Nuclear Energy

UK report says supply of nuclear fuel has also emerged as ‘significant concern’.

The renewed focus on nuclear power is facing a number of challenges with a broad shortage of skilled tradespeople in the sector exacerbated by the imminent retirement of the current nuclear workforce, UK-based consulting firm Charles River Associates (CRA) says in a report.

The report, Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies: A Tailwind for Nuclear Energy Revival, says a multiyear, multi-unit buildup of nuclear reactors will require addressing the labour shortage at various stages, including education, recruitment for entry-level positions and the identification of highly skilled master tradespeople.

In parallel, the supply of nuclear fuel has emerged as a significant concern for the US and Western European countries.

One contributing factor is the limited number of primary low-enriched uranium suppliers, counting six, with one in the US.

Concerns around fuel-supply limitations are heightened by the fact that some advanced reactor designs will likely necessitate the use of high-assay low-enriched uranium (Haleu).

Presently, the only countries possessing Haleu enrichment capabilities are China and Russia.

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

The report says the renewed prominence of nuclear in the energy transition reflects the growing emphasis on energy security and decarbonisation among policymakers.

Alongside the repowering of existing nuclear plants, advanced nuclear technologies are now also under the spotlight as they hold the promise of shorter construction timelines, lower overhead costs and cross-industry applications.

Tallinn focusing on benefits of small modular reactors.

Estonia, which is planning to deploy small modular reactors as it seeks to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, has developed a comprehensive assessment of its nuclear power infrastructure needs that will enable the government to decide whether to launch a nuclear power programme, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team said.

The IAEA team concluded an eight-day mission to Estonia to review the country’s infrastructure development for a nuclear power programme.

Estonia is looking at nuclear power as a reliable and low-carbon option to diversify its energy mix by 2035 when the country plans to phase out domestic oil shale.

The IAEA said plans for nuclear energy are focused on the deployment of SMRs, which are the focus of increased global interest due to their ability to meet the need for flexible and affordable power generation for a wider range of users.

Estonia established a nuclear energy working group in 2021 to review the infrastructure needed for the nuclear power programme.

Its comprehensive report – planned to be finalised in December 2023 – will provide recommendations to support the government to make a decision regarding the nuclear energy programme.

In October 2022, a draft report by the working group said Estonia could get its first nuclear power plant by 2035, but politicians still need to sign off on the plans and a final version of the report would not be ready until 2023.

The IAEA team said Estonia has commissioned a comprehensive set of detailed studies as part of its assessment of new nuclear. The country’s strategy to support future human resource development aims to ensure the short-term and long-term success of the nuclear power programme.

Estonia now needs to finalise its comprehensive report to support the decision on a potential nuclear power programme, including with clear timelines for the major activities. It also needs to complete plans and policies related to the development of its legal and regulatory framework.

Earlier this year, private company Fermi Energia chose US-based GE-Hitachi’s BWRX-300 as its preferred nuclear plant for possible deployment in the country.

The company has shortlisted two potential areas for the possible location of a nuclear power plant in northeastern Estonia.

• Source: https://www.ad.nl/klimaat/atoomcooperatie-wil-meebeslissen-en-participeren-in-nieuwe-kerncentrales~a4fdb499/
• Zonder paywall: https://archive.ph/Hgs48

Een nieuwe Atoomcoöperatie wil dat burgers en MKB-bedrijven nauwer betrokken raken bij de aanleg van nieuwe kerncentrales in Nederland. De nucleaire coöperatie, volgens haar oprichters de eerste in haar soort in de wereld, moet als gesprekspartner dienen voor de overheid en mee investeren als plannen worden uitgevoerd.

De Atoomcoöperatie volgt het voorbeeld van bestaande energiecoöperaties die al participeren in projecten voor zon- en windenergie. ,,Wij willen dit ook voor kerncentrales mogelijk maken en we zien graag dat burgers en bedrijven kunnen meebeslissen en meeprofiteren als er nieuwe kerncentrales worden gebouwd”, zegt medeoprichter Patrick Bauduin.

Dinsdag is de eerste bijeenkomst, in aanwezigheid van ambtenaren van het ministerie van Energie en Klimaat en enkele Kamerleden, van de coöperatie in Amsterdam. Inmiddels zijn er bijna tweehonderd leden. Het demissionaire kabinet wenst dat er twee grote nieuwe kerncentrales worden gebouwd bij Borssele, maar ook enkele provincies beraden zich op de aanleg van kleinere modellen.

Aan tafel in Limburg

,,In gesprekken met overheden en industrieclusters bleek dat zij een coöperatie een aantrekkelijke vorm vinden om goed met de burgerij te kunnen overleggen", verklaart medeoprichter Wim Fleuren. ,,Juist in de regio, zoals bijvoorbeeld Limburg, is men al heel ver met het denken over kleine kerncentrales als CO2-vrije aanvulling op het stroomnet.” Zo zit de coöperatie in Limburg al aan tafel.

Investeren in een kerncentrales klinkt leuk, maar anders dan bij enkele windturbines of zonnepanelen gaat het wel gelijk om miljarden euro’s. Met voldoende leden moet gedeeltelijke financiële participatie echter geen probleem zijn, meent Bauduin. ,,Burgers en MKB-bedrijven hebben alle belang bij vaste tarieven en een stabiele levering van elektriciteit. Daar is het ons om te doen.”

Bouw extra kerncentrales

Met haar deelname in nieuwe kerncentrales wil de Atoomcoöperatie het draagvlak onder Nederlandse burgers voor kernenergie verder vergroten. Zes op de tien Nederlanders is al voorstander van de bouw van extra kerncentrales in Nederland. De nieuwe club noemt dat ‘bemoedigend’.

,,We hebben al zo lang getreuzeld om te komen tot een stabiele CO2-vrije en betaalbare energievoorziening”, zegt Fleuren. ,,We moeten nu haast maken. Wij willen bij bestuurders en bedrijven aan tafel zitten om ze vanuit verschillende achtergronden expertise te leveren en te ondersteunen. Alleen dan kunnen we versnellen en de beste keuzes maken.”

• Source: https://www.pzc.nl/oscar-garschagen/borssele-50-en-dan-geen-feest-raar~ae0db3cdb/
• Zonder paywall: https://archive.ph/DVWgB

Het zijn geen feestbeesten bij de kerncentrale Borssele. Geven de meesten op hun vijftigste verjaardag een partijtje, bij ‘Borssele’ is het op de druilerige jaardag stil. Goudgele Happy Birthday 50 versieringen ontbreken. Raar, en bijna net zo saai als de verkiezingscampagne tot nu toe. Vijftig jaar veilig CO2-neutrale stroom opwekken en vijftig jaar radioactief afval verwerken zonder een millisievert straling te verspreiden; er worden voor minder feestzalen afgehuurd.

Maar vermoedelijk wordt er binnenskamers wel gejuicht. De weerstand tegen de atoomcentrale is grotendeels verdampt. De onberedeneerde angst voor atoomstroom ebt weg. De herinnering aan ‘Tsjernobyl’ is vervaagd en ‘Fukushima’ viel qua straling enorm mee. De meeste politieke partijen willen om de klimaatdoelen te behalen er zelfs twee reactoren bijplaatsen. Ze riskeren daarmee geen stemmen en geen grote Atoomenergie. Nee Bedankt!-demo’s, hooguit wat X-meuk.

Zeeland is vóór de komst van ‘Borssele’ 2 en 3. Bestuurders ruiken kansen en sleutelen aan een stevig voorwaardenpakket, vastbesloten niet te worden weggezet als Calimero’s. Zelfs Frans Timmermans, de spits van PvdA/GL, heeft niets tegen kernenergie, zei hij in College Tour. ,,Alleen niet in Nederland”, voegde hij er campagne-tactisch aan toe. Zijn duidelijk verdeelde achterban moet blijkbaar worden gepaaid.

Dat er geen plek is, was zijn zwakste argument. Een kerncentrale neemt vergeleken met zon- en windparken amper plaats in. EW-columnist Simon Rozendaal liet uitrekenen dat de kerncentrale op een terrein van 200 bij 200 meter staat en 485 megawatt oplevert. Dat is een vermogensdichtheid van maar liefst 11000 watt per vierkante meter. Windpark Borssele beslaat 344 vierkante kilometer en levert 1502 megawatt op, dus amper 2 watt per vierkante meter.

De bouw van centrales zal twintig jaar duren, zei Timmermans. Ja, door oerwouden aan regels duren alle kunstwerken hier lang, maar bouwregels zijn te veranderen. Dat moet sowieso gebeuren. Wereldwijd is de gemiddelde bouwtijd zes tot acht jaar, weet ik van Marco Visscher, auteur van informatieve Waarom we niet bang hoeven zijn voor kernenergie. Een aanrader voor allen met een tunnelvisie als die van de PvdA/GL. Misschien zien zij dan, om met Loesje te spreken, ook ‘het licht aan het einde van hun mening’.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A lengthy, bipartisan list of Ohio House lawmakers introduced legislation Tuesday that would expand the legal definition of “green energy” to include nuclear power.

The bill is a way of saying that Ohio should increase its nuclear generation, and that the state is open for business to the industry, according to state Rep. Sean Brennan, a Parma Democrat who sponsored it. He said he supports wind and solar power, but if Ohio is going to get off fossil fuels, nuclear power is realistically going to need to be a major part of the way there.

Last year, state lawmakers added a provision to state law that created a new legal definition for the term “green energy” that explicitly includes energy generated via natural gas.

The new law also includes any energy resource that either releases “reduced” air pollutants or is more sustainable “relative to some fossil fuels” – an expansive definition for a term usually reserved for renewable resources like wind or solar power.

Brennan wasn’t in the House at the time, but said he’d have voted against that, because gas is a fossil fuel and therefore not “green.” Nuclear, on the other hand, produces huge amounts of power without emitting the hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide as coal or gas.

The bill, according to Brennan, doesn’t provide any subsidies or credits and is largely symbolic. State Rep. Dick Stein, a Norwalk Republican, a cosponsor who has carried other pro-nuclear bills, didn’t return a phone call.

More than half the power Ohio generated in 2022 came from natural gas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Another roughly 12% came from Ohio’s two nuclear plants, located near Toledo and Cleveland, owned by Energy Harbor. Renewables produced about 4%.

The bill has not yet been assigned to a committee, where it would undergo hearings before any future votes.

Mocht er in de toekomst in Limburg een compacte kerncentrale gebouwd worden, dan kunnen burgers via de onlangs opgerichte Atoomcoöperatie daar een aandeel in kopen. De coöperatie wil dat burgers en bedrijven kunnen meebeslissen en meeprofiteren van de bouw van kleine kernreactoren, die volgens de initiatiefnemers onmisbaar zijn in de energietransitie.

De Atoomcoöperatie, uniek in de wereld, wordt dinsdag officieel in Amsterdam gelanceerd. Ze is al lid van de Alliantie voor Kernenergie in Limburg. Dat project, waarvan de provincie aanjager is en waarin onder meer ook bedrijven van Chemelot zijn vertegenwoordigd, onderzoekt de mogelijkheden en onmogelijkheden van kernenergie in Limburg.

„Er zijn al vele energie-coöperaties in Nederland waarin mensen mede-eigenaar kunnen worden van een windpark of zonneweide”, zegt medeoprichter Patrick Bauduin van De Atoomcoöperatie. „Wij kijken of wij dat ook voor kerncentrales mogelijk kunnen maken.”

Stabiel

Het initiatief wil voorstanders engageren en de bouw van kleine centrales versnellen. „We investeren momenteel sterk in zon en wind, maar zijn qua stroom afhankelijk van het weer”, stelt medeoprichter Wim Fleuren uit Voerendaal.

We hebben gewoon een stabiele en leveringszekere energievoorziening nodig. Kernenergie zal ons daarbij helpen. Wij willen met bestuurders, bewoners en bedrijven om de tafel en ze motiveren om te investeren in leveringszekerheid en betaalbaarheid van energie.”

Investeringen

Zodra er een project en locatie zijn gekozen zullen er voor de verschillende fases van het project investeringsrondes worden uitgeschreven waar leden (burgers en bedrijven) van de coöperatie aan kunnen deelnemen.

‘Atoomstroom nodig om snel groeiende energiehonger te stillen’

Wim Fleuren (64) uit Voerendaal is medeoprichter van De Atoomcoöperatie. Hij is een warm pleitbezorger van atoomstroom en wil particulieren de kans geven om te investeren in de bouw van kleine kerncentrales.

Waarom moeten burgers lid worden van de coöperatie?„Wij willen mensen enthousiast maken voor kernenergie, want met alleen zonne- en windenergie redden wij het niet. Zeker niet op de langere termijn, als de stroomhonger fors toeneemt. Immers: alles en iedereen moet van het gas af en over op elektriciteit. De industrie, maar ook de bakker op de hoek en de huishoudens. Door samen te werken krijgen we langjarig zicht op een stabiele, schone en betaalbare energievoorziening. Leden krijgen de kans om mee te denken, ideeën aan te dragen, prioriteiten te stellen en in de toekomst eventueel actief te investeren en mee te profiteren.”

Uit onderzoek van energiebedrijf Zonneplan blijkt dat pas 28,7 procent van de Limburgers warm loopt voor kernenergie.„Zoals er ook tegenstanders zijn willen wij vooral een beweging zijn voor mensen van goede wil. Het enthousiasmeren van burgers is een eerste belangrijke stap. Als straks de zon niet schijnt en het windstil is, wordt de stroom duur of valt uit. Back-upsystemen als batterijen zijn erg kostbaar. Wij hebben die kernreactors echt nodig. Een groot voordeel is ook dat ze geen CO₂ uitstoten. En de warmte die vrijkomt bij de energieproductie kan ten goede komen aan de gebouwde omgeving of de industrie.”

Wat kost een kleine kerncentrale?„Populair op dit moment is de BWRX-300 van GE Hitachi, goed voor 300 megawatt. De kosten voor zo’n kleine, modulaire kernreactor worden geschat op circa 1,5 miljard euro. Als bedrijfsleven, burgers en overheid zich samenpakken kan er snel worden gescoord. Het juridische vergunningstraject is natuurlijk een uitdaging. Daar gaan zo’n drie, vier jaar overheen. De bouwtijd vergt ook nog eens drie tot vier jaar.”

Hoe kunnen burgers miljarden bij elkaar krijgen?„We gaan een financieringsmodel opzetten waarbij we slechts een klein deel als eigen vermogen op tafel hoeven te leggen. De rest van de som wordt bij elkaar gebracht met behulp van geldverstrekkers en andere financiers. Afhankelijk van de support door de leden zal het aandeel in een nieuwe kerncentrale groter of kleiner zijn.”

Hoe profiteert een burger van zijn investering?„Wanneer het ingelegde bedrag gaat renderen, wordt er dividend uitgekeerd. Per project wordt een risicoprofiel vastgesteld. Zo ver zijn we echter nog lang niet. Eerst willen we draagvlak creëren, burgers en bedrijven engageren, krachten bundelen. We willen langzaam beginnen. Gelukkig loopt de provincie Limburg voorop. Het is goed mogelijk dat de eerste kleine centrale in deze provincie gaat landen.”

Is het wel aantrekkelijk om jaren vooruit te financieren, nog los van de terugverdientijd?„Het is een keuze. Je krijgt in de tussentijd rente op de investering en plukt er later de revenuen van. Zoiets zal zeker niet voor iedereen zijn weggelegd.”

Wat is de meerwaarde van een centrale als er voldoende zonnestroom is?„Als er genoeg zonne- en windenergie voorhanden is, zou je met atoomstroom tijdelijk waterstof kunnen maken. Waterstof is een energiedrager die je makkelijk kunt opslaan voor de periodes dat er minder stroom voorhanden is. Je zou de waterstof ook rechtstreeks aan de industrie kunnen leveren.”

De verwachting is dat de provincie eind dit jaar de knoop doorgehakt over de wenselijkheid van een of meer kleinere kerncentrales.„Het is belangrijk dat er snel duidelijkheid komt. Wij moeten aan de gang, met zo veel energie-intensieve industrie in deze provincie. We kunnen het ons niet veroorloven dat ooit een deel stilvalt omdat er niet genoeg zonne- of windstroom voorhanden is.”

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/update-191-iaea-director-general-statement-on-situation-in-ukraine

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts have assessed the damage caused by this week’s powerful explosions near Ukraine’s Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant (KhNPP), observing 26 broken windows but reporting no impact on nuclear safety and security at the site, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

The IAEA team present at the KhNPP has conducted a thorough walkdown at the site after blast waves early on Wednesday morning shattered windows in several of its buildings and briefly cut external power to two off-site radiation monitoring stations. Ukraine said it had shot down two drones five and 20 kilometres from the plant, respectively.

The KhNPP is now installing thin metal sheets to replace the damaged windows until permanent replacements can be procured. One reactor is continuing to operate, while the second unit remains in planned outage since early August.

Separately, the IAEA is aware of Russian reports of three drones identified in an area near the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (KuNPP) in the south of the Russian Federation, one of which exploded causing minor damage to the façade of the building where spent nuclear fuel is stored. It is reported there were no casualties and the radiation levels at the site of the KuNPP do not exceed the established norms.

“This week’s events show that nuclear safety and security remains potentially precarious, not only at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. The IAEA will remain present at Ukraine’s nuclear facilities to monitor and inform the world about developments. We will continue to do everything in our power to help prevent a nuclear accident during the military conflict,” Director General Grossi said.

At Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), the IAEA team there has over the past week continued to conduct walkdowns across the site, visiting its cooling pond, isolation gates, cooling towers, its outlet channel, as well as the outlet channel of the nearby Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP). No mines or explosives were observed.

The team has continued to request access to the rooftops of reactor units 1, 5 and 6, after in recent months being able to go to those areas of the ZNPP’s three other units.

The IAEA experts also need access to all six turbine halls together. However, they were only granted partial access to the turbine hall of reactor unit 1 on 23 October, five days after they received similarly restrictive access to the turbine hall of unit 4.

Maintenance activities are continuing to be performed on the safety systems of unit 6 after it was moved to cold shutdown earlier this month. Of the other reactors, units 4 and 5 are in hot shutdown to generate steam for nuclear safety related functions and heating for the nearby town of Enerhodar, while the remaining three continue to be in cold shutdown.

The IAEA team this week also visited the mobile diesel boilers that the plant has started operating as part of additional efforts to generate more heating during the winter, their usage depending on the requirements for steam at the plant and for heating in Enerhodar, where most staff live. Currently, four of the nine installed boilers are in operation. The experts observed that the boilers were in good condition, with fire safety labels on all of them. The team was also informed that a fire alarm system had been installed. The IAEA was also informed of 57 such boilers installed in Enerhodar, as well as two larger boilers at the ZTPP and one in its industrial area.

Regarding the supply chain and delivery of spare parts for the ZNPP – one of seven indispensable pillars for nuclear safety and security during the conflict – the IAEA experts were recently informed that the plant has adapted its procurement process to align it with that of the Russian Federation. In addition, they were told that supplies of consumables and spare parts are now delivered from the Russian Federation, covering about 90 percent of needs. However, the IAEA assesses that the supply chain logistics remain challenging.

During the past week, the ZNPP has been finalizing the closure of unit 3 reactor vessel, with the ongoing sealing of the reactor head, the IAEA experts said.

The IAEA teams at Ukraine’s two other NPPs – the Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs – and the Chornobyl site report safe and secure operations of these nuclear facilities despite the continuation of the conflict.

This week, the IAEA carried out its 30th delivery of equipment to Ukraine to support nuclear safety and security in the country. The state regulatory body, SNRIU, received survey meters with a neutron detection capacity and the SUNPP received portable dissolved hydrogen analysers, vibro-analysers, and related accessories. The equipment was procured using extrabudgetary contributions from Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. With this delivery, the IAEA has supported Ukraine with nuclear safety and security equipment worth more than seven million euro since the start of the armed conflict.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Satu-Katajala-becomes%C2%A0WANO-regional-centre-directo

The World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) has appointed Satu Katajala as its next Paris Centre Director in what it describes as a "significant milestone in support of diversity in the nuclear industry".

Katajala is currently Vice-President, Nuclear Safety Oversight and International Co-operation, at Fortum’s Loviisa nuclear power plant, and has worked in a wide variety of roles during more than three decades in nuclear operations and radiation protection.

WANO CEO Naoki Chigusa, said: “I am delighted that Satu has joined us and I’ve no doubt she will be a great asset to WANO, to our members of the Paris Centre region, and the global industry. Satu joins us with a raft of experience and expertise, and we look forward to her leading Paris Centre during a key phase in its development - with our shared aim to support our members in driving sustainable improvements to all plants and facilities. As the first female appointed to the position, this is also a major step in helping enhance diversity within our industry."

Katajala said: "It is a great honour to join WANO Paris Centre in the key role of director. I will work with my colleagues to ensure that WANO continues to work together to assess, benchmark and improve performance through mutual support, exchange of information, and emulation of best practices. My mandate is to continue our members’ successful implementation of Action for Excellence and drive sustainable improvement in the performance of the industry over the coming years. We are also ready to support the expansion of the industry, and support members that introduce and operate new technologies, such as SMRs."

WANO, a not-for-profit international organisation that helps its members maximise the safety and reliability of nuclear power plants worldwide, was established in 1989 by the world's nuclear power operators to exchange safety knowledge and operating experience amongst organisations operating commercial nuclear power reactors. WANO’s members operate around 430 nuclear units in over 30 countries and areas worldwide.

The Paris Centre covers 70 nuclear power plant units across 17 countries. WANO also has regional centres in Atlanta, Moscow and Tokyo and offices in London and Shanghai. Katajala, who will become the first woman to have headed any of the WANO regional centres, succeeds Luis Soriano Martinez, who completes his four year term in the role at the end of the year.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/EPRI,-NEA-in-WISARD-waste-integration-collaboratio

The upcoming Joint Project on Waste Integration for Small and Advanced Reactor Designs - or WISARD - will focus on exploring how front-end and design phase decisions impact back-end strategies to support sustainable future nuclear systems.

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) project will build on global interest in innovative fuels, small modular reactors, and advanced reactor systems for sustainable nuclear energy, and capitalises on the opportunity to integrate a sustainable spent fuel and waste management strategy from the very beginning of advanced reactor lifecycles. Focusing on four key topics of long-term disposal, transportation, treatment, recycling and reprocessing, and intermediate storage, the project aims to create a first-of-a-kind international platform focusing on the specific characteristics of used fuel and radioactive waste from SMRs and advanced reactors. Subsequent work will build on this knowledge to assess the suitability of current waste management solutions for the next generations of used fuel and radioactive waste.

EPRI's support for WISARD was finalised following an inaugural government-industry conference and the US institute is the first financial backer for the project. "EPRI's extensive experience of collaborating with scientists, engineers, governments and academia to drive innovation from conception to shutdown will be a valuable addition to the WISARD project," NEA said.

Development of the scope of WISARD is ongoing, in collaboration with interested parties, with work on the project expected to officially start in the third quarter of 2024 and continuing until 2027.

EPRI is an independent, nonprofit energy research and development organisation which conducts research and development relating to the generation, delivery and use of electricity for the benefit of the public.

The NEA said it will welcome additional participants throughout the project development phase, and has invited interested parties to contact its secretariat via [email protected] for further information.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Repair-work-under-way-at-Krsko-nuclear-power-plant

The Krško nuclear power plant was shut down in early October after the discovery of a leak in the primary circuit connection system pipeline. Operator Nuklearna elektrarna Krško (NEK) says that following further investigation and analysis, a decision has been taken to replace the complete pipeline segment from the reactor vessel to the first valve.

The reactor was shut down on 6 October at 05:30 as a precaution after indications there was a leak in the primary system in the containment building. Subsequent investigation discovered what the company said was a "hole the size of a sewing needle at the weld of the reducing part of the piping connection system of the primary circuit, one metre from the reactor vessel".

Possible causes of the problem were identified as "a hidden defect in the welding process, a defect in the material, thermal fatigue of the material, stress corrosion, and mechanical stress". All 121 fuel elements were removed from the reactor vessel and the pipeline ultrasonically inspected to discover the cause of the leak.

NEK said the investigations suggested an "additional anomaly in the pipeline material was identified in the leaking pipe" which led to the decision to replace the affected pipeline. A "conservative" decision was taken, together with original equipment supplier Westinghouse, to also replace pipeline on the other line of the system.

"The possibility of an increased scope of remediation was already considered when ordering the necessary material ... all the material is already available in Krško, remediation is in full swing. The first pipeline is successfully removed; preparations are under way for the removal of the second and the installation of new pipeline segments. For now, plans to reconnect the power plant to the grid in mid-November remain unchanged," said NEK.

The repair work is being overseen by the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration. In its report on the initial discovery of the leak it explained: "The primary coolant leak detected during full power operation did not exceed the operational limit that would require shut down of the plant. The integrity of the primary system is continuously controlled during plant operation by various leak testing systems, mainly: radioactivity of particles and atmosphere conditions in the containment, measurement of liquid level at the bottom of the containment sump and water inflow from the volume control system. The indication of the leak was identified from the trend of the water inflow from the volume control system. The leak rate was approximately a factor of 4 below the operating limit, however, the plant personnel decided to shut down the plant as a precautionary measure. All other parameters (containment pressure and temperature, primary coolant radioactivity, etc) were within normal conditions during this situation and were not affected by the leakage. Similarly, all parameters were within normal conditions during shut down of the plant."

While the shutdown takes place some outage activities which the safety administration had approved for the scheduled shutdown next year are being brought forward, which may shorten the duration of the 2024 outage.

Krško is a 696 MWe Westinghouse pressurised water reactor located on the Sava river. It is unusual in being jointly owned by two countries: Slovenia, where it is located, and Croatia, both of which were parts of the former Yugoslavia when Krško came online in 1981 - NEK is jointly owned by Croatia's Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP Group) and Slovenia's GEN Energija. It supplies as much as 40% of Slovenia's electricity and, with a lifetime extension, is due to operate until 2043.

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/update-188-iaea-director-general-statement-on-situation-in-ukraine

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been informed that Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is transitioning a second reactor to hot shutdown to provide warm water and district heating, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

The ZNPP, Europe’s largest such facility, stopped generating electricity for the grid in September last year. Since April, it has kept five reactors in cold shutdown and just one, currently unit 4, in hot shutdown to generate steam to process liquid radioactive waste and to heat water for Enerhodar, where most plant staff live. Ahead of the upcoming winter season, it started transferring unit 5 to hot shutdown this week after carrying out safety maintenance and testing at this unit.

The IAEA experts were told that a decision regarding how long unit 5 will remain in hot shutdown will be made once Enerhodar’s heating systems have stabilized after the beginning of the heating season, which starts in the coming days. They were also informed that there are no plans to transfer additional units to hot shutdown.

The IAEA has strongly encouraged the ZNPP to find an alternative, external source of steam generation to cover its needs and allow for all the reactors to be maintained in a cold shutdown state, in part because the destruction of the Kakhovka dam four months ago limited the site’s supplies of cooling water.

The IAEA experts at the site have earlier been informed that the ZNPP has initiated a process to buy an external steam generator by sending technical requirements to possible vendors. However, the installation of this equipment is not expected until the first part of 2024, possibly not until after the end of the heating season.

As previously reported, 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.

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/iaea-task-force-says-alps-treated-water-release-is-progressing-as-planned-during-first-mission-to-japan-since-water-discharge-began

The discharge of treated water from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) is progressing as planned and without any technical concerns, the Task Force set up by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed after its mission this week to review the safety of the discharge with reference to the international safety standards, two months after it began.

During the mission from 24 to 27 October, the Task Force – comprised of IAEA and international experts – reviewed the facilities and equipment installed at the FDNPS site for the purposes of discharging the ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) treated water. The Task Force also engaged in technical discussions with Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the plant operator and staff at the site, and reviewed available data and operational experience regarding the first two discharges that occurred from August to October this year.

During the mission the Task Force also met with Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA).

The IAEA’s comprehensive report issued on July 4 this year found Japan’s plan for handling the treated water to be consistent with international safety standards and that the release as planned would have a negligible radiological impact to people and the environment. It was a culmination of two years of work by the IAEA Task Force, which includes external experts from 11 countries – Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, France, the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, the United States and Viet Nam.

“The IAEA’s comprehensive report was a significant milestone regarding the phase prior to the release, but it is not the end of our work,” said Lydie Evrard, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security. “The IAEA is now focussing on ongoing and long-term activities to review Japan’s continued application of the relevant international safety standards. The IAEA safety review, including monitoring and corroboration activities, will continue to proceed in an independent, objective, science-based and transparent manner, during the discharge and after.”

The four day Task Force visit was preceded by IAEA experts and international scientific observers conducting the first extensive sampling of the marine environment near FDNPS since the start of the treated water discharges. These samples will be used to corroborate Japan’s environmental monitoring and to confirm Japan’s capability to determine any changes in the levels of radionuclides in the marine environment since the water discharges began on August 24. This sampling, independent analysis and data evaluation work is one aspect of the Agency’s safety review.

During its visit to the FDNPS, the Task Force performed a walkdown of the water discharge facilities. Accompanied by TEPCO staff, the Task Force observed the tanks holding the water prepared for discharge, the transfer pumps driving the water through the discharge system, the emergency isolation valves and the control room where the process is monitored 24/7 by TEPCO staff. The Task Force also examined the radiation monitors and flow rate detectors feeding live data to the IAEA’s dedicated real time monitoring page.

Gustavo Caruso, Chair of the Task Force, said the technical assessment this week focused on the interface between the IAEA’s safety review prior to the discharge and now during the discharge. “Our comprehensive approach allows the Task Force to make direct observations on site to link what is happening now that the water is being discharged against our conclusions from the comprehensive report,” said Caruso. “No issues were identified during our visit to the facilities this week and we will continue our review to assess whether the IAEA’s findings from our comprehensive report remain valid.”

Conducting regular Task Force review missions is one way in which the IAEA will continue its multiyear safety review. IAEA Director General Grossi agreed in July with Japan that the Agency will also continue its monitoring and assessment of the process, to continuously staff the IAEA Fukushima Daiichi NPS Office, perform ongoing review missions, corroborate Japan’s source and environmental monitoring programmes, and continue outreach and awareness activities.

The main outcomes from the Task Force’s mission this week will be summarized in a report to be made publicly available by the end of the year.

Separately this week, Tepco reported an operational incident that occurred at the FDNPS water treatment facility on October 25. The Agency’s Fukushima Daiichi NPS Office remains in contact with the Japanese counterparts at the plant, to review the consistency of the measures taken by the operator with regard to the international safety standards.

Renewed licences are for two mines and mill in Saskatchewan.

Canada’s nuclear regulator has renewed licences that authorise Cameco to continue to operate the Key Lake, McArthur River and Rabbit Lake uranium sites in northern Saskatchewan for an additional 20 years.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) said the renewed licences for Key Lake and McArthur River are valid until 31 October 2043 and the licence for Rabbit Lake until 31 October 2038.

CNSC said one of the licence renewal conditions is that Cameco must provide “comprehensive updates” on activities at the three sites. For Key Lake the updates are due in 2030 and 2037, for McArthur River they are also due in 2030 and 2037, and for Rabbit Lake in 2030.

Cameco applied for 20-year licence renewals on 4 November 2022.

Rabbit Lake and McArthur River are both uranium mines. Key Lake is a mill that processes uranium ore.

Cameco put the Rabbit Lake Operation into a state of care and maintenance in 2016 because of economic factors. CNSC said Cameco has not indicated whether it plans to restart production at Rabbit Lake.

Production was suspended at McArthur River and Key Lake for approximately four years beginning in January 2018 due to what it called “persistent weakness in the global uranium market”.

Cameco said recently it was lowering its 2023 production guidance due to challenges at Key Lake and another uranium mine, Cigar Lake, also in Saskatchewan.

The company expects the Cigar Lake mine to produce up to 16.3 million pounds of uranium concentrate at a 100% basis in 2023. Cameco previously estimated the mine would generate 18 million pounds of uranium.

In August, Cameco raised its consolidated revenue outlook for 2023 as demand for nuclear power grows in the transition away from fossil fuels, even as the company reported a 14% drop in revenue in its second quarter.

Next major step in ambitious reactor project could be construction licence application.

The province of Pomerania in northern Poland has been confirmed as the site for the country’s first commercial nuclear power station after the granting of a key administrative consent needed to start construction.

Polskie Elektrownie Jadrowe (PEJ), the state-owned company responsible for the management of the nuclear station project, said Pomerania had approved the site, near the villages of Lubiatowo and Kopalino to the northwest of Gdansk on the Baltic coast.

It said the decision is “one of the most important administrative consents needed to start construction” and will allow it to carry out preparatory activities.

“This is another key decision in the power plant investment process,” PEJ said in a statement. “The decision, combined with the recently signed contract for the design of the power plant with our American partners [Westinghouse], proves that we are consistently achieving milestones and the nuclear power plant in Pomerania is the most advanced nuclear investment in the country.”

The Pomerania site was put forward as the PEJ’s preferred location in 2021.

Approval of the site follows environment agency approval in September of the nuclear power station plans.

Days before the environmental permit was confirmed, Westinghouse and fellow US company Bechtel announced they had signed a formal agreement to partner on the design and construction of the station.

In November 2022, Warsaw chose Westinghouse to supply its AP1000 reactor technology for the three-unit facility.

Construction Could Begin In 2026

Before any actual site work can begin, PEJ will need to receive a set of permissions from authorities in Pomerania and a final construction licence from the country’s nuclear regulator PAA.

Westinghouse has said significant licensing and engineering work is already underway on the project.

Under the latest timeframe, construction is set to begin in 2026, with operation of the first of three units expected in 2033. The outgoing government in Warsaw has insisted the deadlines are realistic

Discussions are continuing about the model to be used to finance the multibillion-euro project.

Nuclear new-build plans are a central part of Poland’s drive to fundamentally realign its energy sector by 2040 and meet climate targets.

The European Parliament has said that for Poland to shift to a low-carbon economy it will need to restructure its energy sector, notably coal mining, a major employer in some Polish regions.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/CNSC-renews-licences-for-Cameco-uranium-operations

The renewed licences authorise the company to continue to operate the Key Lake, McArthur River and Rabbit Lake sites. Rabbit Lake's renewed licence is valid until October 2038, and those for Key Lake and McArthur River until October 2043.

Cameco submitted its application for the licence renewals to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) last November. In making its decision, the regulator considered submissions from Cameco, CNSC staff, and over 30 intervenors. A two-day public hearing was held in June.

As part of each licence renewal, Cameco must provide the CNSC with periodic comprehensive updates on the conduct of its licensed activities. These must be provided every seven years for the Key Lake and McArthur River operations (so in 2030 and 2037) and at the mid-point of the licence period for Rabbit Lake, in 2030.

"After reviewing all submissions, the commission concluded that Cameco remains qualified to carry on the activities that the renewed licences will authorise," the regulator said. "It also concluded that Cameco will continue to make adequate provision for the protection of the environment and the health and safety of persons."

The Key Lake and McArthur River operations are operationally connected: uranium ore from the McArthur River mine is trucked 80 km by road to be processed at the Key Lake mill. The operations were idled in 2018 as part of Cameco's strategy of supply discipline, but the company began transitioning them from care-and-maintenance in early 2022. In September, Cameco said it expects the McArthur River/Key Lake operations to produce a total of 14 million pounds U3O8 (5385 tU) this year (on a 100% basis).

Rabbit Lake has been under care and maintenance since 2016. The CNSC said Cameco "has not indicated" to the regulator whether it plans to restart production at Rabbit Lake, but in the event of a return to operations, the company will be required to submit a commissioning report to the CNSC for regulatory acceptance. Before being idled it was the longest operating uranium facility in North America, producing more than 203 million pounds of uranium concentrates since it opened in 1975.

The sites are located in northern Saskatchewan on Treaty 10 territory (1906) and the Homeland of the Métis, and are within the traditional territories of the Denesųłiné, Cree, and Métis peoples.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Atucha-1-extension-Environmental-impact-study-subm

Nucleoeléctrica Argentina has delivered the environmental impact study for the Atucha I extension project which aims to add a further 20 years to the unit's operating life.

The study was prepared by the National Water Institute (INA) within the framework of an agreement with Nucleoeléctrica Argentina, with support from the Centre for Development and Technological Assistance (CEDyAT).

José Luis Antúnez, president of Nucleoeléctrica Argentina, highlighted the "commitment of the province of Buenos Aires to the Argentine Nuclear Plan."

Atucha 1 came into service in 1974 and its current operating licence expires at the end of 2024. It was designed and built by KWU, which was a joint venture of Germany's Siemens and AEG. Over time KWU was fully owned by Siemens, before being sold to the reactor business of France's Areva which is now owned by EDF and trading as Framatome. However, Argentina now has an experienced supply chain of its own for pressurised heavy water reactors, having completed and brought into operation the similar Atucha 2 reactor in 2016.

It has become increasingly common for pressurised heavy water reactors like Atucha 1 to undergo refurbishment, which typically involves replacing pressure tubes and fuel channels, to enable another two decades of operation. The life extension plan project will see the unit undergo a 30-month upgrade stoppage from 2024 to 2026, with Nucleoeléctrica Argentina saying 2000 jobs would be created as it modernised "all the processes and systems of the plant".

Nucleoeléctrica Argentina has put the refurbishment programme's cost at USD463 million. It has held fundraising rounds this year to cover the cost of both the life extension project and construction of a dry storage facility for used fuel.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Transportable-microreactor-project-gets-US-DOE-sup

The agreement has been awarded through the DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy and supports X-energy’s continuing work on architecture and key technologies for the preliminary design of the microreactor, which is expected to produce 3-5 MWe at a commercially competitive price. The award is worth a total of about USD2.5 million and the company will use it to continue advancing X-energy's mobile microreactor beyond technical feasibility to commercial reality, the company's Vice-President of Government Programmes Georgette Alexander-Morrison said.

"This DOE award underscores our role as a leading microreactor developer. We intend to build on our expertise in next-generation nuclear reactor and fuel design, transportable nuclear systems, and small nuclear solutions for space to create a clean and practical microreactor to be competitive with fossil fuel-based power generation used today for commercial and government agency applications," she added.

The US Department of Defense (DOD) Strategic Capabilities Office recently awarded X-energy a contract option to develop an enhanced engineering design for a transportable microreactor suitable for both commercial and defence use under its Project Pele initiative, which was launched in 2019 with the objective to design, build, and demonstrate a prototype mobile nuclear reactor within five years. BWXT and X-Energy were selected in 2019 to develop a final design for the prototype reactor, with BWXT contracted in June 2022 to build a prototype microreactor.

X-energy said its teams are working in parallel through the DOE and DOD-funded agreements on advanced microreactor designs that will make the technology commercially viable in the marketplace and Hans Gougar, the company's lead microreactor engineer, said the DOE award means it can advance the engineering technology that went into its initial designs for Project Pele.

"With the combined support of the DOE and DOD, we are confident that we can reduce costs and deliver a solution that meets the needs of both civilian and military users," Gougar said. "This project brings us closer to deploying emission-free power to replace diesel in hard-to-reach locations, for disaster relief, maritime power delivery, and when critical infrastructure resiliency is threatened."

X-energy is also receiving DOE support for the initial deployment of its Xe-100 advanced reactor and the creation of a commercial facility to manufacture TRISO-X high-assay low-enriched uranium-based fuel for next-generation reactors through its Advanced Reactor Concepts programme. Funding from the DOE's ARPA-E program helped develop operational innovations in the Xe-100 plant design.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Viewpoint-Industry-s-key-role-in-radiation-protect

The nuclear industry's expertise and perspective must be involved in the setting of policy, guidelines and standards, says Marcel Lips as he steps down after a decade as chairman of World Nuclear Association's Radiological Protection Working Group.

The expert

Marcel Lips is a chemical engineer with a PhD in technical science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He is currently deputy plant manager at the Gösgen nuclear power plant in Switzerland, where he has worked for 33 years, including two decades as director of chemistry and radiation protection. He is also vice-president of Zwilag, a Swiss waste treatment and intermediate storage facility. Since 2005, Marcel has been a member of World Nuclear Association's Radiological Protection Working Group (RPWG), including more than 10 years as chairman, and has also been a member of the Decommissioning Working Group. Ahead of his retirement next year, the association presented an award to him at the Members Forum meeting in September, recognising his outstanding service to the nuclear industry.

Marcel, in simple words, what is the role of the RPWG?

We represent industry's point of view on radiation protection, promote leading practice, share knowledge and ideas and assure that industry expertise and perspectives are considered in the setting of radiological protection standards with global implications for nuclear commerce and operations. Our work is necessary because the voice of industry delivers practical input for those who set the standards, guidelines, rules and regulations in the field of radiological protection. For example, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has initiated a process for the review of the system of radiological protection, which is likely to lead to a new set of General Recommendations. This process will shape radiation-related policy, practice, guidelines, and regulations around the world in the decades to come. We as an industry need to get involved in this process.

Why it is important for the nuclear industry and World Nuclear Association member companies to get involved in the ICRP?

The outcome of this process could have an enormous impact for the nuclear industry and other nuclear technology sectors. That's why it is appropriate to ensure due consideration is given to practicality and proportionality in relation to any changes in the system for radiological protection and to ensure that industry expertise and perspectives are considered in the setting of radiological protection standards with global implications for nuclear commerce and operations. Member companies should be aware that the impact of current RPWG activities, in particular their inputs and feedback regarding ICRP review process, will only be visible in about 20 years from now. We should encourage our member companies to actively participate in these very important RPWG activities even if the results are two decades ahead of us.

What is the best way to get involved in ICRP review process?

The backbreaking work within the ICRP review process takes place in ICRP task groups. At present, 31 of them are active. Currently less than 1% of the members of the ICRP's task groups and committees are drawn from nuclear industry. If we, as an industry, want to make a difference and/or significantly influence the process to have practical, proportionate and simple radiological protection legislation, then we need to change that picture. Member companies should encourage and allow their radiological protection experts to apply for ICRP or task group membership.

As part of the ICRP review process, World Nuclear Association's RPWG hosted and organised, in collaboration with ICRP, a workshop on 27-28 September in Bristol. The workshop provided an excellent opportunity to promote wider understanding of optimisation of risk, based on the all-hazards approach and effective communication of the system of radiological protection. We had sessions on good practices in effective communication of the radiological protection system and practical examples in applying the optimisation process based on an all-hazards approach. Presentations were provided from different nuclear industry sectors starting from uranium mining, naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORM), new build, small modular reactors (SMRs), operating nuclear power plants, research, decommissioning and geological disposal. Views from ICRP itself and from regulatory bodies were also part of the workshop.

I think the workshop was really successful. ICRP recognised that radiation is not always a primary hazard and will endeavour to recognise that radiation is one of a number of hazards and risks. ICRP agreed to explore opportunities to reduce complexity to ensure that its system was practical and implementable. World Nuclear Association has offered to provide member support for any work groups. At this point I would like to thank all World Nuclear Association staff and RPWG members involved. Thanks to their support, the workshop was so successful.

As the chair of RPWG, what are the benefits you received by joining the working group?

I see the nuclear industry as an important pillar of climate-neutral energy supply, which is why I am happy to get involved in the preservation and expansion of this technology on a global scale. Except for a few countries, the benefits of nuclear energy are fully recognised. It goes without saying that the commitment is associated with effort. On the other hand, thanks to my involvement in World Nuclear Association, I was able to make many contacts and get to know interesting people all over the world. Although working with our stakeholders is challenging and not always easy, it also provides knowledge that can be used beneficially in daily work. It provides indications of the direction in which developments are going. In this way, members' own programmes and activities can be set up appropriately and with foresight.

What is your message to encourage new members and young professionals to join RPWG?

Our working group is always looking for new members to join, notably younger professionals. Current members work across the industry including at uranium mines, nuclear power plants, and at research institutes. Regular participation in RPWG provides an important support network and can help with professional accreditation. You will moreover be contributing to work that influences the future of our industry.

President Zelenskiy says Russia probably targeted facility with drones.

Powerful explosions shook an area near the Khmelnitski nuclear power station in western Ukraine early on Wednesday (25 October), shattering many windows at the site and temporarily cutting power to some offsite radiation monitoring stations, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi said the incidents once again highlighted the dangers to nuclear safety and security during the military conflict.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said a Russian drone attack had probably targeted the nuclear power station. Press reports said the explosions had injured 20 people.

The Vienna-based IAEA, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, said blasts from the drone attack did not affect the station’s operations or its connection to the grid. Power was temporarily cut to some offsite radiation monitoring stations.

Shockwaves damaged the windows of several buildings at the site, including the passageway to the reactor buildings, an auxiliary building, a special equipment building, the training centre, and other facilities, the IAEA said. The seismic monitoring stations installed in the vicinity of the station also recorded the seismic impacts of the blasts.

IAEA experts at the station said air raid sirens went off at 01:26 local time, followed later in the morning by the sound of two loud explosions. They were subsequently told that two drones had been shot down at a distance of approximately 5 km and 20 km from the site, respectively.

“This incident again underlines the extremely precarious nuclear safety situation in Ukraine, which will continue as long as this tragic war goes on,” Grossi said. “The fact that numerous windows at the site were destroyed shows just how close it was. Next time, we may not be so fortunate.”

The Khmelnitski nuclear power station has two reactors, of which one is operating. The other has been in a planned outage since early August.

Two further units, Khmelnitski-3 and -4, are officially listed by the IAEA as “under construction”, but both units were to be supplied by Russia.

The authorities in Kazakhstan have for many years been toying with the idea of building a nuclear power plant, but they have lacked the nerve to take a decision in the face of strong public opposition.

In September, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev opted to punt his way out of the predicament by announcing a referendum on the question.

While Tokayev is evidently in favor of nuclear power, he is eager not to be seen as acting in defiance of broader sentiment.

“On one hand, Kazakhstan, as the largest uranium producer in the world, should have its own nuclear power generation [capability],” he said during that announcement. “On the other hand, many citizens and a number of experts have concerns about the safety of nuclear power plants.”

He adopted sharper language earlier in the year, at a government meeting in February. Without nuclear power, Kazakhstan stood to “lose its entire economy,” he said, adding for safe measure that nuclear skeptics were “populists who do not understand economic realities.”

Few would dispute the assertion that the country’s electricity infrastructure has seen better days. Power plants, largely relics of the Soviet era, are operating, by the estimates of industry insiders, at about one-third of their original capacity.

This state of affairs accounts for incidents like the one that last year afflicted the city of Ekibastuz, in the northern Pavlodar region. For days on end in November, just as temperatures had plunged to -30 degrees Celsius, a malfunction at the power station left thousands of residents without electricity or heating.

As demand grows, the problem can only worsen.

Timur Zhantikin, general director of Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants, a company created by the government to operate any putative plant, told Eurasianet that the capacity shortfall could reach 3 gigawatts by 2030.

Another plank of the pro-nuclear argument is environmental.

Up to 80 percent of electricity currently generated in Kazakhstan comes from burning coal. About 15 percent is hydropower and most of the rest is produced with natural gas and oil.

As the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in Central Asia, Kazakhstan has committed to reduce its carbon emissions under the Paris Agreement. But the share of renewables in the overall energy balance is only 4.5 percent and expansion plans are far from impressive.

Nuclear will kill two birds with one stone, say officials.

“Energy consumption in the country is growing: we must diversify production and ensure stable generation of clean energy,” Zhantikin said.

Should the nuclear power plant get the green light, a site has already identified. The village of Ulken, near Lake Balkhash in the Almaty region, has good access to water sources and is well-connected to the road network.

As things stand, the government has the wind at its back.

In September-October, polling organization Demoscope carried out a survey together with public policy research group Paperlab to query attitudes on the nuclear power plant among 1,100 respondents. Fully 46.6 percent of respondents were supportive of building a nuclear power plant, while 37.7 percent were opposed.

Those numbers are promising for the authorities, but it is also true that many simply have yet to familiarize themselves with the details of the issue. The Demoscope/Paperlab survey found that 36.8 percent of respondents were unaware of the government's plans for the power station, while 29.1 percent were aware but confessed to knowing about few particulars. A relatively modest 34.1 percent described themselves as “well-informed” on the topic.

Opponents cited the danger of accidents and radiation leaks, the potential impact of the plant’s construction on Lake Balkhash, corruption, the prospect of escalating project costs, and the lack of a specialized technicians as their primary concerns.

History makes the nuclear issue particularly emotive in Kazakhstan.

For four decades, the Soviet Union used the remote expanses of the northern Kazakh SSR as a testing site for its nuclear bombs. The consequences are detailed in stark terms by Togzhan Kassenova in her 2022 book Atomic Steppe.

“Following a nuclear explosion, radioactive particles mix with dust in the air and spread into the atmosphere. In unfavorable weather, this radioactive dust sweeps up into the clouds and rain, traveling far beyond the test site. The radioactive fallout from the Polygon contaminated not only grazing lands but also water wells, soil, and vegetation. Animals fed on contaminated pastures, and people who lived in the vicinity of the Polygon drank polluted water and milk and ate meat laced with radioisotopes,” Kassenova wrote.

More recently, incidents like the colossal explosion of an arms depot in the southern town of Arys in 2019 have fueled perceptions that safety standards are often flouted by the same people who are supposed to uphold them.

Madina Kuketayeva, coordinator of Anti-NPP, a public association created to resist the plant’s construction, cites corruption as the reason officials would be unable to categorically assure high safety levels.

“But even accident-free operation of the nuclear power plant would cause irreparable damage to the ecology of Lake Balkhash, lead to its drying out, and also harm the health of local residents,” Kuketayeva told Eurasianet.

Geopolitics is a factor too.

Kazakh opponents of the plant and Russia’s war in Ukraine look with alarm at what has happened at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is controlled by invading Russian forces. In July, the International Atomic Energy Agency expressed its profound concern over how Russian forces had installed anti-personnel mines around the plant just as Ukrainian troops were embarking on a counteroffensive to recapture lost territory.

Anxieties are strong among some in Kazakhstan that Russia could one day direct its aggression at their country. In that instance, the nuclear power could become a liability, pessimists warn.

“The terrorist attacks that occurred at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the military conflict with Russia deny us the moral right to allow for a similar scenario to be repeated in our country,” Kuketayeva said.

Some objections to the nuclear power plant are more narrowly technical. Aset Nauryzbayev, an economist who formerly ran state power grid operator KEGOC, says he believes that Kazakhstan is able to build the needed number of renewable energy generators by 2030. Nuclear power is outdated and overly expensive, he argued.

“The maintenance of a nuclear power plant, if it is built, will cost $1.5 billion a year, and we ordinary citizens will pay this unreasonably high price to the future owners of the nuclear power plant,” Nauryzbayev told Eurasianet.

The construction of the nuclear power plant itself will also require huge investments – anywhere up to $12 billion by some reckoning. The source of that funding has not yet been publicly discussed.

“The government obviously hopes to involve Russia, which will provide a loan for its implementation, but sanctions may limit their financial capabilities,” Nauryzbayev said. “That would be good news.”

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Bulgaria-to-push-ahead-with-two-new-units-at-Kozlo

The Council of Ministers in Bulgaria has given the go-head for the construction of the new unit 7 and preparatory work for unit 8 at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, with both to feature AP1000 reactors.

The official Bulgarian BTA news agency reported that the Bulgarian government had set a target date for the first unit to be ready for 2033, with a further BGN500 million (USD270 million) of funding provided to the project company.

It adds that the Cabinet asked Energy Minister Rumen Radev to "take the necessary actions on the transparent selection of a contractor for the design, construction and commissioning of the new power unit. The final contract with the selected company and with the supplier of the AP1000 technology must be drawn up under the conditions of a fixed price and execution period. The Cabinet obliged the Minister of Energy to organise negotiations with financial institutions to secure the necessary loan funds."

The same meeting also gave approval for the start of preparations of unit 8 at Kozloduy, with the aim that it would be completed "two or three years after the first one".

Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said that the 2300 MWe capacity of the two new units would exceed the 1760 MWe capacity of the closed first four units. The Ministry of Energy, posting on X (formerly Twitter), highlighted the new reactors' ability to change power output as important for the balancing and stability of the overall energy system.

Earlier this year, Westinghouse and Kozloduy NPP-Newbuild signed an MoU to initiate planning for the potential deployment of one or more AP1000 reactors at Kozloduy, which is in the northwest of Bulgaria on the Danube River and provides about 34% of the country's electricity.

Kozloduy units 1-4 were VVER-440 models which the European Commission had classified as non-upgradeable and Bulgaria agreed to close them during their negotiations to join the European Union in 2007. Units 5 and 6 feature VVER-1000 reactors that were connected to the grid in 1987 and 1991, respectively. Both units have been through refurbishment and life extension programmes to enable extension of operation from 30 to 60 years.

Site: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Low-level-waste-recycling-facility-opens-in-Ontari

Laurentis Energy Partners - a subsidiary of Ontario Power Generation (OPG) - has opened a new facility in Kincardine, Ontario, for the sorting and recycling of low-level radioactive waste. It says the facility will minimise waste associated with nuclear energy generation.

The Western Clean Energy Sorting & Recycling Facility (WCSR) will sort materials such as used worker garments, small tools, mops and rags from OPG's nuclear power plants.

OPG's nuclear by-products and radioactive materials are managed at three Nuclear Sustainability Services (NSS) sites. The NSS Western Waste Management Facility (NSS-WWMF) in Bruce County receives and manages low and intermediate-level materials from the Darlington, Pickering, and Bruce Power nuclear power plants. In addition, OPG's NSS-WWMF provides Bruce Power with nuclear waste management services to support the operations of their facilities in Bruce County.

The new 42,000 square-foot (3902 square-metre) WCSR facility is located 3 kilometres to the east of OPG's NSS-WWMF plant and employs about 25 people. Construction on the WCSR began in 2022 as a collaboration between OPG, Laurentis and Dancor Construction Ltd. In agreement with Laurentis, EnergySolutions Canada provided licensing support for the new facility.

"Unlike other forms of energy, nuclear power is the only industry that accounts for all of its by-products, which are small in volume, safely stored, closely tracked, rigorously regulated, and well managed," OPG said. It added: "Despite common misperceptions, it is low-level radioactive materials that make up about 90% of the total volume of nuclear materials.

"Through NSS, OPG continues to safely manage used fuel from its nuclear operations, find innovative ways to reduce and shrink low and intermediate-level materials, and leverage important isotopes for the well-being of society."

The company said volume reduction ultimately lessens the need for new storage buildings, cuts the cost of decommissioning plants, and reduces the amount of space needed for interim storage and eventual permanent disposal facilities.

"This new facility will help OPG and the nuclear industry support the three Rs - reduce, reuse, recycle - and reduce our environmental footprint," said Mark Welt, Director of Western Operations for OPG's NSS. "By carefully sorting and segregating what is clean, what is recyclable, and what can be processed to reduce the volume, we can minimise the amount of nuclear materials in storage. This will help build a sustainable future in line with OPG's Climate Change Plan."

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/iaea-chief-meets-prime-minister-modi-fostering-india-iaea-ties-across-diverse-sectors

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, on Monday, as part of his four-day visit to India. The two leaders discussed ways to foster India-IAEA ties across diverse sectors. “India’s civil nuclear programme is key for its decarbonization. Prime Minister Modi and I agreed on the importance of financing and technology access, placing nuclear at the forefront of global solutions,” Mr Grossi said. The leaders will “intensify cooperation” ahead of United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28) in the United Arab Emirates and next year’s Nuclear Energy Summit in Belgium, Mr Grossi added.

Prime Minister Modi said that the "fruitful discussion” with Director General Grossi, “explored avenues for expanding the role of nuclear energy to meet [India’s] net zero commitment, and extending nuclear technology applications in areas like food, health, water treatment and countering plastic pollution in the Global South.”

Mr Grossi’s visit to India this week is his first as Director General of the IAEA. He is meeting with Indian policy makers, scientists, researchers and engineers in India’s nuclear energy programme on the role of nuclear energy and technology for India’s development, as well as nuclear non-proliferation and international cooperation.

In a meeting with Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of the Government of India, Mr Jaishankar reiterated that “India will always be a strong and reliable partner of IAEA.”

India has 19 nuclear reactors producing about 3 per cent of its electricity. With an additional eight reactors under construction and more planned, India is currently the world’s second-largest domestic builder of nuclear power plants. India’s three-stage nuclear power programme builds towards using the country’s abundant thorium reserves. India’s approach comes with a potentially global increase in the abundance of energy resource and is being closely watched, so is India’s transition to a greener economy.

A Member State since 1957, India collaborates with the IAEA through various means, such as contributing to key programmes like the Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative to advance the harmonization and standardization of small modular reactor (SMR) design, construction, regulatory and industrial approaches. The Director General aims to strengthen this and other collaborations with the country to draw benefit from India’s scientific and institutional capacities.

“Nuclear energy and technology play a big role in India’s development, benefiting its people. We aim to further strengthen our collaboration with India to maximize the potential of initiatives, such as Rays of Hope and Atoms4Food,” Mr Grossi said.

As an inaugural speaker of the distinguished lecture series of the Ministry of External Affairs at the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service (SSIFS), Mr Grossi delivered remarks on opportunities and challenges in promoting nuclear power for sustainable development, engaging with both young and experienced diplomats. “The IAEA’s partnership with India helps us make ‘Atoms for Peace and Development’ a reality,” he stated.

On Wednesday, Mr Grossi visited the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in India, meeting with the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary to the DAE Ajit Kumar Mohanty, as well as other senior officials of DAE.

Mr Grossi will visit Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) on Thursday and meet with the Director of BARC, Shri Vivek Bhasin. BARC is India's premier nuclear research facility headquartered in Mumbai and home to the Dhruva reactor, India's largest nuclear research reactor.

After delivering remarks in Trombay Colloquium at BARC, Mr Grossi will visit the Food Technology Division (FTD), as well as the Advance Centre for Training, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC). He will meet with the Director of ARTEC and other senior faculty members.

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/update-190-iaea-director-general-statement-on-situation-in-ukraine

Powerful explosions shook an area near Ukraine’s Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant (KhNPP) overnight, shattering many windows at the site and temporarily cutting power to some off-site radiation monitoring stations, once again highlighting the dangers to nuclear safety and security during the ongoing military conflict, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.

IAEA experts present at the plant in western Ukraine said air raid sirens went off at 1:26am local time, followed later in the morning by the sound of two loud explosions. They were subsequently informed that two drones had been shot down at a distance of approximately five and 20 kilometres from the site, respectively.

“This incident again underlines the extremely precarious nuclear safety situation in Ukraine, which will continue as long as this tragic war goes on. The fact that numerous windows at the site were destroyed shows just how close it was. Next time, we may not be so fortunate,” Director General Grossi said. “Hitting a nuclear power plant must be avoided at all costs.”

There was no direct impact from the drones on the site and the blasts did not affect the KhNPP’s operations or its connection to the national electricity grid. However, the shockwaves damaged the windows of several buildings at the site, including the passageway to the reactor buildings, an auxiliary building, a special equipment building, the training centre, as well as other facilities, the plant said. The seismic monitoring stations installed in the vicinity of the KhNPP also recorded the seismic impacts of the blasts.

The IAEA experts later observed some of the shattered windows at the site. The exact extent of the damage is currently being assessed by the IAEA team and further information will be provided.

A power outage in the nearby region of Slavuta forced two of the plant’s 11 off-site radiation monitoring stations to temporarily rely on back-up power supplies before external electricity was restored in the afternoon. Furthermore, as a result of damage sustained in the nearby town of Netishyn, some KhNPP staff were working from home, the plant said.

The KhNPP has two reactors, of which one is currently operating, and one is in planned outage since early August.

The IAEA was notified about these events also via the Unified System for Information Exchange in Incidents and Emergencies by the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine.

Kernenergie-adepten voeren in de strijd tegen klimaatverandering op TikTok en Instagram met de nodige humor campagne om kerncentrales populair te maken. Hun doelgroep: de jeugd, die kernrampen zoals in Fukushima niet bewust heeft meegemaakt. ‘Ze zien eerst die meme, daarna gaan ze er misschien echt iets van begrijpen.’

In het kort

• ‘Nukefluencers’ zetten TikTok en Instagram in om kernenergie te promoten.
• Ze spreken de taal van de jeugd: filmpjes zijn kort en grappig, en spelen in op zorgen over klimaatverandering.
• De doelgroep heeft geen bewuste herinnering aan kernrampen zoals in Fukushima, en staat open voor de boodschap.

Dit is de nieuwe generatie van voorstanders van kernenergie: een Braziliaans model; de huidige Miss America; ‘Atomic Eric’, de directeur van een non-profit, pro-kernenergie jongerenorganisatie; en ‘Ms. Nuclear Energy’ Kaylee Cunningham, doctoraalstudent aan het Massachusetts Institute of Technology, met meer dan 118.000 volgers en 2,5 miljoen likes op TikTok. Ze hebben dezelfde missie: kernsplijting moet weer leuk worden.

Deze ‘nukefluencers’ — van wie er eentje geld krijgt van het Amerikaanse ministerie van energie — willen tegenwicht bieden aan wat volgens hen desinformatie over kernenergie is. Ze willen mensen die bij kernreactoren meteen denken aan mogelijk catastrofale ongelukken op andere gedachten brengen en gebruiken daarvoor TikTok, Instagram en andere sociale media.

Ze richten hun belangrijkste boodschap – kerncentrales stoten geen CO₂ uit – tot een generatie die steeds bezorgder is over de opwarming van de aarde. Zo willen ze aan de basis van de samenleving druk opbouwen, die moet leiden tot concrete plannen voor nieuwe kerncentrales.

Met hun korte, pakkende en vaak grappige video’s en posts bestrijden ze hun tegenstanders, zoals Greenpeace, die volhouden dat kernenergie schoon noch veilig is vanwege de risico’s van uraniumwinning en de opslag van kernafval, en dat kerncentrales enorm duur zijn om te bouwen. ‘Maak je geen zorgen over Fukushima’

Cunningham, die benadrukt dat ze geen geld krijgt van de kernenergiesector, ontzenuwt als Ms. Nuclear Energy in haar TikTok-filmpjes kritiek op kernenergie met milde spot. Een aantal filmpjes gaat over het controversiële lozen van koelwater door de kerncentrale in het Japanse Fukushima: ‘Daar hoef je je geen zorgen over te maken.’

Ze maakte haar eerste TikTok-video in 2021, na een rondreis langs de geothermische elektriciteitscentrales in IJsland. Toen ze daar opperde dat je die zou kunnen combineren met kerncentrales, bleken de IJslandse energiedeskundigen tot haar verbijstering kernreactoren over één kam te scheren met kernwapens.

Haar post waarin ze met die opvatting de vloer aanveegt kreeg veel bijval van haar volgers. Sindsdien heeft ze nog honderden filmpjes gemaakt. Een van haar eigen favorieten heet ‘Waarom kernenergie beter is dan je ex’. Reden nummer 1: het is schoon. Het filmpje is grappig bedoeld, maar somt ook in vijftien seconden enkele voordelen van kernenergie op. Het is een goed om jongeren mee te bereiken. ‘Jongeren halen hun nieuws uit sociale media’, zegt Cunningham. ‘De taal van die generatie zul je techneuten niet horen gebruiken.’

De influencers dragen bij aan een comeback van de kernenergie, die in de hele wereld al tot concrete plannen heeft geleid. Japan start de reactoren weer op die in 2011 werden stilgelegd, toen een tsunami de kerncentrale van Fukushima beschadigde en er radioactieve straling in de atmosfeer terechtkwam. Na die ramp moesten zo’n 110.000 inwoners worden geëvacueerd.

Californië wilde aanvankelijk de laatste reactor in 2025 sluiten, maar bekijkt nu of hij open kan blijven. Ongeveer 57% van de Amerikanen zegt nu voorstander te zijn van de bouw van meer kerncentrales; in 2020 was dat nog 43%, aldus het Pew Research Center.

Miss America

Grace Stanke, student nucleaire technologie aan de University of Wisconsin-Madison en in december 2022 gekozen tot Miss America, besloot haar jaar als schoonheidskoningin te besteden aan het promoten van kernenergie. Ze verschijnt op conferenties en moedigt studenten aan om zich te richten op een carrière in de kernenergiesector.

Op haar Instagrampagina (ruim 19.000 volgers) pleit ze voor snelle actie op het gebied van kernenergie: ‘Er moet meer actie komen. En als het om kernenergie gaat, moet die actie beginnen op het hoogste niveau. Vandaag meer steun betekent morgen meer actie.’

Stanke kreeg door haar miss-titel een beurs van $68.000 en gaat zich als ze volgend jaar afstudeert bij Constellation Energy, de grootste exploitant van kerncentrales in de VS, bezighouden met het ontwerp van reactorkernen.

En dan is er nog het Braziliaanse fotomodel Isabelle Boemeke, die zichzelf de eerste influencer voor kernenergie noemt. Op haar website Isodope.com plaatst ze video’s die meer gaan over kernenergie dan over oogschaduw. ‘We willen dat onze poriën net zo schoon zijn als onze elektriciteit’, zegt ze op een ervan. In een ander filmpje adviseert ze een huidreiniger met de curieuze naam ‘Stop in hemelsnaam met het sluiten van kerncentrales’.

Want kort en quirky, daar komt het op aan als je de aandacht wilt vasthouden van een jong publiek met een korte aandachtsboog, zegt Ioana Literat, universitair hoofddocent communicatie aan het Teachers College van Columbia University. De sociale media zijn het dorpsplein van de 21ste eeuw; daar ontmoet generatie Z elkaar. Klimaatverandering is voor de jonge mensen van vandaag misschien wel het belangrijkste onderwerp en dat zie je terug in de groeiende steun voor kernenergie. ‘Activisme speelt zich nu af op de sociale media’, zegt Literat. ‘Het is het stadium van protestmarsen met spandoeken uit de jaren zestig ontgroeid.’

Geen herinnering aan Tsjernobyl

De belangstelling voor kernenergie heeft ook binnen de milieubeweging tot een omslag in het denken geleid, zegt David Brown van Constellation Energy. ‘Je kunt niet meer serieus over milieubescherming praten zonder het over kernenergie te hebben. De afkeer van kernenergie die in de jaren zeventig en tachtig ontstond uit verzet tegen de kernwapenwedloop en het achterliggende militair-industrieel complex is echter nog niet verdwenen. En bovendien hebben veel mensen de kernrampen in Tsjernobyl en Fukushima nog vers in het geheugen.

Veel jonge voorstanders van kernenergie hebben echter geen herinnering aan die kernrampen, zegt Kevin Kamps, expert in beheer van kernafval bij milieuorganisatie Beyond Nuclear. Ze zijn vooral enthousiast over de uitstootvrije elektriciteit die kerncentrales produceren, maar kijken er nog onvoldoende kritisch naar, zegt hij. Jongeren die geen bewuste herinnering hebben aan kernrampen, laten zich makkelijk meeslepen door de voordelen van kernenergie, denkt Kamps. ‘Er bestaat zoiets als gezonde angst. Bang zijn voor kernenergie en radioactiviteit en kernafval is gezonde angst.’

‘Atomic Eric’ Meyer is directeur van de non-profitorganisatie Generation Atomic (ruim 14.000 volgers op X, het vroegere Twitter), die ongeveer een derde van zijn financiering krijgt van het Idaho National Laboratory. In dit onderzoekscentrum van het Amerikaanse ministerie van energie wordt onderzoek gedaan naar geavanceerde nucleaire technologie. De overige financiering komt uit donaties en verkoop van merchandise.

In New York interviewde hij een keer toeristen op Times Square over hun opvattingen over kernenergie. Een Nederlander, die zei dat hij vanuit zijn huis uitzicht had op een kerncentrale, bleek groot voorstander. Een andere passant wist totaal niet dat kernenergie in de VS de belangrijkste niet-fossiele energiebron is, veel belangrijker dan zonne-energie.

Velen waren verbaasd hoeveel energie een uraniumpellet bevat, vergeleken met een vrachtwagenlading steenkool. De meesten wisten niet veel van energiebeleid en sommigen leken er helemaal niet in geïnteresseerd. Een vrouw uit Georgia vroeg zich alleen maar af of reactoren betrouwbaar zijn.

Alle reacties staan op TikTok, samen met video’s waarin Meyer allerlei beweringen over radioactiviteit weerlegt en pleit voor kernenergie. ‘In het bestcasescenario doen mensen hetzelfde als ik: beseffen hoe belangrijk dit is en er dan helemaal voor gaan’, zegt Meyer. ‘Ze zien eerst die meme, daarna luisteren ze misschien naar de podcast, en dan gaan ze er misschien echt iets van begrijpen.’