the implementation of the national policy.
• To consider establishing a competence framework led by the NRRC for building and maintaining competence in safety.
• To consider developing and implementing national comprehensive arrangements, with clear roles for relevant organizations, to search for and regain control over legacy of radioactive sources including orphan sources.
• To complete and implement a protection strategy for NORM exposure situations.
• The NRRC should formally recognize Technical Service Organizations in Saudi Arabia that may have significance for safety.

The IRRS Team also noted that the majority of the areas identified for further improvement were identified by Saudi Arabia itself in its self-assessment, made in advance of the mission.

“The NRRC values its strategic partnership with the IAEA and welcomes the conclusions of IRRS mission. The outcomes from the mission will help guide the strengthening of the regulatory framework for radiation safety and will be used to formulate the strategy of the NRRC for the following years,” said Khalid Aleissa, Chief Executive Officer of the NRRC.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with NRRC as regulator made a big step forward in developing the regulatory framework for radiation safety,” added Hildegarde Vandenhove, Director of the IAEA Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety at the closing session today. “I am confident that the recommendations and suggestions highlighted during the review mission, will be considered and implemented.”

Background

General information about IRRS missions can be found on the IAEA website. The IRRS regulatory review process provides a peer review of both regulatory technical and policy issues and is suitable for any State, regardless of the level of development of its activities and practices that involve ionizing radiation or a nuclear programme. IRRS teams evaluate a State’s regulatory infrastructure for safety against IAEA safety standards. The teams compile their findings in reports that provide recommendations and suggestions for improvement and note good practices that can be adapted for use elsewhere to strengthen safety. Mission reports describe the effectiveness of the regulatory oversight of nuclear, radiation, radioactive waste and transport safety and highlight how it can be further strengthened.

The IAEA Safety Standards provide a robust framework of fundamental principles, requirements, and guidance to ensure safety. They reflect an international consensus and serve as a global reference for protecting people and the environment from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation.

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/iaea-to-conduct-first-extensive-sampling-of-marine-environment-near-fukushima-daiichi-since-start-of-treated-water-release

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) scientists and international scientific observers will visit Japan next week to take marine samples near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS). The Agency’s samples will be used to corroborate Japan’s environmental monitoring and to assess the country’s relevant technical capabilities.

This work supports the IAEA’s ongoing monitoring and assessment activities in Japan under the Agency’s overall safety review of the ALPS treated water discharges which is assessing whether TEPCO and the Government of Japan are applying the relevant international safety standards. The results from the new samples will also be compared against samples taken last year to determine whether any changes have occurred in the levels of radionuclides in the marine environment since the ALPS treated water discharges began in August this year.

The mission will also provide samples for the Agency’s project initiated in 2014 to support the quality assurance of broader marine environmental monitoring by Japanese laboratories related to the decommissioning of FDNPS. Reports from this work can be found on the IAEA website.

From 16-23 October, the IAEA team will observe the collection and processing of seawater, marine sediment and fish samples from coastal waters in the vicinity of the FDNPS.

Two staff from the IAEA Marine Environment Laboratories in Monaco, as well as experts from laboratories in Canada, China and Republic of Korea, will participate in the sample collection. The team will also take part in the sampling of fish from markets in the Fukushima Prefecture.

Identical samples will be sent to all laboratories participating in the comparison study and analysed for radioactivity. The results of the analyses done by Health Canada, the Third Institute of Oceanography, China, and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety – members of the network of Analytical Laboratories for the Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity – and those obtained by the participating Japanese laboratories, will be submitted to the IAEA for the evaluation of the results for any statistically significant differences, and publication.

Additionally, the IAEA Task Force conducting the safety review of Japan’s release of the ALPS treated water will reconvene and conduct its first mission to Japan since the start of the water discharges. It is the next in a series of missions that began in 2021 and will continue throughout the IAEA’s safety review of the discharges. Media opportunities will be conveyed towards the end of this week.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Argentina-and-Brazil-sign-MoU-on-radioisotopes

Argentina's National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) and Brazil's National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) have signed a memorandum of understanding which they say will strengthen their on-going collaboration in the area of peaceful uses of nuclear technology relating to their planned new research reactors.

CNEA President Adriana Serquis said the two countries had had existing agreements which had seen the establishment of the "RA-10, our multipurpose reactor, and the RMB (Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor) by Brazil as similar projects", adding that the new MoU builds on the cooperation on research reactors that has already taken place, covering bilateral cooperation in the field of nuclear medicine, irradiation testing of fuels and materials and research using neutron beams.

CNEN President Francisco Rondinelli said the two organisations had been working for the development of nuclear applications for peaceful purposes and said they "have a lot to cooperate" on in the development of the sector in both countries. He noted that the MoU includes a partnership with Argentina's Invap for engineering support for the RMB and its laboratory facilities.

Also in attendance for the signing, at the Ezeiza Atomic Centre in Argentina, were the country's Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Daniel Filmus and Brazil's Minister of Science, Technology and Communication Luciana Barbosa de Olivera Santos, who said: "Argentina is internationally recognised for its competence in the development of radioisotope production plant projects and we want to have that experience in the construction of our Brazilian multipurpose reactor."

The RA-10 is a reactor for the production of radioisotopes for medical and industrial use, as well as for research. The 30 MWt open-pool research reactor will replace the RA-3 reactor, a 10 MWt pool-type reactor which began operations in 1967. It will produce doped silicon, a raw material for advanced electronic applications, and sources of industrial iridium "for the evaluation of the integrity and quality of large-scale constructions". The reactor is scheduled to be operating in 2025 and will supply 20% of the world's demand for molybdenum, one of the main radioisotopes used.

Brazil says that the RMB would reduce the cost of radiopharmaceuticals and also dependence on imports, with the aim of "expanding and democratising nuclear medicine" for people in Brazil. Invap signed the agreement in 2013 to build the two research reactors - one in each country - with the reference design to be the Open Pool Australian Light-water research reactor that Invap supplied to the Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation. At the time it was estimated that between them, the two new reactors would provide capacity to supply 40% of the world's isotope demand.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Vogtle-4-start-up-moved-to-2024

The in-service date for the second AP1000 plant at the site near Waynesboro, Georgia, has been revised after a motor fault was discovered in a reactor coolant pump. Meanwhile, Georgia Power has agreed to pay the plant's co-owner Oglethorpe Power Corporation USD308 million in settlement of an ongoing dispute.

The motor fault in one of the unit's four reactor coolant pumps - or RCPs - was discovered during start-up and pre-operational testing, Georgia Power said in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The process to replace the pump with an on-site spare has already begun. "Considering this remediation and the remaining pre-operational testing, Georgia Power projects that the Unit 4 in-service date will occur during the first quarter 2024," it said. Previously, the in-service date had been pencilled in as late this year or early in 2024.

The four RCPs at Vogtle 3, which is now in commercial operation, have operated as designed, so plant operator Southern Nuclear believes that the motor fault on the RCP at Vogtle 4 is an isolated event, the companies said. The projected schedule for Vogtle 4 "primarily depends on the continued progression of pre-operational testing and start-up", it added: "As testing continues, new challenges also may continue to be identified, which may result in required engineering changes or remediation related to plant systems, structures, or components (some of which are based on new technology that only within the last few years began initial operation in the global nuclear industry at this scale). These challenges may result in further schedule delays and/or cost increases."

Dispute settled

In the same SEC filing, Georgia Power and its parent, Southern Company, announced the agreement with Oglethorpe Power to resolve a dispute regarding cost-sharing and tender provisions of the joint ownership agreements relating to Vogtle units 3 and 4. Georgia Power has agreed to make a payment of USD308 million to Oglethorpe for a portion of Oglethorpe's previously incurred construction costs, as well as paying a portion of Oglethorpe's further construction costs for the units - around USD105 million - based on the current capital cost forecast. It will also pay 66% of Oglethorpe's costs of construction with respect to any amounts above the current project capital cost forecast. The parties have agreed to dismiss pending litigation on this issue, including counterclaims by Georgia Power.

Georgia Power resolved a similar dispute with another of the plant's co-owners, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power) in September 2022. Similar litigation with the other co-owner, Dalton Utilities, is still pending.

Construction of the two Westinghouse AP1000s began in 2013. Unit 3 - the first new reactor to start up in the USA since 2016 - reached first criticality in March this year and was declared in commercial operation in July. Fuel loading at unit 4 began in August.

Plant Vogtle is jointly owned by Georgia Power (45.7%), Oglethorpe (30%), MEAG Power (22.7%) and Dalton Utilities (1.6%).

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/iaea-annual-projections-rise-again-as-countries-turn-to-nuclear-for-energy-security-and-climate-action

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today released its annual outlook for nuclear power in the coming decades, revising up its global growth projections for a third straight year.

In both its high and low case scenarios, the IAEA now sees a quarter more nuclear energy capacity installed by 2050 than it did as recently as 2020, underscoring how a growing number of countries are looking to this clean and reliable energy source to address the challenges of energy security, climate change and economic development.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi announced the new projections, contained in the annual report “Energy, Electricity and Nuclear Power Estimates for the Period up to 2050”, during the opening of the IAEA’s 2nd International Conference on Climate Change and the Role of Nuclear Power 2023: Atoms4NetZero in Vienna.

“Climate change is a big driver, but so is security of energy supply,” Director General Grossi said in describing the reasons for the improved outlook. “Many countries are extending the lifetime of their existing reactors, considering or launching construction of advanced reactor designs and looking into small modular reactors (SMRs), including for applications beyond the production of electricity.”

In the high case scenario of the new outlook, nuclear installed capacity is seen more than doubling by 2050 to 890 gigawatts electric (GW(e)) compared with today’s 369 GW(e). In the low case, capacity increases to 458 GW(e). From last year’s outlook, the high and low cases have risen by 2% and 14%, respectively.

In 2021, the IAEA revised up its projections for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan. Since the 2020 outlook, the high case projections to 2050 have now increased by 178 GW(e), a 24% increase. The report’s low case projections have seen even higher growth of about 26%.

Amid a rapidly transforming global energy landscape, intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical situation, and military conflict, the significant increase in the capacity forecast underlines how more and more countries view nuclear energy as a resilient, reliable and low carbon energy source. The report also reflects nuclear power's importance in ensuring energy security to prevent future fluctuations in availability and prices.

Navigating the Challenges Ahead

Despite the optimistic outlook, challenges inherent in climate change, financing, economic considerations, and supply chain complexities persist and might hamper the industry’s growth. While international collaboration and other efforts are underway to overcome these obstacles, including the IAEA’s Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative (NHSI) to facilitate the deployment of safe and secure SMRs, much remains to be done to achieve a fair and enabling investment environment for new nuclear projects, according to the report.

“‘Nuclear energy or renewables’ is a false narrative,” Director General Grossi said. “Such false narratives are to the detriment of everyone, especially when it comes to achieving a fair and enabling investment environment. We are not at a level playing field yet. To get there, decisions need to be made from a technologically agnostic view that is based on science, fact and reason.”

Since it was first published over 40 years ago, the IAEA projections have been continually refined to reflect an evolving global energy context. Over the past decade, nuclear power development has remained within the range of projections described in prior editions of the annual report.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Construction-of-first-unit-at-Lianjiang-under-way

The first safety-related concrete has been poured for the nuclear island of unit 1 at the Lianjiang nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province. It is the first of two CAP1000 units planned as the initial phase of the plant, which will eventually house six such reactors.

The construction of the first two 1250 MWe CAP1000 reactors - the Chinese version of the Westinghouse AP1000 - at the Lianjiang site was approved by China's State Council in September 2022. Excavation works for the units began in the same month.

The pouring of the first concrete for the foundation of unit 1's nuclear island was completed at 4.58pm on 29 September after 53 hours of "continuous hard work", State Power Investment Corp (removed) announced. It said the milestone marks "the first phase of the project entering a new stage of construction".

removed noted the concrete pouring was completed 7 hours ahead of schedule. "Among the four units approved in the same period, it was the first to achieve FCD [first concrete pouring], and set a record for the shortest FCD process among units of the same type," the company said.

Lianjiang unit 1 is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2028.

Once all six CAP1000 units at the site are completed, the annual power generation will be about 70.2 TWh, which will reduce standard coal consumption by over 20 million tonnes, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 52 million tonnes, sulphur dioxide by about 171,000 tonnes and nitrogen oxides by about 149,000 tonnes.

removed noted the Lianjiang plant will be the first nuclear power project in China to adopt seawater secondary circulation cooling technology as well as the first to use a super-large cooling tower.

Company begins formal process of seeking federal approval for repowering of reactor.

Florida-based energy company Holtec International has formally begun the process of seeking federal reauthorisation to restart the single-unit Palisades nuclear power station in Michigan with a planned date for repowering set in 2025.

The company said a filing with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission follows a series of public meetings with NRC staff to lay out the path to “reauthorise the repowering of Palisades within the agency’s existing regulatory framework”.

If successful, the move would allow the first ever US reopening of a shut-down commercial nuclear power plant.

The restart could be approved in 2024 and Holtec has set a target date of August 2025 for restarting power operations at Palisades, unconfirmed reports said.

Holtec is seeking a loan from the US Department of Energy to support the restart of Palisades. Local press reports said officials from Holtec had met NRC representatives last week, but no updates on the loan or when a decision may come were given.

Holtec bought Palisades in 2022 to decommission the 805-MW pressurised water reactor facility, which had struggled to compete with natural gas-fired plants and renewable energy.

The plant shut about 10 days earlier than expected in May 2022, after discovery of a problem with a control rod drive seal.

Holtec initially planned to repurpose the 174-hectare site but the Biden administration’s $6bn (€5.6bn) of aid for upgrading nuclear facilities in the US led the company to reconsider its plans.

Nuclear energy is a crucial element of president Joe Biden’s goal of an economy with net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Hurdles ‘Are Not Insurmountable’

Reuters quoted an energy policy analyst at ClearView Energy Partners as saying Holtec faces a series of regulatory hurdles for a Palisades restart. But those are “surmountable” and there are “favourable odds” that Palisades will re-open by the company’s expected date of August 2025.

In September Holtec signed an agreement with Wolverine Power Cooperative to buy power to re-open Palisades.

According to the long-term power purchase agreement, Wolverine Power Cooperative, a not-for-profit energy provider to the rural communities across Michigan, is committing to purchase up to two-thirds of the carbon-free power generated by the Palisades plant for its Michigan-based member rural electric cooperatives.

The agreement also contained a contract expansion provision to include up to two small modular reactors that Holtec intends to build and commission at the site.

Wolverine’s nonprofit rural electric cooperative project partner, Hoosier Energy, will purchase the balance.

In July the state of Michigan’s budget included $150m to support the restart of the Palisades. Provision of the money depends on federal support for the reopening.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/US-computing-infrastructure-provider-announces-SMR

Standard Power plans to develop small modular reactor (SMR) facilities in Ohio and Pennsylvania using NuScale's reactor technology to power nearby data centres.

It has also enlisted independent global energy development and production company ENTRA1 Energy - NuScale's global strategic partner for commercialising the NuScale SMR Technology - to support the two projects.

Standard Power's plans for the two facilities will see NuScale providing 24 units of 77 MWe modules, collectively producing 1,848 MWe of clean energy from the Ohio and Pennsylvania sites. The two projects will also represent a significant economic boost for their respective communities, NuScale said.

The development of a commercial SMR power facility will not only help the data centre achieve carbon reduction targets, but will also support the development of a new clean energy source to meet diverse energy transition needs, NuScale added.

"We see a lot of legacy baseload grid capacity going offline with a lack of new sustainable baseload generation options on the market especially as power demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-computing and data centres is growing," Standard Power founder and CEO Maxim Serezhin said. "By bringing together ENTRA1’s superior strengths in project development and investment with NuScale's proven SMR technology, consumers can reduce their emissions footprint and help meet decarbonisation goals while delivering the reliable 24/7 service to energy consumers."

NuScale in 2022 formed an exclusive global partnership with ENTRA1 to commercialise NuScale SMR technology, through which ENTRA1 has the rights to develop, manage, own and operate energy production plants powered by the only SMR technology that has, to date, received design approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"ENTRA1 Energy has a strong global pipeline of energy production projects of multiple gigawatts of power generation with NuScale's proven technology," said NuScale Chief Commercial Officer Clayton Scott. With power demand growing in the semiconductor, AI, data and other tech sectors, ENTRA1 and NuScale are "uniquely positioned" to supply baseload and reliable power, he added.

NuScale's Power Module is a pressurised water reactor with all the components for steam generation and heat exchange incorporated into a single 77 MWe (250 MW thermal) unit. The first NuScale SMR, Project WIN, is projected to be operational in 2029, at Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems' Carbon Free Power Plant which is to be built on a site at Idaho National Laboratory.

Here’s how engineers will use it to model the complex physics inside the heart of a nuclear power plant.

Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, is getting a new supercomputer, Aurora, which its scientists will use to study optimal nuclear reactor designs. As of now, the lab is using a system called Polaris, a 44-petaflops machine that can perform about 44 quadrillion calculations per second.

Aurora, which is currently being installed, will have more than 2 exaflops of computing power, giving it the capacity to do 2 quintillion calculations per second—almost 50 times as many as the old system. Once the unprecedented machine comes online, it’s expected to lead the TOP500 list that ranks the most powerful computers in the world. It was expected to start running earlier, but has had delays due to manufacturing issues.

A more powerful supercomputer means that nuclear scientists can simulate the fundamental physics underlying the reactions with as much detail as possible, which will allow them to make better assessments of overall safety and efficiency of new reactor designs. Reactors are the heart of a nuclear power plant. Here, a process called fission happens, leading to a series of nuclear chain reactions that produce incredible levels of heat, which is used to turn water into steam to spin a turbine that then creates electricity.

“Anyone out there that’s actively designing a reactor is going to use what we call ‘faster running tools’ that will look at things on a system-level scale and make approximations for the reactor core itself,” Dillon Shaver, principal nuclear engineer at Argonne National Laboratory, tells Popsci. “[At Argonne] we are doing as close to the fundamental physical calculations as possible, which requires a huge amount of resolution and a huge amount of unknowns. It translates into a huge amount of computation power.”

Shaver’s job, in a nutshell, is to do the math that prevents reactors from melting down. That involves a deep understanding of how different types of coolant liquids behave, how fluid flows around the different reactor components, and what kind of heat transfer occurs.

According to the Department of Energy, “all commercial nuclear reactors in the US are light-water reactors. This means they use normal water as both a coolant and neutron moderator.” And most active light-water reactors have a fuel pin geometry design, where large arrays of fuel pins (large tubes that contain the fuel, usually uranium, needed for fission reactions) are arranged in a rectangular lattice.

The next generation of reactor designs that Shaver and his team are investigating include wire-wrapped liquid metal fast reactors. The reactors are placed in a triangular lattice instead of a rectangular one, and are also layered with a thin wire that forms a kind of helix around the fuel pin. “This leads to some really complicated flow behavior because the [liquid metals like sodium] has to move around that wire and usually causes a spiral pattern to develop. That has some interesting implications on heat transfer,” Shaver explains. “A lot of time it enhances it, which is a very desirable thing” because it’s able to get more power out of a limited amount of fuel.

However, with the advanced designs like the wire wrap, “it’s a little bit more complicated to pump the fluid around these wires compared to just an open model,” he adds, which means that it could take more input energy too.

Another popular option is called a pebble bed reactor, which involves a series of graphite pebbles about the size of a tennis ball being embedded with the nuclear fuel. “You just randomly pat them into an open container and let fluid flow around them,” Shaver says. “That is a very different scenario compared to what we’re used to with light-water reactors because now all of the fluid can move through these random spaces between the pebbles.” Such a system has many benefits for low-energy cooling.

With the newly proposed designs, the goal is to ultimately generate more power while putting less in. “You’re trying to enhance the heat transfer you get from it, and the price you pay is how much energy it takes to pump it,” says Shaver. “There’s an interesting cost-benefit there.” Some of the tradeoffs can be significant, and these supercomputer simulations promise to give more accurate numbers than ever, allowing upcoming nuclear power plants to work with reactors that are as efficient and safe as possible.

Ursula von der Leyen has welcomed the idea of industrial subsidies in the field of nuclear energy, a highly divisive topic in the European Union.

Speaking in the Czech Republic, a country that receives more than a third of its electricity from its nuclear power plants, the president of the European Commission said each member state was free to pave its own path towards climate neutrality.

"The choice of the energy mix is and will remain a national prerogative," von der Leyen said in a short press statement next to the country's prime minister, Petr Fiala.

"We know that nuclear plays a central role in Czechia's energy system and that it will continue to require investment to play its role in the Czech energy transition," she went on.

"And this is why we're always willing to consider state aid, of course, provided the conditions are right. But this is important."

As the chief enforcer of competition rules, the European Commission has the power to approve and reject the public money that governments inject into their national industries, which can take the form of grants, discounted prices and lower taxation, among others.

If the executive believes the state intervention poses an excessive risk to the single market and can put other EU countries at a disadvantage, it can strike down the proposal. The principles of fairness and equality have guided the Commission's thinking since the inception of European integration and are currently enshrined in EU law.

However, in reaction to fiercer global competition and the ballooning costs of the green and digital transition, the long-standing dos and don'ts of competition policy have come under intense scrutiny, with some member states calling for greater flexibility to buttress their homegrown companies and prevent an industrial exodus.

The Commission has somewhat acquiesced without giving in too much ground: earlier this year, it loosened the rules for approving subsidies into six key areas of the green transition: batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps, electrolysers and carbon capture technology. Additionally, Brussels presented the Net-Zero Industry Act to significantly increase the domestic production of these must-have products.

Notably, the Act's original draft excludes nuclear technology from its list of "strategic projects" and features only passing mentions of "advanced technologies (that) produce energy from nuclear processes with minimal waste" and "small modular reactors," which are still under development.

"We support cutting-edge nuclear technology under our Net-Zero Industry Act to boost innovation and cross-border cooperation," von der Leyen said in Prague.

The act is undergoing negotiations between member states and the European Parliament, where there is a push for nuclear to be listed as a "strategic project."

But getting there won't be easy: nuclear is an extremely divisive, even emotional topic across the EU, with most countries bitterly split into pro- and anti-nuclear factions.

The pro-nuclear group is passionately led by France, a country that obtains about 70% of its electricity from its vast network of reactors and is supported by the likes of the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. They argue nuclear is a low-carbon technology that can run 24 hours a day and decrease external dependencies.

By contrast, Germany, the bloc's industrial powerhouse, has adopted an uncompromising anti-nuclear stance, with the backing of Spain, Portugal, Austria, Denmark and Luxembourg. They believe promoting nuclear energy amounts to green-washing due to the carbon footprint of uranium extraction and the long-lasting radioactive waste.

Both sides have formed alliances and are trying to bring in additional countries to solidify the qualified majority that is required to approve energy and climate legislation.

"I reminded the president of the European Commission that nuclear energy is really important for the Czech Republic. It's a traditional industrial sector in our country. (It's) one of the ways for our country to achieve the climate objectives and to have sufficient sources of energy," Prime Minister Fiala said, next to von der Leyen.

"It's important that nuclear energy remains one of the preferred sources of clean energy in the Czech Republic. And we're doing our best so that nuclear energy stays the accepted source of energy."

Fiala said his team is evaluating tenders to expand the capacity of the Dukovany nuclear power plant, which holds four of the country's six nuclear reactors. In parallel, he added, the government is drafting the notification that the Commission needs to review before deciding whether it approves or blocks the subsidies.

"The completion of the notification process is a huge priority for us," he said. "I'm happy that after today's discussion with the president, I can see there is a chance that we will succeed with the notification process."

Over the past decade, the Commission has green-lighted state aid related to nuclear power plants in Hungary, Belgium and the United Kingdom, when the country was still a member. The UK case was contested by Austria before the European Court of Justice, which eventually ruled that subsidies for nuclear energy were compatible with EU law.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/IAEA-assesses-Jordanian-plans-for-SMR-deployment

An International Atomic Energy Agency expert mission has concluded that reports compiled by the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission will provide a good basis for a feasibility study into the country's use of small modular reactors for electricity generation and seawater desalination.

Jordan is considering using a small modular reactor (SMR) to provide the electricity to operate a reverse osmosis desalination plant, as well as to pump an estimated 300 million cubic metres of drinking water each year from the Red Sea coast to the capital Amman, about 400 kilometres away and 700 metres above sea level.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert review mission, held at its Vienna headquarters in August 2023, comprised 18 IAEA and three external experts. It evaluated whether reports submitted by Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) include all the necessary information to support the decision-making for deploying an SMR for power generation and desalination. Areas covered by the review included nuclear power technology and safety, siting and licensing, nuclear desalination, nuclear law and stakeholder engagement, among others.

The mission found Jordan's reports provide a good basis for a feasibility study and also suggested areas where the work could be expanded or improved. These included conducting a study on the selection of the nuclear unit size while taking into account the need to strengthen electrical connections to the nodal points of the grid and to neighbouring countries; and exploring potential alternative fuel suppliers.

"This endeavour exemplified an agency-wide collaborative effort that addressed all aspects of the feasibility study, providing essential guidance on IAEA services that Jordan could benefit from in enhancing the assessment and progress of our SMR project," said Khalid Khasawneh, Commissioner for Nuclear Power Reactors at JAEC.

The IAEA said Jordan was one of a growing number of countries that have expressed interest in SMRs. To better assist countries, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi established the SMR Platform in 2021 to provide coordinated, agency-wide support on all aspects of SMR development, deployment and oversight.

The mission followed an IAEA workshop last year in Amman, which explored the technologies and requirements for nuclear desalination.

"Both this expert mission and the workshop are prime examples of the kind of support that the IAEA can provide to countries through the SMR Platform," said Dohee Hahn, Coordinator of the IAEA SMR Platform. "In particular, newcomer countries looking to add nuclear power to their energy mix stand to benefit from the full range of Agency services accessible through the SMR Platform."

"The IAEA support for Jordan's nuclear programme, particularly the SMR project, is highly valued and plays a pivotal role in enhancing our capabilities and advancing our endeavors," Khasawneh said. "We eagerly anticipate continued collaboration with the IAEA across all aspects of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy."

"In many ways, Jordan's interest helps to explain why small modular reactors and their applications are of such intense interest around the world right now," said Mikhail Chudakov, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Energy. "SMRs offer not only lower upfront costs, but greater flexibility for a variety of users and applications and are set to play an important role in helping to ensure energy security as well as supporting the clean energy transition."

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Canadian-integrated-radioactive-waste-management-s

The strategy for radioactive waste other than used nuclear fuel will see Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) take responsibility for the disposal of intermediate-level waste and non-fuel high-level waste in a deep geological repository. Low-level waste will be disposed of in near-surface disposal facilities.

The Integrated Strategy for Radioactive Waste was submitted for ministerial consideration in June by Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO). Informed by more than two years of engagement with Canadians, Indigenous peoples, waste generators and owners, as well as detailed studies of technical considerations and international best practices, the strategy's two key recommendations address gaps in long-term waste disposal plans, NWMO said.

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson signalled the government's acceptance of the strategy in a public statement released on 5 October. "As Canada advances toward a low-carbon future, nuclear energy will continue to be an important contributor of reliable, non-emitting power for millions of Canadians. Canada is a global leader in the nuclear sector, including in the safe and environmentally sound management of radioactive waste," he said. "The release of the Integrated Strategy for Radioactive Waste is an important step in the continued responsible management of Canada's nuclear sector."

Most of Canada's radioactive waste is already managed through "world-class" long-term disposal plans, NWMO said. The strategy ensures that planning is done to support the responsible management of all other radioactive waste, particularly low-, intermediate- and non-fuel high-level wastes.

NWMO is already working to implement a deep geological repository for the long-term disposal of Canada's used nuclear fuel, for which a consent-based siting process began in 2010. Two areas - both in Ontario - remain in the site selection process, with a final preferred site expected to be announced in 2024. The Integrated Strategy for Radioactive Waste is separate from this effort, but NWMO has said it will benefit "greatly" from the organisation's expertise and past lessons learned.

NWMO President and CEO Laurie Swami said the organisation will now develop a consent-based siting process for a repository for intermediate-level and non-fuel high-level waste. "Canada's leadership in nuclear energy technology creates a responsibility for the long-term management of the waste generated. We have heard clearly that Canadians and Indigenous peoples want action for its long-term management taken now, rather than leaving it to future generations," she said.

Waste generators and waste owners will be responsible for managing the disposal of low-level wastes in multiple near-surface disposal facilities, with oversight provided by federal government. Such waste - which mostly comes from power plants and medical, academic, industrial and other commercial uses of radioactive materials - requires containment and isolation for up to a few hundred years.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Edison-eyes-SMR-deployment-in-Italy

Leading Italian energy player Edison has announced its ambition to construct two nuclear power plants based on EDF's small modular reactor (SMR) technology between 2030 and 2040, if the conditions are created for the return of nuclear energy to Italy.

The company, which is celebrating its 140th anniversary, said it aims to double EBITDA to a range between EUR2.0-2.2 billion (USD2.1-2.3 billion) by 2030 from EUR1.1 billion in 2022. It said this goal will be achieved by a significant change in the industrial portfolio, which will result in direct zero or near-zero emission activities accounting for 70% of EBITDA, compared with an average of 35% over the past three years. Edison added that its 2030 business portfolio will see zero-emission electricity generation accounting for more than 45% of the group's profitability.

By 2040, Edison said it aims to have 90% of its generation mix decarbonised through the use of renewables and new technologies, such as CO2 capture and possibly new nuclear power. It anticipates reducing its CO2 emission factor from 293 grams per kilowatt-hour in 2022 to 190 g/kWh in 2030 and as low as 50 g/kWh in 2040, reducing absolute emissions in parallel.

"Looking ahead to 2040, Edison believes that nuclear energy will play a key role in achieving the EU's carbon neutrality targets, as a source capable of providing stability to the electricity system, offsetting the intermittency of renewables sources," the company said.

"Nuclear power is one of the generation sources with the lowest CO2 emissions, ensuring a low land footprint to installed capacity ratio, and allowing optimal programmability of production. Moreover, new SMR technology can be used to produce both electricity and heat, responding in a highly flexible way to the needs of energy-intensive districts and territories.

"Edison has the ambition to develop new nuclear power if the conditions are created for its return to Italy. In particular, Edison aims to build two nuclear power plants of 340 MW each with SMR technology between 2030 and 2040, leveraging on distinctive technological competencies of the shareholder EDF."

Edison CEO Nicola Monti added: "140 years ago we started the process of electrifying the country and ushered in a new era. Today, we are a leader in the energy transition and our history of leadership has accustomed us to responsibly looking to the future of the country through our contribution to the security, stability and autonomy of the national energy system for the benefit of all our customers.

"This means always looking ahead and making courageous choices today, bringing all stakeholders to a serious debate on how to integrate security and independence of supply with economic and environmental sustainability while maintaining a technological neutrality. Therefore, Edison continues to invest in innovation to create new Italian and European supply chains in the ecological transition, ensuring that the transition to the new era is an opportunity for progress for all."

In March, France's EDF - majority owner of Edison - signed a letter of intent with Italy's Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo Nucleare and Edison to assess potential industrial cooperation for the development of nuclear power in Europe, including in Italy, specifically in the field of SMRs. At that time, the partners said they will assess the potential for the development and implementation of new nuclear power in Italy, "given the growing need for energy security and independence of the Italian electricity system".

EDF, through its Nuward subsidiary, is promoting the Nuward - a 340 MWe SMR plant with two pressurised water reactors (PWRs) of 170 MWe each. According to Nuward's SMR roadmap, the detailed design and formal application for a new nuclear facility is scheduled to begin in 2026, followed by first concrete in France in 2030 with the construction of that first unit anticipated to take about three years.

Italy operated a total of four nuclear power plants starting in the early 1960s but decided to phase out nuclear power in a referendum that followed the 1986 Chernobyl accident. It closed its last two operating plants, Caorso and Trino Vercellese, in 1990.

In late March 2011, following the Fukushima Daiichi accident, the Italian government approved a moratorium of at least one year on construction of nuclear power plants in the country, which had been looking to restart its long-abandoned nuclear programme. In a poll held in June of that year, 94% of voters rejected the construction of any new nuclear reactors in Italy. However, a poll conducted in June 2021 showed that one-third of Italians were in favour of reconsidering the use of nuclear energy in the country, with more than half of respondents saying they would not exclude the future use of new advanced nuclear technologies.

In May this year, the Italian Parliament approved a motion to urge the government to consider incorporating nuclear power into the country's energy mix. Last month, the first meeting was held of the National Platform for a Sustainable Nuclear, set up by the government to define a time frame for the possible resumption of nuclear energy in Italy and identify opportunities for the country's industrial chain already operating in the sector. It is planned to develop guidelines within nine months.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Egypt-s-first-nuclear-unit-has-core-catcher-instal

Officials from Egypt's Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) and Russia's Rosatom have held a ceremony to mark the installation of the core catcher in the first unit at the El Dabaa nuclear power plant.

The 6.1-metre diameter core catcher is a key part of the passive safety system for the VVER-1200 reactor - its function is that "in case of an emergency, it securely retains the fragments of the molten core and prevents the discharge beyond the reactor building containment".

It is the first large-scale nuclear power plant component to be installed at the four-unit construction site, about 320 kilometres north-west of Cairo. It took 14 months to manufacture in Russia, before being transported to Egypt in March.

NPPA Chairman Amged El-Wakeel officially gave the signal for the installation of the core catcher to begin and delivered a speech noting that the El Dabaa site had seen first concrete for the first unit in July 2022, for the second unit in November and the third unit in May, with first concrete for the fourth unit also expected this year.

He said the installation shows the efforts of the Egyptian and Russian sides to "meet the agreed schedule with a spirit of patience, dedication and hard work, overcoming all obstacles".

The plant will comprise four VVER-1200 units, like those already in operation at the Leningrad and Novovoronezh nuclear power plants in Russia, and the Ostrovets nuclear power plant in Belarus and is based on contracts that entered into force in December 2017.

The contracts stipulate that Rosatom will not only build the plant, but will also supply Russian nuclear fuel for its entire life cycle. They will also assist Egyptian partners in training personnel and plant maintenance for the first 10 years of its operation. Rosatom is also contracted to build a special storage facility and supply containers for storing used nuclear fuel.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Holtec-applies-to-restart-shuttered-Palisades-plan

The Palisades plant in Michigan could become the first successfully restarted nuclear power plant in the USA following Holtec International's submission of a filing with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to formally begin the process of seeking reauthorisation of power operations at the plant, which was shut down in May 2022.

Holtec said the filing follows a series of public meetings with NRC staff to lay out the path to reauthorise the repowering of Palisades within the NRC's existing regulatory framework.

"Our licensing submittal is a significant step in exploring the potential for Palisades to continue contributing to the region’s energy and economic needs, while adhering to the highest safety and regulatory standards," said Jean Fleming, Holtec International Vice President of Licensing, Regulatory Affairs and Probabilistic Safety Analysis. "We understand the importance of nuclear power in our nation's energy mix and the critical role it plays in providing safe, reliable, carbon-free electricity here in Michigan.

"Palisades' safety and operational performance met the industry's highest standards when it was taken offline last year. Its systems and equipment remain well maintained and in excellent material condition. This licensing submittal is the first of a series of submittals intended to return Palisades to full operation."

Palisades, a single-unit power plant, began commercial operation in 1971. Entergy announced in 2016 its plan to close the plant, with the NRC approving in 2021 the transfer of the licence from Entergy to Holtec for the purposes of decommissioning it. The 805 MWe pressurised water reactor was removed from service - after 50 years - by Entergy on 20 May last year, and defuelled by 10 June.

The sale to Holtec completed later that same month and Holtec announced a few days later that it was applying for federal funding to allow it to restart the plant. It was unsuccessful in the first round of the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Civil Nuclear Credit programme but announced in December that it was reapplying. Holtec said it is "working cooperatively with the DOE to move the loan application process forward".

On 31 July, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed into law the State of Michigan's Fiscal Year 2024 budget, which provides USD150 million in funding for the plant's restart.

Last month, Holtec announced it had signed a long-term power purchase agreement with the non-profit Wolverine Power Cooperative. Under the multi-decade agreement, Wolverine commits to purchasing two-thirds of the power generated from a reopened Palisades, with Wolverine's partner Hoosier Energy purchasing the balance. It also includes a "contract expansion provision" to include one or two small modular reactors that Holtec plans for the site.

Holtec said the repowering of Palisades "will greatly enhance Michigan's carbon-free energy generation, the region's grid reliability and decrease the region's reliance on (expensive) energy imports".

Kelly Trice, President of Holtec Nuclear Generation and Decommissioning, added: "Holtec plans to build up the Palisades site into a mega-clean energy provider to the region with the restarted Palisades power plant as its centrepiece."

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/iaeas-atoms4netzero-models-energy-scenarios-that-include-nuclear-powers-full-potential

To forge credible pathways to net zero, policy makers need comprehensive, science-based data to make informed choices about their national energy future. Yet nuclear power, despite its proven role in mitigating climate change and enhancing energy security and sustainable development, currently has a limited role in energy scenario studies used by governments and investors to chart the transition to net zero.

The IAEA’s Atoms4NetZero initiative bridges that gap by providing decision makers with comprehensive, data-driven energy scenario modelling that also includes the full potential of nuclear power in contributing to net zero emissions. Launched by IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi at COP27 last year, Atoms4NetZero was showcased at a side event last month during the 67th IAEA General Conference in Vienna that featured speakers from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

“Atoms4NetZero supports countries towards our goal, which is harnessing the power of nuclear energy to achieve net zero carbon emissions and energy security,” Mr Grossi said in a video address that opened the side event.

The initiative will be a featured topic at the IAEA’s 2nd International Conference on Climate Change and the Role of Nuclear Power: Atoms4NetZero, in Vienna next week. See the conference programme, and register to virtually attend.

“Energy modelling scenarios that are considered within the framework of Atoms4NetZero are important because, in Africa especially, we are facing a serious energy deficit situation, and our policy makers are looking at different options,” Enobot Agboraw, Executive Secretary of the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE), said at the side event. “They’re looking at nuclear power; they’re looking at renewables, and it is very important that they are properly informed in order to be able to make the best possible decisions. Energy modelling provides, scientifically based evidence so that they can make decisions that are not based on hearsay or emotion, but solid decisions that would enable us to address this issue of climate change and energy deficit.”

Thirty-one countries currently have nuclear power, and some 30 others are considering or embarking on its introduction. Almost half of these so-called nuclear newcomers are in Africa including Egypt, which has already started building its first nuclear power plant. The IAEA works with newcomers in supporting their development of the necessary infrastructure for a safe, secure and sustainable nuclear power programme.

Modelling scenarios incorporate real constraints countries face as they seek to build energy systems to meet their net zero objectives, according to Kathryn Huff, Assistant Secretary, Office of Nuclear Energy at the US Department of Energy. Constraints may come in the form of a lack of electricity transmission lines or the power system’s inability to match hour to hour supply and demand. Policy makers need modelling scenarios to accurately determine the type, quantity, scale, location and types of energy sources. “Decisions at the policy level absolutely have to be data informed,” Huff said.

Atoms4NetZero will also help assess the potential contribution of advanced nuclear reactors, including small modular reactors (SMRs), to long term national energy strategies. This includes nuclear energy to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors beyond electricity such as industry and transportation, which make up almost 60 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative will develop credible scenarios by using IAEA analytical tools such as MESSAGE, or Model for Energy Supply System Alternatives.

“We’re really excited to see the Atoms4NetZero initiative move forward,” added Huff. “We think there are going to be a lot of very interesting results to come out of that, which is important for a lot of nations.”

There are currently 58 nuclear power reactors totalling some 60 GW(e) in installed capacity under construction in 17 countries, with more than one third of them in China, the world’s leading reactor builder. Global nuclear power capacity needs to more than double by 2050 to meet net zero goals, according to International Energy Agency. Other organizations, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, have pointed to the need for an even greater increase in nuclear.

“Atoms4NetZero emissions of carbon is very important for the future,” said Zheng Mingguang, President of the Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute, which is the nuclear technology innovation and project construction platform of China's State Power Investment Corporation. “Nuclear power could do more work in this area as nuclear technology is proven and the nuclear power competence is there, and the complete supply system of equipment and materials is also established.”

In Italy, which abandoned nuclear power in the late 1980s, the current government recently set up a task force to examine how new nuclear technologies such as SMRs, which offer greater flexibility for working with intermittent renewables, can help decarbonize the country’s energy system. Carbon dioxide emissions from Italian electricity production are currently around 265 grams per kWh, almost seven times higher than the targets of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

“In the coming months, we will be engaged to develop some specific scenarios where we have to see the added value of nuclear energy for a country where there is, of course, and there will be a deeper and deeper penetration of renewables,” said Stefano Monti, President of the Italian Nuclear Association. “One of the tasks, also using the energy modelling offered by Atoms4NetZero, is to look at how to integrate nuclear with renewables.”

Beyond energy modelling for net zero, Atoms4NetZero encompasses several other areas of activity to support countries in their clean energy transition. These include expert missions to support long term energy strategy development, workshops and training for capacity building, as well as outreach and stakeholder engagement.

“Until now, energy modelling for net zero has mostly excluded nuclear power, even though it provides around a quarter of all low carbon electricity,” said Mikhail Chudakov, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Energy. “But now countries have a new tool to provide the full picture of the possible pathways to achieving our climate goals: Atoms4NetZero.”