Nuclear Energy

Source: https://www.neimagazine.com/news/newsstudy-confirms-removal-of-all-fuel-from-decommissioned-soviet-era-reactor-11334869

Recent studies have found that a decommissioned Soviet-era training reactor at Estonia’s port city of Paldiski contains sources of radioactivity but no nuclear fuel, according to ETV news programme Aktuaalne kaamera (AK). The reactor was one of two installed at a land-based nuclear submarine training facility for the Soviet Navy. These results were determined using fluoroscopy. The company responsible for the work, GScan, uses its own patented technology to detect naturally occurring muon radiation. Andres Nurme, project manager at GScan, said: “These are cobalt-60 radiation sources. Based on the ongoing work and its results, we can say with certainty that there is no longer any nuclear fuel in the reactors.” Most of the heaviest radiation sources are located at or near the top of the reactor lid, the investigation found.

AS ALARA is tasked with the final demolition of the Paldiski reactors. Alari Kruusvall, AS ALARA’s environmental engineering specialist, told AK that the complex will be completely demolished, starting with the recently examined reactor and layer by layer from top to bottom. Recent mapping of radiation sources ensures that these sources are not disturbed in the destruction process.

Paldiski became a Soviet Navy nuclear submarine training centre in 1962, with the construction of a facility known locally as “Pentagon”, which was decommissioned in 1994 and demolished in 2007. At its peak, Pentagon employed around 16,000 people at the two pressurised water reactors (PWRs) . Reactor 1 was a PWR/VM-A-type reactor with a thermal output of 70 MW commissioned in April 1968 and used until January 1989. It was emplaced in a metal housing similar in shape and dimensions to a nuclear submarine. The reactor was refuelled in 1980, and its total operating time (at 20-40% load) was 20,821 hours (13,781 hours with original fuel and 7,040 hours after refuelling).

Reactor 2 was a PWR/BM-4 (LWR)-type reactor with thermal output of 90 MW. Commissioned in February 1983 and was used until December 1989 at a load of approximately 30% without refuelling. The total operating time of the reactor was 5,333 hours. The decision to safely shut down the training centre on the Paldiski site was made in 1991, after recognition of Estonia’s independence by Russia.

Until 1995, Russian authorities undertook a number of works to ensure long-term safety of the reactor compartments:

• defuelling of the reactors and transportation of the fuel to Russia;
• disassembly of auxiliary compartments;
• removal of non-radioactive equipment;
• draining of liquids from the primary circuits and sealing of the reactors;
• draining of cooling water purification filters;
• removal of non-radioactive equipment located above the biological protective layer (water jacket around the reactor for capturing of neutrons);
• reinforcement of the support structures of the reactor compartments;
• construction of reinforced concrete sarcophagi and grouting of various radioactive units and accesses inside the reactor compartments.

The training centre together with the training reactors and the nuclear waste storage facility building was transferred to the ownership of Estonia in 1995. From 1995 to 2011, extensive conservation, cleaning and reconstruction works were carried out at the Paldiski site. Among other things, various buildings were cleaned and demolished and an interim storage facility for radioactive waste was installed in the main building. As a result of a 1999-2001 European Union (EU) project, the Evaluation of Management Routes for the Paldiski Sarcophagi, the project expert committee found that from the point of view of radiation safety and waste storage, it would be expedient to begin final decommissioning (decontamination and full dismantling) of the reactor compartments after 50 years of storage - around 2040.

In the course of a 2005-2008 EU PHARE project, the Safe Long-term Storage of the Paldiski Sarcophagi & Related Dismantling Activities, storage conditions were improved by installing an air-drying system in the sarcophagi for the purpose of increasing corrosion resistance, a monitoring system was installed on the reactor compartments for the purpose of detecting possible spills and the main building surrounding the reactors was renovated, making it more weather-proof.

The decision of the expert committee for the Evaluation of Management Routes for the Paldiski Sarcophagi project was based on the assumption that the radioactive waste generated during decommissioning of the reactor compartments starting in 2040 would be deposited in a radioactive waste repository established by that time at the latest. The interim storage facility established in 1997 has been designed to accommodate all radioactive waste generated in Estonia (including the radioactive waste generated in the course of decommissioning of the nuclear submarine crew training centre at Paldiski and the waste removed from the Tammiku radioactive waste storage facility), except for the waste generated in the decommissioning of the reactor compartments.

In 2015, AS ALARA and UAB EKSORTUS were contracted to undertake preliminary studies for the decommissioning of the reactor compartments of the former Paldiski military nuclear site and for the establishment of a radioactive waste repository.

Their 87-page report concluded that:

• Construction of a repository in Estonia and disposal of radioactive waste was a feasible solution and the only sustainable option.
• Storage of decommissioning waste in the Paldiski interim storage was not a safe solution and its renovation or construction of a new interim storage was only a temporary solution.
• An authority responsible for RW management and disposal in Estonia should be clearly defined to ensure internationally accepted long-term safety of radioactive waste.
• There was no used fuel of high-level waste (HLW) present in Estonia.
• Taking into account waste streams related to possible future NPP, it was assumed that any nuclear fuel would be leased and returned to the producer and any HLW would be stored in an interim storage for decay until it could be classified as low or intermediate waste.
• The most active reactor components and current long-lived waste must be disposed of at least 30 meters below ground surface.
• A combination of underground disposal modules with disposal vaults built on the ground was the most appropriate disposal solution.
• The territory adjoining the Paldiski navy centre is regarded as a potential site for construction of a waste disposal facility.
• At the current stage the waste disposal process can be defined at conceptual level only because of lack of reliable data on characteristics of the waste to be disposed of.
• Appropriate waste characterisation should be the key element of a waste management system.
• Interdependence of various waste management steps should be considered within the radioactive waste management strategy.
• Regional disposal options would not be available within the next 50 years.

Real possibility of reactor online by end of decade, says Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ vice-president.

Canada can become a global hub for small modular reactor (SMR) research and technology with the completion of its first demonstration unit on a Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) site in Ontario before 2030.

A CNL spokesperson told NucNet Canada is “an active participant” in the race to deploy a functioning SMR and may have the inside track, based work being done at CNL, the research laboratory operator owned by state-owned Atomic Energy of Canada Limited.

Dr Jeff Griffin, vice-president of science and technology at CNL, told NucNet deployment will not be simple, but favourable circumstances that could accelerate development are aligning to create the real possibility of deployment by the end of this decade.

“There has been a tremendous increase in the pace of SMR development in Canada and elsewhere, especially over the last two years,” Griffin said. “Government support and public sentiment has never been more positive, all helping to build momentum.

“Beyond the public announcements and investments being made is an incredible amount of work behind the scenes – collaboration, partnership, research advancement, technology development, public engagement and learning.

“Deployment by the end of the decade is achievable, though certainly not simple. A number of the projects currently being pursued here in Canada are targeting the end of the 2020s or early 2030s.”

Since 2017, CNL has been preparing at its Chalk River site in Ontario to host the first SMR demonstration in Canada. In 2018 CNL launched an invitation process which called for demonstrators to site their SMR project at the Chalk River facility. Griffin said that five projects have entered the process and are at various stages of development.

‘Continued Active Interest From Vendors’

“Since 2018, five project proponents have engaged with the process and there is continued active interest from additional vendors who we expect to enter the process in the coming year,” he said.

Griffin said a project proposed by Global First Power (GFP) is the furthest advanced, having begun the licensing process in 2019. GFP, an Ontario-based reactor developer, is planning a 5 MW micro modular reactor plant at the Chalk River campus that would serve as a model for future SMRs. The company has said the unit could be operational in 2028, but Griffin said that target is more likely to be 2030.

An environmental assessment for the plant has begun and in July GFP submitted the first part of a “licence to prepare site2 application to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

Griffin warned against trying to impose unrealistic timelines on milestones in SMR development.

“It is important to understand that the process to bring a reactor technology to deployment is time-intensive and timeframes can only be proposed due to licensing and regulatory approvals, as well as engagement with the public,” he said.

‘This Process Cannot Be Rushed’

“This process cannot be rushed, nor should it. Timeframe aside, what is most important is that the government, industry, stakeholders and our regulator recognise the critical role nuclear needs to play if we are to mitigate climate change and meet Canada’s future electricity needs.

“I believe they do recognise this, and the technology will continue to move forward.”

Canada is bullish about the prospects for nuclear energy, including SMRs. It has a fleet of 19 commercial nuclear power plants that provide about 14% of its electricity generation. Major projects have begun to extend the lifetime of reactors at the Bruce, Darlington and Pickering stations.

Last year four provinces – Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick and Alberta – put forward proposals in a strategic plan to expand the nuclear industry through the development of SMRs, saying they provide a source of safe, clean power.

In August, Canada approved up to CAD74m (€49m, $54m) in federal funding for SMR development in Saskatchewan with potential deployment of a first plant in the mid-2030s and more units to follow.

The funding will support pre-engineering work and technical studies, environmental assessments, regulatory studies and community engagement to help advance the project, led by state utility SaskPower

SaskPower has already chosen the GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 SMR for potential deployment in Saskatchewan, subject to a decision to build that is expected in 2029.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Chinese-long-distance-nuclear-heating-project-begi

China's first project to bring nuclear-generated heat to multiple prefecture-level cities has begun operation in Shandong province, supplying heat from the Haiyang nuclear power plant to the cities of Haiyang and Rushan through a 23 km pipeline.

The project is the third phase of a commercial heating project called Warm Nuclear No 1 operated by the State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC). After trials the previous winter to provide heat to the plant's dormitory and some local residents, the Haiyang plant officially started providing district heat to the surrounding area in November 2020, and then to the whole Haiyang city.

The Warm Nuclear No 1 project now reaches an area of 12.5 million square metres, and can meet the clean heating needs of about 400,000 people in winter, SPIC said.

Work began on the long-distance supply pipe in February, and the project has required coordination and communication between the different provincial and municipal bodies involved. Since the start of the Warm Nuclear Core No 1 project, some 83 km of nuclear energy heating main network and 11 first-level heat exchange stations have been built, with an investment of nearly CNY4 billion (USD555 million), SPIC said. To date, it has provided a total of 4.56 million Gigajoules (GJ) of zero-carbon heat, replaced 390,000 tons of raw coal consumption, and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 720,000 tons, as well as improving winter air quality in Haiyang City.

The Haiyang nuclear power plant is home to two AP1000 pressurised water reactors which entered commercial operation in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Two CAP1000 pressurised water reactors are now under construction at the site with grid connection pencilled in for 2027.

2035 target date for operation is ‘very realistic’, says company behind project.

Poland has issued a decision-in-principle for the country’s second large-scale commercial nuclear power station, with two South Korea-supplied APR1400 reactors planned for a site to the west of the capital Warsaw.

The decision-in-principle came from the Ministry of Climate and Environment and is formal confirmation that the company's investment project is in line with the public interest and state policies including energy policy.

The application, submitted by PGE Pak Energia Jadrowa in August, is to build new nuclear in the Patnow-Konin region. Patnow and Konin are two towns about 10 km apart about 220 km west of Warsaw.

PGE Pak Energia Jadrowa has said a 2035 target date for operation of the new reactors is “very realistic”.

PGE Pak Energia Jadrowa is a joint venture between state energy group PGE and private energy company Ze Pak. It was formed earlier this year to be responsible for all aspects of the project to build at least two APR1400 pressurised water reactor units at the Patnow coal plant site, including an initial feasibility study, site surveys, an environmental impact assessment, licensing procedures and securing of financing.

According to the decision-in-principle application, the two units will generate 22 TWh of electricity annually, or about 12% of current electricity demand in Poland.

The decision-in-principle is the first decision in the process of administrative permits for investments in nuclear power facilities in Poland. It entitles PGE Pak Energia Jadrowa to apply for a number of further administrative decisions including a siting decision and construction licence.

One site that has been put forward for the new build project is a coal plant owned by Ze Pak. The site has two coal-fired power plants in commercial operation with a combined output of about 1,100 MW, which makes it one of Poland’s largest energy facilities.

Background: Poland Bullish On Nuclear

Poland is bullish on nuclear and a number of projects have begun to develop large-scale plants and small modular reactors.

In July the climate ministry approved plans for the country’s first commercial nuclear power station, which will be built in Pomerania in the north of the country with for Westinghouse-supplied AP1000 plants.

The ministry has also issued a decision-in-principle for copper and silver producer KGHM Polska Miedz’s plan to build a NuScale Voygr small modular reactor plant with a capacity of 462 MW.

KGHM wants to explore the deployment of SMR technology to repurpose or replace existing coal-fired power plants and provide electricity and heat for its industrial processes.

KGHM said that by 2030, it wants 50% of the electricity it uses to come from its own sources.

Funding is for demonstration of a Westinghouse eVinci plant.

The premier of Saskatchewan in Canada has announced CAD80m (€53m, $58m) in funding for a first nuclear microreactor that could be operational by 2029 and will “open the door for future deployments across the province”.

The funding was awarded to the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) to pursue the demonstration of a Westinghouse eVinci microreactor in Saskatchewan.

SRC said it will apply the research and knowledge gained from the licensing and deployment of an initial microreactor to support the Saskatchewan nuclear industry to better understand this type of technology and the potential for future microreactor projects in the province.

“This project has the opportunity to be transformative for our economy, industry and communities,” premier Scott Moe said. “Microreactors provide a custom solution for Saskatchewan’s unique energy needs.”

“This first microreactor will open the door for future deployments across Saskatchewan,” minister responsible for SRC Jeremy Harrison said. “These deployments will create economic development opportunities and jobs."”

Westinghouse said in a statement that “the location of the eVinci microreactor will be determined as the project progresses”. It said the surrounding infrastructure for an eVinci plant is less than two thirds the size of an ice hockey rink.

SRC president and chief executive officer Mike Crabtree said SRC’s vision is to see the first eVinci microreactor in an industrial application and lay the groundwork for many more projects in the future.

“What we learn through this project will prepare SRC to assist communities and industries in future projects,” he said

The eVinci is classified as a microreactor capable of producing 5 MW of electricity, over 13 MW of high temperature heat, or operating in combined heat and power mode.

Westinghouse president and chief executive officer Patrick Fragman said the eVinci battery technology is the perfect fit for Saskatchewan since it is fully transportable. “It provides carbon-free electricity and heat, uses no water, and can be completely removed from site after operating continuously for eight years or more,” he said.

SRC is Canada’s second largest research and technology organisation. It provides services and products to its 1,600 clients in 22 countries. SRC operated a Slowpoke-2 nuclear research reactor for 38 years before decommissioning it in 2021.

In February, Westinghouse said it had begun a joint licensing process with US and Canadian regulators for the eVinci.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Refuelling

Fresh nuclear fuel has been loaded into the starboard side reactor on the Akademik Lomonosov in the first operation of its kind, with the process due to be completed by the end of the year, Rosatom says.

The world's only floating nuclear power plant, it is operated by Rosenergoatom, the electric power division of Rosatom, and is based in Pevek in the Chukotka region of Arctic Russia.

Akademik Lomonosov, which was put into commercial operation in May 2020, supplies heat and power to the town and is based on two KLT-40S reactors generating 35 MWe each, which are similar to those used in a previous generation of nuclear powered icebreakers.

It has been described as a pilot project and a 'working prototype' for a future fleet of floating nuclear power plants and on-shore installations based on Russian-made small modular reactors intended for deployment in hard-to-reach areas of Russia's North and Far-East, as well as for export. Named after the 18th century Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, it is 144 metres long and 30 metres wide, and has a displacement of 21,000 tonnes.

The fuel was delivered by TVEL, Rosatom's fuel division, via the Northern Sea Route to the site. It was manufactured by TVEL's Elektrostal Machine-Building Plant, which is in the Moscow region. TVEL says that unlike land-based large reactors which generally require replacement of a proportion of their fuel rods every 12-18 months "in the case of these reactors, the refuelling takes place once every few years and includes unloading of the entire reactor core and loading of fresh fuel into the reactor". It says this means there can be up to 3.5 years between refuellings.

Alexey Fedotov, chief mechanical engineer of Akademik Lomonosov​, said: "During the work on nuclear fuel reloading, all necessary measures were taken to ensure radiation safety requirements. Before loading into the reactor, each of the 121 fuel assemblies underwent strict acceptance control. All assemblies, after a thorough check by specialists, are sequentially placed into the reactor using automated crane equipment."

The chief physicist at the site, Maxim Shamambaev, said: "The radiation background on the territory ... did not change during these works, it corresponded to the level of the natural background characteristic of the city of Pevek."

The next reloading of nuclear fuel - of the second reactor on the floating power plant - is due to take place in 2024.

The town of Pevek has a population of about 4000. The floating plant could potentially supply electricity to a city of 100,000. Since commissioning it is replacing the Bilibino nuclear power plant as it is retired, having operated since 1974, and the Chaunskaya thermal power plant which had been operating for more than 70 years. It also supplies power more widely in the region, including to mining companies involved in the development of the Baimsk ore zone.

Rosatom is already in the process of constructing four floating power units and is targeting the export market for floating nuclear power plants with capacity of at least 100 MWe and an assigned service life of up to 60 years featuring RITM-200M reactors, derived from those used on Russia's latest nuclear-powered icebreakers.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Bruce-completes-largest-to-date-radioisotope-deliv

October's harvest of cobalt-60, used worldwide to sterilise medical equipment, was the largest since the company began producing the isotope in the 1980s and included two shipments of medical-grade material for therapeutic use.

The medical isotopes were harvested from Bruce unit 8 during a scheduled maintenance outage and delivered to Ottawa-based Nordion for processing and distribution, the company said.

Co-60 is used to sterilise around 40% of the world's single-use medical devices, including syringes, catheters, IV sets, surgical gloves and gauze used in a wide range of health care applications: according to the head of the International Irradiation Association, a patient in surgery or receiving wound care or simply having a blood sample taken, is highly likely to be treated using products that have been sterilised using the radioisotope.

Medical-grade High Specific Activity - or HSA - Co-60 is an intense gamma emitter used in the treatment of certain brain tumours and breast cancers in a procedure known as gamma knife radiosurgery, delivering a single, high dose of radiation with a high degree of accuracy to the target. This limits damage to healthy tissues, lowering the risk of side effects for some patients when compared to other types of radiation therapy.

Canadian company Nordion (part of Sotera Health) is the world's leading supplier of Co-60 sources for gamma processing. "Cobalt-60 is critical for supporting global health care," Nordion President Riaz Bandali said. "Reliability of supply is key and Bruce Power continues to be a valued partner, supplying cobalt-60 for nearly 40 years."

Co-60 is made by irradiating rods of cobalt-59 inside a Candu pressurised heavy water reactor for up to three years (or in a RBMK light-water graphite-moderated reactor for up to five years). Around half of the current global supply originates in Canada, with reactors in Argentina, China, India, and Russia also producing the isotope.

With Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) Pickering plant, which also produces Co-60, pencilled in for closure in the mid-2020s, Bruce Power and OPG in 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to ensure the continued long-term supply of the isotope by expanding production to the Darlington and Bruce A plants.

On completion of October's Co-60 harvest, Bruce Power said it had installed "system innovations" to increase production for the next harvest to meet growing world market demands.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Eletronuclear-plans-clean-hydrogen-production

A project to produce 100 tonnes a year of clean hydrogen from the operation of the Angra nuclear power plant's two units was detailed at a seminar on sustainable hydrogen production in Brazil.

A study has been taking place into the feasibility of using hydrogen which is already generated at the plant by the seawater electrolysis process, with the proposal to capture and process the hydrogen "with minimal impact on the plant and its safety" while bringing forward environmental, economic and strategic benefits. Eletronuclear said the project could be implemented within two years.

Nelri Ferreira Leite, technical coordinator of the hydrogen project, explained that "Angra 1 and 2 use seawater in the tertiary circuit to cool the steam in the secondary circuit, after passing through the turbines that generate electrical energy. To prevent the proliferation of marine organisms in pipes and equipment, the biocide sodium hypochlorite is added to the refrigerant fluid in the tertiary circuit. As a result of the biocide production process through direct electrolysis of seawater, hydrogen is generated" without any contact with radioactive material found in the primary circuit of the plant. "The idea is to take advantage of the hydrogen already produced as a by-product by the company and which has never caused any impact on the marine environment in all these years."

Speaking at the seminar on the production of sustainable hydrogen in Brazil, he added that the plan was to demonstrate the application of clean hydrogen in Eletronuclear's administrative buildings and homes in Angra dos Reis and Paraty, as well as highlighting the hydrogen supply for the plant's electrical generators, with the possibility of supplying hydrogen-powered vehicles also an option.

The site had the advantage, he said, of the huge supply of sea water along Brazil's coast, avoiding the need for fresh water: "No other project in the world does this on an industrial scale. Furthermore, all of our technology for this process is entirely national." When Angra 3 is completed and starts operating the total annual production could increase to 167 tonnes.

Hydrogen is increasingly seen as a key component of future energy systems, if it can be made without carbon dioxide emissions. The idea is that it can be used to replace fossil fuels in transport, industrial and a range of other applications.

Agency completes first Osart mission at BN-800 fast neutron reactor.

The operator of the Beloyarsk nuclear power station in Russia has shown a commitment to operational safety, but further improvements are needed in areas including accident management and safety assessments, an International Atomic Energy Agency team said.

The operational safety review team (Osart) mission ran from 6 to 23 November. The team reviewed operational safety at Beloyarsk-4, a BN-800 fast neutron reactor with design capacity of 820 MW and gross electrical capacity of 885 MW.

The team reviewed operating practices at Unit 4 in leadership and management for safety, training and qualification, operations, maintenance, technical support, radiation protection, chemistry and accident management.

The team said plant operator Beloyarsk NPP, a subsidiary of state nuclear operator Rosenergoatom, should consider enhancing its accident management programme to include the full range of “beyond design” external hazards for all modes and states of operation and all fuel locations on site.

It should consider extending the scope of its probabilistic safety assessments to ensure that all potential failure scenarios are identified.

Beloyarsk NPP should also consider improving the effectiveness of the checks carried out during field operator walkdowns, so all deficiencies and adverse conditions are identified.

The Beloyarsk nuclear station, owned by state nuclear corporation Rosatom, is at Zarechny, near Yekaterinburg in central Russia. The station consists of four units. Units 1 and 2 – both light water graphite reactors – are permanently shut down. Unit 3 is a BN-600 fast neutron reactor with net design capacity of 560 MW and gross electrical capacity of 600 MW.

The IAEA said Russia has 37 nuclear power reactors in operation, providing almost 20% of the country’s total electrical production. It has three plants under construction, the Generation IV Brest-OD-300 lead-cooled fast reactor, Kursk 2-1 and Kursk 2-2.

“It is the first time an IAEA Osart mission was held at the power unit of a BN-800 fast neutron reactor,” said Ivan Sidorov, director of Beloyarsk NPP.

“For three weeks, the reviewers and the counterparts have worked hard, performing dozens of plant tours, interviews and observations, and analysing plant documentation for all reviewing areas.

“We appreciate the reviewers’ professional point of view, and we are ready to learn from their experience to improve safety at Beloyarsk NPP.”

In September 2022, Russia said Beloyarsk-4 had been fully loaded for the first time with commercial mixed oxide uranium-plutonium (MOX) fuel.

State nuclear fuel company Tvel said full conversion of the BN-800 to MOX fuel was a long-anticipated milestone for the nuclear industry.

The BN-800 was developed to run on MOX and Rosatom built a unique MOX fuel fabrication facility as part of its plans to close the nuclear fuel cycle.

The MOX fuel used at the BN-800 was made of a mixture of depleted uranium oxides accumulated from state enterprises and from plutonium oxides separated during the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. MOX fuel can also use weapons-grade plutonium from military sources.

Recycling fissile material in this way is known as closing the nuclear fuel cycle. The overall toxicity, fissile content and volume of the waste produced is reduced while the fissionable residuals are recycled for energy production.

MOX fuel is not produced in the US, but several European countries have been producing it for more than 20 years. Their supply of plutonium is from spent nuclear fuel rather than nuclear weapons.

Budapest seeking to diversify energy supplies, says Tass report.

Hungary’s national parliament has supported plans to allow using nuclear fuel from alternative sources to Russia for the Russian-built Paks nuclear power station, according to an unconfirmed report by the state Tass news agency.

According to Tass, lawmakers approved on Thursday (23 November) an amendment to the country’s nuclear energy strategy, proposed by the government.

The amendment says that “the [Paks] NPP may use a different, alternative fuel from another company, including during the extended period of its operation”.

Up until now, Paks has relied on Russian-supplied fuel.

“In order to ensure the facility’s long-term safety and functioning, the Hungarian government decided to look for potential alternatives,” Tass said.

The four units at Paks are VVER-440 reactors that began commercial operation between 1982 and 1987 and produce almost 50% of the country’s electricity.

Their design lifetime was 30 years, but that was extended in 2005 by 20 years to between 2032 and 2037.

In December 2022, the Hungarian parliament approved a proposal to further extend their lifespan, which means they can potentially operate into the 2050s.

Until 2022, fuel for Paks was delivered to Hungary via Ukraine, by rail, Tass said. However, after Russia invaded Ukraine, the delivery route was changed, going via the Black Sea and the Bulgarian port of Varna, from where it is delivered to Hungary by rail, via Bulgaria and Romania.

Tass said Hungary has no alternatives for fuel at Paks and the government has said “on many occasions” that it was not going to change its fuel supplier as long as deliveries remain stable.

“At the same time, the government is seeking to diversify its energy supplies in accordance with the European Union’s policies,” Tass said.

Hungary’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto has repeatedly said Budapest will not support any package of EU sanctions against Russia that includes the nuclear sector on the grounds of energy security.

Russia is also supplying two new units for the Paks 2 nuclear project. Both units will be Generation III+ VVER-1200 pressurised water reactor units.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Technology-evaluation-for-Bruce-expansion-to-begin

The Canadian company is to launch a Request for Information (RFI) to evaluate potential new nuclear technologies as part of its preliminary engagement and long-term review of expanding nuclear generation on its existing Ontario site. It has also set up a new advisory panel drawn from business, industry and labour leaders that will work in parallel with the RFI timetable.

The Bruce site - already home to eight existing Candu reactors - is earmarked for pre-development work for a new nuclear station in Ontario government plans announced in July. As well as potential new-build at Bruce - which would be Canada's first large-scale nuclear build since 1993 - Powering Ontario's Growth also includes three additional small modular reactors at Ontario Power Generation's Darlington site.

In October, the company launched an Expression of Interest process for up to 4800 MWe of new nuclear capacity at the site, and formally notified Canadian regulators of its intention to begin the site licensing and impact assessment process. The impact assessment will use a technology-neutral approach, to consider multiple nuclear technologies and provide options to the province in long-term electricity system planning, the company said. Carrying out the RFI process in parallel with the impact assessment is "prudent", according to the company.

"Looking ahead and evaluating the potential for new nuclear capacity creates a valuable option for the province in future electricity planning," said Bruce Power President and CEO Mike Rencheck. "We will carry out this evaluation with a focus on Indigenous and community engagement, a comprehensive technology review and exploring economic development, supply chain and workforce opportunities."

"With our plan already in place to meet demand this decade, we are working with Bruce Power to start pre-development work that will support future generation options, including reliable, affordable and clean nuclear energy, that will power our province into the future," Ontario Minister of Energy Todd Smith said.

Information from the RFI will also be used in a feasibility study for potential future nuclear generation elsewhere in Ontario. The study, which is being developed by Bruce Power, OPG and Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator, is due to be completed by the end of 2024.

Advisory panel

The newly announced advisory panel will present a report to Bruce Power on key items for consideration in parallel with the RFI timetable. The eleven panel members are drawn from business, industry and labour leadership.

"Exploring the advancement of large new nuclear for the first time in a generation is an undertaking that requires long-term planning, open and transparent engagement with Indigenous communities and the broader region, and a robust process building on lessons learned from Bruce Power’s Life-Extension program and the last 20 years of worldwide GEN3+ nuclear power plant construction before any decision is made to proceed," the company said. Conducting the Bruce C impact assessment in an "open and transparent manner" is an important pre-requisite to any future decisions, it added.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/INL-produces-HALEU-pellets-for-testing

Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) recently fabricated about two dozen commercial-grade high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel pellets for testing. A further 100-150 pellets are to be made for irradiation tests in the Advanced Test Reactor.

HALEU - uranium enriched to between 5% and 20% uranium-235 - will be used in the advanced nuclear fuel required for most of the next-generation reactor designs currently under development. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has been supporting measures to ensure the availability of the material for those reactors when needed, and also to build a domestic HALEU supply chain.

"With HALEU, advanced reactors can get increased fuel in-core lifetimes because you have higher enrichment," said Adrian Wagner, a metallurgical engineer and INL's Advanced Manufacturing group lead. "In simple terms, higher enrichment means more uranium-235 atoms in each pellet."

The HALEU fuel pellets made at INL's Experimental Fuels Facility contain fuel enriched to 15% uranium-235 and are "an important step in the testing and qualification process", INL said. The pellets were made at lab-scale using a traditional powder metallurgy process - a pressure-less sintering technique similar to that used by industry to make light water reactor fuel.

It noted that demonstrating the capability to fabricate a commercial quality of uranium dioxide (UO2) HALEU provides options for industry and other government agencies to make fuel samples with a wider range of enrichment without impacting existing operating licenses.

The researchers are performing tests to further characterise the pellets' properties and identify impurities.

Collaboration with GE

The team at INL plans to fabricate 100-150 pellets to be irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor.

The work, in collaboration with General Electric, will test the endurance of a prototype of cladding material that could improve the performance of existing light water reactors and future advanced reactors. This project is being funded under the DOE's Accident Tolerant Fuel Program, an industry-led effort looking to commercialise new fuels within the decade.

"The bigger picture is that it will help the licensing of advanced reactor designs, almost all of which will use some form of HALEU fuel," Wagner said.

Demonstrating UO2 HALEU fabrication "opens the door for other types of HALEU, both metallic and ceramic, and highlights INL's ability to tailor enrichments to customer and experiment requirements," INL said. It noted that nitride, boride, carbide and silicide fuels have higher uranium densities that could provide even higher levels of performance for advanced reactors.

"Our collaborators were pleased with the outcome," said Jennifer Watkins, a nuclear fuels and materials scientist at INL who led the project. "The pellets that we produced were extremely high density. Our initial characterisation efforts suggest they will meet all commercial standards for uranium dioxide.

"INL is the best place in the US to develop fabrication processes for unique and novel fuel concepts. INL has one of the widest ranges of feedstock options at a variety of enrichment levels and an extremely flexible DOE-based enrichment license allowing for adaptability to user needs."

Earlier this month, Centrus Energy delivered the first HALEU produced at its American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, to the DOE. Construction of the 16-centrifuge demonstration cascade plant began in 2019, under contract with the DOE. The delivery by Centrus of more than 20 kilograms of HALEU to the DOE means that phase one of the contract has now been completed and Centrus can move ahead with the second phase: a full year of HALEU production at the 900 kilograms per year plant. In this phase of the contract, the DOE will pay Centrus on a cost-plus incentive fee basis for the HALEU the company produces. The HALEU which DOE has taken delivery of will remain on site in Piketon in a specially constructed a storage facility until it is needed.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Commissioning-of-WIPP-ventilation-system-begins

Commissioning of the new large-scale ventilation system at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is at the top of the list of the US Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management's (EM) priorities for 2023.

As the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS) nears completion, key systems are individually turned over to commissioning for testing to ensure they function as designed before the facility is brought online. Testing of the first set of electrical cables that will supply power to mechanical equipment such as motors, fans and massive air filtration units, began in October, EM has announced.

The project to build the largest containment ventilation system in the DOE complex will significantly increase airflow underground in the deep geological salt repository for defence-related transuranic (TRU) waste. The increased airflow will mean that activities to emplace sealed drums of TRU waste from the US military programme are placed in underground rooms mined out of an ancient salt formation - can take place at the same time as facility mining and maintenance operations.

The SSCVS works in tandem with a new air utility shaft, also under construction at the New Mexico facility, and is designed to move up to 540,000 cubic feet (nearly 15,300 cubic metres) of air per minute through the underground facility. The project includes two primary buildings: the Salt Reduction Building, which pre-filters salt-laden air coming from the WIPP underground, and the New Filter Building, where fans and high-efficiency particulate air - or HEPA - filtration units can provide further filtration when needed. The system will be able to run in either filtered or unfiltered mode.

"The SSCVS will enhance the quantity, and quality, of air flow for our workforce in the WIPP underground mine," Michael Gerle, environmental regulatory compliance director for EM's Carlsbad Field Office, said. "Additionally, the new infrastructure will ensure our operations remain safe for the environment and the public."

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Dismantling-of-Lepse%C2%A0nuclear-service-ship-complete

The 10-year process of dismantling the Lepse, which was used to refuel the nuclear icebreaker fleet from 1963 to 1981 and then used for the storage of used fuel and radioactive waste, has been completed, Rosatom says.

The Lepse was a service ship for the Soviet icebreaker fleet from 1934 to 1988. It was moved in September 2012 to the Nerpa shipyard in Snezhnogorsk in the Murmansk region of Russia for dismantling. It held 639 damaged and distorted used nuclear fuel assemblies which could not be removed from their specialised storage facilities and represented a serious radiological hazard for the region. In a process which was supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the decision was taken to carve up the ship.

The Lepse was dismantled to form two large storage packages, one of which held the used fuel, and was moved into a containment shelter constructed for defueling operations and equipped with removal tools. The fuel is being sent for reprocessing at the Mayak Chemical Combine in the Urals.

According to Rosatom the last section of the vessel, the bow, has now been placed in the Sayda-Guba reactor compartment storage facility.

Andrey Nikipelov, Rosatom's Deputy Director General for Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Solutions, said the corporation was "eliminating the nuclear legacy and the toxic industrial production legacy" and had created a new radiation and chemical waste infrastructure: "For more than 20 years, we have systematically cleaned the coast of the Arctic and the Far East from radiation-hazardous objects - disposed of decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines and auxiliary ships ... today is a special day for us: one of Rosatom’s landmark environmental projects - the dismantlement of the Lepse Floating Technical Base - has been completed. Now there is one fewer hazardous objects in the Arctic."

The removal of used nuclear fuel from the area continues with the aim to remove the rest from the storage facility in Gremikha by the end of 2025. More than half of the used fuel has also been removed from the facility in Andreeva Bay which serviced nuclear submarines and contained used fuel assemblies, with the work planned to be completed in full by 2028.

Source: https://www.neimagazine.com/news/newsfinlands-olkiluoto-3-resumes-service-following-another-technical-problem-11323922

Unit 3 at Finland’s Olkiluoto NPP has resumed service after being taken offline since 19 November because of a technical problem, according to owner/operator Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO). The reactor "was in normal production when a fault in the turbine plant automatically stopped the facility's electricity production”, TVO said. "The cause of the fault was revealed to be a malfunctioning temperature measurement in the generator's cooling system." TVO added that "the incident had no impact on nuclear safety.

The next-generation European pressurised water reactor (EPR), built by the French-led Areva-Siemens consortium, produces more than 10% of Finland's electricity when it is operating.

After years of delays, the reactor was finally put into regular service in April 2023. In May, TVO reported that several cases of signal failures in safety-classified temperature measurements had been detected at the EPR reactor in 2022-2023. As a result, a decision was made to carry out more extensive inspections on the temperature measurements. In February, it was found that some connectors of temperature measurements were missing either one or both of the required seals, TVO said.

Construction of OL3 began in 2005 and various setbacks and delays mean the plant is some 14 years behind the original schedule and significantly over budget. OL3’s final price tag is put at some $11bn ($12bn), some three times the initial estimate. OL3 attained first criticality in December 2021 and was connected to the grid on in March 2022. The 1600 MWe EPR was operated at full capacity for the first time in late September 2022. However, cracks were then identified in the impellers of the feedwater pumps located in the turbine island, causing further delays.

Het kernenergiedebat laait op nu steeds meer landen, waaronder België, overwegen om naast hernieuwbare energie ook kleine kernreactoren, zogenaamde Small Modular Reactors (SMR’s), in te zetten. Alex Polfliet stelde in een opiniestuk dat SMR’s slecht zouden zijn voor het klimaat, maar zijn argumenten berusten op onnauwkeurigheden. Daarom vindt industrieel ingenieur Vincent Van der Heyden het van belang om enkele van deze misvattingen recht te zetten.

Vincent Van der Heyden23 november 2023, 03:00

Volgens Polfliet kunnen SMR’s pas tegen 2050 een rol spelen, maar in de echte wereld zijn er vandaag al concrete plannen: Canada start volgend jaar met de eerste BWRX-300, een Hitachi-GE-ontwerp met wereldwijd al 79 geplande reactoren op 26 locaties. In Europa alleen al plant Last Energy 34 PWR-20 reactoren, met de eerste oplevering in 2025 in Polen. In België wordt te veel – en vaak bewust – veralgemeend dat SMR’s pas tegen 2045 stroom zullen leveren vanwege de tijdlijn voor het ontwerp van het Molse SCK. Er zijn evenwel genoeg ontwerpen die er vroeger kunnen staan.

Het SCK-ontwerp laat langer op zich wachten vanwege het tijdsintensieve onderzoek rondom het innovatieve koelmiddel: een lood-bismutmengsel dat toestaat om de levensduur van kernafval sterk te verminderen. Huidige SMR-ontwerpen koelen hun kern, net zoals hun grotere broertjes, met water. Die watergekoelde SMR’s bieden de flexibiliteit om zich af te stemmen op de productie van wind- en zonne-energie, zonder de verdere expansie ervan te verhinderen. Bovendien stopt decarbonisatie niet na 2050. De wereld zal continu behoefte hebben aan meer koolstofarme elektriciteit, ook als windturbines, zonnepanelen, en gascentrales einde levensduur zijn. Zo schat het internationaal energieagentschap (IEA) dat de globale hoeveelheid kernenergie moet verdubbelen tegen 2050 om de netto-nuluitstoot te behalen.

Vincent Van der Heyden werkte als industrieel ingenieur bij de kerncentrale van Doel. Hij is kernenergiedeskundige voor de klimaat- en milieuorganisatie RePlanet.

Maar wat maakt SMR’s zo interessant voor België? Door hun kleine oppervlakte en vergelijkbaar vermogen zijn SMR’s perfect om gascentrales een-op-een te vervangen met behoud van de reeds bestaande hoogspanningskabels en netinfrastructuur, zonder dure uitbreidingen. Ook kunnen SMR’s de klok rond ter plekke stroom leveren aan groeiende bedrijven en installaties zoals datacenters voor AI, farmaceutische productielijnen, of elektrische staalovens, zonder het elektriciteitsnet extra te belasten. Dergelijke bedrijven staan vandaag echter voor een dilemma: of ze maken plaats voor meer hernieuwbare energie en opslag op hun bedrijfsterreinen, of ze tappen stroom uit een gascentrale. De mogelijkheid om met beperkt landgebruik CO2-arme atoomstroom te produceren wordt door artikel 3 van de wet op de kernuitstap echter volledig geblokkeerd.

Vandaag moeten we verder kijken dan kortzichtige politieke besluiten van 20 jaar geleden, zeker nu de urgentie steeds duidelijker wordt. Klimaatverandering kunnen we niet serieus aanpakken als we selectief zijn in onze oplossingen. Om een technologieneutrale toekomst bespreekbaar te maken, moeten we artikel 3 van de wet op de kernuitstap schrappen. Dat zijn we de toekomstige generaties verschuldigd.

Eiffage signs contract with EDF for civil engineering at Penly EPR2 site.

Preparatory work on the construction France’s new generation of EPR nuclear power plants could begin in the middle of next year if state energy company EDF receives all permits.

France-based civil engineering construction company Eiffage revealed the schedule after it said it had signed a contract with EDF to carry out the main civil engineering works for the first pair of EPR2-type nuclear power plants at the existing Penly nuclear site in northern France.

Eiffage said the contract, signed through subsidiary Eiffage Génie Civil, “has a value greater than four billion euros” ($4.3bn).

The contract includes the construction of two units, including 69 civil structures, the company said. The civil engineering phase will include the construction of the reactor containment buildings, the turbine hall buildings and a six-storey operation building.

In July, EDF filed an application to build the first pair of EPR2 nuclear power plants at Penly.

France has also announced plans for pairs of EPR2 units at Gravelines in northern France and Bugey in eastern France.

The construction programme of six reactors will cost an estimated €52bn.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Last-fuel-assembly-unloaded-at-Kursk-unit-1

The first stage of decommissioning of the Kursk nuclear power plant's first unit has been completed with the last used fuel assembly unloaded from the reactor core.

Alexander Uvakin, director of the Kursk plant, said that after removing the fuel from the RBMK-1000 unit they would be proceeding to dismantle the equipment. Kursk 1 retired in December 2021 after 45 years of power generation. During its operation it generated more than 251 billion KWh of electricity.

Andrey Shchigolev, chief engineer of Kursk NPP, said: "The unloading of spent fuel assemblies began in July 2022. The first batch consisted of 300 cassettes. Part of the fuel was sent for 'afterburning' to the reactors of the operating power units 3 and 4 of the Kursk plant. Thanks to 'afterburning', the enterprise has the opportunity to increase the energy efficiency of fuel - to dispose of the resource more efficiently."

The four units at Kursk, which is in western Russia about 60 kilometres (37.5 miles) from the Ukraine border, came online between 1976 and 1985. They are in the process of being replaced by four new units at Kursk II that will feature VVER-TOI reactors, the latest version of Russia's large light-water designs. They have upgraded pressure vessels and a higher power rating of 3300 MWt that enables them to generate 1300 MWe gross.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/MEPs-fully-include-nuclear-in-Net-Zero-Industry-Ac

The European Parliament has adopted its position on the proposed Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), which is intended to bolster Europe's manufacturing output in technologies needed for decarbonisation. MEPs included nuclear fission and fusion among a list of 17 technologies covered by the legislation.

Europe largely imports these decarbonisation technologies, and many non-EU countries have stepped up their efforts to expand their clean energy manufacturing capacity.

The NZIA - proposed by the European Commission in March - sets a target for Europe to produce 40% of its annual deployment needs in net-zero technologies by 2030 and to capture 25% of the global market value for these technologies. The legislation - part of the EU's Green Deal Industrial Plan and seen as a response to the USA's Inflation Reduction Act - also intends to deal with the challenges in scaling up manufacturing capacities in these technologies.

In their amendments, MEPs broadened the scope of the draft legislation to encompass the entire supply chain, including components, materials and machinery for producing net-zero technologies. They propose a wider, more comprehensive list of 17 technologies to be covered, to be updated periodically. Notably, MEPs included nuclear fission and fusion technologies, sustainable aviation fuels and specific industrial technologies.

Nuclear had only partially been included in the commission's proposal for NZIA. Among the 10 technologies it proposed was "advanced technologies to produce energy from nuclear processes with minimal waste from the fuel cycle, small modular reactors, and related best-in-class fuels".

The law retains two project classifications: net-zero technology manufacturing projects and net-zero strategic projects. It also aims to streamline the permitting process, setting a timeline of 9-12 months for regular projects and 6-9 months for strategic projects to be authorised.

The legislation would earmark funding from national Emission Trading System revenues and for most strategic projects through the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform, a step towards a European Sovereignty fund, MEPs say.

The legislation was adopted on 21 November with 376 votes to 139, with 116 abstentions.

"With the adoption of this proposal, MEPs are showing they are serious about making Europe fit for industrial manufacturing," said lead MEP Christian Ehler of the European People's Party. "Without these steps to reduce the administrative burden, speed up processes, and increased public investment in our industry and innovation, Europe would face decarbonisation by deindustrialisation. This proposal shows we can prevent this."

The proposed NZIA will now be forwarded to EU member states in the Council of Ministers for talks in early December to finalise the law.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says the fifth unit at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is switching from hot to cold shutdown to allow investigation of why boron had been detected in a cooling circuit.

The transition of the unit to cold shutdown began on Monday and the plan, the IAEA said, is that once it is in cold shutdown, those running Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been under Russian military control since March 2022, "will carry out tests to identify why low levels of boron were found in the secondary cooling circuit of one of the unit’s steam generators".

The IAEA said it had been told by the plant operators "that the boron concentration in the affected cooling circuit remained below the limits permitted by its technical specifications. In addition, no radioactivity has been detected in the secondary cooling circuit. Borated water is used in the primary coolant to help maintain nuclear safety".

The plant operators decided to move it to cold shutdown after one of three 17.4 MW diesel boilers off-site started operating, providing heating to Energodar.

Two of the six reactors have been kept in hot shutdown to provide heating and steam for nuclear safety purposes on the site, as well as to provide heating for people living at the associated city of Energodar. This is despite the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine issuing regulatory orders in June that all six units should be in cold shutdown. The IAEA said it had been told that there were no plans to bring a second unit into hot shutdown to replace unit 5.

In the agency's update it said its experts were still seeking to understand the cause of unit 6 losing power and having to rely on a diesel generator for 90 minutes last week. Its experts stationed at the plant are also set to observe the plant's planned emergency exercise.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said: "Emergency exercises are very important for nuclear safety, especially in these times of heightened risk caused by the conflict."

Grossi last week welcomed the access agency experts had been given to visit all six main reactor control rooms, one after the other. They continue to seek the same access to all the turbine halls to be able to monitor compliance with the UN-backed safety principles - which include not firing at, or from, the nuclear power plant and not using it to store heavy military equipment.

Utility signs deal with OPG on advancement of reactor programme.

Canadian utility SaskPower is aiming to deploy small modular reactors (SMRs) in the province of Saskatchewan in the mid-2030s, aided by a cooperation agreement with nuclear operator Ontario Power Generation (OPG).

SaskPower has agreed to work with OPG and its subsidiary Laurentis Energy Partners on the advancement of its SMR programme.

SaskPower has already chosen the GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 SMR for potential deployment in Saskatchewan, subject to a decision to build that is expected in 2029.

The same technology is to be deployed by OPG at its Darlington nuclear power station in Ontario by the end of the decade.

OPG said in a statement that under the new agreement, Laurentis Energy Partners will focus on programme management, licensing and operational readiness activities related to the Saskatchewan SMR project. The agreement will be valid for five years.

An earlier agreement between OPG and SaskPower relates to the exchange of lessons learned, technical resources, expertise, best practices, and operating experience.

The two companies would also consider opportunities for collaboration in other areas, including project development and plant operation, the statement said.

“Through these agreements, we are using a fleet-style approach, which will increase efficiency and decrease costs as we deploy much-needed new nuclear generation in both provinces,” said Ken Hartwick, OPG president and chief executive.

Todd Smith, Ontario’s energy minister, said Ontario is ready to support partners in Canada, like Saskatchewan, and around the world. “The world is watching Ontario as we deploy the world’s first grid-scale SMR to power our province’s growth.”

In August 2023, Canada approved up to CAD74m (€50m, $54m) in federal funding for SMR development in Saskatchewan.

The money would go for pre-engineering work, technical studies, environmental assessments, regulatory studies and community engagement to help SaskPower move its SMR plans forward.

In September 2022, SaskPower said it had chosen two sites in Saskatchewan for the potential construction of an SMR. The company said an area will be selected by 2023, with a specific site chosen by 2024.

Source: https://www.neimagazine.com/news/newswork-begins-to-straighten-graphite-stacks-of-rbmk-reactors-at-smolensk-npp-11317845

Resource performance management of graphite stacks is underway at Russia’s Smolensk NPP. In October, the station completed a planned repair at unit 1, during which the straightness of 137 graphite columns was restored – 8% of the total volume. The next stage will take place at the station next year. “Specialists continuously monitor the graphite stack, an irreplaceable part of the RBMK reactor, and have long known that over time it begins to change shape: to swell and crack, which causes the process channels to deform,” explained Alexey Leshchenko, Chief Engineer at Smolensk NPP. “Their deformation, or the so-called deflection arrow, is the most important operational parameter that determines the further operation of the reactor plant. The maximum value is 110 mm, more than that is unsafe. At unit 1, the largest deflection is 99 mm.”

The essence of resource performance management is to restore the straightness of graphite columns. According to the deputy head of the reactor workshop, Sergei Orlov, described the work. After the reactor cooled down, the fuel was unloaded, the technological channels were removed, and the graphite blocks from which the columns were assembled were cut longitudinally along the entire height.

“We used a special device with a cutting unit and a video surveillance system (the image from the camera was displayed on the operator’s monitor). Next, the holes were calibrated, the cuts were inspected for the presence of fragments that would interfere with the closure of the blocks, and they were removed,” he said. “Then the graphite stack was ‘shaken’ – the main circulation pumps were turned on to dynamically influence the graphite, and further inspections took place. Some cells were re-cut along the closed cuts, the deflection arrows were measured, new technological channels were installed and fuel was loaded.”

“The technology that makes it possible to control the resource characteristics of the reactor core was developed by the innovators of the Leningrad NPP more than 10 years ago,” noted First Deputy Chief Engineer Vadim Skirda. “Later, the procedure was significantly improved. Now the procedure at the Leningrad and Kursk stations is already an integral part of their operation. Having studied their experience and applied it in practice, we now have an adequate response to the process of masonry shaping.”

Alexey Leonov, chief specialist of the nuclear safety and reliability department at Smolensk NPP said: “The geometry of the channels and the deflection of the graphite columns were measured using high-precision systems produced by the Prolog company. The results confirmed previous forecasts and the need to proceed with the first full-scale cutting. The volume and sequence of restoration work, the coordinates of 137 cells for cutting (8% of the total volume of columns with technological channels) were determined by specialists from the NA Dollezhal Scientific Research & Design Institute of Power Engineering (JSC Nikiet) in accordance with programme calculations.”

“The ambitiousness of the task lay not only in the fundamental novelty for us, but also in the fact that it had to be solved in an extremely short time,” added Deputy Chief Engineer Andrey Piskov. “It took a lot of staff effort to make everything work. We the resource management project, the roadmap of which was updated more than once to meet changing requirements. As a result, the optimisation took 16 days, the planned repairs were completed in 109 days instead of 125, the emergency control itself took 58.9 days, which became one of the key events both for the nuclear power plant and for [nuclear utility] Rosenergoatom.”

He added that the use of an automated process control system (developed by Smolensk nuclear scientists) helped to better plan and adjust volumes, and allocate resources more optimally. The current situation was always visualised on a cartogram. “This allowed us to predict potential problems and take compensatory measures in advance.”

Smolenskatomenergoremont (SAER) also launched its own project to maintain the specified pace of replacement of technological channels. “Our personnel were engaged in dismantling the technological channels at the bottom of the apparatus and collecting waste from cutting graphite,” said SAER Chief Engineer Maxim Marochkin. “We had experience in performing such work, but in previous years the volumes were significantly smaller. In order to replace 137 channels on time, we worked in three shifts, around the clock, seven days a week, together with specialists from the centralised repair shop of the Smolensk NPP and the Prolog company. Any difficulties that occurred were resolved through personnel rotation, hourly planning with the issuance of shift assignments, and constant monitoring by the management of the nuclear power plant and our branch.”

The main result is that it was possible to reduce the curvature of the columns throughout the entire volume of the graphite stack to values that allow the safe operation of the reactor installation for 300 effective days. An effective day means continuous 24-hour operation at rated power.

“In 2024, unit 1 will undergo the next stage of its development, and preparations for it are in the active phase,” noted Andrey Piskov. “We will introduce new technical methods: for calibrating graphite columns, collecting and removing graphite. Prolog has begun developing equipment; the engineers of this company say they do not expect revolution, but evolution is possible. In addition, we plan to increase the number of cutting jobs from four to five and take corrective measures to reduce defects in welding operations.

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/update-195-iaea-director-general-statement-on-situation-in-ukraine

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is transitioning its reactor unit 5 to cold from hot shutdown and intends to determine the cause of boron detected in a cooling circuit, still leaving one of the plant’s six reactors in hot shutdown to produce steam and heating, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.

The unit’s transition to cold shutdown began yesterday and is expected to be completed later today, according to the ZNPP. Unit 4 will remain in hot shutdown. There are currently no plans to bring a second unit into hot shutdown to replace unit 5, the plant said.

Once in cold shutdown, the ZNPP will carry out tests to identify why low levels of boron were found in the secondary cooling circuit of one of the unit’s steam generators.

The ZNPP informed the IAEA experts at the site that the boron concentration in the affected cooling circuit remained below the limits permitted by its technical specifications. In addition, no radioactivity has been detected in the secondary cooling circuit. Borated water is used in the primary coolant to help maintain nuclear safety.

The ZNPP decided to move the unit to cold shutdown after one of the three 17.4 megawatt diesel boilers located off-site started operating on 17 November, providing additional heating to the nearby town of Enerhodar, where many plant staff live.

The ZNPP had been keeping reactor units 4 and 5 in hot shutdown to provide heating and steam for nuclear safety purposes on site, as well as heating for Enerhodar. The IAEA continues to follow the ZNPP’s progress to find an alternative source of steam generation. Ukraine’s national regulator, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU), issued regulatory orders in June to limit the operation of all six units of the ZNPP to a cold shutdown state.

Separately, the IAEA experts on the site are continuing to gather information to fully understand the cause of the event that occurred last week which resulted in unit 6 losing power and relying on a diesel generator for 90 minutes.

Later this week, the IAEA team has been invited to observe the ZNPP’s planned emergency exercise.

“We look forward to observing the emergency response exercise at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant from both the temporary emergency control centre and in the field,” Director General Grossi said. “Emergency exercises are very important for nuclear safety, especially in these times of heightened risk caused by the conflict.”

The IAEA team at the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) last week observed an emergency exercise at that plant and today the IAEA team at the Chornobyl site observed an emergency drill at the radioactive liquid waste treatment plant.

The IAEA teams at the Khmelnitsky, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs and the Chornobyl site report safe and secure operations of these nuclear facilities despite the continuation of the conflict.

How can we provide a reliable supply of energy far out to sea, or on an island, or in a coastal community? The typical answer is by using fossil-fuelled generators. But as efforts to decarbonize global energy systems expand, one of the answers could be to use a floating nuclear power plant (FNPP).

Interest is growing in installing small modular reactors (SMRs) on floating barges or platforms to provide clean electricity and heat for remote coastal locations, to decarbonize offshore oil and gas or mining activities, or even to provide grid scale electricity production, unlocking cost reductions through serial production in shipyards. At an IAEA symposium on floating nuclear power plants that took place from 14-15 November 2023 in Vienna, legal experts, nuclear and maritime regulators, and industry leaders discussed the benefits and challenges of FNPPs and exactly what role they could play in the fight against climate change and the transition to Net Zero.

Opening the meeting, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that in many countries “there is active consideration of floating nuclear power plants”. However, as part of discussions about their viability and potential applications, the Director General said that safeguards and the international legal and regulatory implications needed to be thoroughly analysed.

Nuclear energy has already been in use for about 60 years in naval ships and icebreakers propulsion. However, FNPPs are different since they will produce low-carbon power and heat for different applications, including district heating, desalination and hydrogen production.

Floating NPPs can be built in a factory, assembled in a shipyard and transported to a site, all of which may help to speed up construction and keep costs down. Canada, China, Denmark, South Korea, Russia and the USA are each working on marine small modular reactor designs, some are in advanced development, and Russia even has one FNPP, the Akademik Lomonosov, in commercial operation in the far east of the country. The Akademik Lomonosov FNPP has been in operation, producing electricity and district heating, since 2020. It has replaced the shut down Bilibino NPP and the aging Chaunsk coal power plant.

However, it is the very mobility of these FNPPs that raises new questions, particularly when they move across international borders or operate in international, rather than territorial, waters. For example, how does the licensing and regulation process work when a FNPP is built and fuelled in one country’s jurisdiction, and then transported to another jurisdiction?

“The IAEA is working with our Member States to determine what further guidance and standards might be needed to ensure the safety of floating nuclear power plants", IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, Lydie Evrard, said. "The IAEA’s safety standards serve as the global reference for protecting people and the environment from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation. There are also considerable legal and regulatory challenges that must be addressed if a truly international floating nuclear power market is to emerge,” she said.

Topan Setiadipura, the Co-Chair of the Symposium and Head of the Research Centre for Nuclear Reactor Technology (BRIN) in Indonesia said, “to some extent, floating NPPs are an interesting option for Indonesia as many power or utilities companies have floating diesel power plants or floating gas power plants”. However, acquiring more information and knowledge is essential to understanding whether embarking countries like Indonesia could use FNPPs in the future to replace fossil-fuelled floating power plants, he said.

During the symposium, discussions focused on current and future designs of FNPPs and their uses, including, for example, as a floating offshore installation for production of clean hydrogen to be converted into green ammonia for use in agriculture or as a low carbon shipping fuel. Participants also examined the specific challenges that the movability of FNPPs pose for their licensing, regulation, transportation and application of safeguards. Nuclear safety and security were discussed, including the extent to which the current standards and practices can, or cannot, be applied to FNPPs. The symposium’s concluding session identified the next possible steps to enable the deployment of floating nuclear power plants, including the establishment of a mechanism to improve communication between the nuclear and maritime industry on one hand, and regulators on the other, with focus on application of security and safeguards by design.

“Getting to Net Zero requires the use of all clean energies available,” Mikhail Chudakov, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Energy, told the gathering. “Floating nuclear power plants are not in competition with land-based SMRs but extend the use and potential of such nuclear technology to reach our Net Zero targets.”

The symposium was organized in the frame of the Agency-wide Platform on SMRs and their Applications which aims at providing consistent and coordinated support to Member States for the development, deployment and oversight of SMRs. Through the Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative (NHSI), the IAEA also brings together policy makers, regulators, designers, vendors and operators to harmonize and standardize regulatory and industrial approaches to enable the effective global deployment of safe and secure advanced nuclear reactors.

Spurce: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Sri-Lankan-government-has-plans-for-nuclear,-minis

Sri Lanka's government intends to include nuclear energy in its long-term plans, the country's Minister of Power and Energy said as the country's cabinet approved electricity sector reforms.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposed electricity sector reforms bill on 20 November, with Kanchana Wijesekera saying on X (formerly Twitter): "Once approved by the Parliament the new Electricity Act will enable the unbundling of CEB (Ceylon Electricity Board) services, restructure CEB, improve efficiency, transparency & accountability and will allow private sector participation across generation, transmission & distribution."

Ahead of the Cabinet decision, Wijesekera said the government planned to call for expressions of interest (EOI) for the establishment of nuclear power in Sri Lanka, following a meeting with officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "Discussed the structuring of a robust legal framework for Nuclear Energy integration, safe use of it, disposing waste & public awareness. The Govt intends to include the safe use of Nuclear Energy as a part of the long term generation plans & will call for EOIs for establishing nuclear power plants & modern technology," he wrote on X on Friday.

Sri Lanka's 2020 production of 15.6 TWh of electricity was dominated by fossil fuels, which accounted for some 10 TWh, and hydro (5 TWh) alongside some wind and solar, according to World Nuclear Association information. The CEB - which is responsible for electricity generation and transmission in Sri Lanka - has included nuclear from 2030 under scenarios in in its long-term energy plans.

In 2022, a team of IAEA experts carried out a review of Sri Lanka's readiness to commit to a nuclear power programme in an Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review which focused on the first stage of the IAEA's Milestones Approach for countries that are newcomers to nuclear energy.