Nuclear Energy

Company announces expansion of Columbia facility.

Westinghouse has established a “centre of excellence” for the manufacturing of low-enriched uranium plus (LEU+) fuel at its Columbia fuel fabrication facility (CFFF) in South Carolina.

The centre will help to meet an expected increase in demand for LEU+ fuel, particularly in the 5-10% enrichment range. The fuel increases power generation which reduces the number of outages needed at nuclear plants, the US-based nuclear company said.

Establishing the centre involves a significant expansion and upgrading of the CFFF, including the implementation of advanced manufacturing processes, equipment upgrades, and heightened safety measures.

Tarik Choho, president of Westinghouse Nuclear Fuel, said the project will create opportunities for both the workforce and academic community in South Carolina.

“The programme is aligned with our customers’ needs for LEU+ fuel,” he said. “This vision will provide high-tech job opportunities and increase collaboration with our local technical colleges and universities in South Carolina.”

LEU+ fuel is part of a Westinghouse fuel development programme aimed at producing the lowest fuel cycle costs possible, with higher burnup capability to generate more power with fewer bundles.

Westinghouse, which has fuel manufacturing facilities in the US, Sweden, and the UK, said LEU+ fuel is an accident-tolerant products that provides “resilience and survivability, in addition to robust and leak-free fuel performance”.

RAB financing model will attract investors in new build, but full cost implications called for.

The UK government has signalled its commitment to new nuclear power plants by setting up Great British Nuclear (GBN), an industry advisor told NucNet.

When GBN was launched in July, its mandate was to accelerate the expansion of nuclear power capacity and help the UK achieve its target for 24 GW of electricity to be generated by nuclear sources by 2050 – four times the current level.

However, more clarification is needed to prevent the country falling behind as it pushes towards its target of 24 GW, Meera Kotak, a UK-based energy advisor and associate principal at consulting firm Charles River Associates, said.

Ms Kotak said it is not clear if the 24 GW target is going to be met by large-scale nuclear plants or small modular reactors (SMRs) and other advanced reactors, with large nuclear stations such as Hinkley Point C and – potentially – more units at Sizewell C likely to “remain the backbone for a long time”.

She said whilst one of GBN’s core priorities is to manage and launch a competitive process to select the right SMR technology for the UK, “we don’t know what its commitments are beyond the [SMR] competition and beyond selecting projects that should be prioritised for funding”.

“Commitment for the full cost implications of new nuclear is needed, if we really want to deliver on energy security, net-zero lower bills and safe supply”, Ms Kotak said.

“We need to be progressing these mandates to make sure that we’re not falling behind, and opening the field for other countries to step in.

RAB Financing Model ‘Provides Confidence’

Asked about the financing of new nuclear in the UK, Ms Kotak said the regulated asset-base (RAB) model is a “robust regulatory mechanism that is widely understood and provides investors with confidence” for financing. “It should encourage developers to go to the UK as their primary market,” she said.

“Private equity (PE) funds, investors and investment banks are all interested in tapping into nuclear and engaging with the energy transition and pathway to net zero,” she said. “But they need signals from government that it is something that they should be putting their money behind.”

The RAB model, planned to be used for Sizewell C, enables developers and investors to secure returns on investment through a levy on utility bills during the construction, commissioning and operation phases of a nuclear plant. Crucially, it enables them to earn revenues before the plant begins generating electricity.

Under the UK’s previous mechanism to support new nuclear projects – the contracts for difference (CfD) scheme – developers had to finance the entire construction cost of a nuclear project up front, and only began receiving revenue when the station starts generating electricity. This model led to the cancellation of potential projects, such as Hitachi’s planned Wylfa Newydd nuclear station in Wales and Toshiba’s at Moorside in Cumbria.

Ms Kotak also warned of potential skills shortages in the nuclear industry as it gears up for ambitious new build.

She said the industry needs to recruit and train thousands more employees, especially as a relatively older workforce retires.

“I think sometimes the supply chain and skills element is forgotten when we think about what we need to do to hit these decarbonisation and new nuclear build goals.

“There’s a skills gap challenge globally, and across all sectors in the energy industry, coupled with global supply chain issues, so it’s a collective new industry to tap into,” she said. “But the UK has positioned itself well.”

Bulgaria offered Slovenia to join the project for the new reactors at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant as an energy buyer or as an investor, an offer that was already made to Greece earlier this year.

Slovenia is preparing to increase its nuclear power capacity and is ready to learn from Bulgaria, which appears to be ahead of it in its plans to expand the Kozloduy NPP with two new American reactors.

“We are tying the project to a long-term energy demand forecast that covers the period at least until 2050. It shows that the two new reactors, combined with extending the lives of the existing ones, will be enough to provide baseload power until we decide how we will develop our energy after the middle of the century”, explained Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov.

Denkov offered participation in the project to his Slovenian colleague Robert Golob at a bilateral meeting within the framework of the 18th Strategic Forum in the Slovenian city of Bled, the government in Sofia announced on Tuesday.

Bulgaria is ready to help Slovenia also for the training of specialists in nuclear energy.

In July of this year, Greece confirmed its interest in investing in the construction of new reactors at the Kozloduy NPP, with the alternative option being to conclude a 20-year contract for the purchase of the produced electricity.

Bulgaria currently appears to be making progress on its Kozloduy NPP expansion project. The country chose the American company Westinghouse as the executor of the feasibility study for the construction of the VII reactor at the Kozloduy NPP using the American AP-1000 technology.

The American company seems to be the absolute favourite to build the new nuclear power plant, after trying to enter the Bulgarian market since 2014.

The new Bulgarian government is very active in the negotiations in the field of nuclear electricity in the context of reducing its energy dependence on Russia.

In early July, it became clear that Ukraine was in serious talks to buy two Russian-made nuclear reactors from Bulgaria in a deal that could help Kyiv deal with power shortages and help Bulgaria sell junk equipment it spends every year millions for conservation.

Part of the talks on the possible deal took place in Sofia during the first visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Bulgaria in July.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Westinghouse-expands-fuel-offerings-of-Columbia-pl

Westinghouse has announced the creation of a centre of excellence for Low Enriched Uranium Plus (LEU+) fuel manufacturing at its Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF) in Hopkins, South Carolina.

"The demand for LEU+ fuel in the range of 5–10% enrichment is expected to grow significantly in the coming years due to increased power generation which reduces the number of outages needed in nuclear plants," the company said. "Westinghouse has initiated the work to expand its operations at CFFF with advanced processes, upgraded equipment, and engineered safeguards for sustainable, efficient, and reliable fabrication of LEU+ nuclear fuel."

"Westinghouse is committed to providing fuel products and engineering services required by our customers to achieve 24-month cycles through our High Energy Fuel Program," said Westinghouse's president of nuclear fuel, Tarik Choho. "The programme is aligned with our customers' needs for LEU+ fuel. Further, this vision will provide high-tech job opportunities and increase collaboration with our local technical colleges and universities in South Carolina."

Westinghouse said its High Energy Fuel Program paves the way for utilities to leverage high burnup, higher enrichment (LEU+) and accident tolerant technologies for 24-month cycle operation and improved safety, economics, and reliability. The programme includes innovations such as EnCore Fuel, AXIOM fuel rod cladding, PRIME fuel advanced features and ADOPT fuel.

The company's EnCore Fuel programme is centred on the use of high-performance features that are "being developed and deployed on a strategic timeline" so utilities can gain safety and cost benefits quickly. It has begun with an improved chromium-coated cladding that inhibits the zirconium-steam reaction and increases maximum temperature by an additional 300°C. Westinghouse is also developing advanced fuel rod materials such as silicon-carbide cladding, which has an extremely high melting point and minimal reaction with water and steam.

AXIOM is Westinghouse's next generation of fuel rod cladding targeting high fuel duties, improved corrosion resistance, lower hydrogen pick-up and lower creep and growth when compared with current Westinghouse products. In December 2022, Westinghouse received approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to use its AXIOM Fuel Rod Cladding in US pressurised water reactors (PWRs).

Westinghouse said its PRIME advanced fuel features help to improve fuel performance, enhance fuel reliability, enable enhanced fuel cycle economics and provide additional margin at uprated conditions and higher burnup.

The company has also developed Advanced Doped Pellet Technology (ADOPT) Fuel to improve fuel cycle economics and enhance the accident tolerance of conventional uranium dioxide fuel pellets. In November of last year, Westinghouse received approval from the NRC to use its ADOPT Fuel in US PWRs.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Oklo-and-Centrus-Energy-broaden-links-with-MoU

Advanced reactor plant developer Oklo has expanded its partnership with Centrus Energy with a memorandum of understanding covering the development of the Aurora powerhouses and High-Assay, Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel supply.

The two companies signed a letter of intent in 2021 to cooperate in the development of a HALEU fuel facility.

The MoU says the two companies intend for Centrus to manufacture components for Oklo's Aurora powerhouses as well as manufacturing capacity at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, where HALEU production will take place. It will also purchase electricity from the powerhouses, while Oklo would purchase HALEU fuel from the production facility.

The companies also said they would "work together to establish and license the capabilities necessary to deconvert HALEU from uranium hexafluoride to uranium metal and fabricate fuel assemblies for Oklo’s Aurora powerhouses".

Jacob DeWitte, co-founder and CEO of Oklo, said: "Our wide-ranging landmark partnership with Centrus is expected to span fuel production, manufacturing, and power off-take, exemplifying the early market interest in our scalable power plants and differentiated business model, involving selling power, not power plants. This important collaboration is expected to facilitate several elements of our strategy to meet the growing demand for our powerhouses that stems from our pipeline of customer engagements across various industries."

Daniel Poneman, Centrus President and CEO, said: "We see tremendous potential in a strategic partnership between Centrus and Oklo to advance the next generation of carbon-free nuclear energy ... we are excited to see strong support from industry leaders like Oklo as well as growing bipartisan support in Congress and the Administration for robust investment in domestic uranium enrichment."

HALEU fuel contains uranium enriched to between 5% and 20% uranium-235 - higher than the uranium fuel used in light-water reactors currently in operation, which typically contains up to 5% uranium-235. It will be needed by most of the advanced reactor designs being developed under the DOE's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. But the lack of a commercial supply chain to support these reactors has prompted the DOE to launch a programme to stimulate the development of a domestic source of HALEU.

Centrus announced in June it had completed its operational readiness reviews and received regulatory approval to possess uranium at its Piketon, Ohio site and introduce uranium into the cascade of centrifuges it has constructed there. The company said it remains on track to begin production of HALEU at the plant before the end of the year.

It has said it could scale up the Piketon facility for expanded HALEU production, subject to sufficient funding or offtake contracts. A full cascade of 120 individual centrifuge machines, with a combined capacity of approximately 6000 kilograms of HALEU per year, could be brought online within about 42 months of securing funding, according to the company.

Oklo's Aurora design is a fast neutron reactor that uses heat pipes to transport heat from the reactor core to a supercritical carbon dioxide power conversion system to generate electricity. The Aurora 'powerhouse' uses metallic HALEU fuel to produce about 15 MWe as well as producing usable heat.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Viewpoint-Quantum-computing-and-the-nuclear-indust

A research project has highlighted the potential for quantum computing to deliver significant benefits for the design and operation of radiation facilities in the nuclear, medical and space industries, as Professor Paul Smith, Jacobs ANSWERS Technical Director, explains.

Modelling radiation transport is fundamental to nuclear physics and plays a part in everything from reactor design and operation, fuel fabrication, storage, transport, decommissioning and geological disposal. Beyond nuclear power and decommissioning, it plays a vital role in nuclear medicine, the space industry, food irradiation and oil well logging.

Monte Carlo codes are the reference method for creating simulations and solving equations to understand the way in which physical energy is transferred by the absorption, emission and scattering of electromagnetic radiation - known as radiation transport.

The codes are designed to model and understand the movement and interactions of radiation particles (such as photons, neutrons, or charged particles) as they travel through different materials and interact with various structures.

There are two main approaches to solving the equations for radiation transport. In the deterministic approach traditional numerical methods are used to solve the mathematical equations - this involves a number of approximations. The alternative Monte Carlo approach involves simulating the paths of individual particles which involves less approximation but for some applications is prohibitively slow. In such cases it is used to produce high-fidelity solutions to test the accuracy of deterministic solutions which although more approximate, can be arrived at more quickly.

The ANSWERS Software Service, part of Jacobs, led a project to explore the potential benefits of quantum computing in accelerating Monte Carlo methods.

Supported by the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre’s SparQ programme, which supports research into new applications, this project aimed to investigate the advantages of leveraging quantum computing instead of conventional digital computing to improve the runtime of Monte Carlo methods, making them more competitive.

ANSWERS provides and supports the MCBEND and MONK 3D Monte Carlo codes which are widely used worldwide for radiation shielding, dose assessments, nuclear criticality safety and reactor physics analysis. For example, ANSWERS software is used to support the design and safety case production for transport flasks for radioactive materials.

Several processes contribute significantly to the computational cost of performing Monte Carlo radiation transport calculations including random number generation, nuclear database searches, ray tracing and the Monte Carlo process itself. Quantum algorithms are available or under development for each of these processes. Quantum random number generation has the clear advantage of generating truly random numbers, based on truly random quantum processes, whereas traditional computational methods are only capable of generating pseudo random numbers or quasi random numbers which can be subject to subtle correlations that can introduce bias into calculation results.

Whereas digital computers work with bits of data that are either 0 or 1, quantum computers work with qubits – two-state quantum-mechanical systems that can be in a superposition of the 0 and 1 states. For example light may be horizontally or vertically polarised (try looking at an LED television through glasses with polarised lenses and tilting your head at different angles). If an individual photon of light is polarised at 45 degrees to horizontal it may be thought of as being in a superposition of the horizontal and vertical states.

This allows quantum computers to process many states in a single operation, increasing their processing power exponentially and achieving complex problem-solving which is impossible on digital computers. In practice, many quantum algorithms offer a quadratic advantage over traditional digital computers - for example, a quantum algorithm may achieve in 1000 operations what would take a million operations using a traditional algorithm.

There are certain scenarios where digital computing surpasses quantum computing. For instance, due to the specific ordering of nuclear databases (from lowest energy to highest energy), binary searches offer an exponential advantage over the quantum Grover search algorithm.

One of the biggest challenges faced by quantum computing at present is the presence of quantum noise. Being microscopic, quantum systems are very delicate.

Any interaction with the surrounding environment can change the state of the system, for example changing a qubit from state 0 to state 1 or vice versa. Random interactions with the qubits effectively add an element of noise to the answers obtained from a quantum computer. The project used Lucy, the Oxford Quantum Circuits computer, and was successful in demonstrating the effectiveness of new techniques for the reduction of quantum noise. This is currently an area of intense research activity.

The project partners - Jacobs, National Quantum Computing Centre (part of UK Research & Innovation), Oxford Quantum Circuits, National Nuclear Laboratory, Sellafield Ltd, and the University of Cambridge - note that there are promising signs that quantum algorithms could transform the computational aspects of ray tracing and Monte Carlo radiation transport simulation, but further research is needed to evaluate their applicability.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Construction-of-Lufeng-unit-6-begins

The first safety-related concrete has been poured for the nuclear island of the unit 6 HPR1000 (Hualong One) at the Lufeng nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province. It is the second HPR1000 under construction at the site, where four CAP1000s are also planned.

In a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, China General Nuclear (CGN) announced that first concrete for the 1200 MWe (gross) reactor was poured on 26 August, marking the "commencement of construction of Lufeng Unit 6 and the start of the civil construction phase".

The construction of Hualong One reactors as units 5 and 6 at the Lufeng plant was approved by the State Council in April 2022.

First concrete for unit 5 was poured on 8 September last year. Units 5 and 6 are expected to be connected to the grid in 2028 and 2029, respectively.

The proposed construction of four 1250 MWe CAP1000 reactors (units 1-4) at the Lufeng site was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission in September 2014. However, their construction has yet to receive State Council approval. The CAP1000 design is the Chinese version of the Westinghouse AP1000.

"After the commencement of construction of Lufeng unit 6, there are seven nuclear power generating units under construction managed by the company (including four units under construction managed by the company as entrusted by the controlling shareholders of the company), with a total installed capacity of 8408 MWe," CGN noted.

Several countries have shown interest in alternative disposal method, says agency

A project to support research into deep borehole disposal for intermediate and high-level radioactive waste will help create the groundwork for a potential large-scale demonstration project, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

The project, which is open for research proposals, is aimed at extending scientific and technical groundwork that validates the safety and practicality of the deep borehole concept, the IAEA said.

The IAEA said it had launched the project in response to interest expressed by several countries – for example Australia, Croatia, Denmark, Norway and Slovenia – in exploring whether deep borehole disposal might provide a suitable option for disposal of their specific inventory of radioactive waste.

“The primary motivation is to develop a more cost-effective disposal approach, without jeopardising safety,” the agency said. “Further studies on the concept can build on decades of prior desktop studies conducted in countries such as the UK and the US, as well as on some recently conducted scoping studies.”

The conventional approach to underground disposal involves burial within excavated deep geological repositories within the Earth’s bedrock. Nations that operate nuclear reactors for power generation, medical radioisotope production, research purposes or other applications are mandated to establish geological disposal solutions for spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste.

In typical deep geological repository designs, waste is placed in engineered containers within the repository’s tunnels and rooms and the entire structure features multiple barriers to prevent the release of waste into the environment.

The repository is sealed and backfilled, and long-term monitoring carried out to ensure the integrity of the containment system and to detect any potential leaks or breaches. Cost And Potential Are Driving Research

These repositories are designed to accommodate larger quantities of waste and are intended to serve as long-term solutions for the disposal of hazardous materials. However, their cost and the potential of new technologies that enable other possible solutions are driving investigation into alternatives like deep borehole disposal.

Finland is set to implement the world’s first deep geological repository and several other countries are working on programmes to build one.

In deep borehole disposal, radioactive waste is placed in a single deep borehole that is drilled vertically into the Earth’s crust, often reaching several kilometres in depth. The waste is typically placed in canisters or containers, which are then lowered into the borehole to a predetermined depth within a stable geological formation.

Deep borehole disposal is primarily being considered for relatively small quantities of waste and can be suitable for certain types of high-level radioactive waste or other hazardous materials.

The central concept behind the approach is to isolate the radioactive waste at significant depths within a stable environment, preventing its release indefinitely. The borehole is sealed and monitored to ensure the waste remains contained and isolated.

Stefan Mayer, a specialist in radioactive waste disposal at the IAEA, said “several countries want to find out if deep borehole disposal would be suitable for their specific waste inventories,” and that “the conceptual studies and generic assessments done so far look promising”.

Source: https://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/1772051309/klimaatactivisten-eisen-einde-verzet-tegen-kernenergie-greenpeace-zit-vast-in-verleden Zonder paywall: https://archive.ph/7rwy6

Volgens de jongeren zou de milieuclub zijn energie moeten steken in de strijd tegen fossiele brandstoffen. Het gezelschap verdedigt de plaats die kernenergie heeft gekregen op een lijst van de EU van duurzame energiebronnen.

Greenpeace heeft onlangs een rechtszaak aangespannen tegen de Europese Commissie om kernenergie uit deze zogenoemde ’groene taxonomie’ te krijgen. De organisatie stelt dat atoomstroom niet duurzaam is en bergen gevaarlijk afval produceert. Maar volgens de jongeren van RePlanet bewijs je het klimaat juist een heel erg slechte dienst wanneer kernenergie zou worden uitgesloten en het – als gevolg daarvan – verstoken blijft van subsidies. Vandaar dat zij zich als partij in de zaak hebben gemeld. Het doel van hun inmenging is om, aan de zijde van de EC, kernenergie op de groene lijst te houden. Als het Europese Hof van Justitie hun verzoek accepteert, mogen zij hun standpunt in de rechtszaal verdedigen.

Ia Aanstoot, die een Nederlandse vader heeft, was actief voor de scholierenstaking voor het klimaat, de beweging die Greta Thunberg lanceerde in Zweden. Drie jaar lang ging zij elke vrijdag niet naar school. „Greenpeace zit vast in het verleden en vecht tegen schone, CO2-vrije kernenergie”, meent zij.

Achterhoedegevecht

Ook Van der Heide stelt vast dat het tij voor de nucleaire industrie aan het keren is en dat Greenpeace een achterhoedegevecht voert. „Steeds meer mensen begrijpen dat kerncentrales geen broeikasgas uitstoten en ook niet vervuilend zijn. Bovendien levert een klein beetje uranium genoeg op om iedereen een welvarend bestaan te garanderen.”

Het argument dat kernenergie niet duurzaam is omdat de voorraad uranium niet oneindig is, maakt geen indruk op hem. „Het moment dat het op zou kunnen raken, is echt nog heel erg ver weg. En wat het afval betreft, dat zijn geen bergen. Het is heel weinig en je kunt het veilig opbergen.”

Van der Heide merkt onder studiegenoten en vrienden eigenlijk nooit iets van weerstand tegen het atoom. De tijd van ’Kernenergie? Nee bedankt!’-stickers is voor zijn generatie iets uit een grijs verleden. Dat blijkt ook uit het onlangs door RePlanet uitgebrachte The World Wants New Nucleair: er zijn meer voorstanders dan tegenstanders van atoomstroom, zelfs onder leden van klimaatclubs.

Van der Heide ging zich door zijn moeder, ook actief voor RePlanet, interesseren voor het thema. „Je hoeft het met je ouders niet altijd oneens te zijn”, lacht hij.

IJsbeer

In 2021 deed hij mee aan een klimaatmars, verkleed als ijsbeer. Op de buik van zijn pak van 2,5 meter stond de tekst ’Kernenergie ja graag!’ „De sfeer was heel gezellig en gemoedelijk, hoewel mensen van Greenpeace erg wantrouwend reageerden. Aan het eind werd mijn pak lek gestoken met een speld door types die ’fascist, fascist’ riepen. Heel vreemd. Wat schone energie en fascisme met elkaar te maken hebben...?”

Het wordt tijd dat iedereen erkent dat kernenergie hard nodig is, denkt Van der Heide. „Want hernieuwbare energie is afhankelijk van het weer, het levert veel te weinig op en het maakt elektriciteit duurder.”

Source: https://www.iaea.org/bulletin/improving-computer-security-anomaly-detection-techniques-through-coordinated-research-projects

Identifying anomalies in the operations of computer systems that control critical safety and security functions calls for extensive expertise, and the actions required need to be tested, analysed and amended in order to be robust.

“Anomaly detection plays an important part in early assessment of possible threats targeting the computer-based systems at nuclear and radiological facilities,” said Scott Purvis, Head of the Information Management Section in the IAEA’s Division of Nuclear Security. “Usually, the anomaly detection techniques are based on artificial intelligence applications such as machine learning, statistics-based, knowledge-based methods or other technologies,” he said. Such technologies are used to identify deviations from expected network communications or process measurements which can be the first indicator that a computer system’s defenses have been bypassed by an intruder, and can provide real-time detection of cyberattacks.

These technologies are important because a highly capable malicious actor may introduce malware that compromises the safety or security functions of a digital system while falsifying data from sensors and indicators sent to an operator. This means that the operator may be unaware of any malicious activity taking place and will initially react based on what is displayed in the control room, potentially being misled into taking the incorrect action. Only through the automated detection of the smallest anomalies in such a cyberattack could an operator be correctly informed.

To address this important area of work and other computer security challenges, the IAEA launched a specific coordinated research project (CRP) in 2016.

Research and development through CRPs are an indispensable part of the IAEA’s activities in computer security for nuclear security. These projects produce a body of research and actionable conclusions that complement the IAEA’s ongoing efforts to enhance countries’ capabilities in the prevention, detection of, response to, and recovery after computer security incidents that have the potential to directly or indirectly impact the safety and security of nuclear and radiological facilities.

“Adversaries are becoming more sophisticated, and their cyber capabilities present increasing challenges in developing anomaly detection tools,” said Purvis. “The development of anomaly detection techniques requires access to realistic and physically consistent network and plant process data to train and test the detection models.” Cyberattack scenario to build capacity

The 2016 CRP, entitled “Enhancing Computer Security Incident Analysis at Nuclear Facilities”, produced significant results, such as enabling further research into targeted tools and techniques that had previously been impossible to investigate without the risk of exposing sensitive information from nuclear and radiological facilities.

The CRP team, consisting of researchers from 13 countries and 17 organizations, developed a fictitious facility referred to as the ‘Asherah’ nuclear power plant (NPP), and a simulator (ANS) was developed by the University of São Paulo based on this facility. Together, they developed realistic cyberattack scenarios within a nuclear facility. These cyberattack scenarios have made it possible to explore and assess the effectiveness of computer security measures, as well as the potential operational consequences of a digital asset being compromised. Additionally, the team worked on data collection and analysis and the development and testing of techniques for detecting cyberattacks.

“We developed and used the ANS to generate a repository of data for training our machine learning models and to evaluate their efficiency. The IAEA CRP brought together international partners to conduct research and created new knowledge in this area,” said Ricardo Marques, a professor at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo in Brazil. The cooperation between the CRP participants was essential to validate the work done.”

Additionally, the CRP outcomes have been used for ongoing education and training involving a large number of graduate students and researchers in varying disciplines. This has further enhanced research and efforts made with the aim of continuously improving computer security at nuclear and radiological facilities.

“Part of my research as a PhD student has been conducted using the ANS and its Human Machine Interface (HMI), an interface that allows a user to observe and communicate with the simulator, developed within the IAEA CRP,” said Si Wen, a PhD student from Tsinghua University in China. “I conducted research on anomaly detection techniques, and the ANS was essential to produce the necessary data to train and evaluate a detection algorithm developed for NPPs. Without the collaboration among all participating institutes, and the tools developed by the CRP team, it would be impossible to conduct my PhD research on cybersecurity of NPP digital systems,” she added.

The CRP outcomes — the ANS, tools and guidance — are available to interested research institutes around the world. They can be obtained by submitting to the IAEA, through the relevant national authority, a request form available on the IAEA’s Nuclear Security Information Portal (NUSEC).

More recently, in 2023, the IAEA launched a new CRP entitled “Enhancing Computer Security for Radiation Detection Systems” to investigate methodologies and techniques to improve computer security of radiation detection equipment. The research projects planned under the new CRP, with 12 participating organizations (including national laboratories, universities and national researcher institutes) from 11 countries, will address the use of emerging digital technologies, such as cloud computing, and continue to explore and develop innovative anomaly detection techniques.

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/iaea-presents-monitoring-data-from-japan-on-treated-water-release-from-fukushima-daiichi

The IAEA is providing live data from Japan on the release of treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) on the IAEA website. The data provided includes water flow rates, radiation monitoring data and the concentration of tritium after dilution.

Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the FDNPS operator, today began the controlled discharge of ALPS-treated water into the sea. At the same time, TEPCO began transmitting data from various points in the process to the IAEA.

The IAEA is continuing its impartial, independent and objective safety review of Japan’s discharge of water stored at FDNPS.

The Agency issued its comprehensive report on the safety review of the ALPS-treated water at the FDNPS on 4 July. In the report, the IAEA concluded that Japan’s approach and activities to discharge ALPS-treated water are consistent with relevant international safety standards. The report noted that the controlled, gradual discharges of the treated water to the sea, as currently planned and assessed by TEPCO, would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.

In addition to the live monitoring, the IAEA will continue its safety review during the discharge phase by having a continuous on-site presence, meeting IAEA Director General Grossi’s commitment to be involved before, during and after the water discharges.

The IAEA experts will observe onsite activities related to the ALPS-treated water discharge, including samples and measurements, and will interface with TEPCO and officials from Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA). The IAEA will also organize review missions periodically to observe activities on site and to request updates and additional data from Japanese authorities.

The IAEA’s independent corroboration activities will also continue during the entirety of the discharge, expected to take decades, and will involve IAEA laboratories and third-party laboratories. Over time, the IAEA will display the results of this independent corroboration of source and environmental monitoring, as well as the results of its corroboration of the capabilities of relevant Japanese individual monitoring services for occupational radiation protection. The results are published on the website to enhance the availability of relevant data for interested parties.

“All of these activities will work together to provide a comprehensive picture of the activities taking place at FDNPS related to the ALPS-treated water discharge and whether these activities are consistent with relevant international safety standards,” said Gustavo Caruso, Director and Coordinator for the ALPS Safety Review at the IAEA and Chair of the Task Force. “The data provided by TEPCO, and displayed both by TEPCO and IAEA, is just a single piece of the overall monitoring approach and the IAEA’s ongoing safety review.”

• Source: https://www.telegraaf.nl/watuzegt/348401045/goed-voor-klimaat-en-voor-portemonnee
• Zonder paywall: https://archive.ph/x4rQe

Met de verkiezingen in aantocht zullen politieke partijen opnieuw de degens kruisen over kernenergie. Het huidige kabinet besloot dat Nederland er twee nieuwe kerncentrales bij zal krijgen. Het nieuwe kabinet zou deze plannen niet alleen moeten doorzetten, maar nog méér centrales moeten bouwen.

De reden ligt voor de hand: kernenergie biedt ons schone elektriciteit, zonder uitstoot van CO2 en roet. Het gebruikt weinig grondstoffen en landoppervlak, waardoor er ruimte overblijft voor de natuur.

Wie zich zorgen maakt om het klimaat en milieu, zou kernenergie dan ook hartstochtelijk moeten omarmen. Dat gebeurt echter niet. Milieuorganisaties als Greenpeace en Wise voeren al decennialang een kruistocht tegen de energiebron die ons het best in staat stelt om van fossiele brandstoffen af te komen. Ook de PvdA en GroenLinks blijven zich verzetten.

Achterhaald

De bezwaren van het anti-kamp zijn of onjuist, of achterhaald: kernenergie zou onveilig en duur zijn, het zou te veel tijd kosten om een centrale te bouwen en we zouden worden opgezadeld met een ’afvalprobleem’.

De waarheid is dat kernenergie, per opgewekte eenheid energie, minstens zo veilig is als wind en zon. De bouwtijd van een kerncentrale hoeft niet lang te zijn: de Verenigde Arabische Emiraten bouwden er drie in tien jaar tijd. En het kleine beetje afval wordt – in tegenstelling tot afval van andere energiebronnen – zorgvuldig opgeborgen.

Bovendien is kernenergie juist goedkoop. In landen met veel kerncentrales (Frankrijk) is de elektriciteitsprijs een heel stuk lager dan landen die vol inzetten op zon en wind (Duitsland).

Milieuorganisaties blijven echter geloven in zon en wind als dé dragers van de energietransitie. Maar ondanks forse investeringen in deze hernieuwbare energiebronnen blijft de uitstoot van broeikasgassen toenemen. Dat komt omdat de vraag naar energie blijft stijgen. De wereldbevolking groeit en miljoenen mensen ontworstelen zich aan armoede. Een beter leven, waar iedereen recht op heeft, vraagt meer energie. Veel meer dan we met de groei van hernieuwbare energiebronnen kunnen bijbenen.

Energie uit hernieuwbare bronnen heeft bovendien één groot nadeel: er is altijd een achtervang nodig op momenten dat de wind niet waait en de zon niet schijnt. Meestal is dit gas en de afgelopen jaren hebben we aan den lijve ervaren wat die afhankelijkheid van (Russisch) gas betekent: onzekerheid in de levering, hoge energieprijzen en energiearmoede.

Steun

Gelukkig zijn er steeds meer landen die het licht zien. Polen, Finland, Frankrijk, Canada, Groot-Brittannië en nog zo’n twee dozijn andere landen aan de uitbreiding van het aantal kerncentrales. Uitgerekend Japan zet vaart achter het opnieuw opstarten van haar kerncentrales. Om nog maar te zwijgen over China, dat het aantal kerncentrales wil verdubbelen.

Ook in Nederland is de publieke en politieke steun voor kernenergie de afgelopen jaren gegroeid – en dat is goed nieuws voor het klimaat. Een goed functionerende kernenergiesector kan bestaande kolen- en gasgestookte elektriciteitscentrales vervangen en helpen om de CO2-uitstoot naar beneden te krijgen. We hebben dan ook niet minder maar méér kerncentrales nodig. Milieuorganisaties zouden het toekomstige kabinet in deze ambitie moeten steunen.

Olguita Oudendijk is directeur van Replanet, een organisatie van ’eco-modernisten’; Mathijs Beckers is voorzitter van de pro-nucleaire stichting E-lise

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Slovenske-Elektrarne-and-Westinghouse-sign-fuel-su

A long-term agreement with Westinghouse for the licensing and supply of VVER-440 fuel assemblies has been signed as part of Slovenské elektrárne's efforts to diversify its supplies for power plants in Slovakia.

The fuel will be supplied by Westinghouse Electric Sweden and will need to get licensing approval for use in the reactors in Slovakia. The aim is for the first deliveries to be about a year after its use is approved.

Branislav Strýček, Slovenské elektrárne director general, said: "Securing another nuclear fuel supplier for our power plants is an important step in strengthening Slovakia's energy security. Nuclear power plants represent an important pillar in our country's energy mix, therefore I consider it to be crucial to secure nuclear fuel supply diversification for their stable operation."

Westinghouse's president of nuclear fuel, Tarik Choho, said: "We are very pleased to contribute to Slovakia’s fuel diversification and to strengthen our long-standing partnership with Slovenské elektrárne. We offer the only Western alternative fuel for this type of reactor and remain fully committed to supporting Slovakia’s operating fleet."

Slovenské elektrárne's diversification strategy is to have at least two alternative nuclear fuel suppliers and potential suppliers of materials and services across the nuclear fuel production supply chain.

In June, France's Framatome said it had been asked by all European VVER operating utilities - including Slovenské elektrárne - to work together on the development of fuel for VVER-440 pressurised water reactors.

In recent years, especially since the war with Ukraine began, nuclear power operators in EU countries who had previously relied on Russian-supplied fuel have sought alternative suppliers. Ukraine had already begun to switch from Russian supplies and as a result of the war has said it is switching all its reactors away from Russian fuel and making a full shift to using Westinghouse fuel.

Slovakia has four nuclear reactors - Mochovce units 1 and 2 and Bohunice units 3 and 4 - in commercial operation, generating half of its electricity. Mochovce unit 3 was connected to the grid in February, while unit 4 is under construction. They are all VVER-440 reactors and are owned and operated by Slovenské elektrárne.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Concreting-of-outer-dome-completed-at-Kursk-II

About 4000 cubic metres of concrete were used to complete the dome of the outer containment of the first unit at Kursk II nuclear power plant in Russia.

The height of the completed outer containment is 65.4 metres, with a diameter of 26.9 metres and walls which are 1.5 metres thick. The construction work took more than 200 days, Rosatom said.

Andrey Osharin, First Deputy Director for the Construction of New Units, said it was "the final stage in the construction of one of the physical barriers of the nuclear power plant's defence in depth".

He added: "We used self-compacting concrete capable of spreading under the influence of gravity, filling the form and achieving full compaction even in heavily reinforced structures. The mixture provides fast laying, speeds up construction time and is evenly distributed in the reinforced concrete structure."

The outer dome was installed in position in January this year. The inner containment was completed in October last year. The double containment system is used for VVER-1200 and VVER-TOI reactors, as part of safety measures.

Kursk II is a new nuclear power plant in western Russia, about 60 kilometres (37.5 miles) from the Ukraine border, that will feature two VVER-TOI reactors, the latest version of Russia's large light-water designs. They have upgraded pressure vessels and a higher power rating of 3300 MWt that enables them to generate 1300 MWe gross.

Construction of the first unit began in 2018, its polar crane was installed in October 2021 and the reactor vessel in June 2022.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Saskatchewan-seeks-to-develop-SMR-supply-chain

Saskatchewan's Crown Investments Corporation (CIC) is providing CAD479,000 (USD352,296) to the Saskatchewan Industrial and Mining Suppliers Association (SIMSA) and its partners to prepare local companies for their future participation in provincial, national and global small modular reactor development.

The two-year funding agreement between CIC and SIMSA - a non-profit organisation representing more than 300 Saskatchewan-based suppliers to the industrial, mining and energy sectors - will support a small modular reactor (SMR) supply chain specialist position with SIMSA.

The funding will also help engage First Nations Power Authority (FNPA) for its assistance to explore Indigenous economic opportunities and enable the Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries (OCNI) to deliver its Ready4SMR programme to develop local suppliers, including Indigenous-owned companies.

"Programming and resources made available through this funding are crucial to moving toward building a nuclear industry in Saskatchewan," said Minister of Crown Investments Corporation Don Morgan. "Our province has a long successful history of nuclear research and development, and we are a world-class supplier of high-quality uranium ore. Advancing Saskatchewan's SMR supply chains will unlock economic and job potential for communities near and far, including our rural, northern and remote regions, and Indigenous communities."

"SIMSA is excited to work with CIC to build additional resources to enhance the development of qualified nuclear manufacturing and construction companies in our province," said SIMSA Executive Director Eric Anderson. "One crucial component of this work is the recruitment of an SMR supply chain specialist. The specialist has outstanding nuclear and supply chain experience and knows the current market elements. This position will be an invaluable asset to advance SMR development in Saskatchewan."

"The Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries is proud to be working in Saskatchewan with SIMSA and FNPA to implement our Ready4SMR programme," added OCNI President and CEO Bill Walker. "We'd also like to acknowledge and thank the Crown Investments Corporation of Saskatchewan for their contribution in making this project possible.

"Canada is leading the world in the deployment of small modular reactors and we're excited to see Saskatchewan planning for SMRs as part of their clean energy mix. Our role is to build a pan-Canadian supply chain that gives provinces like Saskatchewan an opportunity for economic development as your already thriving supplier base considers joining the Canadian nuclear industry."

Last week, the Canadian government approved CAD74 million of federal funding for SMR development in Saskatchewan. The funding - including more than CAD24 million from the proceeds of Canada's pollution pricing system - will support work to advance the project led by utility SaskPower.

In 2022, SaskPower selected GE-Hitachi's BWRX-300 SMR for potential deployment in Saskatchewan in the mid-2030s, subject to a decision to build that is expected in 2029. SaskPower has identified the regions of Elbow, in south-central Saskatchewan, and Estevan, in the far south of the province, as potential areas to host an SMR. It has begun an engagement exercise to share information and gather input as it works to narrow down a site. According to its project timeline, it expects to finalise its site selection in 2025.

Although all of Canada's uranium production comes from Saskatchewan, the province does not currently use nuclear power. However, Saskatchewan's government identified development of SMR technology as a goal for growth in its 2019 development roadmap, and in March 2022, alongside the governments of Ontario, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Alberta, it released a joint strategic plan setting out a path for developing and deploying SMRs.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Xcel-gets-OK-to-expand-used-fuel-storage-at-Montic

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has approved Xcel Energy's application to allow increased storage of used nuclear fuel at the Monticello nuclear power plant site, enabling the plant to operate for at least ten more years. The utility has applied to extend the plant's operating licence until 2050.

Xcel has proposed extending the operating life of the Monticello plant to 2040. To accommodate the additional used nuclear fuel associated with extending the lifetime of the plant, Xcel requested that the Minnesota PUC authorise additional storage within the plant's existing independent used fuel storage installation. The utility estimates that about 14 additional used fuel storage canisters will be needed to facilitate plant operations through to 2040.

The Minnesota PUC has now approved the request, which Xcel said is "a major step toward continuing to provide reliable, carbon-free energy for more than 500,000 customers across the Upper Midwest while meeting the state's carbon reduction goals".

"We thank the Commission, Minnesota Department of Commerce and other stakeholders for their careful review and recognition of the importance of the Monticello nuclear plant to our shared clean energy goals," said Chris Clark, president, Xcel Energy - Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. "Nuclear power is crucial to achieving those goals because of its unique combination of reliability, affordability, and zero emissions."

The single-unit boiling water reactor plant began commercial operation in 1971 and recently completed a project to replace components, relicense the plant for an additional 20 years, and increase its generating capacity from 600 MWe to 671 MWe. Xcel subsidiary Northern States Power is the plant's licensee and operator.

Xcel applied to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in January this year for a 20-year extension of Monticello's operating licence. The plant is currently licensed to operate until September 2030 after being granted an initial licence renewal in November 2006. A subsequent licence renewal would extend its licence to September 2050.

The federal licence review and approval process is extensive, and a decision from the NRC is expected in late 2024, Xcel said.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Orano-completes-first-cut-of-Crystal-River-reactor

Orano USA has completed work to separate and pack the top third of the reactor vessel, with its embedded internal components, using its patented Optimized Segmentation process. The reactor vessel will be cut into three segments as the company carries out accelerated decommissioning of the plant.

Orano's team cut up the reactor vessel internals underwater and categorised them based on radioactivity. Those that were classed as Greater-than-Class-C - one of the four classes of low-level radioactive waste according to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's waste classification system - were separated and packaged for long-term storage onsite. The remaining low-level radioactive waste was then repacked into the vessel in a precise arrangement to optimise the transportation and cost-effectiveness of disposal.

The repacked and drained vessel - still in its original vertical orientation in the reactor vessel cavity - was then filled with an engineered grout that hardened and transformed the reactor vessel and internals into a single, solid mass. It was cut horizontally, straight through the steel reactor vessel, solidified grout and internals, using a diamond wire saw. The cut piece was then lifted from the reactor vessel cavity and transferred into a custom-built package, which was filled with grout to immobilise the contents before welding it shut in preparation for transportation for final disposal.

"On task, on time, on budget, and safely cutting out and packaging an irradiated 246-ton chunk of steel and material - I am proud of our team's performance and focus," Orano USA CEO Amir Vexler said.

Crystal River 3, a single unit pressurised water reactor in Florida, began commercial operation in 1977, but complications concerning the reactor's containment structure following steam generator replacement work in 2009 led to its permanent closure. In 2020, owner Duke Energy announced plans for accelerated decommissioning, and contracted Accelerated Decommissioning Partners - a joint venture between NorthStar Group Services and Orano USA - to begin decontamination and dismantlement of Crystal River 3 in 2020 instead of 2067 as originally planned.

Reactor dismantling operations started in 2021, and the accelerated decommissioning timeline will see all decontamination and decommissioning work completed, and the demolition of all the plant's structures - except the dry cask storage facility holding its used nuclear fuel - by 2027.

Source: https://www.nucnet.org/news/westinghouse-signs-another-nuclear-fuel-deal-as-countries-move-away-from-russia-8-5-2023

Latest agreement is for five reactors in Slovakia

US-based Westinghouse has signed a long-term agreement with utility Slovenske Elektrarne to licence and supply VVER-440 fuel assemblies the Bohunice and Mochovce nuclear power plants in Slovakia.

The agreement supports Slovakia’s efforts to move away from Russia as its source of fuel for the five plants, two at Bohunice and three at Mochovce. All five units use Russia-supplied VVER technology. An additional unit, also a VVER plant, is close to completion at Mochovce.

Approximately 59% of the electricity produced in Slovakia is generated by its nuclear plants, putting it second behind France with about 62%.

“The cornerstone of the diversification strategy of Slovenske Elektrarne is to support any initiative and cooperation in order have a portfolio of at least two alternative nuclear fuel suppliers,” the company said in a statement.

It said the fuel for its VVER 440 reactors must be first licenced and its use would start about a year after that process.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, operators of VVER plants in Europe have been looking to diversify nuclear fuel supplies away from Tvel, the fuel wing of Moscow’s state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom.

There are over 30 reactors of the VVER-440 and VVER-1000 design operating in the EU and in Ukraine.

Westinghouse already has VVER-1000 fuel supply deals with Finland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Ukraine, where operators have decided to work towards cutting their dependency on Russia.

In July, a consortium led by Westinghouse was chosen by the European Union to develop and deliver a “secure, fully European” nuclear fuel supply for VVER plants.

Source: https://www.ans.org/news/article-5193/a-conversation-with-grace-stanke-miss-america-2023/

Recently I sat down with Grace Stanke, the current Miss America and a student at the University of Wisconsin in nuclear engineering exploring subjects like nuclear fuel enrichment and reactor performance (as well as being a virtuoso violinist, for good measure).

This year she’s touring the country advocating for clean energy in a cleaner future and for America to reach net zero with the help of nuclear power, while correcting misconceptions and improving communication about nuclear science and encouraging young women to pursue STEM careers.

We talked just after she had finished visiting the Hanford Site while she was on her way to appear at Town Hall Seattle at the request of grassroots pronuclear group Friends of Fission Northwest. I was impressed with the depth of her knowledge and her ability to communicate difficult issues in a concise manner that didn’t require any deep background to understand. I mean, who knows the intricacies of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant? I was tempted to ask her to run for president.

James Conca: What made you want to run for Miss America?

Grace Stanke: I first started in the organization when I was 13 to improve my violin skills. I wanted to become a better performer. I got over that quickly and competed for two years in team, but I took some time off. I came back into competition in the ages 18 and up category. My primary reason for that, honestly, was to earn scholarship dollars since I was in college. College is expensive, and Miss America is a scholarship organization. So now at this point I’ve earned just over $68,000 in scholarships, thanks to the Miss America Organization.

JC: When did you first become interested in science in any form?

GS: Science was always a big part of my life. My dad was a civil engineer, so growing up I saw engineering firsthand and would go with him to construction sites, watch bridges get demolished overnight, that sort of thing. I was lucky in that sense. There were tons of opportunities for hands-on learning throughout elementary, middle, and high school that I wanted to capitalize on.

JC: Why is it important to promote STEM careers for females?

GS: I talk about STEM, and obviously I am a woman in STEM, but I don’t necessarily promote going into STEM. I promote finding your passion and finding your own path to seek something you’re passionate about. A lot of time that can fit into a STEM field.

I’m a violinist. I know that the music industry has jobs that rely on electronics and on STEM to make music happen, and that happens also in art and in so many fields. At the end of the day, what I talk about is working with women to find their passions and a role within the STEM field, because that is something we need in the nuclear industry. We need communicators, writers, PR people, and legislators, not just scientists and engineers. There’s a place for everyone in STEM. No matter what your passions are, it’s about finding a place for you.

JC: Why are you passionate about clean energy in a cleaner future?

GS: I’m biased as a nuclear engineer. I started this program because as a nuclear engineering student, I would tell people I’m a nuclear engineer, and there were always so many misconceptions about what nuclear science actually does.

I see nuclear energy as the obvious path forward, and it confuses me as to why everybody else doesn’t. That’s the primary goal with my Miss America policy platform of “clean energy, cleaner future.” Nuclear energy has the biggest nonscientific hurdles to overcome. We have the biggest obstacles to face, and that’s why it’s my primary focus throughout this year.

JC: What’s the biggest challenge you face with nuclear advocacy? What myths are you trying to bust?

GS: The most common myths are, “What about the waste?” and “Isn’t it dangerous? What about Chernobyl?”

My main advocacy goal is to spark curiosity in people so that they go home and do computer searches on their own. They’re talking to their families about it on their own because I can’t always be there as a nuclear engineer. Simultaneously, the other big challenge with advocacy work is, how do you reach out to an audience—a room full of people who have different learning styles, different interests, different stories—and spark that curiosity in them? I’ve been told I sound like I’m ad-libbing with everything I do, whether it’s Miss America, nuclear engineering, competitive water skiing, violin. Sometimes it just takes that relatability and finding a common shared interest to spark that curiosity.

But I can’t do that for everyone. So, for anyone in nuclear reading this right now, I recommend going out and sharing your story, because each person has that ability to spark that curiosity. It has to be personal, because if it’s not, then it’s just noise. It’s so much easier to convince people to support nuclear energy if they like you. Ask them what their name is. What are their hobbies. Do they have kids. What’s their family like. Get an idea of who they are as a person. For me, then, when I talk to them, I can tune what I’m saying to their specific interests. I think that’s something that we often forget to do when we have a goal in mind with a conversation.

JC: Can you envision roles for traditional media and social media to play in dispelling these myths?

GS: Oh, 100 percent. I think we’ve seen climate change become a more pressing issue. I grew up with it. Gen Z grew up with climate change. It’s something that’s in the media every day. Nuclear energy fits right into climate change. We just need to bring nuclear energy to the table in the discussion in the traditional media and social media about climate change.

The science is there when it comes to nuclear. Right now, we have the technology to figure this out. What’s holding us back is our policy and the fact that we don’t have enough people working in the industry. We’re losing people to retirement. So that’s one of my biggest focuses, recruiting people to work in this industry at all levels.

I’m getting a degree in nuclear engineering, but we don’t need only nuclear engineers. I was at Hanford yesterday, and most of those people are not nuclear Ph.D.s; they’re mechanical engineers, they’re electrical engineers, they’re workers of all types. You don’t have to be a physicist or get your Ph.D. to work in the nuclear industry.

I’ll be honest—as someone who is going into it, I was worried that I had to get a master’s or a Ph.D. to work in this industry. But that’s not true at all. And I think that’s something that, on behalf of the industry, we need to have more of a conversation about with prospective employees. You don’t need to go through 20 years of school.

JC: Now that you’ve graduated, what are your next plans?

GS: Well, I finish out my year as Miss America, which goes until January—this is my full-time job. After that concludes, I’m going to go to Africa, going to climb a mountain, take a break. But then in March I’m looking at starting full-time work in nuclear. Ideally, I’m looking for a hybrid engineering and advocacy role. I still want to further my technical skills, so I want to pursue the engineering side, but I think with the momentum that I have right now, it’s really important to maintain the advocacy side.

JC: This question came from a high schooler: What is the most glamorous thing about being a nuclear engineer?

GS: I think the most glamorous thing is the people. You know, I think that one of our biggest problems is that we need to get more people into the industry. But the people who are already here are really, really incredible. I love to sit down and talk with people who have been in the industry for years. The stories they have, the lessons they have, are so important and so fascinating. And something that I think is fantastic about our industry is the culture that we have of safety, of delivering the best product possible, and everyone feeling part of a team.

JC: It was wonderful talking with you today.

GS: Thank you, this was fun!

James Conca is a scientist in the field of earth and environmental sciences specializing in geologic disposal of nuclear waste, energy-related research, planetary surface processes, radiobiology and shielding for space colonies, and subsurface transport and environmental cleanup of heavy metals.

Source: https://www.trouw.nl/duurzaamheid-economie/wereldwijd-plannen-voor-verdubbeling-kernenergie~b83906e5/

De hoeveelheid kerncentrales kan in de komende twintig jaar wereldwijd gaan verdubbelen, stelt de World Nuclear Association. Momenteel zijn 56 reactoren in aanbouw; voor nog eens 358 zijn er plannen.

Precies op het moment dat de beschadigde kerncentrale van Fukushima begint met het lozen van radioactief koelwater in de oceaan, blijkt dat overheden, ondernemers en energiebedrijven nog lang niet niet klaar zijn met kernenergie. Wereldwijd zijn ruim 56 kerncentrales in aanbouw; voor nog eens 358 centrales bestaan bouwplannen. Dat staat in een nieuw rapport van de World Nuclear Association (WNA). Al die centrales zouden voor 2040 operationeel ‘kunnen’ zijn.

De meeste kerncentrales in aanbouw staan in China (18), gevolgd door India (8), en Rusland en Turkije (elk 4). Afgelopen jaar zijn 8 nieuwe kerncentrales op het stroomnet aangesloten, 2 daarvan in China. Kernenergie heeft de wind mee, zegt Jonathan Cobb van de internationale branchevereniging WNA. Het stoot geen CO2 uit en helpt landen de energiezekerheid te vergroten – extra belangrijk nadat Europa olie en gas uit Rusland in de ban deed, met een grote prijsstijging tot gevolg.

Bij de branchevereniging zijn bedrijven aangesloten die kerncentrales bouwen, ze runnen, uranium verrijken of die ze helpen met juridische en financiële dienstverlening. Als het die partijen lukt om alle 358 geplande kerncentrales te bouwen, groeit het nucleaire vermogen naar ruim 800 gigawatt. Afgelopen jaar bleef het vermogen van alle huidige 437 draaiende kerncentrales net onder 400 gigawatt. Twee kerncentrales in Nederland

Het zijn indrukwekkende cijfers, waarmee de branchevereniging zegt dat kernenergie momentum heeft. De plannen van Nederland staan ook in de lijst: minister Rob Jetten van klimaat kondigde vorig jaar aan dat hij twee kerncentrales wil bouwen. Dat voornemen is in de provincies niet onopgemerkt gebleven. Uit de provincieakkoorden blijkt dat meerdere provincies open staan voor een (kleine) kerncentrale, of dat ze er onderzoek naar zouden willen doen. Zeeland en Gelderland spreken zich het duidelijkst uit: zij willen wel.

Toch is nog hoogst onzeker of al die kerncentrales er echt komen. Een kerncentrale zet je niet zomaar even neer. Voordat de eerste schop in de grond kan, moeten vergunningen geregeld en financiering gevonden. Die vergunningstrajecten duren lang, zeker in Westerse landen waar buren en milieuclubs kunnen protesteren.

“Om alle plannen gerealiseerd te krijgen moeten overheden duidelijk maken welke rol kernenergie speelt in de energiemix”, zegt Cobb. Soms moeten ze de nucleaire toezichthouder versterken, zodat bedrijven weten aan welke regels ze zich moeten houden en de overheid een rol kan spelen bij financiering van de plannen.

Daarna volgt dan de bouw, een proces dat jaren duurt. De meeste projecten lopen ook nog eens grote vertraging op. Sterker: aan tien van de kerncentrales die in aanbouw zijn, wordt al meer dan tien jaar gewerkt. Van vijf centrales is de bouw gepauzeerd of zelfs geannuleerd.

Meer centrales gesloten dan geopend

In de kleine lettertjes vertelt het brancherapport dan ook een ander verhaal. “We komen uit een tijd dat er ook veel kerncentrales zijn dicht gegaan”, zegt Emeritus hoogleraar kernenergie Wim Turkenburg. Sinds de eeuwwisseling sloten net iets meer kerncentrales dan er open gingen. Daardoor zijn er nu enkele kerncentrales minder operationeel dan in 2008. De overgebleven installaties leveren ongeveer even veel energie.

Projecten voor zonnestroom en windenergie doen het dan veel beter, schrijven onafhankelijke onderzoekers in het World Nuclear Industry Status Report. Het aandeel kernenergie in de wereldwijde energiemix kwam in 2021 zelfs onder de 10 procent, voor het eerst in vier decennia. Ze rekenden uit dat in 2021 ruim acht keer meer in zonne-energie werd geïnvesteerd en zes keer meer in windenergie.

Zijn er dan geen successen te melden over kernenergie? Toch wel. Kernreactors blijken het langer vol te houden dan gedacht: inmiddels zijn ze gemiddeld 31 jaar, sommige zelfs ruim ouder dan 40. Toch zijn inmiddels al meer dan 200 kerncentrales gesloten. Slechts 22 daarvan, schrijven de onafhankelijke onderzoekers, zijn volledig ‘afgebroken’. Die terreinen zijn weer toegankelijk voor gewone stervelingen. Afbraak duurde gemiddeld 20 jaar. Van bijna alle andere uitgezette centrales zijn de meest radioactieve delen (nog) niet opgeruimd.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/OPG-ad-campaign-recasts-nuclear

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has launched a new public education campaign that uses the power of movies to tackle misperceptions of nuclear power.

The Recast Nuclear campaign has been created in partnership with advertising agency Forsman & Bodenfors. Described by OPG - operator of the Darlington and Pickering nuclear power plants - as a first-of-a-kind campaign, it presents the unique benefits of nuclear power through a series of themed film posters and trailers, digital and radio adverts.

In recent years, opinions on nuclear power have started to shift with the rising challenges of climate change and energy security, but more needs to be done to educate and raise awareness of nuclear power's essential role for the future, the company said.

"For years, popular culture has distorted perceptions about nuclear power with false narratives that served to stoke fear," said OPG Vice-President of Stakeholder Relations Kathy Nosich. "This education campaign aims to recast nuclear power as a true hero of our clean energy mix. We hope this will grow understanding and acceptance of this beneficial technology that is so important to our economic and environmental wellbeing."

The campaign is designed to reflect many recent and popular blockbusters, which OPG says makes it look and sound familiar for movie fans. A video clip - styled like a film trailer - begins with an unidentified, gigantic creature terrorising a rain-soaked, neon-lit night-time city. "This is not sci-fi," the voiceover begins - before the dramatic scenes fade to an image of OPG's nuclear power plant. "This is the true story of nuclear: the safe, clean and reliable energy Ontario depends on."

The message is all about nuclear, and undoing decades of misinformation, OPG said. The campaign microsite contains information about nuclear's "leading role" in Ontario's current and future electricity mix. Movie poster-style graphics promise "other exciting nuclear titles" to come, "from medical superhero to the enabler of the electric vehicle revolution".

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/update-180-iaea-director-general-statement-on-situation-in-ukraine

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has started pumping water from a new groundwater well and plans to build more at the site in the coming month as part of efforts to ensure sufficient cooling for its six reactors after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam earlier this summer, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

The collapse of the downstream dam on 6 June and the subsequent disappearance of much of the water in the Kakhovka reservoir, which the ZNPP had been using for its cooling needs, forced Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP) to take steps to protect the bodies of water still available to it – including a large cooling pond next to the site – and to start looking for alternative sources of water.

The IAEA team of experts at the site has been informed that the new well, whose location close to the plant’s sprinkler ponds was selected after consultations with geological specialists, has already been commissioned and is now providing about 20 m3 of water per hour. The ZNPP intends to build an additional 10-12 wells around the perimeter of the sprinkler ponds.

At the same time, the site’s large cooling pond and its other main supply of water – the discharge channel of the nearby Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP) – remain intact, the IAEA experts said. The height of the ZNPP cooling pond continues to drop by about 1 centimetre per day while water from the ZTPP inlet channel is regularly pumped into its discharge channel to compensate for water used for cooling or lost through natural evaporation. The site has sufficient cooling water for many months.

“The plant continues to take action to address the additional challenges caused by the loss of the Kakhovka dam some ten weeks ago. The fact that more wells will be built should add to the water reserves available for cooling. However, the overall nuclear safety and security situation remains precarious,” Director General Grossi said.

Underlining the potential risks for the plant located on the frontline of the conflict, the IAEA team continues to report about regular indications of military activity in the area, sometimes close to the site, sometimes further away. For example, a strong detonation shook their room windows on 14 August and gunfire was heard two days later. Another explosion near the site occurred on 17 August, five detonations were heard some distance from the ZNPP on 20 August and five more on 21 August.

“In order to prevent a nuclear accident that could affect people and the environment, it continues to be of paramount importance that the five basic principles for the protection of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant are respected and adhered to,” Director General Grossi said.

As part of their monitoring activities at the ZNPP, the IAEA experts are expecting access to the rooftops of reactor buildings 1, 2, 5 and 6 in the coming days. Earlier in August, the team did not observe any mines or explosives on the rooftops or turbine halls of units 3 and 4 after receiving the requested access there.

The IAEA team also continues to conduct regular walkdowns across the site. Over the past ten days, for example, the experts have visited: the cooling pond and cooling towers; the plant perimeter and sprinkler ponds; the main control room, emergency control room and other safety-related rooms of unit 3; the reactor hall, main pumps, steam generators, and safety system rooms of units 3 and 4; the reactor hall, main pumps, steam generators, and safety system rooms of unit 6; the turbine halls of units 3, 4, 5 and 6. In addition, on 14 August, the IAEA team went to the second of the plant’s fresh fuel storage facilities, where they confirmed that the fresh fuel was safely and securely stored. The IAEA experts did not observe any explosives and confirmed that the previously reported landmines remain in the same location in between the perimeter fences.

Reactor unit 6 has been generating steam for various nuclear safety purposes at the plant – including the processing of liquid radioactive waste – since 13 August when it reached a hot shutdown state, replacing the steam previously produced by unit 4. As reported by the IAEA on 10 August, the ZNPP began transferring reactor unit 4 from hot shutdown to cold shutdown following detection of a water leak at one of its four steam generators. There was no radioactivity released to the environment arising from the water leak at the steam generator in unit 4.

The cause of the leak, as later confirmed by the site, was due to a hairline crack in the weld of the steam generator primary header vent pipe. Last week, the site performed welding on the pipe and pressure testing of the steam generator was subsequently conducted, the IAEA team was informed. Final tests involving the primary and secondary circuits are in progress.

The IAEA continues to strongly encourage the installation of an external source of process steam, which, from a nuclear safety perspective, would provide the safest longer-term solution at the site. The IAEA has offered its assistance with this issue. In a possible step in this direction, the IAEA team was informed that the ZNPP has initiated a process to buy an external steam generator by sending technical requirements to possible vendors.

Separately, the IAEA is aware of reports of an explosion, with some injuries, on the morning of 18 August in the nearby city of Enerhodar, where most of the ZNPP’s staff live. The IAEA experts have not heard of any injuries to plant personnel and there was no damage reported at the ZNPP site.

In northern Ukraine, there were reports of a missile attack at the city of Chernihiv on the morning of 19 August with several fatalities and many injuries. The city is located around 40 kilometres from Slavutych where most of the Chornobyl site’s workers live. However, some of them live in Chernihiv itself. The IAEA experts have not heard of any injuries to plant personnel and there was no damage at the Chornobyl site. However, the IAEA team at the Chornobyl was informed that staff were very concerned about family and friends living in the affected area.

Director General Grossi expressed concern as such incidents could affect one of the seven indispensable pillars of nuclear safety and security that he outlined early during the conflict in Ukraine.

“The third pillar states that operating staff must be able to fulfil their safety and security duties and have the capacity to make decisions free of undue pressure,” he said. “It is not just damage to physical structures that puts Ukraine’s nuclear facilities at risk, but also the psychological impact on operating staff. That is why, as this terrible war continues, the Agency is working with Ukraine to provide medical assistance to Ukraine at, and in the vicinity of, nuclear facilities - including counselling services. This is vital work. But the real solution is for the conflict to end.”

In addition to their presence at the ZNPP and the Chornobyl site, IAEA experts maintain a continued presence at Ukraine’s other NPPs. Over the past week, the IAEA conducted rotations of its teams at Rivne, Khmelnitsky, and South Ukraine NPPs and will conduct a rotation at the Chornobyl site this week.

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/iaea-to-regularly-inform-korea-about-its-monitoring-of-fukushima-daiichi-treated-water-discharge

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will regularly inform the Republic of Korea (ROK) about the discharge of treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, under an agreement which stresses the importance of transparency to address public concern in the country, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

With this aim, the two sides have agreed to establish the IAEA-ROK Fukushima Information Mechanism (IKFIM) a few days before Japan is expected to begin the water discharge, providing a framework for the flow of information, Director General Grossi said.

Under IKFIM, the IAEA – which last month set up a permanent office at Fukushima Daiichi to monitor and assess the water discharge to ensure that the relevant international safety standards continue to be applied – will provide up-to-date information to ROK and facilitate visits by the country’s experts to the Agency’s office at the site. It also includes an arrangement for notifications in case of abnormal events.

In addition, the IAEA will also publish available data for use by the global community, including near real-time monitoring data from the discharge.

Today’s agreement between the IAEA and ROK is a concrete follow-up to the Director General’s visit to the country in July to present the IAEA’s comprehensive report on its independent safety review of Japan’s plan to release the treated water into the ocean. The safety review concluded that Japan’s plans are consistent with IAEA Safety Standards, which serve as a global reference for protecting people and the environment. Meeting senior government officials as well as opposition lawmakers, Director General Grossi flew to Seoul immediately after his visit to Japan to personally explain the comprehensive report and answer questions.

“From the start of the IAEA’s work in assessing the safety of the water discharge, I have pro-actively engaged with the Republic of Korea and other countries to keep them informed about our important activities in this regard. The only way to address legitimate concerns of the public is to keep them informed. Today’s agreement emphasizes the importance of transparency in the coming weeks, months, and years,” Director General Grossi said.

Source: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/iaea-director-general-statement-on-discharge-of-fukushima-daiichi-alps-treated-water

Press release 22-8-2023

The Government of Japan announced today that it requested Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) to promptly proceed with its preparations for the discharge into the sea of ALPS treated water stored at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, in accordance with the implementation plan approved by Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority. If there is no interference due to weather or sea conditions, the discharge into the sea is expected to start on 24 August.

Over the past two years the IAEA has conducted a detailed review of the safety related aspects of handling and discharge of ALPS treated water and issued its comprehensive report 4 July 2023.

The report concluded that the approach and activities for this discharge are consistent with relevant international safety standards and would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.

The Director General of the IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has committed to the IAEA continuing its impartial, independent, and objective safety review during the discharge phase.

Therefore, the IAEA and Japan agreed that the IAEA will maintain an onsite presence at Fukushima Daiichi, and the IAEA has opened its IAEA Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS) Office in July 2023.

IAEA staff are working there so that they can continue to monitor and assess these activities on site to ensure that they continue to be consistent with the safety standards, including on the day of the start of the discharge and after.

The IAEA will also publish available data for use by the global community, including the provision of real-time and near real-time monitoring data.

As soon as the discharge commences, the IAEA will provide a further update.

Press release 24-8-2023

Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) today started discharging ALPS treated water stored at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station into the sea, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts present at the site confirmed.

As part of the IAEA’s multiyear safety review of the discharge, the IAEA team is present to monitor the discharge and assess Japan’s application of all relevant international safety standards for the water discharge.

“IAEA experts are there on the ground to serve as the eyes of the international community and ensure that the discharge is being carried out as planned consistent with IAEA safety standards,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. “Through our presence, we contribute to generating the necessary confidence that the process is carried out in a safe and transparent way”.

As an additional step in its monitoring, IAEA experts this week took samples from the first batch of diluted water prepared for discharge following the Japanese Government’s announcement on 22 August that the release would begin today.

The IAEA’s independent on-site analysis confirmed that the tritium concentration in the diluted water that is being discharged is far below the operational limit of 1,500 becquerels per litre.

The IAEA will have a presence on site for as long as the treated water is released, in line with Director General Grossi’s commitment for the IAEA to engage with Japan on the discharge of ALPS treated water before, during, and after the treated water discharges occur.

Additionally, the IAEA ia also launching today a webpage to provide live data from Japan on the water discharge. The data provided includes water flow rates, radiation monitoring data and the concentration of tritium after dilution.

Source: https://www.iaea.org/bulletin/encouraging-the-next-generation-to-pursue-careers-in-decommissioning

One of the major challenges currently facing the decommissioning industry is attracting young professionals to the field. The need for a new generation to enter the workforce is being driven by two factors. On the one hand, there is an immediate need to have an increased workforce in place to decommission the growing number of ageing reactors now reaching the end of their life spans. On the other, the industry needs to prepare for the future, when the decommissioning sector is expected to boom and create even greater demand for science and engineering professionals.

It is estimated that between 12 and 15 per cent of nuclear power reactors currently in operation will be retired by 2030, and decommissioning them will require a range of professionals from various disciplines to ensure that they are dismantled safely, in a cost-effective manner and with consideration for their future use. At the same time, new nuclear facilities that will also eventually have to be decommissioned are being built worldwide.

“Young professionals, such as myself, are eager to use our skills to help advance decommissioning programmes and increase public trust in the nuclear field,” said Simona Šandalová, a 25-year-old nuclear chemist and recipient of the IAEA Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme scholarship.

The complex challenges involved in decommissioning nuclear sites mean that there is a range of career opportunities for younger people in this field. These include roles involving emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, data science and robotics, as well as opportunities for those wishing to specialize in careers in physics, chemistry, engineering, project management, waste management or environmental remediation. In short, the decommissioning sector will offer both job security and career opportunities for people entering the industry now, and for the foreseeable future.

“Forty years ago, decommissioning was not a priority concern for developers of nuclear power plants or fuel cycle facilities, and little consideration was given to ensuring the availability of an appropriately skilled workforce when these facilities reached the end of life,” said Patrick O’Sullivan, Decommissioning Specialist at the IAEA. “Today, attracting young nuclear professionals to decommissioning and associated waste management activities has become a major priority in most programmes.”

To decarbonize the economy countries are also investing in advanced nuclear reactors, such as small modular reactors, which are expected to be easier and cheaper to decommission from a technical standpoint, as they can be transported back to the factory for dismantling and recycling.

“If countries are going to exert efforts and include nuclear energy in their energy mix, they really need to position themselves well in terms of developing essential skills to consider the dismantling of nuclear power plants from the beginning,” said Marorisang Makututsa, Deputy President of African Young Generation in Nuclear (AYGN). The AYGN is a non-profit organization which aims to mobilize and empower young nuclear professionals in Africa by organizing training and national networking events. Currently, South Africa operates two nuclear power reactors, while Egypt is building its first reactors and Ghana, along with around ten other countries on the continent, is considering introducing nuclear power into its energy mix.

Opportunities for young people

Decommissioning is the final step in the nuclear life cycle; however, the multidisciplinary process of dismantling a nuclear power plant requires insight into the whole nuclear life cycle. Engineers, scientists and other professionals specialized in decommissioning, therefore, possess competencies that are transferable to other parts of the nuclear life cycle, including the design, construction and operation of the nuclear installation.

“Young people with expertise and experience in decommissioning have many opportunities in other industries as well,” said Lisa Lande, a Nuclear Human Resource Development Specialist at the IAEA. “The ability to manage projects, obtain the technical expertise required for waste management, and understand the impact of pollutants on the environment is invaluable in the environmental sector and within various domains in the technology industry.”

In France, the National Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology (INSTN) is actively encouraging students to explore new, innovative solutions to decommissioning. Florent Lemont is Research Director at the CEA and head of INSTN - Marcoule. In 2022 he organized a challenge in France called “Hackadem”, in which 600 high school and university students competed in teams by pitching creative solutions for decommissioning nuclear facilities in the future. “Many participants were not aware that decommissioning is a cross-cutting innovative area involving high-tech technology, digitalization, chemistry, and more,” Florent Lemont said. “Through the challenge, they gained insights about the future opportunities in the decommissioning field and the value of obtaining experience in this area.”

IAEA initiatives to engage students and young professionals

The IAEA organizes a range of initiatives to highlight career opportunities in the decommissioning field and to support nuclear capacity building in its Member States.

The IAEA actively cooperates with universities around the world — in the Czech Republic, France, the Republic of Korea, Slovakia and the United Kingdom, among others — to conduct research and exchange technical information, experiences and best practices in decommissioning and environmental remediation. At Florida International University (FIU) in the United States of America, this cooperation has enabled the IAEA to offer training and internship programmes to students with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and to integrate the IAEA’s material on decommissioning into FIU’s curricula.

In September 2022, the IAEA organized the IAEA Challenge: Innovations in Nuclear Facility Decommissioning 2022, inviting students and young professionals to submit original essays on dismantling nuclear facilities. Topics included how to make decommissioning more effective, how to plan and carry out decommissioning using a circular economy model, and how to incorporate a decommissioning strategy into a nuclear power plant’s design.

“Decommissioning is a future challenge that needs a future workforce with relevant skills,” said O’Sullivan. “That’s why the IAEA organizes and implements a range of initiatives — both directly and through its Collaborating Centres — to promote the involvement of young people in decommissioning, including university partnerships, training and fellowship programmes, as well as encouraging involvement by young people in its specialist workshops and conferences.”