Nuclear Energy

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Cameco-revises-2023-Canadian-production-forecast

In what it describes as an "unplanned event", the company has revised downwards this year's expected production for its Canadian uranium mining operations, citing equipment reliability issues at Cigar Lake and continued uncertainty over planned production at Key Lake as it ramps up after a lengthy period in care and maintenance.

Cigar Lake is now expected to produce up to 16.3 million pounds U3O8 (6270 tU) this year, down from 18 million pounds U3O8. Production from the McArthur River/Key Lake operations for 2023 is expected to be 14 million pounds U3O8, down from the previous forecast of 15 million pounds U3O8. These figures are on a 100% basis.

"As previously reported, mining activities at the Cigar Lake operation were initiated from a new zone in the orebody (west pod) in the second quarter of this year, which impacted productivity," the company said in an update on 3 September. "As mining activities continued in the west pod during the third quarter, equipment reliability issues emerged which further affected performance." The mine is due to enter its planned annual maintenance shutdown, which will last for most of this month.

Cameco announced its decision to resume operations at the McArthur River/Key Lake operations - idled since 2018 - in early 2022. Ore from the underground mine at McArthur River is trucked 80 km by road to the mill at Key Lake for processing. The mine is operating well, and is expected to achieve its planned production for the year, but there is "continued uncertainty regarding planned production in 2023" as the mill continues to ramp up. The length of time the facility was in care and maintenance, operational changes, the availability of personnel with the necessary skills and experience, and the impact of supply chain challenges on the availability of materials and reagents, "have combined to impact production at Key Lake, leading to the reduced forecast", the company said.

Any ore from McArthur River that is not immediately processed at Key Lake will be stored in inventory for future milling.

Cameco said it can, if required, source material by means such as market purchases, pulling forward long-term purchases, using inventory or borrowing product. The company also pointed to its exposure to higher prices under market-related contracts in its long-term portfolio and a "pipeline" of ongoing contracting discussions, as well as its strong balance sheet "to help us self-manage risk".

"This expected production shortfall further highlights the growing security of supply risk at a time when we believe the demand outlook is stronger and more durable than ever and where the risk has shifted from producers to utilities," the company said. "Uncertainty about where nuclear fuel supplies will come from to satisfy growing demand continues to drive long-term contracting, with clear evidence that the broader uranium market is moving toward replacement rate contracting for the first time in over a decade. This is the type of contracting necessary to promote the price discovery already seen in the enrichment and conversion markets and that is expected to incentivise investments in the supply needed to satisfy the growing long-term requirements."

Cigar Lake is owned 54.547% by Cameco, 40.453% by Orano Canada Inc. (Orano) and 5% by TEPCO Resources Inc. The McArthur River mine is owned 69.805% by Cameco and 30.195% by Orano, while the Key Lake mill is owned 83.333% by Cameco and 16.667% by Orano.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Studsvik,-GNS-collaborate-on-waste-technology

Swedish nuclear technical services provider Studsvik and German radioactive waste specialist GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service mbH have formed a strategic and exclusive cooperation to implement Studsvik's inDRUM technology for the German market. inDRUM is a patented technology for the treatment of problematic wastes, such as legacy wastes in aging drums.

Studsvik's inDRUM technology is a solution for transuranic (TRU) waste streams that have characteristics that do not meet waste disposal criteria. The technology can be used on low, intermediate and high-level radioactive wastes.

inDRUM is a batch thermo-chemical system that treats containerised radioactive wastes by means of in-container thermal treatment to remove the free liquids, destroy organics, and deactivate corrosives and reactive materials from the containers. Treatment is achieved without removing or handling/sorting wastes from the container. In most applications, wastes are treated in the container in which the wastes were originally packaged. The thermally decomposed waste form is an inert, inorganic dry char (ash-like substance), significantly volume reduced (as much as 90%).

The inDRUM process consists of two main treatment systems: an electrically-heated container treatment vessel (CTV), where thermal treatment of drums is performed, followed by an off-gas treatment system that oxidises any volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, and traces of hydrogen volatised from the CTV and removes and/or neutralises any acid gases, mercury or iodine present in the off-gas stream.

Studsvik and GNS said their cooperation aims to "further develop, qualify and implement the Studsvik patented inDRUM technology for the German market".

"Studsvik's unique inDRUM technology is the perfect complement to our well-established waste treatment capabilities," said GNS CEO Daniel Oehr. "It will enable us to solve even the challenges of treating problematic waste in a safe, efficient, and sustainable way for our customers."

"Bringing together the GNS capabilities, experience and existing infrastructure in Germany, with the problematic waste thermal treatment technology of Studsvik, we offer solutions to problematic waste for the German market," added Studsvik CEO Camilla Hoflund.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Grossi-stresses-importance-of-IAEA-presence-at-Zap

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi says that the arrival of its experts at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant a year ago was "crucial" and their presence continues to be of "paramount importance".

In a message marking the anniversary of his visit to the plant to establish the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ), Grossi said: "As I said one year ago, having the IAEA permanently present at the ZNPP (Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant) is of great value. There is no doubt that this presence was a game changer. The presence of the ISAMZ team at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant on the front lines of war has been a crucial part of the IAEAs activities to monitor the situation and assist Ukraine."

"The presence of the IAEA was essential in helping to stabilise the situation and keeping the world informed about ZNPP. I am particularly proud of the courageous staff who carry out this important work, as well as those at the other Ukraine nuclear power plants and the Chernobyl site,” he said.

He said that the IAEA has provided other on-going assistance and monitoring in Ukraine in addition to the expert missions, including "facilitating international financial support, and information sharing".

The teams of IAEA staff stationed at the plant have rotated every few weeks, with the 10th such change of staff happening shortly before the anniversary. The plant, Ukraine and Europe's largest one, has been under Russian military control since early March 2022 and the IAEA officials have to cross the military frontline to get to and from the site.

Grossi said that the IAEA team at the plant "continue to hear explosions and the sounds of military activity taking place some distance away" from the plant and the ISAMZ team had been told that in August a drone had hit a residential building in the nearby town of Energodar, with these serving as a "another reminder of potential nuclear safety and security risks facing the facility during the military conflict".

At the previous staff rotation the IAEA team were granted access to the reactor rooftops of units 3 and 4 to verify the absence of mines or explosives there or on the turbine halls: "The ISAMZ team, therefore, expected similar access to the rooftops of the remaining four units during the current rotation. However, no such access was granted this time," the IAEA said.

In the update, the agency said that unit 4 had been in cold shutdown since 12 August after a water leak was identified in one of the four steam generators, while unit 6 is in hot shutdown for steam production with the other four all in cold shutdown. The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine issued regulatory orders earlier this year for all six to be in cold shutdown.

The IAEA said there had been a "considerable reduction" in maintenance staff which was "currently at about one-third in comparison to before the armed conflict in Ukraine began, raising further concerns about the ability of the site to properly maintain the systems, structures and components important for nuclear safety and security at the plant". It added that those running the plant had told them that new staff had been recruited and, while they were training and getting experience of the site, "maintenance contractors from Rosenergoatom can attend at short notice to assist in the performance of maintenance tasks".

There was also an update on the situation with cooling water, which has been a concern since the damage of the dam and the reservoir used to feed the plant's cooling water supply. The IAEA says that the level of the ZNPP cooling pond continues to drop by about one centimetre per day but the discharge channel of the nearby thermal power plant remains intact and "the site continues to have sufficient cooling water available for many months".

There are four wells operating close to the plant's sprinkler ponds, with IAEA staff told that there are plans to build as many as 12 wells around the sprinkler ponds "which will then become the main source of cooling water for the six shutdown reactor units and spent fuel pools".

The IAEA team continue to have "regular walkdowns across the site", with the update saying the "team observed the presence of military trucks in the turbine hall of unit 1, but they did not observe any mines or explosives other than those previously reported".

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/BWXT-announces-HALEU-contract

BWX Technologies, Inc is to process thousands of kilograms of US government-owned scrap material containing enriched uranium to produce high-assay low enriched uranium - or HALEU - feedstock for fuel for advanced nuclear reactors.

The company will produce more than two tonnes of HALEU over the next five years from scrap material to be provided by the US Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The scrap material is currently in a variety of forms and enrichment levels, and has been collected by the government from a number of different sources, primarily at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

"Interest in, and demand for, advanced reactors continues to grow for both national security and clean energy applications," said President of BWXT Nuclear Operations Group, Inc Sharon Smoot. "One of BWXT's key roles in moving the nuclear industry forward is leveraging its specialty materials capabilities to support domestic HALEU needs for the next generation of nuclear reactors."

"The project will clear over two metric tonnes of scrap material from the Y-12 National Security Complex, contributing to ongoing efforts to reduce the material accountability and inventory totals at the site, while also supporting the Department's advanced reactor demonstration projects," Jeff Chamberlin, Assistant Deputy Administrator for DOE NNSA's Office of Material Management and Minimisation, said.

Several hundred kilograms of the final product - HALEU feedstock in an oxide form at an enrichment level of 19.75% - are expected to be available as early as 2024.

The work is to be carried out by BWXT Nuclear Operations Group, Inc at its facilities near Lynchburg, Virginia. The company plans to hire some 20 new operators, engineers and safety personnel to support the programme.

The initial award is worth USD47 million, with a total contract value of up to USD116.5 million, subject to annual congressional appropriations.

Agency continuing regular site checks at nuclear station in Ukraine, raising further concerns about the ability of the site to properly maintain the systems, structures and components important for nuclear safety and security, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

The agency said the number of maintenance staff at the six-unit facility, the largest in Europe, currently stands at about one-third in comparison to before the armed conflict in Ukraine began in February 2022.

A Zaporizhzhia spokesperson said new staff had been recruited, but it would take time for them to complete training and gain the necessary experience to work on the site.

The spokesperson said maintenance contractors from Russia’s state nuclear operator Rosenergoatom can attend at short notice to assist in the performance of maintenance tasks.

In addition to recent maintenance work on a steam generator at Unit 4, the site is performing other maintenance activities on the safety and electrical systems of the reactor units.

Unit 6 remains in hot shutdown for steam production on site. Units 1 to 5 remain in cold shutdown.

IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi reiterated the importance of IAEA experts being granted access to all areas of the Zaporizhzhia to monitor full compliance with the agency’s principles of safety and security.

During recent site checks, an IAEA team saw military trucks in the turbine hall of Unit 1, but they did not see any mines or explosives other than those reported in July when they saw directional anti-personnel mines on the periphery of the site.

Zaporizhzhia is near the frontline of fighting in southern Ukraine. It has been occupied by Russian forces since March 2022.

Germany’s place as the leader of Europe’s anti-nuclear lobby has been further solidified as Chancellor Olaf Sholz doubled down on his view that nuclear has no place in the country’s energy mix, while Italy has vowed to speed up its integration of nuclear energy in a bid to cut costs, save the economy, and power the Green Transition.

Nuclear power is controversial as some countries have embraced it, while others have considered it more of a risk than it is worth. Its inclusion by the European Commission as a green energy source in the Taxonomy Regulation further laid bare divisions across Europe as countries bickered over whether it could truly be considered green and sustainable.

But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the bid to replace Russian gas with other alternatives, a need to control soaring energy costs, and big ambitions in terms of phasing out fossil fuels have led a number of countries to reassess their positions, or, in some cases, take a U-turn. However, Germany is not among them.

On Saturday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said they would not revive the “dead horse” of nuclear power after calls from the Liberals, part of the governing coalition, to reactivate them following the country’s recent exit from nuclear.

Germany’s last nuclear power plants, Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim 2, were shut down in April 2023 despite soaring energy prices and fears of a cold and expensive winter ahead. The government maintains that the nuclear phase-out, which started in 2000, will make the country safer as the risks of nuclear are unmanageable.

In an interview with radio station Dlf on Saturday, Scholz stressed using nuclear power in Germany’s energy mix is no longer an option.

“In Germany today, the topic of nuclear power is a dead horse,” the Social Democrat said.

“Whoever would want to build new power plants would take 15 years and would have to spend 15 to 20 billion per unit,” he added.

Scholz’s remarks come after representatives of the FDP, the chancellor’s liberal coalition partner, called to stop the dismantling of reactors that are still usable to reactivate them.

“This is the only way to remain capable of acting in any situation,” Christian Dürr, head of the FDP’s parliamentary group, told daily SZ on Thursday.

Differences about whether nuclear power should continue to be used in Germany had led to severe tensions within the coalition – especially between the FDP and the anti-nuclear Greens – at the end of last year until Scholz intervened and pushed through April 2023 as the exit date.

However, the chancellor said he does not expect another such intervention to be necessary since the facts speak for themselves.

“Nuclear power is at its end: It is not used in Germany any longer, the exit has been legally conducted,” he stressed.

Italy headed towards nuclear

However, in Italy, things could go in the opposite direction.

Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini announced on Sunday his intention to push the accelerator on nuclear-derived energy production, which will also comply with the green energy policies imposed by the EU, at the Ambrosetti Forum in Cernobbio.

Italy said no to nuclear power in a referendum on 8 November 1987, which led to the closure of several nuclear power plants. However, the referendum does not introduce any ban, nor is it necessary to repeat it to proceed with constructing nuclear power plants. An ordinary law outlining a national energy plan is sufficient.

Nuclear power has broad support from all centre-right parties and was mentioned during the election campaign by Lega and Antonio Tajani’s Forza Italia (EPP) and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia (ECR).

“This will be a legislative government, and if we have worked well, I hope we will also have the next five years. Within that time, I count that this government, with the current conformation, will be able to inaugurate the first (energy) production derived from nuclear”, Salvini said.

“I believe that Italy must, within this year, restart its research and participation in nuclear power. Italy cannot call itself out of it. I count that by 2023, this government will have the strength to explain to the Italians why, in the name of technological neutrality, we cannot say no to any energy source”, explained Salvini, who also did not spare the EU heavy criticism regarding tight budget constraints on public spending.

“If Europe asks us for ambitious green goals on housing and cars with sacrifices for agriculture and fishing, it cannot put budget constraints that allow others to enter our house”, the League leader said.

Meanwhile, Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin announced that, on September 21, institutions and companies will convene at the Ministry for the first meeting of the National Platform for Sustainable Nuclear Power, which will be the linking and coordinating entity between all the different national actors who in various capacities deal with nuclear energy, safety and radiation protection, and radioactive waste.

“We are committed to fusion in experimentation with several agreements at the international level, and we put the maximum attention on fourth-generation fission, which also means the evaluation of small reactors that within ten years may be an opportunity for the country”, Fratin said.

European energy quagmire

While Germany, as Europe’s most significant power, leads the way in the move against nuclear, Austria is also firmly against it. In November 2022, Vienna sued the European Commission for granting the green label to nuclear power through the EU sustainable finance taxonomy.

At the time, Green Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler said Austria would continue its anti-nuclear stance against neighbours. Meanwhile, Austria continues to rely on Russian gas, buying almost as much today as before the Ukraine war.

Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron lashed out against Germany for its stance, accusing Berlin of deliberately countering the growing acceptance of it in Europe.

“It would be a historic mistake to […] slow down investment in nuclear power […] in Europe”, especially if this ends up favouring “more coal,” asserted Macron, likely triggering Scholz’s clear message this weekend.

France is also a key player in the Nuclear Alliance and has been clear that “french nuclear power is non-negotiable and will never be negotiable.”

Belgium recently halted the phase-out scheduled for completion by 2025 due to legal challenges and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Belgium chose to postpone the closing of two reactors by 10 years, and whether these shutdowns will go ahead at all remains to be seen.

In other parts of Europe, nuclear power is a crucial part of the energy mix, and governments show no sign of wanting to phase out. For example, Bulgaria, Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Croatia all have active nuclear reactors that garner a significant chunk of national energy. Governments there have little motivation to phase out the energy and are mainly considering expanding their capacities.

In non-EU member states, Albania, following a meeting between Prime Minister Edi Rama and Meloni, is reportedly looking at collaboration on nuclear power. The topic has been raised several times in the country following its transition to democracy in 1991, but no firm plans have been made.

Serbia and Kosovo do not currently have any nuclear plants, and there are no plans to construct any in the near future. However, in 2022, Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said Serbia needs plants to meet its renewable energy goals.

At the other end of the spectrum, Spain and Portugal, both with socialist governments, remain firmly against nuclear energy. However, a change of government in Madrid could see the country´s nuclear plants’ life prolongated.

While Portugal relies on hydropower, Spain continues to import Russian gas, seeing a two-fold increase in volume in May this year.

With Germany’s latest declaration and Italy’s accelerated plans to reactivate, Europe could soon find itself drawn with member states picking sides on nuclear and reliance on fossil fuels, particularly Russian gas.

Ia Aanstoot and Greg Abbott could not be more different from one another. Aanstoot is an 18-year-old Swedish girl, an acolyte of Greta Thunberg , and a climate activist. Abbott is the conservative Republican governor of Texas.

But both Aanstoot and Abbott have concluded that nuclear power is the solution for problems afflicting the world. For Aanstoot, that problem is climate change. For Abbott, that problem is the periodic shortfalls of electrical energy that have cropped up recently for the Texas power grid.

Aanstoot has taken time off from participating in Thunberg’s "School Strike" campaign to launch her own " Dear Greenpeace " effort, both a petition and fundraiser, according to the Guardian. Aanstoot wants to persuade Greenpeace to include nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Abbott, in the meantime, has begun measures to increase nuclear power in Texas . He has issued a directive “to the Public Utilities Commission of Texas Interim Chair Kathleen Jackson to formulate a working group to study and provide recommendations that will position Texas as the national leader on advanced nuclear energy. To maximize power grid reliability, the newly formed group will work to understand Texas’s role in deploying and using advanced nuclear reactors, consider all potential financial incentives available, determine nuclear-specific changes needed in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market, identify any federal or state regulatory hurdles to development, and analyze how Texas can streamline and accelerate permitting for building advanced nuclear reactors. Governor Abbott directed the working group to also coordinate with ERCOT to begin addressing the technical challenges of incorporating advanced nuclear technology into the ERCOT grid.”

Abbott’s problem is a little more immediate than climate change. During several days of the heat wave this summer that inflicted stifling 100-degree temperatures in Texas, ERCOT was obliged to request that Texas homeowners and businesses cut back on their use of electricity during the late afternoon and early evening hours. Otherwise, the demand for electricity might exceed ERCOT’s capacity to provide it, possibly requiring rolling blackouts.

The problem is that Texas has invested heavily in wind and solar power, the sort of renewable energy that Greenpeace favors. However, during several days in August, the wind was not blowing enough for Texas’s wind farms to operate at optimal capacity. At the same time, as the sun went down, Texas’s solar arrays gradually stopped providing power as well.

Conservation efforts combined with battery backup power spared Texas from California-style rolling blackouts. However, Texans remember with horror the power outages of the winter of 2021, when millions shivered in the dark because of multiple generator failures.

Texas has nuclear power plants that were proposed in the mid-1970s but took over a decade to get online, thanks to regulatory problems and environmental litigation. One reason that Texas went to solar and wind is that renewable technologies are less costly and less politically fraught to build.

Texas is already taking a second look at nuclear power. Dow and X Energy have announced the construction of a small, modular nuclear power plant at a Dow manufacturing facility in Seadrift, Texas. The partnership expects to begin construction in 2026, to be concluded in 2030. If the project is completed anywhere close to on time and on budget, its technology may point the way to providing adequate electric power to Texas consumers while reducing carbon emissions.

In the meantime, Aanstoot’s campaign is falling on deaf ears at Greenpeace. The environmental organization insists that wind and solar provide cheaper solutions to the problem of climate change. The claim is true, at the moment, but author and engineer Robert Zubrin has provided ways to reduce the cost of nuclear power in his latest book, The Case for Nukes .

Organizations such as Greenpeace could do the world a service if they would listen to young people such as Aanstoot and get behind nuclear power as a way to combat climate change. Such a policy change would quiet environmental opposition to the technology, thus giving it a boost. Nuclear power would reduce greenhouse gasses and provide 24/7 electric power. That sounds like a win-win solution that everyone should support.

A 42 minute documentary by the German public broadcast corporation Deutsche Welle casting doubt on the Energiewende. What's happening here? 😲

@nuclear

https://youtu.be/52tzT09z81E?feature=shared

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Kazakh-people-to-decide-on-nuclear-plant-construct

Kazakhstan is to hold a referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant in the country, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced during a state-of-the-nation address. The date of the vote has yet to be determined.

Kazakhstan's Ministry of Energy has proposed the potential reintroduction of nuclear power to reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels, diversify its energy mix and reduce CO2 emissions. Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP), which has been designated as the owner/operator of the future plant, began preparing a feasibility study in 2018 to justify the need for nuclear power, the choice of the location for plant construction and to review the plant's projected power output.

"The development of nuclear energy has become a very important economic and political issue," Tokayev said. "You know that there are different opinions on the question of whether it is necessary to build a nuclear power plant or not."

He noted that, as the world's largest producer of uranium, Kazakhstan has "every right to build a nuclear power plant in our country". He added: "Some experts believe that small nuclear power plants should be built. However, many citizens and some experts are skeptical about the safety of nuclear power plants. That's why we need to continue public hearings, detailed, wide-ranging discussions on this issue. We need to take the final decision on important strategic issues through a referendum."

The Ministry of Energy said that, "together with the relevant state bodies, members of Parliament, experts in this field and public activists", it will soon "thoroughly review all issues of the implementation of the President's order, work out other aspects and inform the public about these works".

The ministry also said it is necessary to "determine the concept of the issue to be put to the people's vote". It said the date of the referendum would be announced later.

"In my opinion, the referendum will first of all be aimed at the citizens of Kazakhstan expressing their thoughts about the need for the development of technologies in this field, and the government will propose solutions suitable for the society," said Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev.

Last month, the Ministry of Energy issued an update on progress towards the construction of Kazakhstan's first nuclear power plant, confirming the selection of Ulken in the Zhambyl district of Almaty region as the most suitable area for the plant for which four potential suppliers had been shortlisted.

Under Kazakhstan's nuclear energy law, construction of a nuclear plant requires local agreement. The law requires public discussions, which aim to determine the attitude of local people to the idea of building a nuclear power plant in their territory. Kazakhstan's Ecological Code requires public hearings to evaluate the project documentation on the construction of the nuclear power plant. The akimat, or local government, of the Almaty region has now begun these public discussions, the ministry said.

"In the local discussions, the residents supported the development of nuclear energy in the region and said that the project will be an impetus for the social and economic development of the region," the ministry said.

Four foreign potential suppliers of nuclear technology are being considered by Kazakhstan, the ministry said in January. These are EDF of France, China National Nuclear Corporation, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Rosatom of Russia.

A Russian-designed BN-350 sodium-cooled fast reactor operated near Aktau in Kazakhstan for 26 years until 1999, generating electricity and desalinating water. Kazakhstan currently operates research reactors as well as several other nuclear installations related to the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium mining.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Peninsula-unveils-revised-strategy-for-Lance

Peninsula Energy says it expects to commence uranium production at its flagship uranium project in Wyoming at the end of 2024 under a newly released revised Life-of-Mine (LOM) plan which features a new on-site recovery plant.

Production at the in-situ leach (ISL) project, which Peninsula has transitioned to low-pH operations since it last operated commercially in 2019, had been expected to start this year, but in June, the Australia-based company announced that Uranium Energy Corp (UEC) had decided to terminate an existing toll-milling agreement to process loaded resins from Lance at its existing Irigaray Central Processing Plant. This prompted Peninsula to revise its plans.

The termination of the toll-milling agreement had come as a shock, prompting the company to accelerate existing plans to bring forward the development of its own in-house resin processing and yellowcake production, Managing Director and CEO Wayne Heili told investors. This had always been the company's intention for a later stage of the project, but this pivot in strategy has required a full evaluation of the extra capital and time requirements.

The new recovery plant will be capable of producing up to 2 million pounds U3O8 (769 tU) per year. Production is anticipated to begin in December 2024 and is projected to reach around 1.1 million pounds in calendar year 2025, ramping up to between 1.6 and 1.8 million pounds per year by 2029. The project is forecast to achieve positive cash flow during first full year of production, in 2025.

Net additional funding of USD95 million will be needed above that anticipated in the company's 2022 Definitive Feasibility for the project. The additional funding "is not required as one lump sum amount and may be obtained progressively" over the two year time period, the company said. It expects to source the additional finance through a combination of the sale of strategic uranium inventory, equity and debt instruments, although additional funding arrangements have not yet been put in place. The company has had "preliminary discussions" on possible debt options, including US government sources. Heili told investors that the company expects to be able to "more clearly define that" in October.

All customers have "indicated willingness to cooperatively revise near-term delivery schedules".

The revised LOM model is based on the total resource base of 21.8 million pounds U3O8 estimated to be contained within the Ross and Kendrick production areas alone. It excludes the contiguous Barber Resource Area, which has a 31.9 million pound resource base offering the opportunity for future growth. Production in the first two years is planned to be solely from the Ross production area, with production from Kendrick to commence in 2027. In total, 14.8 million pounds are expected to be produced from Ross and Kendrick over an effective production life of 10 years.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Czech-PM-suggests-four-new-nuclear-units-needed

In a speech to open a conference discussing future strategy for the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the country would need as many as four new nuclear power units.

He said it had been a problem to not have "broad and long-term society-wide agreement on the main priorities of the direction of our republic", with strategic investments in things such as nuclear energy featuring among the "pillars" that the country's future should be built upon.

"Transportation, energy infrastructure, nuclear, lithium, chips and trends in information technology, these are, in my opinion, six specific areas that have a huge potential to change our country. That is why a large part of strategic investments must go there," he said in his speech.

He then went on to highlight nuclear as one of those projects which combined innovation and added value with the potential to give a big boost to the entire economy.

"We don't need to have long discussions about nuclear energy. It is our traditional sector. We have enough experts and the potential to prepare more, we have facilities at universities and research institutes. Nuclear must remain the clean energy source of choice in Europe. We are doing absolutely everything for this within the framework of our foreign policy. The Czech Republic will need more nuclear reactors - up to four in the future - and a huge amount of money will be directed there," he said.

He added that the nuclear tender for a new unit at Dukovany "which we finally launched after years of delays, is far from the only opportunity".

The global nuclear industry was developing and the Czech Republic "strives to be at the centre of the development of small modular nuclear reactors - their subsequent construction in European countries and in the world would be a great opportunity for a whole range of Czech companies and their experts".

He added that legislative changes would be brought in to "facilitate the construction of transport, energy and network infrastructure".

In March 2022, wholly-owned ČEZ subsidiary Elektrárna Dukovany II launched a tender for the construction of a new nuclear power plant at the site. At the end of November 2022, ČEZ announced that it had received initial bids from EDF, Westinghouse and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. Final bids are expected in the coming months.

In March 2022, ČEZ also said that it had earmarked an area of land at its Temelin site to be used in the future for the construction of the country’s first small modular reactors (SMRs) and in February 2023 it identified the coal-fired power plants at Dětmarovice and Tušimice as the preferred second and third SMR locations, with ČEZ hoping to have the sites in operation by the second half of the 2030s.

Four VVER-440 units are currently in operation at the Dukovany site, which began operating between 1985 and 1987. Two VVER-1000 units are in operation at Temelín, which came into operation in 2000 and 2002. Past Czech energy policy has proposed two new units at each of the two existing sites. The Czech Republic gets about 34% of its electricity from its nuclear power plants.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Defuelling-completed-at-Muhleberg

All the nuclear fuel at the shut down Mühleberg nuclear power plant has now been transported to the Zwilag interim storage facility in Würenlingen, Swiss utility BKW announced. The removal of the fuel marks the completion of the first of three stages of decommissioning of the plant.

The plant - comprising a single 373 MWe boiling water reactor - began operations in 1972 and was shut down on 20 December 2019. Dismantling operations began on 6 January 2020. However, it has only been considered permanently out of service since 15 September 2020 when its operating licence was replaced by a decommissioning order. Mühleberg is the first nuclear power plant in Switzerland to be decommissioned.

Mühleberg is being dismantled in three decommissioning phases. The first phase lasts until all the plant's fuel assemblies have been removed. The second phase ends with the lifting or clearing of controlled zones, while the third phase includes work to demonstrate that the system is no longer a source of radiological hazard.

There were 418 fuel elements in the plant when it ceased operation. These were cooled in Mühleberg's fuel storage pool until they were ready for transportation. In April 2022, the first used fuel elements were sent to the interim storage facility in Würenlingen, with multiple transport campaigns following. A total of 66 shipments were required to move all of the fuel.

"With prompt planning and the extensive consolidated experience of the employees involved, all transport runs went off without a hitch," said Stefan Klute, Head of Nuclear at BKW.

The company noted the milestone of removing all the plant's fuel was reached 16 months ahead of the original scheduled date, set in 2015.

"With the removal of the last fuel elements, the level of radioactivity in KKM has been reduced by over 99%," BKW said. "The early removal of nuclear fuels has a positive impact on the remaining processes in the decommissioning. Regulatory requirements for the cooling of fuel elements and monitoring of reactivity no longer apply. Other systems can be decommissioned, and some processes will be much simpler without nuclear fuels."

BKW submitted its application to the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) in late June 2022 for the second decommissioning phase of Mühleberg.

During that phase, all remaining plant components that have come into contact with radioactivity will be dismantled, treated and cleaned. These include, for example, the reactor pressure vessel, parts of the containment or the fuel element storage pool that is no longer required.

By the end of 2030, Mühleberg will be free of radioactive material, with conventional dismantling set to begin in 2031. BKW plans to submit an application for conventional dismantling to the authorities by 2027.

The site is expected to be available for other uses from 2034 onwards.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Podcast-World-Nuclear-University-turns-20

World Nuclear University director Isis Leslie talks about its work and plans for the future as it marks 20 years since being founded. Plus Niger and Vogtle feature in the news review.

t was in 2003 that World Nuclear University (WNU) was founded by World Nuclear Association, the International Atomic Energy Agency, World Association of Nuclear Operators and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, with a mission to provide comprehensive leadership, communications and technical training to support the next generation of nuclear leaders.

As it marks its 20th birthday, WNU director Leslie talks about how it goes about fulfilling those goals and explains what the Summer Institute, and the rest of its wide range of events, involve. She also outlines some of the new initiatives in the pipeline. We also hear first-hand what the WNU experience is like from Estiner Katengeza, one of the fellows at this year's Summer Institute, which was held in Japan.

In the World Nuclear News round-up host Alex Hunt is joined by Claire Maden who reports on developments in Niger and considers the impact on the uranium sector, Warwick Pipe reports on the start of the discharge of treated water from Fukushima and there is also a report on the good news out of the USA from Vogtle.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Walking-robot-tested-in-Finnish-repository

A four-legged robot designed for autonomous operation in challenging environments has been put through its paces at a depth of more than 400 metres in the tunnels of the Onkalo underground used nuclear fuel repository near Olkiluoto, Finland.

A research team led by the Swiss robotics company ANYbotics visited Olkiluoto in June to test the functionality of its ANYmal robot in underground facilities. The test was organised by Euratom - the European Atomic Energy Community - together with Finnish radioactive waste management company Posiva Oy.

‍The ANYmal robot has been under development for many years. The roots of the ANYbotics company go back to the Swiss Institute of Technology, EHT. A group of researchers from the educational institution built the first four-legged robot back in 2009, and ANYbotics was founded for the commercialisation of this technology in 2016.

The ANYmal robot uses laser sensors and cameras to observe the environment and can locate its own position very precisely. By combining observation data with location data - such as a map or area scan data - it can plan its navigation route independently when necessary.

Posiva said Onkalo offered a unique framework for the robot to move, noting that there are tunnels in other parts of the world, but no other underground disposal facility has yet been built.

During the test, the robot - measuring 93cm in length, 53cm in width and 89cm in height and weighing about 50kg - travelled through the tunnels of Onkalo for about 1.5 hours. With a fully-charged battery, the robot can operate for up to 2 hours. The purpose was to test how far the robot can travel in Onkalo conditions with one charge, and whether there are any terrains in the tunnel where the robot would not be able to advance.

For the test, the robot first "walked" the planned route by remote control, and scanned the map into its internal system. In the test itself, the robot moved along the scanned route autonomously, although all the time in the line of sight with the research team. It was also available for remote control at any moment, for example in case of danger. Various safety functions were programmed into the robot. For example, it went around the obstacles on the route from a certain safety distance and stopped when something came into its safety area.

Authorities are interested in the use of robots for the reason that a robot can reach places that are inaccessible to humans, for example for nuclear material protection inspection work. Carrying out nuclear safeguards with the help of a robot is also of interest to Posiva, the company said. Robots can also be used in rescue operations and industry. They can be equipped with different devices for different tasks, such as optical and thermal cameras, microphones, gas or radiation detectors.

• Source: https://www.ft.com/content/0faade4f-d239-47ed-a041-f7a503fef500
• Without paywall: https://archive.ph/cIE0P

Last month Sam Altman, the (in)famous founder of OpenAI, posted a picture on social media of an elegant A-frame wooden building in a verdant tropical setting.

It looks like a billionaire’s weekend pad. However, what the image actually depicts is the putative design of a small modular (nuclear) reactor invented by Oklo, a company that Altman has chaired since 2015. And it was posted because Oklo has just merged with a special purpose acquisition company created by Altman and Michael Klein, the Wall Street dealmaker, valuing it at $850mn.

That will make some observers wince. The acronym “Spac” became toxic two years ago because the concept was badly abused during the last credit bubble. Adding “nuclear” into the mix risks making it doubly radioactive, in the public mind, given past accidents at the Chernobyl and Fukushima plants (and current Russian threats to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia plant).

Nevertheless, investors and policymakers should pay attention. On Thursday the United States Air Force announced plans to use Oklo’s reactor for the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska — seemingly the first potential use of commercial SMRs by the Federal Government on American soil.

And activity — and investor interest — around SMRs is rising elsewhere. A rival company called TerraPower, backed by Bill Gates, is also developing reactors. So is NuScale, which listed via a Spac last year and recently received $275mn in funding from variety of governments for a Romanian project.

Industrial giants such as Britain’s Rolls-Royce are jumping into the action while GE Hitachi is building an SMR plant in Canada. And last month Britain launched an international competition for the best SMR design, pledging to take “up to a quarter of the UK’s electricity from homegrown nuclear energy by 2050”.

There are three factors sparking this. One is a recognition that demand for electricity will soar in coming years, because of global growth and the fact that digital innovations such as AI need “a lot” of additional electricity. This creates, as Altman admits, “urgent demand for tons and tons of cheap, safe, clean energy at scale”.

Second, relying on fossil fuels to generate this electricity will exacerbate global warming — but renewable sources, such as wind and solar, cannot plug the gap without major breakthroughs in battery storage.

Third, the nuclear tech has changed. In the 20th century, this was generated in massive power plants that were costly and time-consuming to build. The cost of Britain’s planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, for example, has surged to £32bn, while the bill for America’s new Vogtle plants has doubled from $14bn to over $30bn.

But since SMRs are small and use factory-produced designs, they are much cheaper and faster to build, and can be moved close to the electricity demand. Moreover, the tech developed at companies such as Oklo and TerraPower uses recycled nuclear waste as fuel, potentially reducing the waste disposal headache.

Indeed, Oklo’s officials claim that just the “existing inventories of used fuel in the US could power the country’s energy needs for over 150 years” — if their tech is adopted. “It’s the best way to decarbonise,” Jacob DeWitte, Oklo founder, tells me.

Not everybody agrees. Many environmentalists detest nuclear power so deeply that they want to exclude it from green taxonomies. Parts of the traditional nuclear establishment also hate the idea that libertarian “tech bros” — like Altman — are now becoming “nuclear bros”, says Allison Macfarlane, a former head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

“Very few of the proposed SMRs have been demonstrated and none are commercially available, let alone licensed by a nuclear regulator,” she noted in a recent essay(opens a new window) that decries the Spac structures and hype. “Existing nuclear power plants play a significant role in greenhouse gas reductions and will continue to do so. But the promise of SMRs is questionable.”

She has a point: Oklo’s first US federal licensing application was rejected last year. And while DeWitte tells me he will refile next year, and is optimistic about the result, he also admits that the plants will not start until at least 2027.

But even with these caveats, I personally welcome these initiatives. Yes, SMR tech is still unproven, and Spacs have a mixed record. But the dirty truth is that we urgently need to experiment with all the clean energy ideas we can find, given climate change.

And while it was the US government that initially unleashed nuclear innovation in the west — as seen recently in the movie Oppenheimer — the dismal truth is that public sector agencies have since become lamentably slow-moving and risk averse. Hence why China and Russia are now running the first SMR pilots, along with Argentina.

If nothing else, let us hope that the competitive threat from the “tech bros” will prod western governments and the traditional nuclear establishment into moving faster. And if Oklo’s new recycling tech actually works and can produce clean and safe power, that would be even better — not just for the US air force but for the wider world.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/US-projects-to-look-at-nuclear-role-in-carbon-capt

Two projects to explore the feasibility of using nuclear energy in systems to remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere - one led by GE Vernova and one led by Northwestern University - are included in a list of 19 projects selected to receive US Department of Energy (DOE) support.

GE announced on 29 August that a pre-feasibility assessment to establish a direct air capture (DAC) regional hub near Houston, Texas, to remove up to one million tonnes of CO2 per year, led by Niskayuna, New York-based GE Vernova, has been selected as one of the awardees. Part of the proposed study will look at the feasibility of a novel DAC system design that integrates GE Hitachi's BWRX-300 small modular reactor and renewable electricity to enable the gas to be captured from ambient air and stored underground or used as a value-added product such as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuels. The DOE has allocated USD2.554 million to the project, alongside non-DOE funding of USD762,827, giving a total value of just over USD3.3 million.

A separate project, the Midwest Nuclear DAC Hub, will see Northwestern University of Evanston, Illinois testing the feasibility of deploying at-scale novel DAC solutions by developing a DAC hub powered by nuclear energy. The Midwest is the second largest regional emitter of carbon dioxide in the USA, and is home to both heavy-emitting industries and a rich ecosystem of innovation and research, DOE notes. Centring the study around nuclear power "ensures that a reliable low-carbon energy source (and the opportunity for heat integration) will be used for technology development", DOE said in its announcement of the award, for which it has allocated USD3 million, with non-DOE funding of USD927,910 for a total value of some USD3.9 million.

GE Vernova is aiming to deploy a commercially scalable DAC solution by the end of the decade. In March, GE announced the successful demonstration of a scalable prototype DAC system at its Niskayuna research facility. The company is also a DAC technology provider for two other projects included in the DOE announcement, which will be led by the University of Illinois, and executed in Colorado and Florida.

Of the Houston Area DAC Hub project, Matt Guyette, director, Advanced Research at GE Vernova, said: "Our pre-feasibility study proposes to draw upon our full suite of energy generation assets and capabilities in ways only GE Vernova can, including carbon-free nuclear and renewable electricity, to create what we believe will be a cost-effective solution for removing millions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere."

All awardees will now enter negotiations with the DOE to finalise the terms and scope of their respective studies.

The award negotiations are part of the first round of funding under the Regional DAC Hubs programme under the US Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which DOE says aims to kickstart a nationwide network of large-scale carbon removal sites to address legacy carbon dioxide pollution and complement rapid emissions reductions. The DOE on 11 August announced up to USD1.2 billion of funding to advance the development of two commercial-scale DAC facilities in Texas and Louisiana, in what it says will be the world's largest investment in engineered carbon removal to date.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Tractebel,-Hatch-team-up-for-nuclear-new-build

Belgian engineering firm Tractebel and Canadian engineering, project management, and professional services firm Hatch have agreed to cooperate on supporting the deployment of small and large nuclear technologies in North America and Europe.

By collaborating, the two companies aim to provide "invaluable expertise" in the field of nuclear engineering and consultancy for nuclear projects. "This will ensure continuity in the expert teams that will work on nuclear new build projects in North America and Europe, which was identified as a key success factor by nuclear technology developers," the partners said.

Tractebel has over 60 years of nuclear engineering experience in Europe and now globally throughout the entire life cycle of nuclear installations, from design to decommissioning, as well as in industrial applications. Tractebel - a subsidiary of France's Engie - has been collaborating with EDF on the Nuward small modular reactor (SMR) project since 2021.

Hatch offers engineering, consulting, and technology and equipment design, including first-of-a-kind development in the nuclear sector and covers the entire life cycle of nuclear installations from mining, fuel development, new build, operation, decommissioning and waste management. The company has been involved in supporting the development and evaluation of SMRs for on-grid or off-grid power since 2012. It is working with SMR vendors, utilities, heavy industry, industry regulators, and governments to support their development, licensing and implementation.

"Hatch and Tractebel's cooperation will be crucial to the construction of new nuclear assets," said Denis Dumont, Tractebel's chief global nuclear officer. "We are honoured to cooperate with Hatch, a company that has strong roots in the North American industrial market and experience in the nuclear sector. Tractebel will bring its international nuclear new build and design authority experience to the alliance. We believe that by summoning up our strengths, we can build bridges between the North American and European energy ecosystems."

"We are proud to collaborate with Tractebel, which has cutting-edge expertise in nuclear engineering and a thorough knowledge of the European nuclear and industrial market," added Amar Jolly, Global Director Nuclear, Hatch. "We will bring our strong nuclear systems, equipment design and waste management experience as well as our deep knowledge of the industries that are likely to implement SMRs to the collaboration. We believe that nuclear will be instrumental in the energy transformation and in achieving our global net-zero goals, including the decarbonisation of heavy industries."

In June 2022, ARC Clean Energy Canada announced it was teaming up with Hatch for the deployment of ARC Canada's advanced SMR technology, which is planned for deployment in New Brunswick before the end of the decade. Hatch will use its engineering technology and capabilities to design ARC Canada's power plants in a fully digital format, with a focus on modular design to maximise factory production and scalability, minimising on-site construction time. Hatch is also playing a key role in the integration of ARC Canada's advanced technology for heavy industry using high-quality process heat which includes the optimisation of the technology for clean hydrogen and ammonia production.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/EDF-and-JAVYS-sign-cooperation-agreement

EDF and JAVYS have signed a framework cooperation agreement covering new nuclear in Slovakia, including both large nuclear power plants and small modular reactors (SMRs).

The agreement was signed during Slovak Republic economy minister Peter Dovhun's official visit to Paris.

JAVYS, a state-owned company, says that the framework cooperation agreement (FCA) provides "more room and areas for cooperation with another important partner in the implementation of future projects".

JAVYS chairman and CEO Pavol Štuller said the agreement followed detailed technical and commercial discussions about potential cooperation: "EDF is a leading supplier of safe, innovative nuclear technology, including SMR technology. The signing of the FCA does not establish any exclusivity ... what we expect from the signing of the FCA is a more intense exchange of information in the field of new technologies, so that we are able to assess their suitability for inclusion in the Slovak energy network."

EDF's senior vice-president in charge of new nuclear, Vakisasai Ramany, said: "EDF is proud to participate in the discussions for the Slovak Republic’s nuclear new build programme, based on its EPR1200 and NUWARD SMR ... EDF is committed to be a long-term partner of JAVYS and the Slovak Republic ... this agreement is a pivotal step in further consolidating EDF’s objective to promote a European nuclear fleet approach based on European technologies and the support of a fully European supply chain, including that of the Slovak industry."

Slovakia has four nuclear reactors - Mochovce units 1 and 2 and Bohunice units 3 and 4 - in commercial operation, generating half of its electricity. Mochovce 3 was connected to the grid in February, while unit 4 is under construction. A siting permit application was also submitted to the Slovak Nuclear Regulatory Authority earlier this year for a new nuclear power plant near the existing Bohunice plant, by Jadrová Energetická Spoločnosť Slovenska - a joint venture between JAVYS and Czech utility ČEZ. Slovakia has also been looking at the future feasibility of SMRs in the country and in June signed memorandums of understanding with Westinghouse over the potential deployment of its AP1000 reactors and AP300 SMRS.

EDF's EPR1200 is a pressurised water reactor derived from the EPR and EPR2. The main difference with the EPR2 is the power level (1200 MWe instead of 1650 MWe). The NUWARD 340 MWe SMR plant would consist of two 170 MWe pressurised water reactors located in one building, allowing the use of shared facilities.

Fuel needed for next-generation of nuclear reactors

The US National Nuclear Security Administration has awarded BWX Technologies a potential $116.5m (€107m) contract to produce more than two metric tonnes of high assay low enriched uranium (Haleu) feedstock for advanced reactors over the next five years.

BWXT Nuclear Operations Group will generate the Haleu feedstock – a raw material that can be used for fuel fabrication – by processing thousands of kilogrammes of NNSA-provided scrap material containing enriched uranium.

The contract has an initial value of approximately $47m, the Virginia-based company said on Wednesday (30 August).

The project will clear over two metric tonnes of scrap material from the Y-12 National Security Complex, contributing to efforts to reduce inventories at the site while also supporting the Department of Energy’s advanced reactor demonstration projects, a statement said.

The Y-12 National Security Complex was bult as part of the Manhattan Project to produce the first atomic bomb.

The scrap material to be provided by the NNSA is in a variety of forms and enrichment levels, and it has been collected by the government from a number of different sources, primarily Y-12.

BWXT said it will produce over two metric tonnes of Haleu over the next five years, with several hundred kilogrammes expected to be available as early as 2024.

The final product of the programme will be Haleu feedstock in an oxide form at an enrichment level of 19.75%.

Haleu is an essential advanced nuclear fuel required for the development of most next-generation reactor designs. It is needed for 90% of advanced reactor designs selected for funding under the US Department of Energy’s advanced reactor demonstration programme.

Egypt’s nuclear authority has granted permission for the construction of the fourth and final unit of the country’s first nuclear power plant, at El-Dabaa on the Mediterranean shore about 184 miles northwest of Cairo.

The plant is being built by the Russian state-owned nuclear energy corporation Rosatom.

The Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority issued a statement this week saying it had approved the fourth unit’s construction process after a comprehensive inspection that verified the unit’s safety.

“The safety of the fourth unit of the Dabaa nuclear power generation plant was verified, and no risks were proven to threaten humans, the environment, and properties,” the statement said.

Egypt and Russia signed an agreement to build the plant in 2017, during a meeting in Cairo between President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and President Vladimir Putin.

In June 2022, Rosatom announced that it had won approval to start building the plant, which will consist of four units with a capacity of 1200 MW each. Construction began the following month.

The second unit was approved in October 2022, and the third in March 2023.

The total construction cost is expected to be $28.75 billion, of which about $25 billion, 85%, is being financed by Russia through a 22-year repayment loan. Egypt is paying the remaining 15% in installments.

Een groep jonge Europese klimaatactivisten valt Greenpeace aan, vanwege het anti-kernenergie-standpunt van de klimaatorganisatie.

Greenpeace kondigde in april aan in beroep te gaan tegen een besluit van de Europese Commissie om kernenergie op te nemen in de EU-taxonomie voor groene energie, een soort gids voor investeerders die geld in duurzame projecten willen steken.

Dat is tegen het zere been van de jonge klimaatactivisten. Volgens hun 18-jarige voorvrouw, de Zweedse Ia Aanstoot, moeten we “alle kaarten op tafel moeten leggen in de strijd tegen klimaatverandering. Dat zijn alle fossielvrije energievormen, dus óók kernenergie”.

De groep, gelieerd aan milieuorganisatie RePlanet, probeert daarom als “geïnteresseerde partij” deel te nemen aan de rechtszaak. “Door als belanghebbende mee te doen in de zaak, kunnen wij deskundigenverklaringen in de rechtbank afgeven [over kernenergie], mocht de rechtszaak daadwerkelijk plaats gaan vinden. Ons doel is dus enkel het beschermen van kernenergie in de taxonomie.”

De groep heeft in enkele dagen 5.000 euro opgehaald voor zijn juridische gevecht, maar veel meer geld zal volgens Aanstoot nodig zijn. "Dit is een rechtszaak, het zal lang duren. Wel twee tot drie jaar, denken advocaten." Pas eind dit jaar weten de activisten of ze een plek aan tafel krijgen bij de rechtszaak.

"Ik ben bang dat de zaak van Greenpeace de gevolgen van klimaatverandering zal verergeren", vervolgt de Zweedse activist, die drie jaar lang iedere vrijdag deelnam aan de door Greta Thunberg geïnitieerde schoolstakingen voor het klimaat.

"Kijk maar naar Duitsland", zegt Aanstoot, "waar ze door het sluiten van hun kerncentrales kolencentrales hebben geopend. Dat is een ramp voor het klimaat. Als de zaak van Greenpeace voor de Europese rechter succes heeft, ben ik bang dat dit een trend in heel Europa zal worden."

Zoiets zou "verschrikkelijk" zijn voor het klimaat, denkt Aanstoot, "omdat het aandeel fossiele brandstoffen daardoor enorm zou toenemen. Zelfs als een kerncentrale wordt ingeruild voor hernieuwbare energiebronnen, wordt deze vervangen door hernieuwbare energiebronnen die eigenlijk de fossiele energievormen hadden moeten vervangen. Het belangrijkste op dit moment is dus het wegwerken van alle fossiele brandstoffen uit de EU en het mondiale elektriciteitsnet."

Des te meer geld we uitgeven aan kernenergie, des te minder vloeit er toe naar hernieuwbare energie, vindt Greenpeace.

"Het is een kwestie van de balans behouden. De meeste landen in Europa kunnen hun energie uit waterkracht niet verder uitbouwen, omdat ze alle mogelijke capaciteit al hebben uitgebouwd. Wat je dan nog overhoudt is wind-, zonne- en kernenergie. Als je te veel wind en zon hebt, wordt het elektriciteitsnet instabiel. We hebben dat tot op zekere hoogte gezien in Denemarken, Californië en in Duitsland."

"Met enkel wind- en zonne-energie gaan we het dus niet redden. Zelfs als we waterkracht daarbij optellen, komen we er niet. We hebben dus óók kernenergie nodig. Maar ik ben niet tegen wind-, zonne-energie en waterkracht. We hebben alle groene energie nodig die we kunnen krijgen, maar het is gewoon een kwestie van compromissen sluiten, samenwerken en alle mogelijkheden aangrijpen."

Het zeskoppige team van Aanstoot, Dear Greenpeace geheten, bestaat uit tieners en twintigers uit Zweden, Polen, Frankrijk, Finland en Nederland. Na decennia van oppositie voeren tegen kernenergie, lijkt de opinie bij jongeren te verschuiven richting het voordeel van nucleaire energie.

Liefst de helft van de Nederlandse jongvolwassenen tussen 18 en 35 jaar is voorstander van kernenergie, zo bleek in 2021 uit onderzoek van dagblad Trouw. Van alle volwassen leeftijdsgroepen staan zij het meest positief tegenover kernenergie. Ook het boegbeeld van jonge milieuactivisten Greta Thunberg is tegen het sluiten van kerncentrales.

Wat verklaart de aantrekkingskracht van deze energievorm onder jongeren? Volgens Aanstoot komt het deels doordat haar generatie niet is opgegroeid met dezelfde angst voor kernenergie als oudere generaties. Haar generatie is te jong om de ingrijpende kernramp van Tsjernobyl ui 1986 te hebben meegemaakt. "Ook denk ik dat we wanhopiger zijn geworden over de gevolgen van de klimaatcrisis. Uit wanhoop wordt pragmatisme geboren."

Aanstoot vindt het "heel ouderwets" om anno 2023 tegen kernenergie te zijn. "Dat standpunt lijkt gebaseerd te zijn op verouderde ideeën, statistieken en feiten. Het lijkt niet overeen te komen met de moderne wetenschap. En dat terwijl klimaatorganisatie IPCC zegt dat we [voor het halen van de klimaatdoelen] alle fossielvrije energievormen moeten gebruiken die tot onze beschikking liggen, dus tevens kernenergie."

Dat oudere klimaatactivisten vaker tegen kernenergie zijn, heeft volgens Aanstoot ook te maken met "identiteit". "Voor veel oudere generaties voelt het misschien een beetje nostalgisch om tegen kernenergie te vechten. Zo van: dat deed ik in mijn jeugd. Ik kan het opnieuw doen! Het is iets wat ze niet echt willen heroverwegen, ook omdat het binnen de klimaatbeweging zo fundamenteel voelt om tegen kernenergie te zijn."

Ook in de politiek zie je een duidelijke scheidslijn. Over het algemeen zijn rechtse partijen voor kernenergie en linkse partijen tegen. Hoe kijk je daar tegenaan?

"Ik stoor me hieraan, omdat ik denk dat het voor links belangrijk kan zijn om pro-nucleair te zijn. Er moet immers een verzorgingsstaat worden veiliggesteld. Een moderne verzorgingsstaat is gebouwd op energie. Energie is continu nodig. Het hele Zweedse welvaartssysteem is bijvoorbeeld gebaseerd op een vloedstroom aan goedkope, vaak nucleaire en soms waterkrachtenergie. Dat zou een enorm punt kunnen zijn voor links."

Waar sta je zelf in het politieke spectrum?

"Ik ben links."

Maar goed, kerncentrales kunnen ontploffen. Dat kan leiden tot rampen, zoals we die in Fukushima en Tsjernobyl hebben gezien. Maakt zoiets je dan helemaal niet bang?

"Ik denk dat het goed is om te kijken naar hoe groot het risico eigenlijk is. Tuurlijk, ieder ongeval met een kerncentrale is tragisch. Maar fossiele brandstoffen kosten jaarlijks aan miljoenen mensen het leven, vanwege de luchtvervuiling. De klimaatverandering die erop volgt, heeft als gevolg dat miljoenen mensen uit kuststeden moeten evacueren. Het extreme weer zal miljoenen doden veroorzaken. De schaal van ongevallen is dus totaal anders bij fossiele energie."

Als een kerncentrale ontploft, zijn de gevolgen echter niet te overzien. Vele jaren lang zal zoiets voor milieu- en gezondheidsproblemen blijven zorgen.

"Het zou kunnen. Maar tegelijkertijd weten we zeker dat klimaatverandering de komende decennia verwoestende gevolgen zal hebben. We moeten daarom alle kaarten op tafel houden."

"We weten bovendien dat kernenergie statistisch gezien behoorlijk veilig is en alleen maar veiliger wordt. Een kerncentrale moet vanzelfsprekend goed worden gemanaged en veilig onderhouden zijn. Dat is heel belangrijk. Tegelijkertijd vechten we tegen zo'n enorme vijand, de wereld van de fossiele brandstoffen, dat we niet ontkomen aan het nemen van relatief kleine risico’s."

Het kost gigantisch veel geld om een kerncentrale te bouwen. In Nederland trekt de regering alleen al 5 miljard euro uit voor de voorbereiding van twee centrales. Bovendien duurt het vele jaren voordat zo'n centrale daadwerkelijk gebouwd is. De nieuwe reactoren in Nederland zullen pas in 2035 openen, terwijl er al klimaatdoelen te behalen zijn voor 2030. Is het daarom niet handiger om het geld dat we in kernenergie stoppen, te investeren in hernieuwbare energie?

"De fossielvrije energiebron die landen historisch gezien het snelst hebben uitgerold, is kernenergie. Zweden houdt het wereldrecord voor het snelst uitbreiden van fossielvrije energiebronnen. Het vond in de jaren ’60 en 70 plaats met kernenergie."

"Dat het enige tijd kan duren voordat een kerncentrale er daadwerkelijk staat is waar, maar dit is afhankelijk van lokale regelgeving. Zouden we bijvoorbeeld een uniform EU-regelgevingssysteem voor kerncentrales optuigen en ze op massaproductieschaal bouwen, dan kan het heel snel gaan [met de strijd tegen klimaatverandering]. Vooral vanwege de hoeveelheid energie die ze uiteindelijk zullen produceren."

"De EU heeft dan ook enorme hoeveelheden energie nodig. We zullen het transport, onze verwarming, ons kookstel, de industrie en allerhande zaken moeten elektrificeren. De transitie naar een koolstofvrije toekomst vergt veel elektriciteit. Met wind- en zonne-energie alleen gaan we het simpelweg niet redden. Een kerncentrale bouwen mag dan lang duren, maar vergelijk je het met de bouw van het aantal windturbines dat je nodig hebt om precies zoveel energie op te wekken als bij een kerncentrale, dan duurt het bouwen van één kerncentrale niet veel langer."

Dan hebben we nog het proliferatie-effect, oftewel het risico dat landen de techniek inzetten voor de creatie van kernwapens. Hoe meer landen kernenergie omarmen, des te groter het risico wordt dat ze het zullen gebruiken om er een verwoestende bom van te maken, menen critici.

"Geen enkel land ter wereld ontwikkelde eerst kerncentrales en daarna pas kernwapens. Er is dus geen enkel bewijs dat er sprake is van proliferatie. Daarnaast zijn er zeer goede verdragen tegen de verspreiding van kernwapens. Ik denk dan ook dat het risico minimaal is. Als een land echt een nucleaire macht met kernwapens wil worden, zal dat land die wapens krijgen, of het nu kerncentrales heeft of niet. Dat zie je bijvoorbeeld gebeuren in Noord-Korea."

Tot slot het probleem met radioactief afval. Hoe meer kerncentrales je wereldwijd optuigt, des te meer radioactief afval je de wereld in brengt.

"Er zijn veel opties voor opslag. In Zweden hebben we al een eindopslagfaciliteit van kernafval in de planning staan. Finland bouwt er ook een, die erg gewaardeerd wordt en in Frankrijk zijn er recyclingfaciliteiten."

"Kernafval wordt bovendien zeer goed opgeslagen. We weten wáár het kernafval zich bevindt. Het ligt op een veilige plek en wordt goed onderhouden. Het vormt geen probleem om het daar nog dertig jaar te laten liggen voordat we er volledig weten wat we ermee willen doen. Wat wel een probleem zou zijn, is als we klimaatverandering nog dertig jaar laten voortduren. Mijn generatie kan best leven met nucleair afval, maar om er überhaupt mee te kunnen leven hebben we een planeet nodig."

Sommige vormen van radioactief afval kunnen honderdduizenden jaren schadelijk blijven. Vind je niet dat we toekomstige generaties opzadelen met een groeiende stapel nucleair afval?

"Ik denk zeker dat we hen met een verantwoordelijkheid opzadelen. Maar ik voel me er beter over hen op te zadelen met de verantwoordelijkheid om voor ons goed opgeslagen en onderhouden kernafval te zorgen, dan ze achter te laten met een verbrande en overstroomde planeet. En dát zijn momenteel de opties."

Greenpeace laat in een schriftelijke reactie weten de campagne van Aanstoot "een afleiding" te vinden "van de vele problemen die er spelen rondom kernenergie".

"Kernenergie is geen haalbare optie om de klimaatcrisis op te lossen", aldus Greenpeace. "De miljarden die het kost, kunnen niet worden geïnvesteerd in hernieuwbare energie, isolatie of hulp aan getroffenen van extreem weer. Zo brengt het ons verder van echte klimaatoplossingen. Kernenergie brengt ook een hele set milieuproblemen met zich mee: radioactief afval, uraniummijnen, hoog waterverbruik en lozen van warm water, wat effect heeft op flora en fauna."

Key points

• China has 21 nuclear reactors under construction which will have a capacity for generating 21.61 gigawatts of electricity, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. That is more than two and a half times more nuclear reactors under construction than any other country.
• China’s drive to build nuclear energy is twofold: It’s got a massive demand for energy to meet, and it’s reliance on coal to meet its energy demand in recent decades have left it with dirty air. Nuclear is a clean source of electricity.
• The United States is attempting to launch a nuclear comeback, largely powered by new smaller modular rector designs, but it’s success in attaining its previous dominance is up for grabs at this point, experts say.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/More-funding-for-Sizewell-C-preparations

The UK government has made available a further GBP341 million (USD434 million) of previously allocated funding for development work on the Sizewell C nuclear power plant project in Suffolk, England. It said the extra money will help prepare the site for construction, procuring key components from the project's supply chain, and expanding its workforce.

The funding - made available from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's Capital Budgets, as agreed at the 2022 Autumn Statement - would see activity ramp up at the Suffolk site, supporting continued preparation works, such as constructing onsite training facilities for 1500 apprenticeships, further development of the plant's engineering design, and direct investments in the local community ahead of work starting.

The funding would build on the government's existing GBP870 million stake and help drive progress towards the long-standing objective of reaching a Final Investment Decision on a new large-scale nuclear project this Parliament.

This is the second tranche of planned government investment in recent months and follows GBP170 million of additional funding announced in July, as a permitted legacy subsidy modification to the investment scheme under the UK's subsidy control rules. The GBP341 million that has been made available for investment in Sizewell C represents a permitted legacy modification to the same scheme.

"This is great news and puts us in an even stronger position to start full construction," said Sizewell C Company Joint Managing Director Julia Pyke. "It will also allow us to implement several community schemes over the next few months. We want people living near Sizewell C to see the benefits of the project as soon as possible and we're looking forward to getting started on a range of proposals which will bring real improvements to the area well before the main construction gets under way."

"Sizewell C will be a significant part of the revival of nuclear energy in this country - providing clean, home-grown power to millions of homes, providing thousands of jobs and ending reliance on foreign electricity to bolster our energy security," added Nuclear and Networks Minister Andrew Bowie. "Today's funding announcement is a clear demonstration of the government's commitment to this vital project, and will mean the site will be shovel-ready, and work able to start, much more quickly."

EDF agreed in October 2015 with China General Nuclear (CGN) to develop the Sizewell C project to the point where a final investment decision could be made. EDF had an 80% stake and CGN a 20% stake but the UK government's attitude to Chinese involvement in such UK projects has since changed and in November last year it paid GBP679 million to become a 50% partner alongside EDF, with CGN exiting the project. In March this year, the UK's Environment Agency granted environmental permits - a radioactive substances activity permit, a combustion activity permit and a water discharge activity permit - for the plant.

The plan is for Sizewell C to feature two EPRs producing 3.2 GW of electricity, enough to power the equivalent of around six million homes. It would be a "replica" of the Hinkley Point C plant, under construction in Somerset. EDF Energy submitted a development consent order (a planning application) for the plant in May 2020, which was granted in July last year.

A new report from the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership reveals Hinkley Point C's role as a catalyst for growth, job creation, and prosperity. It says with the peak of construction still to follow, Hinkley Point C has already provided a significant boost to the local economy close to the construction site. More widely, across the Heart of the South West, for every pound invested in the project, the local region is gaining GBP2.50 of value.

In addition, productivity in Bridgwater, the town closest to the project, is growing faster than anywhere else in the region, and well above the national average. Hinkley Point C has also led to a significant surge in the number of medium and large companies setting up, expanding, or relocating to the region, bringing new investments and opportunities. The project is forecast to provide 25,000 employment opportunities during the construction phase, and has already trained over 1000 apprentices.

The UK's energy strategy unveiled in April set the target for eight new reactors plus small modular reactors to produce 24 GWe capacity by 2050, meeting about 25% of the UK's projected electricity demand. The UK currently generates about 15% of its electricity from about 6.5 GW of nuclear capacity.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Atucha-II-returns-to-service-after-unique-repairs

Argentina's Atucha II nuclear unit is delivering power again after the successful completion of repairs prompted by the October 2022 inspection discovery that one of the four internal supports of the reactor had detached and moved from its design location.

After the discovery, the unit was shut down and an interdisciplinary team worked to diagnose the situation and decided to extract the separator and carry out the repair remotely without needing to dismantle the reactor, shortening the expected repair time from four years to 10 months, Nucleoeléctrica Argentina said.

The company said that "after evaluating the situation, it was decided that the best option to extract the separator through the channel was to cut it into four parts ... it was also resolved to preventively reinforce the welding of the three separators that were still mounted to avoid future damage".

The detached separator was 14 metres inside the reactor, so new tools needed to be designed to adapt to those conditions, including a cutting tool, holding tool, gripper, a basket within which to extract the piece as well as lighting and vision tools to monitor the manoeuvre.

To test the tools and train and prepare for the cutting and extraction manoeuvres a full-scale model of the sector of the reactor in which the intervention was carried out was designed, manufactured and installed - the tank used to represent the moderator tank was the same one used as a mock-up to test the tools and rehearse the manoeuvres that allowed the historic repair of the Atucha I reactor in 1988.

The cutting of the separator took two weeks in total, and once it was completed the extraction tool was introduced "which allowed each of the cut separator pieces to be held and placed in the basket tool for removal from the reactor". The welding of the remaining supports took six days.

Nucleoeléctrica Argentina said that it worked with other suppliers in the country to create the necessary tools, and said: "The completion of this challenge not only marks a new milestone for the Argentine nuclear industry, but also confirms the country's scientific-technological capabilities to carry out complex engineering projects. In this way, the experience acquired by Nucleoeléctrica in this repair will allow the country to export knowledge and tools for use in other nuclear power plants in the world."

Argentina's nuclear sector has three pressurised heavy water reactors with a total generating capacity of 1641 MWe across the Atucha I, Atucha II and Embalse power plants. Atucha II's first grid connection was in 2014 - construction began in 1981 as a joint venture of Argentina's National Atomic Energy Commission and Germany's Siemens-Kraftwerk Union but work was suspended in 1994 with the plant 81% complete. It was restarted in 2006, entering commercial operation in May 2016.

Plans were challenged by state and oil and gas interests.

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has cancelled a licence from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 40-year nuclear waste storage facility in Texas.

The panel determined that the NRC lacked the authority under federal law to issue permits for private, temporary nuclear waste storage sites.

The licence, which was issued in 2021 to project developer Interim Storage Partners, was challenged by Texas and west Texas oil and gas interests that opposed the facility.

US Circuit Judge James Ho, writing for the court, agreed with Texas that the Atomic Energy Act does not give the agency the broad authority “to licence a private, away-from-reactor storage facility for spent nuclear fuel”.

The plan for a temporary facility was devised in order to address a growing nuclear waste problem in the US.

The Andrews County site was chosen after efforts to build a permanent storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada fell apart amid local opposition.

The licence authorised Interim Storage Partners to receive, possess, transfer and store up to 5,000 tonnes of spent fuel from the country’s fleet of 93 commercial nuclear reactors and 231.3 tonnes of greater-than-class C low-level radioactive waste for 40 years.

The company said it planned to expand the facility in seven additional phases, up to a total capacity of 40,000 tonnes of spent fuel.

Interim Storage Partners is a joint venture of Waste Control Specialists (WCS) and Orano USA. It had intended to build the storage facility on property next to the WCS low-level radioactive waste disposal site already operating under a Texas licence.