Nuclear Energy

Deal agreed with energy provider to rural communities across state.

Holtec’s Palisades Energy has signed an agreement with Wolverine Power Cooperative to buy power to re-open the single-unit Palisades nuclear power station in Michigan.

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

Holtec International, an energy technology company headquartered in Florida, 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.

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.

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

“The restart of Palisades offers a practical, long-term solution to electric reliability in our state and aligns with Michigan’s ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions,” said Wolverine chief executive officer Eric Baker.

Kelly Trice, president of Holtec Nuclear Generation and Decommissioning, said the power purchase agreement represents a significant milestone in the company’s efforts towards reopening the plant.

The companies did not say how much the agreement was worth or how long it was for.

Holtec is still working to get a federal loan approved the US Department of Energy’s loan programs office to re-start Palisades.

Michigan’s recently approved budget included $150m (€139m) to support the restart of Palisades.

The plant, on the shore of Lake Michigan in Covert Township, began commercial operation in 1971. It was bought by Holtec just weeks after its May 2022 shutdown.

Holtec initially planned to repurpose the 174-hectare site but the Biden administration’s $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.

Studies could speed up permitting and construction schedules.

Companies from Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic have been awarded grants by the US-led Phoenix Project to finance feasibility studies for the conversion of coal-fired power plants to nuclear plants using small modular reactor (SMR) technologies.

US special climate envoy John Kerry made the announcement on the sidelines of a regular Three Seas initiative summit in Bucharest.

The companies are Slovak utility Slovenske Elektrarne, Poland’s SMR plant developer Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) and Czech mining company Sokolovska Uhelna and its partner SUAS Group.

In June, Slovenske Elektrarne signed an agreement with local industry players to apply for Phoenix Project financing as a first step in a project to explore the deployment of SMRs domestically.

Slovenske Elektrarne said the feasibility study will assess suitable types of SMR from the point of view of the needs of the Slovak power industry, the costs of building and operating such plants. The study will also help preparations for a permitting and construction schedule.

The studies will focus on five sites: the existing nuclear stations of Bohunice and Mochovce and the sites of three thermal power plants, Novaky, Vojany and US Steel Kosice.

Poland’s OSGE is working to deploy SMR plants at seven locations across Poland using GE Hitachi’s BWRX-300 technology. The company said the grant will help speed up its projects.

In April, the US Exim Bank and the US International Development Finance Corporation signed a letter of interest to grant jointly up to $4bn (€3.72) to OSGE to support potential SMR deployment.

Czech media reported that according to Sokolovska Uhelna, SMR plants could be deployed at the​​ Tisova and Vresova thermal power plants. The reports said the company is considering nuclear energy in its strategy to move away from coal-fired generation and coal processing.

Project Phoenix was announced by Kerry at last year’s Cop27 climate summit in Egypt.

The project will provide US support for coal-to-SMR feasibility studies and related activities in support of energy security goals for countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

According to Slovenske Elektrarne, the grant competition was open to 17 countries in from the region and the US government had earmarked a total of $8m to fund the grants.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/UK-nuclear-workforce-at-highest-for-20-years,-says

The number of people employed in the civil nuclear sector in the UK has risen to 77,413, according to the Nuclear Industry Association's annual Jobs Map survey.

The number of people employed is up 20% on the previous year, including EDF's Hinkley Point C new nuclear project (pictured above in July) now employing 9500, up from 8000 in 2022.

New and emerging technologies continue to grow new employment opportunities, with 530 working on the development of the Rolls Royce small modular reactor project, which is up 200. The cluster of fusion pioneers and companies at Culham now employ more than 2300 people, the NIA said.

Tom Greatrex, the association's CEO, said: "The nuclear industry already sustains tens of thousands of high-skilled, well-paid jobs which make a significant contribution to UK energy security and our net zero future. We can have lots more of these jobs and opportunities for the next generation if we get on with committing to new projects, both large and small reactors, for more secure, reliable and home-grown power."

Andrew Bowie, UK minister for nuclear, said the country was "witnessing a nuclear revival ... these projects will be at the heart of our efforts to deliver clean, reliable and secure home-grown energy sources, boosting our security and cutting our carbon emissions - and all while helping grow the economy and create jobs."

The NIA says that training of tens of thousands of workers is needed, if the UK is to have the 200,000 or more workers it will need to hit its target of 24 GW of nuclear energy capacity by 2050.

The Jobs Map shows employment by region and parliamentary constituency and is compiled using information from participating members of the NIA, which is the trade association for the civil nuclear industry in the UK, representing more than 250 companies. The highest employment in the nuclear sector is in the north west of England where 27,024 people are employed in decommissioning, fuel cycle research and reactor design - up 5% on 2022 - and the south west of England with a total of 23,938 workers, up from 15,011.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Clean-up-work-begins-at-Uzbek-legacy-uranium-sites

Remediation work at legacy uranium mining sites in Uzbekistan is under way, bolstered by a EUR9 million (USD11 million) grant from the Environmental Remediation Account for Central Asia (ERA)­ set up on the initiative of the European Union and managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The grant funds will support work to close the identified mine openings, demolish derelict facilities that were used for uranium ore processing, and to re-cultivate selected waste rock areas at the Yangiabad and Charkesar mines.

Located at an altitude of 1300 metres in an area with a high risk of seismic activity, and around 70km from Tashkent, Yangiabad was a uranium mining site for nearly 40 years. The largest uranium mining legacy site in Uzbekistan, it is spread across a 50-square-kilometre area and contains about 2.6 million cubic metres of radioactive waste. Planned remediation works include closing four shafts, demolishing contaminated buildings and processing facilities, relocating several waste rock dumps to a central covered dump and other associated activities.

The village of Charkesar, located in the mountains 140km to the east of the Uzbek capital, was a uranium mining site until 1995 and is still home to approximately 3500 people. Planned remediation works at this site include the closure of two shafts and the demolition of abandoned buildings.

"Uranium site remediation efforts are critical initiatives aimed at addressing the environmental and public health risks associated with past uranium mining, processing, and disposal activities," said Charlotte Adriaen, the EU Ambassador to the Republic of Uzbekistan. "These efforts involve the clean-up and restoration of contaminated sites to reduce the spread of radioactive materials, prevent further environmental degradation, and protect nearby communities.

"We are happy to support Uzbekistan on this important challenge and it is good to see the high commitment to advance the works. By implementing comprehensive remediation strategies, we can mitigate the long-term impacts of uranium contamination, promote sustainable land use, and ensure a safer and healthier future for both the environment and local communities."

Central Asia served as an important source of uranium for the former Soviet Union. Uranium was mined for over 50 years and uranium ore was also imported from other countries for processing, and large amounts of radioactively contaminated material were placed in mining waste dumps and tailing sites. Most of the mines were closed by 1995 but very little remediation was done before or after the closure of the mining and milling operations. The contaminated material is a threat to the environment and the health of the population. The hazards include the possible pollution of ground and surface water in a key agricultural centre of the region.

The EBRD established the ERA in 2015 at the request of the European Commission, to tackle the legacy of Soviet uranium mining in the region. The account, which became operational in 2016, is supported by contributions from the European Commission, Belgium, Lithuania, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the USA.

The ERA has now allocated funding to remediate five out of seven high priority sites in Central Asia (three of which are in Kyrgyzstan and two in Uzbekistan).

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/BWXT-to-evaluate-microreactor-deployment-in-Wyomin

BWX Technologies Inc has been contracted by the Wyoming Energy Authority (WEA) to assess the viability of deploying microreactors in the state. The value of the contract was not disclosed.

Lynchburg, Virginia-based BWXT said its BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC subsidiary will execute the two-year contract in close consultation with the State of Wyoming and other Wyoming organisations and companies.

During phase one of the contract, BWXT will work with Wyoming industries to define the requirements basis for nuclear applications of base heat and power needs of the trona mining operations within the state. BWXT will also perform engineering work to further the design of BWXT's Advanced Nuclear Reactor (BANR) microreactor system that can integrate into Wyoming's future power needs. This work will also include identifying areas where Wyoming's existing supply chain can demonstrate capabilities for reactor component manufacturing and support reactor deployment. BANR is a 50 MW (thermal) high-temperature gas microreactor that uses a form of TRISO (TRIstructural-ISOtropic) fuel.

Based on the outcomes of the first phase, phase two of the contract will entail BWXT furthering the design basis of BANR to meet the specific needs of potential Wyoming end users. A demonstration of the capabilities of Wyoming manufacturers would also be performed to validate the supply chain activities completed in phase one.

Throughout both phases of the contract, BWXT will leverage existing US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) achievements through the company's collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and other internal BWXT research and development investments. Through the ARDP, BWXT and DOE have been developing the BANR microreactor since 2021, and this effort in Wyoming represents an acceleration of BWXT's commercial nuclear development efforts.

"At the end of this project, the potential job-creation, manufacturing and industrial opportunities for nuclear power in Wyoming will be clearer, and we will have a roadmap for deploying microreactors in the state," said BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC President Joe Miller. "When state and federal agencies work together with the private sector, we expect the economic and environmental benefits of nuclear innovations will be unlocked."

"BWXT and the State of Wyoming are leaders in forging innovative partnerships and innovative business frameworks that will help transform Wyoming's economy and help secure the nation’s energy future," said Steven Aumeier, senior advisor for strategic programmes at INL, which has been providing strategic and technical support to the State of Wyoming under a memorandum of understanding signed in May 2022.

"BWXT's microreactor project presents the possibility of creating additional resources for industrial end users in Wyoming - thereby helping further a full value chain nuclear industry in Wyoming, advancing and diversifying our economy," said WEA Executive Director Rob Creager. "Wyoming is in the unique position to be able to contribute funding for these innovative projects and believes this further demonstrates the strength of the Wyoming Energy Authority's public-private partnerships."

Last month, BWXT's project was one of two recommended by WEA to Governor Mark Gordon to receive nearly USD10 million each from the Energy Matching Funds programme which was established by the state legislature in 2022 to provide matching funds for research, demonstration, pilot projects or commercial deployment projects related to Wyoming energy needs. Management of the fund is delegated by the governor to the WEA.

The other project recommended by WEA is a carbon storage hub project led by the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources in partnership with Frontier Carbon Solutions. It recommended that both receive their recommended awards - USD9,999,802 for the BWXT project and USD9,135,000 for the Sweetwater Carbon Storage Hub project - in full. The total cost of the BWXT project is USD20.6 million.

Kemmerer in Wyoming was selected in 2021 as the preferred site for TerraPower's Natrium demonstration project, featuring a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system. The reactor is scheduled to begin operating by 2030.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Palisades-restart-takes-giant-step-with-Holtec-Wol

A long-term power purchase agreement signed between Holtec Palisades Energy and the non-profit Wolverine Power Cooperative is described as a "significant milestone" towards restarting the 800 MW Palisades nuclear power plant in the USA.

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 International CEO Kris Singh said: "We are well aware that, although we see no real obstacles ahead, re-powering of a dormant plant such as Palisades would be a feat that has never been achieved before. Hopefully, the Palisades revival would encourage our allies, Germany and Japan, who have many dormant nuclear plants, to adopt a similar course."

"We thank Governor [Gretchen] Whitmer, the Michigan legislature, the US Department of Energy led by Secretary [Jennifer] Granholm, and the people of Michigan whose enthusiasm to render Palisades into a bastion of new clean energy generation has encouraged us to launch the odyssey of restoring Palisades energy generation."

Kelly Trice, President of Holtec Nuclear Generation and Decommissioning, said: "The executed power purchase agreement represents a significant milestone in our journey towards reopening the plant, a historic moment for Michigan and the country. The repowering of Palisades ensures Michigan has sufficient energy to meet future demand and mitigate the impact of climate change, while creating hundreds of high-paying Michigan jobs, expanding the local tax base, and unleashing economic opportunity within the region and beyond."

Wolverine's member rural electric cooperatives supply homes, businesses and schools across more than half of Michigan's lower peninsula. Its power supply is already 60% carbon-free, and it hopes that the Palisades agreement will increase that figure into the future.

Eric Baker, CEO of Wolverine, said: "Ensuring reliable and affordable electricity in Michigan is crucial. The restart of Palisades offers a practical, long-term solution to electric reliability in our state and aligns with Michigan's ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions."

Palisades, a single-unit power plant, began commercial operation in 1971. Entergy announced in 2016 its plan to close Covert, Michigan-based Palisades, with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission 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 Civil Nuclear Credit programme but announced in December that it was reapplying. Holtec says it is "working cooperatively with the Department (of Energy) to move the loan application process forward. Holtec has also participated in several constructive public meetings with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff to discuss the proposed regulatory path to reauthorise operations at Palisades within the agency’s existing regulatory framework".

Holtec says that the previous decision to close Palisades had been a financial one, but said that the financial case had been transformed, especially with "the era of ascendance of clean energy with nations committed to combating the escalating carbon burden in the environment that threatens continued habitability of our planet".

It is not yet known how long Palisades would be allowed to operate for if it gets the go-ahead to restart. However in 2019 the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved Florida Power and Light's application for a 20-year subsequent licence extension for Turkey Point units 3 and 4 - pressurised water reactors which entered commercial operation in 1972 and 1973 - which was the first time the regulator had issued licences authorising reactors to operate for up to 80 years.

In a time of heightened environmental concerns and resource scarcity, the closure of the fuel cycle – which reduces the radioactive waste disposal footprint and the need for natural resources – reinforces a sustainable nuclear energy strategy. This involves reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels (SNFs) and the extraction of elements that can be (re)used. While the EU has the highest share of SNFs reprocessing worldwide – driven by the closed fuel cycle policy in France – most of the spent uranium oxide (UOX) fuels are declared waste today.

The multi-recycling of plutonium is the prime path to achieving nuclear energy’s full potential, and multi-recycling in light-water reactors (LWRs) is already under investigation in France. Fast-spectrum advanced reactors would further optimise such multi-recycling scheme while also offering the additional possibility of multi-recycling other transuranics. In this manner, SNFs become a source of clean energy instead of waste. Such nuclear energy systems would strongly contribute to the decarbonisation of the EU energy mix by allowing additional use of nuclear energy without increase of radioactive waste disposal.

To tackle this challenge, the MIMOSA project (MultI-recycling strategies of LWR SNF focusing on MOlten SAlt technology), launched in June 2022 and funded by the Euratom Research and Training Programme, will devise and demonstrate an integrated multi-recycling strategy of plutonium (Pu) and uranium (U) combining multi-recycling options in LWRs with recycling Pu and other transuranics (today considered as waste) in fast molten salt reactors (MSRs) using chloride salt. In this type of reactor, the fuel is dissolved in the salt circulating through the core, with such liquid form of fuel eliminating the major technological bottleneck of refabrication of solid fuels with high content of transuranics. To optimise costs and risks, the proposed strategy will also take advantage of existing European infrastructures such as the Orano reprocessing plant in La Hague (France).

Today, the maturity of such MSRs is low. For this reason, MIMOSA will focus on the demonstration of several key aspects of technical feasibility and performance that will push this advanced technology beyond the current state of the art and accelerate its deployment.

The MIMOSA consortium, led by nuclear fuel cycle service provider Orano, brings together twelve partners from four European countries, each bringing unique and complementary expertise to address the issue: industrial multi-recycling of Pu (Orano, EDF); MSR research and innovation (CNRS, Centrum výzkumu Řež / Research Centre Řež, NRG, Delft University of Technology); provision of innovative technologies (DIFFER - Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research, Schunk Group); technical-economic assessment, scenario analysis, safety and security, and non-proliferation (Nuclear-21); Pu and minor actinide fuels (European Commission Joint Research Centre); development and exploitation of MSRs (Thorizon); managing and dissemination of collaborative research (ARTTIC ).

“With the MIMOSA project, we are building a European network centred on molten salt reactors and a community that believes in the contribution of this disruptive technology to the sustainability and acceptability of tomorrow’s nuclear industry,” explains Isabelle Morlaes, MIMOSA project coordinator and Senior Vice President, MSR initiatives Coordination at Orano.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/ENEC,-OSGE-cooperate-to-advance-SMRs

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Polish company Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) and the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) will see the parties work together to support decarbonisation efforts in Poland and Europe through investments in in small modular reactors (SMRs).

The framework agreement, signed by ENEC Managing Director and CEO Mohamed Al Hammadi and ORLEN Synthos Green Energy CEO Rafał Kasprów, aims to provide the parties with an enabling framework to develop SMRs based on GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy's BWRX-300 technology in Poland and the UK, as well as within Central and Eastern Europe.

OSGE is planning to build and operate Poland's first SMR power plant by the end of this decade, and to launch further units in the 2030s. As a partner of GE-Hitachi, the Polish company has exclusive rights to use BWRX-300 technology in Poland, and is also cooperating with Ontario Power Generation and the Tennessee Authority Valley, which have also chosen to deploy BWRX-300 technology in projects in Canada and the USA, respectively.

ENEC will share lessons learned from the development of the UAE's first nuclear power plant, Barakah, including its experience in building operational readiness, and stakeholder management, building commercial frameworks with technology vendors and other contractors.

"This MoU sets the stage for our plans to accelerate nuclear adoption globally and lend our expertise in advancing the clean energy transition towards achieving Net Zero," Al Hammadi said.

"The development of the Barakah Plant in the UAE is a catalyst for innovation and R&D in new areas, including SMRs, which we are currently exploring as part of our future growth opportunities, alongside other next-generation technologies. Globally, there is an urgent need to ramp up nuclear capacity if we are to meet climate goals. We look forward to working with ORLEN Synthos Green Energy to support decarbonisation in Poland and other parts of Europe."

Kasprów said the partnership with ENEC is a milestone for OSGE's plans to deploy a fleet of BWRX-300 reactors in Poland, central and eastern Europe and the UK. "ENEC brings unique experience in building nuclear power plants in accordance with the highest nuclear industry safety and quality standards, delivering projects on time and on budget. Furthermore, I am pleased that ENEC recognises the development of SMRs as important for the future of nuclear energy," he said.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Joint-UK-Japanese-research-on-waste-and-decommissi

Two research projects are to receive funding totalling GBP1 million (USD1.2 million) from UK and Japanese research councils to develop technologies to detect and process radioactive waste. The research will support work to decommission the UK's Sellafield plant and remove radioactive debris from the Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan.

The funding will be delivered by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). This is the first UKRI award through the International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF) which was launched by UK Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, George Freeman, in Japan in December. The ISPF supports collaborations between UK researchers and innovators and their peers from around the world to address global challenges, build knowledge and develop the technologies of tomorrow on the major themes of our time: planet, health, tech and talent.

The UK-Japan Civil Nuclear Research programme is a partnership between UKRI and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

Paul Murray from the University of Strathclyde will lead research to improve the detection, safeguarding, retrieval and disposal of radioactive debris. The project brings together a team of researchers and industrialists from the UK and Japan, including: Lancaster University, the UK's National Nuclear Laboratory, Osaka University, Japan Atomic Energy Agency and Nippon Nuclear Fuel Development Company. The project will explore the use of hyperspectral imaging along with other sensor technologies, signal processing and data fusion for the effective characterisation of nuclear fuel-debris.

Murray said: "We anticipate that the proposed research will lead to new and highly valuable inspection technology which can support nuclear decommissioning in Japan, the UK and around the world."

Brant Walkley, Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield's Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, will lead a study to use calcined clays as natural resources to engineer 'geopolymer binders'. The binders will safely cement solid radioactive fuel debris from molten core concrete comprising metallic alloys, oxides, and silicates, and slurries and sediments.

"It is excellent news that UKRI and MEXT have chosen to fund this research that will tackle immediate​ and significant challenges with processing and safe disposal of radioactive waste from the Sellafield and Fukushima sites," Walkley said.

"After I launched the International Science Partnerships Fund in Japan, last year, it is only fitting that our first UKRI award from the fund, is in partnership with Japan too," Freeman said. "Processing nuclear waste is an enormous challenge for human civilisation. Bringing together the UK and Japan's brightest minds, to focus our shared expertise in sensing, data, chemistry and more, cuts to the core of what this fund and our science superpower mission is all about - harnessing UK scientific leadership through deeper international collaboration for global good, to tackle the most pressing needs facing humanity."

"International partnerships are crucial to ensuring we learn from each other and harness the extraordinary potential of research and innovation to overcome challenges and future proof our safety and wellbeing in the UK and around the world," said Christopher Smith, International Champion at UKRI. "These new investments are an example of this.

"Experts from across the UK and Japan will work together to find innovative solutions to safely detect and dispose of radioactive nuclear debris to protect and safeguard local environments now and for future generations."

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Westinghouse-and-Energoatom-agree-AP300-SMR-cooper

Ukraine's Energoatom and the US firm Westinghouse have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) relating to the development and deployment of AP300 small modular reactors (SMRs) in Ukraine.

The MoU was signed by Westinghouse CEO Patrick Fragman, seated left in the the picture above, and Energoatom President Petro Kotin. Ukraine's Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko, standing centre, was also present for the occasion.

The companies also signed an agreement for the deepening of cooperation in the construction of nine planned AP1000 units in the country. Fragman said: "From nuclear fuel to plant services to electricity generation, Westinghouse is honoured to be a trusted partner for Ukraine today and for decades to come."

Kotin said Energoatom was working on a range of new projects on which the country's energy security would depend. "The company is doing its utmost to ensure that our state continues to move towards a carbon-free, clean future, an integral component of which is nuclear energy," he added.

Halushchenko noted that the agreements included localisation of manufacturing, saying: "Ukraine has every prospect of becoming one of the clean energy leaders and increasing nuclear generation capacity both through the construction of new high-capacity power units and through the installation of small modular reactors, the first of which may appear within the next 10 years."

The two companies have a widening range of links. Earlier this week, saw the first loading of Westinghouse fuel into a VVER-440 reactor, at Ukraine's Rivne nuclear power plant.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/IAEA-to-run-out-of-money-within-weeks,-Grossi-warn

Member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) now owe more than EUR200 million (USD214 million), and Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has warned that unless payments are made, then in a month's time "we will run out of money ... I will not be able to pay salaries or for the lights ... we will grind to a halt".

Before getting on to the substance of his statement to the IAEA board - covering issues including the on-going work in Ukraine and Fukushima and the new Atoms4Food initiative - Grossi said he had to start with the urgent finance situation because he found it "contradictory ... that we talk about so many important things when I don't know whether I'm going to be able to open the shop in one month".

He said that 44% of member states were in arrears "including the major donors" and he said what made it even more frustrating was that he had been in touch with the United Nations Secretariat in New York and with other agencies and global institutions and "no one is in a situation like us".

"So we need commitments soon so we can continue doing what we are supposed to be doing," he added at the start of a week-long IAEA board of governors gathering in Vienna, Austria. He thanked the US ambassador for allowing "us to use some money in a creative way, to make it for this month ... I hope that others can do that as well. But the real thing, the fundamental thing, is that we cannot continue to say that we support this agency when we don't pay for its activity. It's as simple as that".

The director general said that the only time there had been a similar situation for the IAEA was nearly 30 years ago, in 1995, which had triggered discussions and proposals and led to a "very complicated situation ... so I really hope that we will be able to avoid any such situation now - as you can imagine, it's very difficult for me to plan ahead when I don't know if I'm going to be able to pay salaries in one month".

"So I count on your support and I count on that when we say that we support the agency we really do," he said.

The board of governors of the IAEA's role includes examining and making recommendations to the General Conference - which takes place later this month - on the IAEA's financial statements, programme and budget.

Governors briefed on IAEA's work

Fukushima Daiichi ALPs water release: Grossi said that the IAEA continues to work to ensure that relevant international safety standards are applied to sampling of the treated water before release and said that it had been monitoring the seawater since the release began on 24 August. The IAEA provides continuous live data on the release of the treated water and Grossi told the board that its monitoring has confirmed levels of tritium in the discharged water and seawater were below Japan's operational limit.

Ukraine: There have been 53 IAEA missions carried out to Ukraine's five nuclear sites over the past year. He highlighted the work of the IAEA experts at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been under Russian military control for a year and a half. Since he established the first permanent team at the plant a year ago, there have been ten rotations of staff. He told the 35-member IAEA board that "it is the increase of military activity" around that plant "that worries us the most". As well as its work to ensure the safety and security of nuclear facilities, the IAEA has also provided technical assistance in the country following the flooding caused by the Kakhovka dam's destruction, he said.

Iran: The director general updated the board on verification and monitoring in Iran, noting the joint statement by the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran and the IAEA in March: "Of course, our work with our colleagues from the Islamic Republic of Iran continues ... I hope to do better, and our Iranian colleagues know that. So, we will continue working together, trying to go faster and better and deeper in this important and indispensable area."

Atoms4 Food: Grossi said this new initiative is aimed at supporting member states in increasing food production, food safety, agricultural planning and nutrition programming, using nuclear and isotopic techniques. He also referenced progress on the IAEA's Rays of Hope initiative, which has widened access to cancer care in Benin, Chad, Keny, Malawi and Niger as well as Botswana, which opened its first public radiotherapy centre. There had also been progress, he said, with the NUTEC plastics initiative and the Zoonotic Disease Integrated Action initiative, which is aimed at helping avoid pandemics from diseases passing from animals to humans.

Harmonisation: Grossi also highlighted the IAEA's attempts to harmonise regulatory approaches and standardise industry approaches, "which will support the timely deployment of safe and secure small modular reactors". He also said the IAEA was opening its Nuclear Security Training and Development Centre on 3 October, "the first truly international centre of capacity building in the area of nuclear security". On gender equality initiatives, he said the IAEA's Marie Sklodowska Fellowship Programme would soon award scholarships to 200 women engaged in nuclear-related master's programmes. He added that he was on track to get to gender parity at the IAEA by 2025, having now "gone above the 43% line".

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Seaborg-power-barge-considered-for-use-in-Indonesi

Indonesian power company Pertamina NRE has signed a memorandum of understanding with Denmark's Seaborg to investigate the deployment of Seaborg's compact molten salt reactor (CMSR) Power Barge in Indonesia.

Pertamina NRE - a subsidiary of PT Pertamina (Persero), Indonesia's largest energy company - and Seaborg will use the assessment to scope an initial project where the commercial deployment of the CMSR Power Barge is feasible and commercially viable.

Followed by the initial project results, potential follow-up projects will be considered. The utilisation of the energy could be to supply power to the grid, directly to industry or for the production of alternative fuels, such as hydrogen, ammonia and methanol.

Based on the results of the studies, further collaboration such as the development and deployment of a CMSR Power Barge with a capacity of between 200 MWe and 800 MWe will be considered.

"Although the economics have yet to be finalised, an estimated investment of USD1–3 billion would be required, which would lead to significant contributions of CO2 reduction towards the Government of Indonesia's net-zero ambitions as well as other potential economic multipliers," Seaborg said.

It added that once the project has matured to the investment-ready stage, both parties intend to attract foreign direct investments to realise the project.

Seaborg's design is for modular CMSR power barges equipped with between two and eight 100 MWe CMSRs, with an operational life of 24 years. Instead of having solid fuel rods that need constant cooling, the CMSR's fuel is mixed in a liquid salt that acts as a coolant, which means that it will simply shut down and solidify in case of emergency. However, the low-enriched fluoride fuel salt is not yet commercially available, so Seaborg recently announced the initial power barges will be fuelled with low-enriched uranium (LEU).

In July, Seaborg signed a letter of intent with Norsk Kjernekraft to investigate the deployment of Seaborg's CMSR in Norway. The Norwegian company aims to build, own and operate small modular nuclear power plants in Norway in collaboration with power-intensive industry.

The previous month, Seaborg signed a memorandum of understanding with Kepco Nuclear Fuel and GS Engineering & Construction to collaborate on investigating the feasibility of developing an LEU fuel salt production facility in South Korea.

In April 2022, Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Seaborg signed a memorandum of understanding to manufacture and sell turnkey power plants combining SHI's ship-building expertise and Seaborg's CMSR. It also covered the development of hydrogen production plants and ammonia plants.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Energoatom-and-ConverDyn-sign-uranium-conversion-M

Energoatom and ConverDyn have signed a confidentiality agreement and memorandum of understanding relating to uranium conversion which the Ukrainian company says can help the country towards a complete fuel cycle.

The signings, by Energoatom President Petro Kotin and ConverDyn President Malcolm Critchley, took place in London last week.

Kotin said the cooperation opened up an opportunity to provide additional services for the conversion of uranium and diversification of its supply and Energoatom said the future cooperation with ConverDyn includes assistance in increasing its own uranium production "and construction of a plant for the conversion of a natural product mined in Ukraine into uranium hexafluoride".

ConverDyn is a joint venture between General Atomics and Honeywell, which provides uranium hexafluoride (UF6) conversion and related services to companies operating nuclear power plants in North America, Europe and Asia.

IAEA mission sees progress after similar visit in 2021.

The operator of the two-unit Asco nuclear power station in Spain has implemented a method to identify components and structures that must be managed for safe long-term operation, but further work is needed in some areas, an International Atomic Energy Agency team said.

The team called for a comprehensive programme to confirm the resistance of electrical components to harsh conditions, a so-called equipment qualification programme, is fully implemented.

The station also needs to ensure a comprehensive strategy is in place for ageing management of structural elements of electrical cabinets and panels.

The IAEA team was carrying out a safety aspects of long-term operation (Salsto) follow-up review mission to review station operator Asociacion Nuclear Ascó-Vandellos’ (Anav) response to recommendations and suggestions made during a Salto mission in 2021.

The team noted that the operator has implemented an advanced digitalisation process to ensure easy retrievability, traceability and long-term preservation of documents.

Anav has also completed full demonstration of effective ageing management in the ageing management review of passive and active mechanical components.

The Asco nuclear power station, in northeast Spain, is one of the country’s seven operational nuclear power plants at five sites. The nuclear fleet produces about 20% of the country’s electricity.

Asco has two pressurised-water reactor units. The 995-MW Unit 1 went into commercial operation in 1984 and the 997-MW Unit 2 in 1986.

The units are currently authorised to operate until 2030 for Unit 1 and 2031 for Unit 2.

The Spanish government’s energy and climate plan specifies that installed nuclear capacity will remain at current levels until at least 2025, but will be reduced to just over 3,000 MW from 2030 onwards.

A May 2021 International Energy Agency report said Spain should not rule out nuclear energy as an option beyond 2050 with reactor technology having the potential to contribute to decarbonisation through high-temperature heat supply and hydrogen production

The Foro Nuclear industry group has repeatedly urged the government to reduce what it called the “suffocating” fiscal pressure on the nuclear fleet.

Source: https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2023/09/12/holtec-palisades-ppa-restart-reopen-nuclear-plant

Holtec has signed a power purchase agreement needed to restart the shuttered Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan, Axios has learned exclusively.

Why it matters: The plant would be the first in the U.S. to reopen after being shut down for decommissioning.

Details: The energy company has entered a multidecade agreement that calls for restoring Palisades Power Plant's full 805 MW generating capacity, sources familiar with the deal tell Axios.

• Sources say the agreement was signed Monday.
• The agreement is contingent on the U.S. Department of Energy approving a $1 billion loan to reopen the plant.
• If it moves ahead, it would also allow Holtec to add further capacity to the site, such as by installing new, small modular reactors.
• Holtec declined to comment. It's planning to announce the deal today at 1pm ET, sources say.

Of note: Sources declined to name the company that's agreed to buy the electricity and at what price.

• Holtec would likely partner with an operator already licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to run the plant, per a person familiar with the deal.

Context: Nuclear energy provides about 20% of the country's electricity, making it the single largest source of zero-emissions energy — and the only one that can provide it around-the-clock.

• That's spurred political leaders and grid operators to consider restarting or extending the life of aging nuclear plants that were otherwise slated for decommissioning, namely Palisades and Diablo Canyon in California.

Catch up fast: Palisades Power Plant was shut down by Entergy in May 2022, 51 years after it opened in southwestern Michigan.

• Holtec, which specializes in decommissioning nuclear power plants, bought the site a month later.

The intrigue: Holtec has recently expanded from taking apart nuclear power plants to building new ones.

• Last summer, the Jupiter, Fla.-based company unveiled a $7.4 billion plan to build as many as four small modular reactors in New Jersey, plus a "supersize" reactor factory.

What's next: Holtec expects the Department of Energy to decide on the company's loan application by the end of the year, one of the sources tells Axios.

• The agency rejected a similar application last November. However, Holtec had applied for funds from a program designed to keep aging plants online — not restart shuttered plants, a source tells Axios.
• The company is now seeking funds through the DOE's Loan Programs Office, which has a broader mandate. The company is also hoping for $300 million from the state of Michigan.
• If the funds come through, repowering the plant could take about a year and a half.

With the race for the presidency of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in its final stretch, Danish candidate and former EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said she would be ready to consider EIB financing for defence and nuclear.

On Thursday and Friday (15-16 September), EU finance ministers will meet informally in Santiago, Spain, to try to reach a consensus on which candidate will become the next EIB president.

As crunch time looms, it is candidates’ positions on nuclear and defence – alongside Ukraine’s reconstruction – that are most under the spotlight.

As it were, these make for quite a “heated discussion” in EU circles, Vestager told a group of journalists at the Danish Embassy in Berlin on Friday (8 September).

Nuclear has divided member states over whether it should be deemed a ‘strategic’ energy source for the purpose of decarbonising the EU’s economy.

As for defence, the EIB has only ever granted ‘dual use’ financing, which focuses on projects that meet both military and civilians’ needs. Turning to military-only has led to concerns by many that the Bank would be losing its ‘AAA’ credit rating.

But Vestager, who is leading the race alongside Spanish Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Nadia Calviño, said on Friday she’d be willing to take more investment risks as EIB chief, and was open – out of “pragmatism” – to support nuclear and defence funding.

“Completely pragmatic”

“If you turn on the lights [in Denmark] on a grey day with no wind, well, it’s highly likely that the electricity will be nuclear-produced energy from Sweden,” Vestager said.

A nuclear-sceptic, she appeared to offer a listening ear on Friday: “If there are decisions to do things in a different way, that is perfectly fine with me,” she said, though added that such calls are ultimately down to the political institutions, such as the Parliament, Commission and Council, not the bank.

“I don’t think that the bank should be a place where you can second guess or cut through disagreements in our political bodies,” Vestager said, arguing that she refuses to see the EIB become “another political fighting ground”.

On Wednesday, Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, spoke in favour of EIB investments into nuclear: “Of course, nuclear power is on the march [in Europe], of course, it needs to be financed and of course, I think the EIB should do it,” he told journalists.

The same goes for defence and military-only investments: “Things are changing” on this front, Vestager said, keeping all funding options on the table but warning that it still requires “an in-depth conversation in Europe about what we want to do”.

As the financial arm of the EU, the EIB is critical to the more costly of the bloc’s policy ambitions, such as the green transition and the reconstruction of Ukraine. It carries considerable financial firepower, with a balance sheet that hovers around €544 billion.

Soothing the Paris row

Paris and Vestager have not always seen eye to eye – could she be trying to make amends?

Last July, Vestager came under fire for her nomination of US citizen Fiona Scott Morton as chief economist of the Directorate-General for Competition, a move that was slammed by the French President, Emmanuel Macron. Scott Morton eventually withdrew.

Vestager had also drawn the Elysée’s wrath in 2019, when, as Commissioner in charge of Competition, she vetoed a wide-scale merger between France’s Alstom and Germany’s Siemens – dubbed at a time as the birth of an ‘EU railway giant’ – citing monopolistic concerns.

Such a veto was “an economic mistake and a political error”, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said at the time, claiming this was “a gift to China”.

Whether Vestager’s newly-ameliorable stance on nuclear will be enough to smooth over past conflicts remains to be seen – Le Maire made it clear in July 2023 that France’s support would go towards a candidate that is open to providing more EU-level financing to the nuclear sector.

The former Commissioner is up against four other candidates for the top job, with Calviño rumoured to be favoured by the French, EURACTIV understands.

The new President is expected to take office in early 2024.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/IAEA-sees-no-rise-in-tritium-level-near-Fukushima

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that its independent sampling and analysis of seawater near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has found that the tritium levels have remained below Japan’s operational limit.

At the Fukushima Daiichi site, contaminated water - in part used to cool melted nuclear fuel - is treated by the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), which removes most of the radioactive contamination, with the exception of tritium. This treated water is currently stored in more than 1000 tanks on site. The total tank storage capacity amounts to about 1.37 million cubic metres and all the tanks are expected to reach full capacity in late 2023 or early 2024.

Japan announced in April 2021 it planned to discharge treated water stored at the site into the sea over a period of about 30 years. Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) began discharging this water on 24 August.

IAEA staff at the agency's office at the site have since sampled seawater from several locations within three kilometres of the site, at sea and from the coast.

"The Agency's independent sampling and measurement of the seawater from the coast shows consistency with the values reported by Tepco as well as the Ministry of Environment of Japan," the IAEA said. "Tepco reports daily public results on its website showing that the tritium activity concentration in the sea falls below its operational limit, that is, the limit set for operation of the ALPS discharge process that must not be exceeded. The Agency is continuing its analysis of all the seawater samples."

The IAEA has been collecting marine samples in the waters off Fukushima over the past decade, following a request by the Japanese government to assist it in ensuring that its sea area monitoring - conducted since the accident in 2011 - maintains a high quality, and is credible and transparent. The project is a follow-up activity to recommendations made on marine monitoring in a report by the IAEA in 2013 related to the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The IAEA will have a presence on site for as long as the treated water is released.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Orano-gives-updates-on-uranium-enrichment-plans-an

Orano has revealed plans to extend enrichment capacity at its Georges Besse II (GB-II) uranium enrichment plant, and has begun the regulatory process to produce HALEU there. Separately, the company has confirmed it is "reorganising" work at its Niger operations to mitigate logistical impacts following the recent coup.

François Lurin, senior executive vice president of Orano's Chemistry-Enrichment Business Unit, set out the French fuel cycle company's enrichment plans in a video interview released to coincide with World Nuclear Symposium 2023.

The decision to extend capacity follows requests from some US and European customers who are seeking alternatives to Russian sources of supply, Lurin said: "We have been considering various options and we have concluded that the only way to supply additional needs was to build an extension to our existing capacities and the primary choice we would be able to make is to build up an extension on our Tricastin site at GB-II plant."

"We are happy to say that we would be able to start up production in 2028, with a ramp- up over two to three years up to a nominal production in 2030. Obviously this is subject to the final approval of the board and also to receiving firm orders from our customers given the magnitude of the investment," he said, adding that the company is "pretty confident" that approval will be given soon.

Customers have also approached Orano about supplying higher enrichment assays, Lurin said. Known as LEU+, this material is enriched to 5-8% uranium-235. "The first step is going from 5 to 6%," he said. "We have initiated the regulatory process to obtain approval to do this. We should be able to provide higher enrichment essays up to 6% by 2025."

Increasing assays from 6 to 8% will require further investment in the GB-II plant, which Lurin said the company will launch once it obtains "firm commitments" from customers. The regulatory process will take up to three years, he added.

Orano "should be able" to provide the various forms of enriched uranium to supply the different small modular reactor and advanced reactor technologies that are being developed, Lurin said. The company can produce the high-assay low-enriched uranium - also known as HALEU - that these reactors will need either by enrichment at its existing facilities, or by deconversion of uranium hexafluoride.

"We have also in the past had capacities and equipments to provide such material, so we know how to do it," Lurin said. "We are ready to invest but we need firm commitments from our customers or additional funding from other parties to do so and to launch these investments."

The GB-II centrifuge enrichment plant - which superseded the Georges Besse I gaseous diffusion enrichment plant - was officially opened in December 2010 and began commercial operation in April 2011. The French National Commission for Public Debate last year announced the relaunch of a consultation to consider increasing GB-II's capacity from 7.5 to 11 million SWU per year through addition of four natural uranium enrichment cascades at an estimated cost of some EUR 1.3 billion (USD970 million).

Niger update

In a separate announcement released on the same day as Lurin's interview, Orano said its local teams were working to ensure the continuity of activities at its sites in Niger. This follows the coup which took place in July.

"Given the ongoing closure of Niger's main supply corridor and diminishing stocks of chemical products, the SOMAÏR site has implemented a gradual reorganisation of work by bringing forward its maintenance activities," the company said.

"These measures will mitigate the impact of logistical difficulties and enable production to resume under optimum conditions as soon as the situation permits."

Orano's other projects in Niger - the remediation project at the COMINAK mine, which closed in 2021, and studies and activities at the Imouraren project - are continuing, the company said.

Niger produced 2,020 tU in 2022 - all from SOMAÏR - according to figures from World Nuclear Association. This makes the mine, at Arlit, the world's seventh largest in terms of uranium production in 2022.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Tweaks-to-FLEX-design-sees-boost-in-power-output

MoltexFLEX says a reevaluation of certain aspects of its FLEX molten salt reactor design has "yielded a more robust scientific and engineering foundation" for the reactor. A refinement of the reactor design has delivered a 50% boost in power output, while maintaining previous targets for overnight capital cost and cost per MWh.

Warrington, UK-headquartered MoltexFLEX - a subsidiary of Moltex Energy Limited - is developing the FLEX reactor – the thermal neutron (moderated) version of Moltex Energy's stable salt reactor technology. The reactor is small and modular, allowing components to be factory-produced and readily transportable, reducing on-site work, increasing speed of construction, and minimising overall costs. It is passively safe, so does not require engineered, redundant, active safety systems. The FLEX reactor has no moving parts and is fuelled for 20 years at a time, meaning that there is very little operator input and very low ongoing costs. Each reactor was initially expected to deliver 40 MW of thermal energy at 700°C. According to MoltexFLEX, the cost of electricity generated by the FLEX reactor was likely to be GBP40 (USD50) per MWh. MoltexFLEX plans to have its first reactor operational by 2029.

Following a reevaluation of the design, MoltexFLEX says FLEX's power output has increased from 40 MWth/16 MWe as originally envisaged to 60 MWth/24 MWe, made possible by optimisation of the core design and the fuel pin material.

The refuelling schedule has also been adjusted to account for the fact that the FLEX reactor will now use 5% low-enriched uranium (LEU) instead of 6% LEU. MoltexFLEX said this change "facilitates global deployment of the FLEX reactor by leveraging established security and non-proliferation measures and the existing fuel supply chain".

The refinement of the design has also maintained the predicted overnight capital cost of an nth-of-a-kind reactor at approximately GBP2000/kW, and the levelised cost of electricity of a baseload electricity generating plant at less than GBP30/MWh.

MoltexFLEX said that while the underlying technology remains essentially unchanged, these design evolutions represent significant improvements. "The work provides more certainty about the company's ability to deliver on its cost targets, reinforces the underpinning science, and sets MoltexFLEX on the road toward delivering its prototype FLEX reactor around the turn of the decade," it said.

"We have firmly established the core aspects of the FLEX concept as we ramp up engineering design," said MoltexFLEX Head of Engineering Chris Hankinson. "More work will be undertaken over the coming months to further refine and finally freeze the design, and this will then be taken forward to create our first-of-a-kind reactor."

"The science and engineering of the FLEX reactor has moved on apace," said MoltexFLEX CEO David Landon. "The work we have completed further boosts our confidence in the design and economics of the FLEX reactor, and our ability to deliver a first reactor ready for global roll-out through the 2030s."

In May 2021, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission completed the first phase of the pre-licensing vendor design review for Moltex Energy's 300 MWe Stable Salt Reactor - Wasteburner (SSR-W 300) small modular reactor. The SSR-W is a molten salt reactor that uses nuclear waste as fuel. The company aims to deploy its first such reactor at the Point Lepreau site in New Brunswick by the early 2030s.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Westinghouse-VVER-440-fuel-loaded-into-reactor

Westinghouse fuel has been loaded into a VVER-440 reactor for the first time, at Ukraine's Rivne nuclear power plant.

The supply of fuel assemblies for the VVER-440 reactors, which have always used Russian-produced fuel, was the result of a contract signed in September 2020 as part of Ukraine's efforts to diversify its fuel supplies. The subsequent war, which began in February 2022, has led to Ukraine ending all future Russian nuclear fuel use.

The event to mark the loading of the fuel was attended by people including Ukraine's Energy Minister, Herman Halushchenko, Energoatom President Petro Kotin, Sweden's ambassador to Ukraine, Martin Oberg, Westinghouse CEO Patrick Fragman, Westinghouse Sweden Managing Director Aziz Dag and the Rivne NPP Director General Pavlo Kovtoniuk.

Kotin said: "When the full-scale invasion of Russia began, we turned to our partners at Westinghouse with a proposal to accelerate the production of fuel for VVER-440 type reactors. With our engineering support, they produced it in a year and a half and brought it here - to the Rivne nuclear power plant."

Halushchenko said the "greatness of this day" was that it ended "the Russian monopoly" in this part of the nuclear fuel market. He added that the speed of the project was a "great success and a significant basis for our continued cooperation with Westinghouse - this is a big day for the Ukrainian energy industry, for our cooperation with the USA and Sweden, where the relevant plant is located".

Ukraine has said that it is switching to the US company's fuel, with plans to develop fuel domestically in future, using Westinghouse technology.

Westinghouse's Fragman said the companies' specialists had worked together to produce ahead of schedule and said: "We did it together, and not only for Ukraine, but also for other European countries whose nuclear reactors can now be completely independent of fuel supplies from Russia."

Rivne 1 and 2 - which were commissioned in 1980 and 1981, respectively - are the only VVER-440 units in Ukraine, with 16 others elsewhere in the EU. Ukraine has a total of 13 VVER-1000 units, including Rivne 3 and 4. Westinghouse has been supplying VVER-1000 fuel to Ukraine since 2005, when the first lead test assemblies were delivered to unit 3 of the South Ukraine nuclear power plant.

Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, there have been accelerated efforts for countries to diversify their fuel supply. Westinghouse's Swedish nuclear fuel manufacturing subsidiary, Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB, is leading the Accelerated Programme for Implementation of Secure VVER Fuel Supply. Launched in January this year, the programme aims to meet the urgent need of European countries operating such reactors to find an alternative source of fuel.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Nuclear-industry-ready-to-help-end-users-cut-emiss

The nuclear industry has the solutions to assist end-users - from the shipping industry to data centres - in reducing their carbon emissions and meeting their decarbonisation goals, panellists at World Nuclear Symposium 2023 said.

"Clearly achieving net-zero will mean decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors in industry," said Charlotte Griffiths, deputy director of the Sustainable Energy Division and Chief of Section, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, who moderated the session. "Nuclear energy really has a role to play. It's well-placed as a low-carbon energy source, it delivers uninterrupted electricity and heat 24/7. But closing the implementation gap to get to net-zero can be driven just not by government policy but by end-users and their decarbonisation goals."

She said that decarbonising the electricity sector is not enough for the world to meet its net-zero ambitions. "The hard-to-abate sectors in industry - such as steel, cement, transportation and chemicals - these account for over 40% of global CO2 emissions. They also need to be addressed. And those industries require reliable, affordable energy sources that can provide the heat and electricity. But meeting the demands of low-carbon energy is going to be a challenge. And nuclear energy is one of the few options that can do so effectively."

Mohamed Al Hammadi, managing director and CEO of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, noted that cloud computing and data centres has created a huge demand for electricity, consuming about 5% of the energy consumption and generating about 2% of world emissions.

Todd Noe, Director of Nuclear Technologies Strategy at Microsoft, said the company was building and operating data centers globally, creating an increasing power requirement. He said Microsoft has an "energy-agnostic approach with carbon-free energy". The company already has power purchase agreements with renewable energy providers, as well as nuclear operators Ontario Power Generation and Constellation Energy.

"We have what we call the 100-zero goal and that is 100% of electrons we can use 100% of the time being zero-carbon affiliated," Noe said. "We're profoundly interested in small modular reactors (SMR's) and microreactors, much more so than standard utility. We're extremely interested in microreactors, and last year we've had a lot of initial discussions with various manufacturers and developers and utilities about how to accelerate it. So by 2032, we hope to have one or two SMRs." However, he noted that Microsoft will not own and operate nuclear reactors. "That's not what we're going to do. But we're looking for partners."

Core Power Chairman and CEO Mikal Bøe said the shipping industry "is the backbone of global trade", but by consuming some 350 million tonnes of fossil fuel annually it accounts for about 3% of total worldwide carbon emissions. The industry, he noted, has been mandated by the United Nations to reach net-zero by 2050.

"Moving the transport of global trade away from fossil fuels presents an almost insurmountable challenge of scale," Bøe said. "The alternative fuels being proposed as an interim step towards that zero goal are things like ammonia, methanol and other things that contain less carbon, but they are all produced from natural gas today.

"Nuclear is the only true zero emission energy for the lifetime of ships - no other energy source can give us true zero emissions," he said.

Bøe noted that nuclear navies have been using nuclear "very successfully" since the 1950s and it has been "proven beyond any doubt" that reactors can be operated safely at sea. "That's truly a goal to achieve. But these naval reactors that have achieved this cannot be insured commercially. And if you can't insure them commercially, we can't bring them into ports. We can't really bring them into near-shore environments."

He said we need a "new nuclear solution". This would be for two things - to help in the production of cleaner fuels so that the industry can move away from fossil fuels, and secondly to develop new types of nuclear electric powered ships, "if you like, Tesla tankers". Bøe added, "If we can do that, we are taking a big step."

Al Hammadi said the COP28 climate conference, which takes place in the United Arab Emirates later this year, presents "a great opportunity, a global opportunity and a new opportunity for us to showcase all the success stories and showcase the demand that's required for the future." He said the industry should "present the solutions that we can provide - be it advanced reactors, SMRs or conventional reactors. We have solutions we can present to the world."

OSLO, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Offshore wind developers stayed away from Britain's latest renewable energy auction on Friday, arguing the price offered by the government did not reflect rising industry costs, something which is hampering wind projects globally.

The result was bad news for Britain's 2050 net zero emissions target, which calls for 50 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity by 2030 versus around 14 GW now.

In a 2022 auction, offshore wind projects were the main recipient of funding, with 7 gigawatts (GW) awarded, but developers did not even bid in the latest auction, the results of which were published on Friday.

The UK's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said in a statement blamed the absence of awards for both offshore and floating offshore wind was a result of the global rise in inflation and the impact on supply chains.

The sector has seen huge cost increases, prompting developers worldwide to pull out of projects or seek to renegotiate them. Last week leading developer Orsted announced hefty impairments to U.S. projects.

Turbine makers are also struggling with quality issues as they scale up the technology, which is hitting earnings.

Energy and Climate Change Minister Graham Stuart said in a statement following the auction that the UK's plans remain unchanged: "Offshore wind is central to our ambitions to decarbonise our electricity supply and our ambition to build 50GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, including up to 5GW of floating wind, remains firm."

Britain's contract-for-difference (CfD) scheme, which was launched in 2014, offers renewable power developers a guaranteed price for their electricity.

However, it imposed a price cap for offshore wind bids of 44 pounds per megawatt hour (MWh), down from 46 pounds/MWh in the previous round.

"By capping the price the sector could bid at too low, government set it at a level that made it impossible for investors to meet their costs," renewable energy campaign group Britain Remade said in a statement.

The lack of new offshore wind capacity would cost consumers 1 billion pounds a year, it added.

The government had offered 227 million pounds in subsidies to spur renewable power projects, increasing the amount in August after developers warned more funding was needed.

The auction news was an "energy security disaster", Ed Miliband, shadow energy security and net zero secretary for the UK's opposition Labour Party said in a statement.

"The Conservatives have now trashed the industry that was meant to be the crown jewels of the British energy system - blocking the cheap, clean, homegrown power we need," he said.

The cost of offshore wind projects has risen by some 40%, developers such Germany's RWE and Sweden's Vattenfall have said, with the latter pausing development of a project that was awarded a CfD in last year's round.

LESS CAPACITY

Awards across all renewable technologies which entered the latest auction totalled 3.7 gigawatts, down from 11 GW of projects getting contracts in last year's round.

Solar power projects took the top spot with 1.9 GW of capacity, followed by onshore wind with 1.8 GW, the document showed.

The strike price for solar was 47 pounds ($58.71) per megawatt hour (MWh) in 2012 prices, up from 45.99 pounds in the previous round, with the onshore wind price rising to 52.29 pounds/MWh from 42.47 pounds.

Bid prices for renewable energy CfDs are expressed in 2012 money, with inflation meaning actual prices are higher.

The government noted Britain has shifted allocations to annual auctions, instead of every two years, offering developers more frequent opportunities to participate and allowing the government to amend conditions more quickly if needed.

($1 = 0.8005 pounds)

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Nuclear-industry-urged-take-advantage-of-window-of

The current favourable attitude of many policymakers, much of the public, and the financial community means that the nuclear industry "needs to have the courage, be brave and believe in what we are doing" the closing session of World Nuclear Symposium 2023 was told.

Cameco CEO and President Tim Gitzel said that the need to tackle climate change had provided tailwinds for nuclear in recent years, with energy security now also driving the positive setting for the nuclear industry, saying "we have a good product, the window is open and we have to deliver ... let's get going".

Rumina Velshi, President and CEO, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, said that continuing collaboration was key within the industry and between regulators. She said that scale and speed were needed, to match the sense of urgency people have about needing to tackle climate change.

Sophie MacFarlane-Smith, Head of Customer Engagement, Rolls-Royce SMR, said the "drive, not just for Net Zero, but also energy security is massive" but she warned there was still a cautiousness in government and so "we need to do what we say ... deliver on our promises, not over-promise", so government, other stakeholders and the public know that "nuclear can be trusted to deliver and nuclear can make a real contribution to the fight against climate change and energy security".

Thomas Branche, Executive Vice President, Assystem, said that things had moved on from five years ago when the wish would have been for a clear vision from governments. He said it was time to be "construction-oriented". He also highlighted that there were different issues and attitudes in different countries, but it was always important to get support from people living in the locality of proposed sites.

Architect Erick van Egeraat urged the nuclear industry to not see itself as a special case, saying that he had worked on many large-scale projects, and said it was the nature of them that they take a long time to deliver. He also noted that the aesthetics of a nuclear plant could help public acceptance.

The session was the final one of the two day gathering of more than 700 people from the global nuclear sector, where the discussion has covered issues ranging from financing new nuclear, to how the industry will be able to recruit and train enough staff for the proposed expansion of nuclear energy in the years ahead.

To close World Nuclear Symposium, World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León said "we have the recognition of the policymakers, we have the attention of the finance community - now we are ready to get our act together and deliver ... and make the most of the huge opportunity that we have".

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/US-furthers-overseas-support-for-coal-to-SMR-proje

Proposals from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia have been selected to receive US support for coal-to-small modular reactor (SMR) feasibility studies under Project Phoenix. The USA is also to set up a 'one-stop shop' to support countries in Europe and Eurasia that are approaching SMR deployment decisions.

Project Phoenix, announced by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry at the COP27 climate conference last year, aims to support energy security and climate goals by creating pathways for coal-to-SMR power plant conversions while retaining local jobs through workforce retraining. The successful proposals receiving a share of USD8 million of US government support were selected through a competitive process open to 17 central and eastern European countries. Kerry announced the recipients of the awards in a side event to the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Bucharest on 6 September.

The successful grant application lodged by a partnership including Slovak utility Slovenské elektrárne proposed five Slovak sites for consideration SMR feasibility studies: the Jaslovské Bohunice and Mochovce nuclear power plant sites; the Nováky and Vojany thermal power plant sites; and the site of the US Steel steel plant in eastern Slovakia. The feasibility study will assess several aspects and select the most suitable sites for the possible future construction of small modular reactors, Slovenské elektrárne said.

Slovak Minister of Economy Peter Dovhun said the success of Slovakia's Phoenix application was "excellent news" for the country. "It confirms that we have a lot to offer our partners thanks to our long experience in the nuclear power industry, and it also gives us the opportunity to accelerate the preparation of new projects that are important for the success of our energy transformation," he said.

Slovenské elektrárne Chairman and CEO Branislav Strýček said the support from the Phoenix project means Slovakia is "one step closer" to building an SMR. "We believe that the implementation of new technologies, including small modular reactors, is part of the solution to our energy needs. Small modular reactors are not intended to replace existing nuclear or renewable sources. Instead they complement our energy mix to ensure sufficient energy and protect the environment," he said.

Polish company Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) said it will use the funds it has been awarded under the Phoenix project to study a site at Ostrołęka. Ostrołęka is one of seven locations shortlisted earlier this year by OSGE for further geological surveys to host SMR plants based on GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's BWRX-300, for which it holds the exclusive right in Poland.

Kerry also launched the Nuclear Expediting the Energy Transition (NEXT) One Stop Shop for SMR Support, to provide countries in Europe and Eurasia that are approaching SMR deployment decisions a virtual centre access to a suite of project preparation tools and services. These may include in-person technical, financial, and regulatory consultancies and advisory services; study tours US nuclear facilities, national laboratories, and universities; competitively selected provision of an SMR simulator to support workforce development as a regional training hub; and university-to-university partnerships for curricula development and educational exchanges.

Project Phoenix and the NEXT One Stop Shop are subprogrammes of the US Department of State’s Foundational Infrastructure for the Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology (FIRST) Program.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/The-challenge-of-recruiting-a-rapidly-growing-nucl

The planned expansion of nuclear energy across the world means many more workers will be needed in the sector. Panellists at World Nuclear Symposium gave their views on the best ways to recruit staff, and a new mentoring initiative was announced.

The session heard from moderator, Tamer Albishawi, chief nuclear officer at Hinkley Point C in the UK, that a recent report had forecast that the current 64,000-strong nuclear workforce in the UK would need to more than treble to around 200,000 people in the next five years. "So there is a gap, and my honest opinion is that maybe there is a bigger gap than some of us can see," he said.

Shaima Al Mansoori, director, Education & Training, UAE Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), said there was a similar picture in other countries reflecting a need to expand recruitment across the world. She broke down the competencies into three categories beyond general attributes - such as integrity - that would be wanted from all recruits. The three categories were firstly, the generic skills from university graduates, the second was specialisation within the nuclear-related field, for example in the regulatory field. The final category, which might not yet be for large numbers, but which are required now, are skills related to new types of reactors and small modular reactors with "most countries going in that direction".

Callum Thomas, the founder and CEO of Thomas Thor Associates, a recruitment, executive search and HR consulting organisation for the nuclear industry, said a one-size-fits-all recruitment policy did not work and "you need to look at different target audiences ... looking at what motivates people". For example, he said, people beginning their career were especially motivated "by the purpose, meaningfulness of the industry, so with nuclear, they resonate really strongly with climate change and energy security". With mid-career people flexibility - in terms of location and hours, especially since the pandemic - was often important, while the "fairly new" late-career demographic of people who could have retired, often place extra value on the flexibility to work part-time while also being motivated by the idea of making a meaningful contribution.

Zhang Fengping, Deputy Director of the Maintenance Department, Sanmen Nuclear Power Company, said that in China there were currently 24 units under construction with 6 to 8 units set to be approved per year in the next decade so there will be a continuing large demand for more human resources in the years ahead. He highlighted the use of emerging technology - such as automation and automated wireless radiation monitoring - and how it could bring extra safety and efficiency. He added that there was a focus on training and retraining with the new technologies and he did not see it as being a problem for the modern generation.

Grace Stanke, who is a nuclear engineering student and, as Miss America 2023, has been an advocate for nuclear, said that emerging technologies "add that excitement and that interest" for younger people who "just want to do good, they want to do better - I think the resounding theme is that we're very mission-oriented ... one of the most important things to me is what does that company actually do? What is the end goal? How are they making the world a better place?

Albishawi recalled that when he had joined the industry he was told that it was a "job for life ... but now if you said that, I think it would scare people". Fellow panelists agreed, with Stanke saying that her contemporaries going through recruitment processes now do not want to become "just another cog, they want to be heard and listened to".

The session also saw the announcement of a new global mentoring initiative which is due to be formally launched by Women in Nuclear Global (WIN-Global) in November. Thomas said that it was open to everyone in the sector, regardless of level or gender, and "this is a first call to the industry to attract mentors and mentees". Anyone interested can sign up to become a WIN-Global member, for free, and will be sent information on the mentoring programme.