35 news articles found
29 Jun (NucNet): Unit 1 of the two-unit Taishan nuclear power station in China was connected to the grid at 17:59 local time today, becoming the world’s first EPR to achieve grid connection and power generation, China General Nuclear International (CGN) and EDF Group have announced.
- Source: Nucnet
- Date: Friday, 29 June 2018
- Original article: nucnet.org/news/china-s-taishan-1-becomes-world-s-first-epr-to-be-connected-to-grid
27 Jun (NucNet): Swiss utility BKW has been given approval for the decommissioning of the single-unit Mühleberg nuclear power plant, which is scheduled to permanently shut down on 20 December 2019.
- Source: Nucnet
- Date: Wednesday, 27 June 2018
- Original article: nucnet.org/news/switzerland-s-bkw-gets-go-ahead-to-decommission-m-hleberg-bwr
26 Jun (NucNet): The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) under construction in the south of France remains on track to achieve first plasma in 2025 and full-power operation in 2035, the Iter Council, Iter’s governing body, has said.
- Source: Nucnet
- Date: Tuesday, 26 June 2018
- Original article: nucnet.org/news/15bn-iter-fusion-project-remains-on-track-for-first-plasma-in-2025
25 Jun (NucNet): A full-scale in-situ system test for spent nuclear fuel disposal is expected to begin this week at Posiva’s planned final deep geologic disposal facility at Olkiluoto, Finland.
- Source: Nucnet
- Date: Monday, 25 June 2018
- Original article: nucnet.org/news/finland-s-posiva-to-begin-world-s-first-in-situ-system-test-at-final-repository-site
15 Jun (NucNet): Canada’s Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has begun reassembling the 878-MW Darlington-2 nuclear power unit as part of refurbishment works which started in 2016.
- Source: Nucnet
- Date: Friday, 15 June 2018
- Original article: nucnet.org/news/canada-s-opg-announces-progress-on-darlington-2-refurbishing
18 May (NucNet): The Czech government has postponed a decision on building new nuclear units, saying it needed more time to evaluate the impact on its budget and find out EU views on state aid for such a project, reports said today.
- Source: Nucnet
- Date: Friday, 18 May 2018
- Original article: nucnet.org/news/czech-republic-has-postponed-decision-on-new-nuclear-say-reports
EDF Energy said inspections confirmed “the expected presence of new keyway root cracks in the reactor core and also identified these happening at a slightly higher rate than modelled”.
The company said it is working with the regulator to ensure that the longer-term safety case reflects the findings of the recent inspections and includes the results obtained from other analysis and modelling. The operation of other reactors operated by EDF Energy, including Hunterston B-2, is not affected.
We have been working over many years to fully understand and prepare for these late life changes to the reactor core and regular inspections at all our plants have provided a clear understanding of how the reactor cores age.
Hunterston B has two advanced gas-cooled reactor units (AGRs). Hunterston B-1 began commercial operation in February 1976 and Hunterston B-2 in March 1977
The graphite core of both units is made up of around 6,000 graphite bricks – 3,000 of which contain fuel channels – which are all connected. The structure is designed to contain many redundant bricks meaning a very large number of bricks would have to crack before there were any significant safety concerns.
The longer-term safety case will build on work already completed and EDF Energy expects that this will demonstrate that there are large safety margins both now and for the projected reactor lifetime.
“Over £100m has been spent on the graphite research programme which benefits from the expertise of our own team of specialists as well as academics at several leading UK universities,” EDF Energy said.
Over time, graphite slowly loses weight as part of the normal ageing process. EDF Energy said this is a well-known phenomenon which was fully considered as part of the stations’ design and is factored into safety limits approved by the regulator.
In 2014, when similar cracks were first discovered, EDF Energy said graphite ageing is one area used to determine the lifespan of an AGR nuclear power station.
The company expects the unit to return to service before the end of 2018, resulting in a reduction in the plant’s 2018 nuclear output forecast of up to 3TWh.
- Source: Nucnet
- Date: Thursday, 03 May 2018
- Original article: nucnet.org/news/hunterston-b-1-to-remain-offline-following-discovery-of-new-graphite-cracks
30 Apr (NucNet): There is strong evidence from projects outside Europe and the US that cost reductions of around 35% can be made to nuclear new build projects in the UK, a report published today says.
- Source: Nucnet
- Date: Monday, 30 April 2018
- Original article: nucnet.org/news/uk-could-make-cost-reductions-of-35-on-new-nuclear-says-report
- Source: Nucnet
- Date: Tuesday, 10 April 2018
- Original article: nucnet.org/news/a-stark-warning-to-trump-on-china-russia-and-the-crisis-facing-us-nuclear-industry
28 Mar (NucNet): Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has approved a 30-year plan to decommission the prototype Monju fast breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture, southwest Japan, reports in local media said.
- Source: Nucnet
- Date: Wednesday, 28 March 2018
- Original article: nucnet.org/news/japan-regulator-approves-monju-decommissioning-plan-say-reports
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