Nuclear Energy

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Cumbrian-community-exits-repository-site-search

Allerdale - one of four locations being evaluated - has been removed from the UK geological disposal facility siting process due to limited suitable geology, Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) announced. It is expected that a final site selection could be a process which takes 10-15 years.

A geological disposal facility (GDF) comprises a network of highly-engineered underground vaults and tunnels built to permanently dispose of higher activity radioactive waste so that no harmful levels of radiation ever reach the surface environment. Countries such as Finland, Sweden, France, Canada and the USA are also pursuing this option. The UK search for a site is based on the idea of community consent.

Four localities formed Community Partnerships interested in hosting it - Allerdale, South Copeland and Mid Copeland in Cumbria in northwest England, and Theddlethorpe in Lincolnshire, in eastern England. The Allerdale GDF Community Partnership was the third to form, in January 2022, following Mid Copeland GDF Community Partnership and South Copeland GDF Community Partnership in late-2021. A Community Partnership was formed in Theddlethorpe in June 2022.

Allerdale GDF Community Partnership focused its engagement activities in a 320 square-kilometre search area covering 13 electoral wards: Aspatria; Broughton St Bridgets; Dalton; Ellen & Gilcrux; Flimby; Harrington & Salterbeck; Maryport North; Maryport South; Moorclose & Moss Bay; Seaton & Northside; St John's; St Michael's and Stainburn & Clifton.

In a process that began in June this year, each of the potential locations is being assessed by NWS against a number of siting factors, including safety and security, the environment, engineering feasibility, geology, transport and value for money. The overall aim is to ensure that a GDF can be constructed, operated and closed safely. The initial stage will see geophysical surveys and desk-based studies of existing data on local geology and things such as transport infrastructure.

"Following a comprehensive and robust evaluation of information it was concluded only a limited volume of suitable rock was identifiable and the geology in the [Allerdale] area was unlikely to support a post-closure safety case," NWS has now said. "NWS has therefore taken the decision not to take Allerdale further in the search for a suitable site to host a GDF."

"We need enough suitable geology to accommodate a GDF and to support safety cases to build, operate, and close the facility," said NWS CEO Corhyn Parr. "Our assessments show evidence of limited volume of suitable rock for a GDF in the Allerdale search area, including the adjacent inshore area."

NWS said initial assessments of existing data and information for the other three communities in the siting process have indicated potentially suitable geology.

"The door also remains open for new communities to join the process," Parr said.

When a site is ultimately selected, NWS said a decision to develop a GDF would be taken only if the "potential host community has had a say and given consent through a Test of Public Support. The GDF requires both a suitable site and a willing community".

The UK has used nuclear technology for more than 60 years - for power generation, industry, medicine and defence. These activities have created radioactive waste which needs to be managed safely. This waste is currently stored at more than 30 surface facilities across the UK, which have to be replaced every 50-100 years.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Viewpoint-Advancing-nuclear-energy-in-Europe

Industry leaders, experts and stakeholders considered the question of Cooperation, Complementarity and the Fleet Effect during an EDF-organised side-event at the 67th IAEA General Conference. Here, Roberto Adinolfi, Chairman of Ansaldo Nucleare, outlines the key insights from the session.

Keynote speakers François Jacq, General Administrator of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), and Luc Rémont, EDF Chairman and CEO, along with my fellow panellists, Sama Bilbao y León, Nigel Cann, Dejan Paravan and Vakis Ramany, shared their invaluable insights and experiences, shedding light on the future of nuclear energy in Europe and beyond.

This discussion yielded several key takeaways that emphasise the critical factors influencing the success of nuclear energy programmes:

1. The Three Pillars of Success: Nigel Cann, managing director of Sizewell C in the UK, explained that the foundation of a prosperous nuclear programme rests on three pillars: the stability of design, the stability of the supply chain, and the stability of the people involved and continuity of knowledge. This holistic approach is essential to ensure the seamless and efficient construction and operation of nuclear facilities.

2. Success Stories Matter: Success begets success. To inspire and motivate progress within the nuclear industry, it is crucial to highlight and celebrate success stories. As highlighted by Dejan Paravan, CEO of GEN energija in Slovenia, these achievements not only demonstrate the feasibility of nuclear energy but also serve as benchmarks for future endeavours.

3. The 'Invisible Man' of Risk: Risk plays a pivotal role in decision-making within the nuclear industry. It often explains why the discussions are long, and decisions slow. Vakis Ramany, Senior VP of EDF for International Nuclear Development, emphasised the importance of properly evaluating, allocating and managing risk among stakeholders in order to overcome hurdles and ensure efficient development of nuclear projects.

4. Government Support and Investment: We can all agree that clear and unwavering government support is essential for the advancement of nuclear energy. However, Sama Bilbao y Léon, Director General of World Nuclear Association, called for an embodiment of this support into concrete investments in nuclear projects. Government commitment in the form of financial backing and regulatory support is crucial to driving progress in the sector.

5. Supply Chain Stability: Developing a stabilised and robust supply chain is of paramount importance for the success of nuclear programmes. This should be a shared objective by all stakeholders of nuclear projects, from operators to governments, and obviously suppliers. A reliable supply chain is essential to meet the stringent demands of nuclear projects, from construction to operation and maintenance. The panellists all agreed that urgent efforts need to be put in place, starting today, in order to provide visibility to the supply chain and therefore be ready to deliver the hundreds of projects in the 2030s.

6. European Fleet is the Way Forward: Building a European fleet of reactors emerges as the most feasible strategy to address the challenges of new nuclear capacities in Europe. This collaborative approach allows for the optimisation of resources, knowledge sharing, and, most importantly, harnessing the benefits of the "fleet effect" - a concept where the collective strength of a fleet enhances the performance and safety of individual reactors.

These insights underscore the complex and multifaceted landscape of nuclear energy development. Collaboration, thoughtful risk management, and unwavering government commitment emerge as vital components in shaping the future of nuclear energy, not only in Europe but also on a global scale.

As we move forward, it is imperative that we continue these critical discussions and work collectively to shape the future of nuclear energy. The challenges are significant, but the potential benefits for our energy security, climate goals, and economic growth are equally substantial. I am fully convinced that, by building upon the lessons learned from this side-event, we can pave the way for a sustainable and prosperous nuclear energy future.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Nuclear-groups-and-ministers-pledge-to-back-new-nu

Representatives of the nuclear industry in OECD nations, and representatives of the governments of 20 countries, have issued communiqués committing to work together to expand nuclear energy capacity, after the inaugural Roadmaps to New Nuclear conference organised by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the French government.

On the industry side, the Canadian Nuclear Association, the Candu Owners Group Inc, Gifen, Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, Korea Atomic Industrial Forum, Nuclear Energy Institute, nucleareurope, Nuclear Industry Association and World Nuclear Association issued a communiqué saying: "We recognise that we are at a critical juncture in terms of climate and energy security, and nuclear energy must play an essential role - alongside other clean energy technologies - if we are to meet this moment. The urgency and magnitude of the challenge before us is real and the speed and scale of the response must match this task."

"Building on the collaboration in April in Sapporo, Japan, during the G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers meeting and Business Forum, we stand ready to work together with policymakers to rebuild leadership in nuclear energy within OECD countries and to cooperate with other like-minded nations as they seek to meet their climate and energy security goals."

They pledge to work with governments to:

• Extend the operating period of existing nuclear generation resources for as long as is feasible. This includes supporting the restart of operable reactors and encouraging efficient safety reviews
• Drive rapid and significant reductions in construction costs and timelines of nuclear energy by leveraging lessons learned from recent nuclear new-build projects
• Accelerate the deployment of small modular reactors and advanced reactors, alongside large nuclear reactors, to unlock large-scale deployment in the 2030s and support decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors
• Deepen international cooperation for the development of the nuclear supply chain and its workforce and to explore options to better ensure capabilities and resources in key strategic areas
• Develop nuclear fuel supply chain capacity and promote cooperation with likeminded nations who seek to end reliance on civil nuclear fuel and related goods from nations that present ongoing geopolitical threats to energy security
• Advance sustainability principles including the circular economy in the nuclear sector through responsible use of nuclear technology and life-cycle management of nuclear materials
• Promote an inclusive and diverse nuclear industry, including in the areas of gender diversity, building on the 2023 OECD Recommendation on Improving the Gender Balance in the Nuclear Sector

They call on policymakers to "foster a financial environment that promotes investment in nuclear energy" and on regulators to modernise regulatory frameworks to "license nuclear technologies efficiently" and to increase cooperation to reduce "regulatory barriers to deployment of technologies in multiple countries". They also urge governments to "develop technology-neutral climate policies in which nuclear energy is fairly compensated for its low-carbon, resilience and reliability value".

Ahead of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) they call for the event to "take action to ensure we succeed in meeting our collective climate goals and to recognise the important role that nuclear energy will play in meeting these goals".

A separate communiqué was issued by the energy ministers and heads of delegation of Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Ghana, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, the UK and the USA, saying that "nuclear energy already plays a significant role in meeting climate goals and can play an even larger role in achieving global net zero emissions by 2050, consistent with the 1.5°C scenario and with the Paris Agreement".

It calls for extending the operation of existing nuclear power plants and "large-scale deployment of new nuclear power plants" and says "securing the needed increase in global nuclear energy will require strategic international collaboration among like-minded governments as well as public-private partnerships and industry leadership".

They issue a "call to action" ahead of COP28, which begins in Dubai at the end of November, to explore innovative financial approaches for funding and for "greater inclusion of nuclear energy in the environmental, social and governance policies in the international financial system considering that it is one of the zero and low-emissions sources of power generation that can contribute substantially to climate change mitigation".

The countries say they are committed to "fostering international collaboration" to "support the creation and maintenance of enabling policy frameworks, regulatory pathways, and codes and standards to enable nuclear energy deployment". They also pledge to ensure safe and efficient waste management strategies, support research and development and to enabling integrated supply chains as well as "exploring collaborations on strategic opportunities in uranium extraction, conversion, enrichment, and fuel fabrication to develop secure and reliable nuclear fuel supply chains for the operating reactor fleets and new advanced reactors".

There are commitments on skills, public engagement and a call for the "recognition of the role that hydrogen from zero and low-emission sources, including nuclear technologies, can play in decarbonising hard-to-abate industrial sectors, as a vector of energy transition, with positive effects on the cost competitiveness of the hydrogen market and supply chain".

The governments' communiqué also calls on the NEA "to coordinate with stakeholders in our countries to develop and support a network of industry leaders, government officials, researchers, and experts as a practical, solutions-oriented approach to support decision-makers in maximising the full potential of long-term operation of large reactors, large reactors new build projects and development and deployment of SMRs for power generation and industrial applications".

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Kazatomprom-plans-2025-uranium-production-increase

The board of the Kazakh uranium producer has approved a strategy to increase production volumes in 2025, returning to a 100% level relative to its subsoil use agreements for the first time since 2018 and adding up to 6,000 tU to anticipated global primary supply.

The decision was made amid improved uranium market conditions and successful medium- and long-term contracting activity with both new and existing customers, the company said in its 2025 production plan which it has released. It says 2025 production is now expected to be between 30,500 tU and 31,500 tU (on a 100% basis).

Kazatomprom announced in 2017 that it would "flex down" production by 20% below its subsoil use agreements from the start of 2018 for three years - which it subsequently extended - to better match supply with demand. However, in August 2022 it announced plans to increase uranium production in 2024 to 10% below its subsoil use agreements. The additional volumes that are expected to be produced in 2025 will be used to meet contractual obligations under medium and long-term contracts, the company said.

Kazatomprom remains committed to its market-centric strategy and its disciplined approach to production but is "excited to witness the start of a long-awaited historical shift in the uranium market", Chief Commercial Officer Dastan Kosherbayev said, adding that it has shown "strong market discipline for seven consecutive years" in keeping its production 20% below the total subsoil use agreements.

"Consistent with our market-centric strategy, our intention to return to a 100% level of Subsoil Use Contracts production volumes in 2025 is primarily driven by our strong contract-book and already growing sales portfolio against conservative 2023-2024 production scenario," he said. "As we are seeing a clear sign that the industry has entered into the new long-term contracting cycle, driven by the recognition of the restocking needs, Kazatomprom, with its best-class and lowest cost mines, is absolutely prepared to respond to these improving market conditions. Our current contract book provides sufficient confidence that the additional volume in 2025 will have a secure place in the market and be needed to fulfil future contractual obligations."

The company said it will now begin working with its joint venture partners and mining subsidiaries to incorporate the necessary changes into its 2024 budgets and development plans for the 2025 increase in production volumes, but added that it will "continue to monitor ongoing market developments and maintain the flexibility to react quickly to changing conditions". No decision has yet been taken regarding mine development activity and production volumes beyond 2025, it said, and geopolitical uncertainty and global supply chain issues along with high inflationary pressure "remain existent and the Company may therefore potentially face challenges in increasing production significantly above stated levels".

Kazatomprom, through its subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates, produces uranium from 26 uranium deposits grouped into 14 mining assets, all using in-situ leach technology. Subsoil use contracts are agreements with the Kazakh government covering the production of uranium by in-situ leach methods.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Canadian-and-Romanian-firms-collaborate-on-medical

Laurentis Energy Partners and Nuclearelectrica are to collaborate on the production of medical isotopes at the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant and explore the possibility of heavy water production in Romania.

A memorandum of understanding was signed by Nuclearelectrica's CEO Cosmin Ghita and Ken Hartwick, president and CEO of Ontario Power Generation (OPG), which is the parent company of Laurentis Energy Partners, with Romania's Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja also present for the event.

The MoU follows on from the announcement last week by Canada's Natural Resources and Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson of CAD3 billion in potential export financing to support clean energy security in Romania, where Nuclearelectrica operates two CANDU reactors at Cernavoda, with plans for more in development.

CANDU reactors can produce medical isotopes without interrupting electricity generation, with OPG's Darlington nuclear power plant producing molybdenum-99, helium-3, heavy water, and tritium, with plans under way to produce cobalt-60, which is currently also extracted from reactors at the Pickering station. Laurentis said the MoU will look at working together to produce and supply heavy water, which CANDU reactors use as a moderator and coolant, and which can be used in pharmaceuticals, medical diagnosis and fibre-optics and OLED screens.

Jason Van Wart, President and CEO of Laurentis Energy Partners, said: "Laurentis is committed to leveraging our proven refurbishment and isotope production expertise to advance healthcare solutions and expand market opportunities in Romania ... and look forward to our cooperation in the pursuit of sustainable and impactful global energy solutions."

Nuclearelectrica's Ghita said: "The nuclear industry is currently essential to generating clean energy and producing medical isotopes given the recent evolutions of the medical isotope market, and we are looking forward to this partnership with Laurentis as a way to advance much-needed global solutions for the health sector."

Minister Burduja said: "This is a significant step toward helping to improve the health of millions of people around the world and demonstrates the multiple benefits of nuclear power plants: besides being a source of clean energy, contributing to energy stability and economic growth, they are able to contribute to cancer treatment. Equally important is the project to restart heavy water production in Romania ... the demand for heavy water is growing and Romania can be a strategic player. Romania and Canada’s collaboration can be an example to other countries about the important role of nuclear energy."

Country’s first reactor expected online in 2025.

Russia’s nuclear equipment manufacturer Atommash has shipped the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) for Unit 3 of the Akkuyu nuclear power station under construction in southern Turkey.

The $20bn (€18.8bn) Akkuyu, the first commercial nuclear power station in Turkey, is being built by subsidiaries of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom under a contract signed in 2010.

The station, in Mersin province on Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast, will have four Generation III+ VVER-1200 units, with the first expected to come online in 2025 and a further unit starting every year afterwards.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, construction of Akkuyu-3 began in March 2021.

In a nuclear power plant, the 340-tonne RPV is one of the largest reactor components, a vessel containing the nuclear reactor coolant, core shroud, and the reactor core and fuel.

Rosatom said the RPV for Akkuyu-3 is the fifth such component shipped by Atommash to clients in Russia and overseas in 2023.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/New-working-group-aims-to-speed-JEK2-project-in-Sl

A new working group of Slovenian government ministers and industry officials has met with the aim of preparing "all the necessary bases for citizens to make high-quality and informed decisions about supporting the JEK2 project", with a planned timeline of a final investment decision by 2028 "at the latest".

Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob has said that there needs to be public backing, via a referendum, before the new nuclear project can go ahead, and he said the new working group was a "step towards examining whether" the new nuclear plant - a second unit at the existing Krško plant - "can be part of the Slovenian power industry's solution for dealing with the climate crisis".

The group will also "study how to use special legislation to reach a new nuclear facility as quickly and economically as possible", he added.

State Secretary for the National Nuclear Programme, Danijel Levičar, head of the working group, emphasised that the government of Slovenia recognised the strategic importance of the construction of JEK 2.

Director General of GEN Energija Dejan Paravan and JEK2 Project Manager Bruno Glaser attended the meeting and outlined the steps being taken "to speed up the implementation of the project ... according to the planned timeline in such a way that the final investment decision is made by 2028 at the latest".

Krško, a 696 MWe pressurised water reactor, is Slovenia's only nuclear power plant and generates about one-third of its electricity. The plant, which is co-owned by neighbouring Croatia, began commercial operation in 1981, and a 20-year extension to its initial 40-year operational lifetime was confirmed in mid-2015. Krško is owned and operated by Nuklearna Elektrarna Krško, which is jointly owned by Croatia's Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP Group) and Slovenia's GEN Energija.

GEN group says JEK 2 could provide 8 TWh electricity per year, bringing with it the benefits of being able to reduce the need to import electricity, cut CO2 emissions as well as being used for district heating schemes and providing jobs and skills across the Slovenian economy.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Contract-signed-for-design-of-Polish-nuclear-power

Polish power company Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) has signed an engineering services contract with US firms Westinghouse Electric Company and Bechtel for the country's first nuclear power plant, to be constructed at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in the Choczewo municipality in Pomerania.

The contract was signed in Warsaw on 27 September, witnessed by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure Anna Łukaszewska-Trzeciakowska and US Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski.

Under the contract, in cooperation with PEJ, Westinghouse and Bechtel will finalise a site-specific design for a plant featuring three AP1000 reactors. The design/engineering documentation includes the main components of the power plant: the nuclear island, the turbine island and the associated installations and auxiliary equipment, as well as administrative buildings and infrastructure related to the safety of the facility.

The primary objective of the conceptual design/engineering is to define the requirements and design/engineering criteria, and specify norms and standards in accordance with which the Polish nuclear project will be executed. The engineering work at this stage will result in more than 400 final deliverables. PEJ said nearly 2 million man-hours and the support of the industry's top professionals have been envisaged for this goal.

The provisions of the contract regulate cooperation during the processes of obtaining further permits, including the development of technical specifications for the preliminary design of the planned plant reflecting the elements of the installation used, so that it complies with the required performance parameters. It will also be the basis for another contract covering the next phase of construction of the plant.

The contract also involves supporting the investment process and bringing it in line with current legal regulations in cooperation with Poland's National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) and the Office of Technical Inspection. PEJ said the developed results will be the basis for the preparation of documentation for the purpose of obtaining a construction permit for the power plant, so as to further execute the project based on the highest Polish and European safety standards and norms. In addition, the contract provides for an evaluation of the proposed radiological protection solutions and safety analyses planned in accordance with the requirements of the Atomic Law.

As part of the 18-month contract, joint activities with Westinghouse and Bechtel are planned to be continued to involve Polish industry in the project. Taking into account the needs and capabilities of Polish contractors, the activities are intended to allow establishing supply chains for the nuclear power plant in a way that maximises the local content participation, including contractors from Pomerania, while guaranteeing efficient and safe execution of the investment project.

In a joint statement, Westinghouse and Bechtel said the work outlined in the contract will begin immediately.

On 21 September, Westinghouse and Bechtel signed a formal agreement to partner on the design and construction of Poland's first nuclear power plant at Lubiatowo-Kopalino. An agreement signed earlier this year by Bechtel, Westinghouse and PEJ set out plans for the delivery of the project, with Westinghouse to lead the consortium at the design stage and Bechtel during construction.

"One week ago, Westinghouse and Bechtel, leaders of the American civil nuclear power sector, formed a consortium to design and build the first nuclear power plant under the Polish Nuclear Power Programme," said Anna Łukaszewska-Trzeciakowska, Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure. "Two days later, Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe received a decision on environmental conditions for this project in Pomerania. Today we witness signing a contract for the plant design and engineering.

"Consistent and timely implementation of the schedules assumed, but also the scope of the contract being executed today, confirm our determination to build the first nuclear power plant within the target timeframe, in line with the budget, and with the optimum utilisation of the Polish industry."

The Polish government selected the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor technology for construction at Lubiatowo-Kopalino in Pomerania in November 2022. The country's Ministry of Climate and Environment in July this year issued a decision-in-principle for Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) - a special purpose vehicle 100% owned by the State Treasury - to construct the plant.

PEJ noted that the Polish plant will be "based on the latest experience of Westinghouse and Bechtel, resulting in particular from the construction of Vogtle unit 4, which introduced improvements over the previously commissioned unit 3".

Poland's first AP1000 reactor is expected to enter commercial operation in 2033.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Completion-of-Finnish-repository-review-delayed

Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) said its review of Posiva Oy's operating licence application for the world's first used fuel disposal facility is taking longer than expected and will not be completed by the end of this year as planned.

Radioactive waste management company Posiva submitted its application, together with related information, to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (TEM) on 30 December 2021 for an operating licence for the used fuel encapsulation plant and final disposal facility currently under construction at Olkiluoto. The repository is expected to begin operations in the mid-2020s. Posiva is applying for an operating licence for a period from March 2024 to the end of 2070.

The government will make the final decision on Posiva's application, but a positive opinion by STUK is required beforehand. The ministry requested STUK's opinion on the application by the end of this year. The regulator began its review in May 2022 after concluding Posiva had provided sufficient material.

However, STUK has now said its safety assessment and opinion on the application will not be completed this year.

"Overall, STUK has progressed well in processing the application for an operating permit, but it is still in progress," the regulator said. "The data is large and STUK has also required Posiva to update parts of it. Consequently, the work has lasted longer than expected. When STUK has received the processing of the operating licence application material submitted by Posiva, it will prepare a safety assessment, which will be attached to the safety statement prepared for the operating licence application."

STUK said it is preparing to propose to the ministry to postpone the deadline for the submission of its opinion.

The regulator said it cannot estimate how long it will take to submit its opinion. "It depends not only on STUK but also on Posiva and how quickly it can deliver the missing material to us," said STUK's project manager Päivi Mäenalanen. However, he said "there is no question of any dramatic delay".

The site for Posiva's repository was selected in 2000. The Finnish parliament approved the decision-in-principle on the repository project the following year. Posiva submitted its construction licence application to TEM in December 2013. The company studied the rock at Olkiluoto and prepared its licence application using results from the Onkalo underground laboratory, which is being expanded to form the basis of the repository.

The government granted a construction licence for the project in November 2015 and construction work on the repository started in December 2016.

Once it receives the operating licence, Posiva can start the final disposal of the used fuel generated from the operation of TVO's Olkiluoto and Fortum's Loviisa nuclear power plants. The operation will last for about 100 years before the repository is closed.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Argentina-and-France-extend-nuclear-collaboration

Argentina's National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) and the French Alternative Energies & Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) have signed a cooperation agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear technology and new energy technologies that expands on one signed in 2010.

The agreement was signed by CNEA President Adriana Serquis and CEA's François Jacq at the 67th International Atomic Energy Agency General Conference, and will last for 10 years, with an option to be extended.

Cooperation will include information exchanges, reciprocal visits, organisation of seminars and workshops and joint studies and technical collaboration or research and development projects. It builds on the two countries' original agreement in 1994 and the 2010 one.

Serquis said the 2010 agreement had been pending renewal since 2021. The new agreement, she said, "seeks to expand the themes of that original agreement, considering both the nuclear plans of each country and the potential for bilateral ties in the areas of work of each institution, such as reactors, materials, small modular reactors, component testing, accelerators and nanotechnology."

France has 56 operable nuclear power plants, and has plans for a wave of new plants in the coming years. Argentina has three nuclear reactors generating about 7% of its electricity. It is also in the process of building the CAREM small modular reactor and the RA-10 radioisotope production and research reactor.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Saudi-Arabia-reiterates-plans-for-nuclear-energy

Saudi Arabia has announced it intends to move towards implementing full International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear safeguards as it works towards building its first nuclear power plant.

In a statement to the 67th International Atomic Energy Agency General Conference, Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud reiterated the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's intention to develop "peaceful uses for nuclear energy across various fields". The Saudi National Atomic Energy Project includes plans to build a nuclear power plant to help meet the sustainable development requirements outlined in the Saudi Vision 2030 roadmap.

"In this regard, the Kingdom has decided recently to rescind the Small Quantities Protocol and implement the full Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement," he said. "The Kingdom is working, within the framework of its national ecosystem, to establish the necessary mechanisms for this full implementation, following best international practices and experiences. The Kingdom is also working closely with the Agency to leverage its expertise and the advisory services it provides in the field of implementing safeguards to develop the national infrastructure and human capabilities required to support this transition."

All non-nuclear-weapon states party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty - the NPT - are required to conclude Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements (CSAs) with the IAEA and undertake to accept IAEA safeguards on all nuclear material in all peaceful nuclear activities within its territory, under its jurisdiction or carried out under its control anywhere.

Many states that have very limited quantities of nuclear material have concluded Small Quantities Protocols - or SQPs - to their CSAs. These protocols reduce the burden of safeguards implementation for states with little or no nuclear activities.

The minister also reiterated Saudi Arabia's plans to operate a regional cooperation centre with the IAEA to develop human capabilities in the areas of preparedness and response to radiological and nuclear emergencies, and other regulatory aspects at national, regional, and international levels.

Saudi Arabia has established the Nuclear Energy Holding Company to act as the country's nuclear developer, and according to the 2023 edition of World Nuclear Association's Nuclear Fuel Report, plans initially to build two 1.4 GWe nuclear reactors with a goal of increasing nuclear capacity to 17 GWe by 2040.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Innovation-is-driving-nuclear-optimism,-panel-find

Innovation has been, and will continue to be, an essential driver in propelling the nuclear energy sector forward - but the industry must be prepared to embrace innovation in all areas, not just technological innovations. These were the messages from speakers in the high-level closing panel at the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) Scientific Forum 2023.

The world saw many changes during the 15 years it took to build and bring into operation Olkiluoto 3, including Fuukshima and regulation changes, Finland's Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen said, with the first EPR to come into service in Europe benefitting from "hundreds" of innovations. But the presence of Europe's largest nuclear reactor on the Finnish grid - it entered commercial operation earlier this year - is the key reason Finland has been able to shut down imports of electricity and gas from Russia, he said. At the same time, the country's spot and future electricity prices are lower than they have been in recent years, he added.

But more innovation is needed, he said. "I'm quite sure that within next 10 years we will see larger amount of nuclear innovation coming to the market … including of course small modular reactors but also when it comes to larger, more traditional reactor types," he said. Finland's investment in nuclear research and development has built on decades of experience developing and using nuclear, but now there is "a clear, new inspiration" for still further investment in innovation.

The UK is another country where EPR units are currently under construction, with an "ambitious" target of 24 GWe of nuclear on the grid by 2050, UK Minister for Nuclear and Networks Andrew Bowie said. The "absolutely clear" message emanating from the forum - and the wider general conference - is that there can be no net-zero without nuclear power, he said. "But it's not just about net-zero - vital as it is to decarbonise baseload," he said. "It's also about affordable energy, being energy secure, and energy independent … If we can work together as like-minded nations developing the technology, supporting the innovation, supporting the research and development … then we can drive down carbon emissions and make energy cheaper and more accessible for more people across the world."

China National Nuclear Corporation Chairman Yu Jianfeng agreed that the pace of innovation - and the pace of new technologies coming on to the market - has been an important player in the rapid growth of nuclear in China. The design of the Hualong One third-generation reactor and rapid development of small modular reactor (SMR) technology is a reflection of the many thousands of nuclear experts engaged in China's nuclear sector, as well as a large network of research institutes, that work as an integrated team. In addition, China has been continuously constructing nuclear power plants since the 1990s, standing it in good stead to meet its future ambitious construction plans.

Innovating outside the box

Peter Baeten, Director-General of the Belgian Nuclear Research Center SCK CEN, underlined the importance of human capital in reaching innovative solutions for challenges such as extending reactor lifetimes and also in securing societal acceptance for the growth of nuclear. While solutions, especially those at the back-end of the fuel cycle need, to be accepted by society and innovation in public interaction, as well as technological innovation, will be important for reaching such acceptance, he said.

Nuclear has embraced innovation for over five decades, World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y Léon said, so the industry already recognises that research is an absolute essential, with collaboration between research institutes and industry, and between international organisations, enabling continuous improvement and bringing developments to fruition.

But while technological innovation is absolutely essential for moving the industry forward, there are other aspects of innovation that should not be overlooked, she said. "For example, innovation in the way in which we finance new nuclear - we really need to think outside the box to attract affordable investment. We need to be innovative in the way we license and regulate these reactors," she said, adding that "we need to make the most and optimise" regulatory work to accelerate licensing at global level.

"Nuclear electricity is only one of the products that nuclear power plants can produce. We need to rethink our business model" to factor in the many ways in which nuclear power plants can be used, she said. "And maybe we as an industry need to innovate in the way we inspire, and attract, the next generation of nuclear talent."

Optimism

Asked by session moderator Hannah Vaughan Jones about the speed and scale of innovations, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said there will never be a "one-size-fits-all" solution in the energy area but said he is "optimistic" that the world is moving decisively. "One very important corollary is that we can see how nuclear is firmly - very firmly - positioned in this global effort that is taking place right now," he said.

He called for a "larger table" where industry, politicians, decision-makers, regulators, scientists who are advancing innovative techniques can come together to discuss "what needs to be done", he said. This is going to become even more important as nuclear moves into other spheres such as marine propulsion, and process heat supply, and even the integration of fusion power."

"My hope is that this scientific forum will have helped us in getting a clear view of where we are going, what is being done, what is needed. And the effort will continue," he said.

The forum, which took place from 26-27 September, is the flagship side event of the IAEA General Conference. This year's forum - Nuclear Innovations for Net Zero - focused on nuclear innovations for net-zero, and saw leading experts from around the world look at the role of new nuclear reactors for energy production; the importance of innovations such as artificial intelligence, digitalization, robotics and advanced manufacturing in supporting nuclear development; and the use of nuclear technology to avoid greenhouse gases in industrial applications and other areas.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/IEA-sees-greater-role-for-nuclear-in-attaining-net

In an update to its Net Zero Roadmap, published in 2021, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says the role of nuclear power has been revised upwards given recent policy support. In the updated net-zero emissions (NZE) scenario, nuclear generating capacity reaches 916 GWe in 2050, up from the 812 GWe given in the 2021 version.

The updated roadmap sets out a global pathway to keep in reach the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, providing a comprehensive update to the original report that was published in 2021. The IEA said the 2023 update incorporates the "significant changes to the energy landscape in the past two years, including the post-pandemic economic rebound and the extraordinary growth in some clean energy technologies - but also increased investment in fossil fuels and stubbornly high emissions".

"The pathway to 1.5°C has narrowed in the past two years, but clean energy technologies are keeping it open," said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

The IEA noted that since 2021, "many changes have taken place, notably amid the global energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. And energy sector carbon dioxide emissions have continued to rise, reaching a new record in 2022. Yet there are also increasing grounds for optimism: the last two years have also seen remarkable progress in developing and deploying some key clean energy technologies."

The IEA says bolder action is necessary this decade. In this year's updated net-zero pathway, global renewable power capacity triples by 2030. Meanwhile, the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements doubles, sales of electric vehicles and heat pumps rise sharply, and energy sector methane emissions fall by 75%. "These strategies, which are based on proven and often cost-effective technologies for lowering emissions, together deliver more than 80% of the reductions needed by the end of the decade," it says.

With regards to nuclear energy, the IEA sees capacity more than doubling from 417 GW in 2022 to 916 GW in 2050. Despite this growth, the share of nuclear power in generation declines slightly in the NZE Scenario from 9% in 2022 to 8% in 2050.

"After three decades of modest growth, a changing policy landscape is opening opportunities for a nuclear comeback," according to the IEA. "As a means of pursuing emissions reductions targets and addressing energy security concerns, several countries have announced strategies that include a significant role for nuclear power, including Canada, China, France, India, Japan, Korea, Poland, United Kingdom and United States.

"At the start of 2023, nuclear reactors totalling 64 GW were under construction in 18 countries around the world. In the longer term, more than 30 countries which accept nuclear power today increase their use of nuclear power in the NZE Scenario."

It notes that in order to achieve this doubling of nuclear capacity by 2050, an average of 26 GW of new capacity will need to be brought online annually from 2023 to 2050 in the NZE scenario, some of which is needed to offset retirements. This calls for average annual investment of over USD100 billion, which is triple the level in recent years.

China will account for one-third of all new nuclear generating capacity to 2050 in the NZE Scenario, the IEA said, with other emerging market and developing economies accounting for almost another one-third.

"While the biggest opportunity for nuclear power is in the electricity sector, new nuclear power in this scenario helps to decarbonise heat and to supply low-emissions hydrogen," it added.

"Keeping alive the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires the world to come together quickly," Birol said. "The good news is we know what we need to do - and how to do it. Our 2023 Net Zero Roadmap, based on the latest data and analysis, shows a path forward. But we also have a very clear message: strong international cooperation is crucial to success. Governments need to separate climate from geopolitics, given the scale of the challenge at hand."

Beijing has the most ambitious new-build programme globally.

China wants to have 10% of its electricity generation sourced from nuclear power by 2035, a double increase from 5% today, according to a China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA) official quoted by state news agency Xinhua.

Wang Binhua, director of the CNEA’s nuclear energy public communication committee, said China foresees the nuclear share in its electricity generation to reach 18% by 2060, equivalent to about 400 GW of installed capacity.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) data shows the world’s 410 reactor units in commercial operation constitute about 369 GW of installed capacity today.

Xinhua said that China will aim to “greenlight” between six and eight new nuclear reactor units per year in the “foreseeable future”.

Wang Binhua said China approved the construction of 21 nuclear power units since the beginning of its 14th five-year plan for the period from 2021 to 2025. According to the plan, the government is to have 70 GW of installed nuclear capacity by 2025.

This means a capacity up from 51 GW at the end of 2020 and an increase of more than 40%, after failing to meet its previous target of having 58 GW of installed capacity by 2020.

According to the IAEA, China has 55 commercial reactor units in operation with a combined capacity of 53 GW and an additional 22 new units under construction.

Country’s first station to have three AP1000 units on Baltic coast.

Polskie Elektrownie Jadrowe (PEJ) signed an engineering services contract on Wednesday (27 September) with a consortium between US-based companies Westinghouse Electric and Bechtel for the construction of Poland’s first nuclear power station in Pomerania.

State-owned PEJ said in a statement that the contract will cover the preparation of the plant design and engineering documentation for the project which will ultimately see the construction of three AP1000 pressurised water reactor units on Poland’s Baltic coast.

These will include the main components of the power plant like the nuclear island, the turbine island, the associated installations and auxiliary equipment, as well as administrative buildings and infrastructure related to the safety of the facility.

Westinghouse confirmed the contract scope includes finalising a site-specific design for three AP1000 nuclear islands.

The primary objective of the conceptual design and engineering work is to define the requirements and criteria, and to specify the norms and standards to be used during the new-build project, the statement said.

The contract will take 18 months to complete, said PEJ, and will also focus on cooperation in obtaining further permits, including a construction permit. It will also serve as a basis for another contract which will address the construction phase of the project.

According to PEJ, the engineering contract with the Westinghouse-Bechtel consortium will allow for the design of supply chains for the nuclear power plant in a way that maximises local industrial content in Poland and Pomerania specifically.

‘Watershed Moment’ For Polish Nuclear Programme

Earlier this month, Westinghouse and 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 a three-unit nuclear power station at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in Pomerania, northern Poland.

“We are entering a watershed moment not only for our investment project, but also for the entire energy transition process in Poland,” said Mateusz Berger, president of the board of PEJ.

“Today's event concludes the planning stage of the nuclear power plant and commences the execution phase with relevant engineering work,” he said.

Poland’s environment agency issued last week an environmental permit for the new-build project, paving the way for the construction permitting process. A siting procedure is still under way with local authorities in Pomerania.

Nuclear new-build plans are a central part of Poland’s drive to fundamentally realign its energy sector by 2040 and meet climate targets by phasing out coal-fired power generation, which provides nearly 80% of the country’s electricity today.

According to Westinghouse, the AP1000 is the only operating Generation III+ reactor with fully passive safety systems, modular construction design and the smallest footprint per MW on the market.

In the US, one AP1000 unit is commercially operational at the Vogtle site in Georgia, while a second unit recently completed its initial fuel load with commercial operations likely later this year or early 2024.

There are four AP1000 reactors in commercial operation at Sanmen and Haiyang in China.

Poland’s first unit is expected to come online in 2033, with first concrete slated for 2026 – a deadline still considered “realistic”, according to recent government statements. The Vogtle units in the US took about 10 years to bring online.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Human-cost-of-delay-and-denial-of-nuclear-shipment

A broader global effort with a new code of conduct is planned to ensure the smooth transportation of nuclear products, such as those used in vital medical diagnosis and treatment and in food safety, as well as in the nuclear energy sector, delegates at the 65th International Atomic Energy Agency General Conference were told.

The Australian-led side event at the gathering in Vienna, Austria, was entitled Enhancing Access to the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear: Addressing Delays in and Denials of Shipment with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi attending to add his voice to those seeking to find a solution to the issue.

The IAEA defines a denial of shipment as "an explicit or implicit refusal to carry a shipment of radioactive material although it conforms to all the applicable regulations". It also says that delays and denials can happen during the planning stage of a shipment, increasing the time and resources needed to organise a shipment.

It says that intentional delays add journey time which "reduces the effectiveness of the material or renders the material unusable when delivered". Denials can either occur during the transport process, or can be a policy decision that means a certain transport route is unavailable.

The issue has been in focus for the past two decades, having been highlighted at the 2003 IAEA Transport Conference, with an International Steering Committee on Denial of Shipments established - creating national focal points, regional workshops, regional networks and coordinators - and meeting eight times before it ended in 2013.

Following a resolution on the issue at the IAEA General Conference in 2020 and technical meetings, an IAEA Denial of Shipment Working Group has now been established for 2023-2026. Its objectives include considering the options for addressing delays and denial of shipments, and considering a code of conduct on facilitation of transport. It will also have three sub-working groups to evaluate the extent of the problem, consider potential solutions and "develop awareness, training and communication strategies".

Paolo Alvano, chairman of the IAEA's Denial of Shipment Working Group, reported back on the group's first two meetings, saying that at its second meeting it had agreed that "the international framework for safety and security of nuclear and radioactive material provides an appropriate level of safety and security, however, denial of shipment may have safety and security consequences".

He added that the working group said the main causes of denial and delay include perception about risks, complexity in national and local policies related to transport of radioactive material "particularly transit/transhipment, deviations/variations in national regulations related to import/export, insurance, routes, carrier's policies and the cost of compliance relative to the profitability of transporting Class 7 that leads carriers to make policies deciding not to accept the shipments of radioactive materials".

The working group noted that national focal points and regional networks had helped reduce problems in the past and has prepared and reviewed a draft code of conduct on the facilitation of safe and secure transport of radioactive material, which could help alleviate a primary cause of the issue - Member States' policies, laws and regulations.

The working group said that the outcome of its work, presented to the current General Conference, was a recommendation that "Member States harmonise national regulations with an international legal and regulatory framework for safe and secure transport of radioactive material and where regulatory variations exist, report these to the" IAEA and encourages the agency "to establish and maintain a publicly accessible list of these regulatory variations reported by Member States in cooperation with the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization". The IAEA is also to maintain a list of national focal points for the issue and also a webpage on denial and delay of shipment of radioactive material.

There are also plans to formulate proposals to increase the number of routes and carriers available for Class 7 shipments and the working group suggests involving other UN organisations, such as the International Labor Organization and World Custom Organization.

Panellist at the event, World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León, said: "The most effective way to immediately address delay/denial of shipment is for member states to name a National Focal Point for Denial of Shipment. It is also essential for member states to support the work of the IAEA Denial of Shipment Working Group."

Australia's Ambassador to the UN in Vienna, Ian Biggs, said the average Australian benefits from two nuclear medicine procedures during their lifetime. He said that as well as nuclear medicine, radioactive material such as radioactive sources were used for medical sterilisation and in numerous industrial and safety applications.

Given all the benefits, "we need to be able to transport radioactive material, safely, securely, predictably and reliably. Australia's unique geographical position as an island nation gives us a particular interest" as the country is "reliant on transport by air and sea". He said that of "most obvious and notable concern is that denials and delays in shipments can leave patients waiting longer for appropriate cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment, which can be detrimental for patients and their families".

Canada's Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, Troy Lulashnyk, said that although there were contracts in business, "you can't compel a private company to do something it does not want to do", so "what we really need to do is to focus on the public benefit and the cost of not doing this properly - in Canada's case Mo-99 (molybdenum-99) - 75% of medical diagnostic services globally use Mo-99 so its absolutely fundamental. The very, very short half-life is significant - a 24-hour delay and you can lose a portion of the shipment" and, while there are financial consequences, "think about the patient delays and the people not getting the diagnosis and treatment" they vitally need.

Likewise, he said, cobalt-60 is used for single use sterilisation of medical products, such as surgical gloves, and if there are shortages or delays "this means people's lives, and I think that's what we really need to drive home".

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Viewpoint-WiN-Global-launch-global-mentoring-progr

At World Nuclear Symposium 2023, Women in Nuclear Global (WIN-Global) announced the launch of its global mentoring programme. "Mentoring is crucial in supporting career development, personal growth and promoting diverse and inclusive leadership in all areas of the nuclear industry," says WiN Global President Dominique Mouillot.

WiN Global has been working to support its membership through various ways and recognises the importance of mentorship as a vital element to professional development and leadership opportunities. WiN Global is now launching its Mentoring Programme, thanks to the hard work and dedication of a number of key volunteers. Callum Thomas, founder and CEO of Thomas Thor Associates, sat with the chair of this committee, Lisa McBride, to discuss the initiative.

So, Lisa, what motivated WiN Global to launch this initiative?

We are constantly looking at how we can support people joining and developing their careers in the nuclear sector, and there are many examples of successful mentoring programmes within organisations and countries. To complement these programmes we felt that there was an opportunity to elevate this idea to the global level. We enjoy the benefits of being a truly global sector, so this is perfectly aligned with the culture of international collaboration. The sector is growing at an unprecedented rate and we see this mentoring programme as key to attracting, developing and retaining the workforce.

That makes perfect sense, so who is the mentoring programme for?

I would like to start by saying that the mentoring programme is open to everyone in the sector, not just women. Mentoring can add value in so many ways. From a mentee perspective, you could be new to the sector and looking to benefit from the experience of others, you could be moving to a new job role or geography, moving into a new discipline or developing as a leader. From a mentor perspective, you may be motivated by helping others and giving something back to the sector. In the spirit of continuous development, we can always learn from others and individuals can switch between being a mentor or mentee as their career evolves.

What an inclusive approach. So, how will it work in practice?

It's really straight forward. The platform we are using, MentorCity, allows mentors and mentees to register and set up a profile. As part of the registration, individuals can choose to be a mentee, mentor, or both. They can also indicate what their areas of experience are and their objectives for a mentoring relationship. The platform then matches mentors and mentees. Short videos embedded on the platform will help mentors and mentees understand how to establish and maintain successful mentoring relationships and provide practical tips and guidance.

That sounds very straight forward. Are there any costs involved?

No, the mentoring programme is free to join for mentors and mentees. We ask that anyone joining is thorough in completing the registration so that the mentor/mentee matching is optimised, and then invests the time and effort required to develop effective mentoring relationships.

What are the benefits to joining this global mentoring programme?

Benefits for mentees include supporting professional and career development goals, seeking advice and guidance from industry peers and leaders, and expanding networks in the sector to gain a broader perspective.

Benefits for mentors include the opportunity to develop future talent in the industry, an opportunity to give back and a way of developing and refining mentoring, coaching and leadership skills. Similar to the benefits of mentees, mentors can also expand networks in the industry and gain broader industry perspective.

What are the next steps for anyone interested?

You must be a member of WiN Global to enroll. If you are not already a WiN Global member, no worries, it is open to all genders and membership is free.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Vessel-for-third-Akkuyu-reactor-ready-to-be-shippe

The manufacture of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) for unit 3 of Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant has been completed in Russia. This brings the number of RPVs supplied by Russia so far this year to a record five, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom noted.

The steel vessel has been produced by the Volgodonsk branch of AEM-Technologies JSC of Atommash, part of Atomenergomash, the machine production division of Rosatom.

The component - 12 metres in height, 4.5 metres wide and weighing more than 330 tonnes - will be moved to the factory pier by special road transport before being loaded onto a barge for the 3000 km journey by water to the Akkuyu construction site.

"With Rosatom entering serial construction of nuclear power plants in Russia and abroad, our machine-building division has increased the volume of work manifold," said Rosatom General Director Alexey Likhachev. "Nuclear machine builders are successfully coping with this task and even reaching new records. Our project portfolio today amounts to 33 power units in 11 countries, so we still have work to do. The reliable and rhythmic work of Atommash gives us confidence that all these projects will be implemented successfully and on time, which means that we will maintain our leading position in the global nuclear market."

Atomenergomash JSC Director General Igor Kotov noted this achievement of the Volgodonsk manufacturing facility is a result of ten years of modernisation and optimisation of the production processes, as well as the introduction of digital technologies. "Today, Rosatom's engineering division is a vivid example of the actual technological potential of our country and a reliable basis for further industry development," he said.

The Akkuyu plant, in the southern Mersin province, is Turkey's first nuclear power plant. Rosatom is building four VVER-1200 reactors, under a so-called BOO (build-own-operate) model. Construction of the first unit began in 2018. The 4800 MWe plant is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs, with the aim that all four units will be operational by the end of 2028.

The RPVs of units 1 and 2 were installed in June 2021 and September 2022, respectively.

"We owe much of the fast pace of the Akkuyu NPP project implementation to the leading companies of the Russian nuclear industry, including in particular Atommash," said Anastasia Zoteeva, director general of Akkuyu Nuclear JSC. "The production of five modern reactors in a year is an outstanding achievement, and we should give great credit to every employee of the manufacturing facility, to its management, and to Rosatom. I am sure that there is more to come after these five reactors, because Atommash's employees, like the employees of all Russian nuclear companies, are talented, enthusiastic, and dedicated specialists."

Nuclear power will play a crucial role in Europe’s transition to carbon-free, secure energy production, according to Poland’s secretary of state for strategic energy infrastructure.

“I want to make a very strong appeal: we cannot afford to reject nuclear energy,” said Anna Łukaszewska-Trzeciakowska, who was speaking at the Energy Day 2023 of the Polish electricity association PKEE.

“Without nuclear energy, large scale and SMR [small modular reactors], we will not be able to achieve our climate ambitions and assure our energy security,” she said at the event on 19 September.

Poland currently does not have any operational nuclear power plants but the country aims to have its first reactor online by 2033, followed by further capacity in the following years.

The country is also part of a group of pro-nuclear EU member states, which want to reach 150 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity in the EU’s electricity mix by 2050 and are calling for equal treatment for nuclear in EU legislation.

Nuclear in Net Zero Industry Act

One area of EU policy where some have criticised lacking support for nuclear energy is the Net Zero Industry Act, which aims to boost technologies critical to the transition to net zero emissions.

While nuclear was mentioned in the European Commission’s proposal, it was not included in a list of strategic technologies eligible for EU funding and fast-track permitting rules.

“We strongly believe that the Net Zero Industry Act should be supportive to nuclear in the same way that it is to other sources, decarbonised sources, renewables, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen,” said Yves Desbazeille, director general of trade association Nuclear Europe, who spoke at the event.

“There is no reason to make any distinction because we need all the solutions. We need all those technologies if we want to meet our very, very ambitious targets for 2050,” he added.

Meanwhile, right-wing Czech lawmaker Alexandr Vondra criticised the current European Commission for “actively fighting against nuclear”.

“This net zero industry plan, yes, it’s a step in the right direction. But from our perspective, it’s far from being complete because nuclear is discriminated [against] and it’s a crime,” said Vondra at the event.

He also criticised the EU’s approach to clean technology support, saying the EU system is “socialist” as it is based on bans, regulations and public money, whereas others like the US Inflation Reduction Act offer freedom of choice with tax incentives.

“We will never compete with that system,” Vondra said, although he admitted that an EU equivalent to the Inflation Reduction Act would be difficult to implement in Europe “because we don’t have tax harmonisation”.

However, Miguel Gil Tertre, chief economist and head of unit at the European Commission’s energy department, warned against copy-pasting the US approach.

“I think if we try to compete with subsidies, it’s going to be very difficult for every sector,” he said, warning that Europe cannot achieve economies of scale like those seen in China.

At the same time, there is a lot of existing financial support available in Europe, both from the EU and from national budgets, he added.

“We need to really focus on where does the public sector make a difference, catalysing the private sector, and where we can leave the private sector alone to deliver”.

Another thing the EU can provide beyond funding is a predictable regulatory environment for investors, Tertre continued.

Regulatory certainty is key for industry, agreed Patryk Demski from Polish energy company Tauron, who vented his frustration about the EU’s changing views on what constitutes strategic net-zero technologies.

“It’s like spinning the circle around, one technology then the other technology, one solution, destroys the other solution – no one knows how the future mix should look like,” he said.

“From my perspective, what we need is really good, clear and fast regulation. The regulatory framework should work well in Europe. The second, we have to agree on the financing terms, how to support which technology, and on which terms,” he said.

On the Net Zero Industry Act, he said the EU should look at combining its strengths with ideas coming from the US.

“In my perspective, you have some part of Inflation Reduction Act, some part of European solidarity, some parts of the skills that we should share together, the common strength to achieve the goal of sustainable transformation,” he said.

The European Parliament and EU countries are currently separately debating the Net Zero Industry Act. One of the key issues there is whether nuclear should be given a more prominent role.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/IAEA-assesses-operational-safety-at-Penly-plant

The operator of the two-unit Penly nuclear power plant in Normandy, France, has demonstrated a commitment to operational safety, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission has concluded. The team also encouraged the operator, EDF, to continue improvements in areas such as the implementation of maintenance work.

A 13-member team comprising experts from Canada, China, Germany, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, the UK, the UAE and the USA, as well as two IAEA officials, completed an 18-day Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) mission to Penly on 21 September. The mission was carried out at the request of the French government.

OSART missions aim to improve operational safety by objectively assessing safety performance using the IAEA's Safety Standards and proposing recommendations for improvement where appropriate.

"We observed that the plant’s senior leadership team held safety as a priority and pushed for improvement in all areas," said team leader John Duguid, Senior Nuclear Safety Officer at the IAEA. "The team also proposed areas in which improvements can be made to further elevate the plant’s safety performance."

The team identified good practices to be shared with the nuclear industry globally, including: the updated plant information project (CONNECT) installed at the plant provides real time access to information and effective support to different function groups; this assists in operator monitoring, remote requests for technical assistance and management of emergent work; the plant installed a remote monitoring capability on safety critical seawater piping that helps in avoiding biofouling through optimising chemical treatment; and the plant developed and installed a system for monitoring sedimentation in the cooling water intake channel.

The mission also provided recommendations and suggestions to further improve operational safety, including that: the plant should improve the implementation of processes related to the testing of the plants installed systems; the plant should improve its preparation, control and implementation of maintenance activities to ensure equipment reliability and personnel safety; and the plant should consider improving the quality and planning of its periodic testing.

The team provided a draft report of the mission to the plant management, which will have the opportunity to make factual comments. These comments will be reviewed by the IAEA and the final report will be submitted to the French government within three months.

"The OSART mission enabled an in-depth assessment of the site and an enriching sharing of the best global practices thanks to the team's combined expertise," said François Valmage, Executive Site Manager of Unit 1 and 2 of the Penly plant. "The recommendations and suggestions will help us ensure a continuous improvement of the plant's operational safety."

Unit 1 of the Penly plant started commercial operation in 1990, and unit 2 in 1992. The two 1300 MWe pressurised water reactors are amongst 56 operating nuclear power reactors in France. Nuclear power currently contributes about 68% of the country's electricity. This figure is expected to rise as France is constructing an additional reactor and plans to construct at least six more.

In June, EDF announced its board of directors had decided to proceed with the planned construction of the first pair of EPR2 reactors at Penly "in response to the expectations expressed" during a national public debate, which took place between 27 October 2022 and 27 February 2023 under the aegis of the National Commission for Public Debate. The company aims to start preparatory work for the new reactors at Penly in mid-2024.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/More-countries-to-join-Nuward-SMR-joint-early-revi

The pilot phase of the joint early regulatory review of France's Nuward small modular reactor design has led to positive lessons for all sides, with three more European regulators set to join the next phase, a meeting at the 67th International Atomic Energy Agency General Conference has been told.

The session featured Dana Drabova from the Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety (SÚJB), Olivier Gupta of France's Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN) and Petteri Tippana from Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) - the three national regulators taking part in the review - as well as Renaud Crassous, president and CEO of Nuward, which was spun off into a separate company by its parent EDF earlier this year.

The main objectives of the multilateral review were to identify key issues towards the hypothetical licensing of a Nuward SMR in the three countries, and to identify divergences and convergences between the regulatory frameworks in these countries - it was not intended to replace any future licensing review of any participating regulator.

Crassous said the process had been a positive one for Nuward, allowing early feedback for its designers, and allowing discussion of the differences in regulations. He noted there were three levels in differences in regulations, saying that on international principles "the regulators converged quite easily". The second layer was the history of regulation in a country and how they had interpreted and built a national approach and implemented the global principles "and this was a precise lesson learned from this project", he said.

"And there was also the underlying layer of all the national regulations concerning things that are not nuclear at all, such as fire regulation, or the size of doors, which looks quite simple when we talk about it but which is very difficult to change when we have a full design of a plant at the end and we move to another country - that is not a part we have discussed in this process but it will be of some significance," he told the session.

"And we know that, because of this underlying layer, it is still a dream to have a unique design that will fit another country - but, still, the progress we made on the second layer and to understand the different approaches to safety, the safety case and approaches in the countries we worked with have reassured us that many of the choices we have made have been validated by the discussion and we are confident we can keep it on track," he added.

He said there was still work to be done to "be on the edge between the different regulators" and added that the Nuward team also felt it was a success and was helping produce a new process with wider benefits to the wider international nuclear sector.

The joint early review does not approve the design of the SMR but it allows discussion between different countries' regulators and the reactor designer in an effort to try to smooth the process as much as possible through future regulatory and licensing processes as part of the goal of getting as close as possible to a design that can be standardised across national borders.

The three national regulators taking part came from countries where there is interest in deploying a Nuward SMR - whose pilot plant's first concrete target date is 2030. Session chair, Luc Chanial, from ASN, said the first phase had been successful enough to create interest from other regulators and in phase two three more regulators are set to be joining - Poland's National Atomic Energy Agency (Państwowa Agencja Atomistyki, PAA), the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) and Netherlands' Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ANVS).

Early review reports

Also on Tuesday, the three regulators published their report on the first phase of the review - the NUWARD SMR Joint Early Review Pilot Phase Closure Report - and Nuward also published its NUWARD SMR Joint Early Review Summary Report.

In their report, the regulators said "this initiative provided room for sharing of knowledge, experience and detailed national practices on topics which present high stakes for safety and which are crucial in the licensing process. It also enabled regulators to acquaint with an SMR design, and thus to anticipate the main regulatory and technical challenges. For the vendor, it enabled it to receive timely feedback from the regulators on topics of the highest importance for its design, when modifications are still relatively easy to be made with the objective to develop a standardised design with a level of safety consistent with regulators’ expectations, and thus more likely to be accepted by several countries in the future. This exercise also showed that differences in regulatory frameworks don’t always need to be addressed through design changes."

"This kind of cooperation appears to be an effective and efficient way to move towards an increased standardisation of reactor designs, and also facilitates harmonisation of regulatory requirements, regulators’ expectations and practices on a voluntary basis, which preserves national sovereignty and independence."

In its "lessons learned" section it says: "The initiative preserves each regulator’s independence and sovereignty, as the joint synthesis enables to carry both common and individual views. The fact that the review was based on national regulatory frameworks, instead of a list of common acceptance criteria did not constrain the review and contributed to the independence and sovereignty of each regulator. As the joint early review initiative does not lead to regulatory binding decisions, it enables more open discussions between the regulators and the vendor. Also, it enables to provide timelier feedback to the vendor through the joint synthesis compared to official processes in each country."

It said that those taking part gained "useful insights on each other's regulatory approaches" and therefore had "the opportunity to consider evolutions of their national regulatory framework".

The report also set out some insights into what views the regulators had taken of the reactor's design. and areas where the three regulators diverged and suggested that could feed it into the design. It noted that "the cooling of the reactor pools and spent fuel pool is different from the one currently used in the French fleet of nuclear power plants and recommended by ASN for the design of these reactors. The discussions held with the working group and Nuward SMR will pave the way for further assessment of this strategy in the framework of the safety options file assessment".

In its report on the joint early review, Nuward said its intention is "to develop a standardised design, suitable and licensable in multiple countries" and the review was one of a number of measures to try to embed international regulatory requirements within the design.

The six areas covered during the year-long review were:

• The general safety objectives.
• The list of design basis conditions and design extension conditions
• The use of passive cooling systems
• The development plan for computer codes
• The integration of two reactor units in a single facility
• The Probabilistic Safety Assessment approach

It said: "The insights for the Nuward team have been numerous, relevant and useful for the Nuward SMR development. They will feed the rationale for decisions on some topics as part of the on-going Basic Design phase of the project, in order to see if a more holistic and centralised approach to certain aspects can be built into the Nuward SMR model. Examples of topics include dose limits and radiological consequences limitation objectives with respect to severe accident, DEC-A definition and selection, consideration of DBC in combination with loss of offsite power, and the classification approach for systems/structures/components."

The timing of such reviews was a point included in both the regulators' and the Nuward reports, with a need for the design to be advanced enough to be able to be usefully assessed by the regulators, but also at a stage where changes can feed into the detailed design process.

Nuward said "the process and its output have challenged the ways of thinking and working within the Nuward team. It has encouraged increased agility and a growth mindset in anticipating how some of its design approach and assumptions may be viewed in different regulatory contexts". It also said that, among the lessons, "there was a need to agree on standard terms and definitions, and some explanation on exact meaning was frequently required throughout the process. The IAEA safety glossary was generally acknowledged as a shared basis".

It says that while the joint early review "further convinced Nuward and EDF that it would not be desirable, or even possible in some cases, to consider inclusion of all the highlighted specific requirements in such design", it believes the review is "a key step to help designers and regulators move towards a wide harmonised set of expectations in the future, identified as a success factor for the emergence of the SMR market ... through a better understanding of the variety of expectations and sharing the designer’s set of constraints, Nuward wishes to provide the market with an SMR solution that will ensure a very high level of safety while maintaining design simplicity and cost-efficiency.".

The hope of many developers of small modular reactors are to be able build a fleet of them in a variety of countries. In an effort to try to help that to happen there have been initiatives established to encourage regulatory convergence of requirements in different countries. These include the IAEA's Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative.

Last week a joint report produced by World Nuclear Association's Cooperation in Reactor Design Evaluation and Licensing (CORDEL) working group in cooperation with the Canadian Nuclear Association and the Nuclear Energy Institute, was published proposing a "stepwise" process and set out the regulatory steps which can be taken to minimise the time and cost for large-scale deployment of a fleet of standardised reactor designs that are acceptable in multiple countries around the world.

Speaking after the publication of the Nuward SMR joint early review report, CORDEL working group staff director Allan Carson said: "This joint early review is a clear example of the benefits of groups of regulators working together on the review of specific designs, it provides some clear building blocks identifying areas of commonality and some challenges. Long term commitment to and support of these types of initiatives will be critical to the widespread deployment of nuclear power."

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Hot-testing-starts-of-second-CGN-Hualong-One-unit

Tests that simulate the temperatures and pressures which the reactor systems will be subjected to during normal operation have begun at unit 4 of the Fangchenggang nuclear power plant in China's Guangxi Autonomous Region. The unit is the second of two demonstration China General Nuclear-designed Hualong One (HPR1000) reactors at the site.

Hot functional tests involve increasing the temperature of the reactor coolant system and carrying out comprehensive tests to ensure that coolant circuits and safety systems are operating as they should. Carried out before the loading of nuclear fuel, such testing simulates the thermal working conditions of the power plant and verifies that nuclear island and conventional equipment and systems meet design requirements.

China General Nuclear (CGN) announced that hot functional testing of the 1180 MWe (gross) pressurised water reactor began at 9.00am on 25 September.

Cold functional tests - which are carried out to confirm whether components and systems important to safety are properly installed and ready to operate in a cold condition - have already been completed at Fangchenggang 4. The main purpose of those tests was to verify the leak-tightness of the primary circuit.

First concrete was poured for the nuclear island of unit 3 - 39% owned by Guangxi Investment Group and 61% by CGN - in December 2015, while that for unit 4 was poured a year later. Unit 3 was originally expected to start up in 2019, with unit 4 scheduled to start up in 2020. Both their start-ups were subsequently postponed until 2022.

In January 2022, CGN announced that the start-up of Fangchenggang 3 and 4 had been put back again due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It said the start of operation of unit 3 had been put back to the second half of 2022, with that of unit 4 expected in the first half of 2024. However, in December, CGN announced Fangchenggang 3 would not begin operation until the first half of 2023.

Unit 3 achieved first criticality - a sustained chain reaction - on 27 December 2022 and was synchronised with the grid on 10 January this year. It entered commercial operation on 25 March.

The Fangchenggang plant is planned to house six 1000 MWe reactors. The first phase comprises two CPR-1000 units which were put into commercial operation in 2016.

The first two units of China National Nuclear Corporation's version of the Hualong One design at the Fuqing plant in Fujian province have both already started up. Unit 5 entered commercial operation on 30 January 2021, with unit 6 following on 25 March 2022.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Tribal-council,-First-Nations-take-stake-in-SMR-co

The North Shore Mi'kmaq Tribal Council (NSMTC) and its seven First Nation member communities are making financial investments in small modular reactor (SMR) developers Moltex Energy Canada Inc and ARC Clean Technology Canada Inc under historic equity agreements.

Under the separate agreements - the first of their kind in the field of SMR technology - NSMTC and its member communities (Oinpegitjoig, Ugpi'Ganjig, Natoaganeg, L'nui Menikuk, Tjipogtotjg, Metepenagiag and Amlamgog) will receive about CAD2 million (USD1.5 million) in share value from Moltex and CAD1 million in share value from ARC, which they say will enable them to share in the companies' success in developing and deploying advanced nuclear technology in New Brunswick and around the world. While details are confidential, the deals "have been structured in recognition of the key role First Nations play in New Brunswick's energy future."

Moltex and ARC have prioritised engagement with and including First Nation companies since establishing their businesses in New Brunswick. NSMTC, with the help of Saa Dene, a company focused on Indigenous inclusion through economic and social participation in the global economy, conducted "thorough due diligence" to ensure that Moltex and ARC's technologies and values harmonised with Indigenous teachings of honouring and respecting the Earth and its resources.

"As Indigenous people, we believe that the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future," said NSMTC General Manager Jim Ward. "With this investment, we are building a legacy for our youth, as well as our communities and the environment. We are laying the groundwork for a prosperous future and opportunities that can be passed down for years to come."

Arlene Dunn, New Brunswick Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, said: "We are pleased to see another energy development opportunity embraced by First Nations here in New Brunswick. Creating these kinds of partnerships is essential to the economic development and increased employment for Indigenous communities, and to building a sustainable energy path for the province."

ARC is developing the ARC-100 sodium-cooled fast reactor which been selected by New Brunswick Power for implementation at the Point Lepreau site with completion targeted by the end of the decade. Moltex is developing three complimentary technologies: the Stable Salt Reactor - Wasteburner (SSR-W) molten salt reactor, the WAste To Stable Salt (WATSS) facility for recycling nuclear waste to produce SSR-W fuel, and a thermal energy storage system called GridReserve which the company says would enable the SSR-W to act as a peaking plant to back up intermittent renewables such as wind and solar. The company aims to deploy the first SSR-W unit at the Point Lepreau site by the early 2030s.

VVER-440 unit was connected to the grid in February 2023.

The power output level of the Mochovce-3 nuclear power plant in southwest Slovakia has been increased to 100%, Slovak utility Slovenske Elektrarne said on Monday (25 September).

The company said all power escalation testing at levels up to 90% of the VVER-440 unit’s design output had been completed in early September with a report having been submitted to the local nuclear regulatory authority.

Final testing will now be carried out at 100% power levels for Mochovce-3, which will be followed by a 144-hour trial operation run, a statement said. Testing is expected to continue into early October.

At full operation, Mochovce-3 is expected to meet about 13% of Slovakia’s electricity consumption, enough to fuel about 750,000 households.

Slovakia has four commercial nuclear reactor units – two at Mochovce and two at Bohunice – all of the Russia-designed VVER-440 pressurised water reactor type.

The fleet generates about 59% of the country’s electricity. Mochovce-3 with its 471 MW of installed capacity will bring the share of nuclear in the country’s electricity generation to 65%, putting it second behind only France.

Construction of the first two Mochovce units, Mochovce-1 and Mochovce-2, began in 1983, while the units started commercial operation in 1998 and in 2000.

Construction of the third and fourth units at Mochovce began in the late 1980s during the Communist era only for work to be halted in the 1990s and resumed again about a decade ago.

Mochnovce-3 achieved first criticality on 22 October 2022 after fuel loading a month earlier.