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Westinghouse Electric Company has signed a long-term contract with the Finland's Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) for in-service inspections of all three reactors at the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant.

Date: Thursday, 12 March 2020
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newstvo-contracts-westinghouse-for-service-inspections-at-olkiluoto-nuclear-plant-7816421

Utility Georgia Power has ordered the first nuclear fuel load for the Vogtle-4 nuclear power plant under construction in the US state of Georgia, completing the initial fuel order needed to operate the first newly designed reactors in the US in 30 years.

Fuel for Unit 3 was ordered last summer and completing the fuel order for Unit 4 marks another significant milestone at the Vogtle project, the company said.

The fuel, consisting of 157 fuel assemblies, will eventually be loaded into the reactor vessels to support startup once the reactors begin operating. After the initial fuelling, about one third of the total fuel assemblies will be replaced during each refuelling outage after the units begin operating, similar to the process used at existing Vogtle units 1 and 2.

Georgia Power also said workers have installed 10 of the 16 shield building courses of panels that surround the Unit 4 containment vessel. The shield building is a unique feature of the AP1000 reactor design for Vogtle-3 -4, providing an additional layer of safety around the containment vessel and nuclear reactor to protect the structure from any potential impacts.

Date: Saturday, 07 March 2020
Original article: nucnet.org/news/georgia-power-orders-first-fuel-for-unit-4-3-5-2020

Japan has completed its first 360-tonne D-shaped toroidal field coil for the Iter international fusion project under construction in France.

Date: Wednesday, 05 February 2020
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsjapan-completes-its-first-superconducting-coil-for-iter-7755356

Russia’s Atommash has completed the welding of the lower half of the reactor pressure vessel for one of the two new units at the Kursk 2 nuclear power station under construction in western Russia, which will be the first to use the Generation III+ VVER-TOI design.

Atommash, part of Atomenergomash, the engineering division of state nuclear corporation Rosatom, said the weld would now be inspected and anti-corrosion coating added. It did not say which of the two Kursk units the RPV was for, but it is likely to be Kursk 2-1.

The VVER-TOI reactor technology is being used for Kursk 2-1 and Kursk 2-2. It was developed from the 1,200 MW AES-2006 pressurised water reactor.

Construction of Kursk 2-1 began in April 2018 and of Kursk 2-2 in April 2019.

Date: Wednesday, 05 February 2020
Original article: nucnet.org/news/welding-complete-of-lower-half-of-kursk-2-rpv-2-2-2020

The evaporative cooling tower at Russia’s Kursk II nuclear power plant will be the highest in Russia at 179m, the plant has announced.

Date: Wednesday, 29 January 2020
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newshighest-cooling-tower-in-russia-to-be-built-at-kursk-ii-7743761

Italian state shipyard Fincantieri has been awarded an order, worth almost €100 million ($110m), for several high-profile systems, components and installations as part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) project.

Date: Tuesday, 28 January 2020
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsitalian-shipyard-wins-iter-contract-7741850

Spanish manufacturer Equipos Nucleares SA (ENSA) has completed the installation of three heat exchangers for the primary circuit of the Jules Horowitz Reactor (RJH), under construction at Cadarache in southern France. Once in operation, the reactor will be used for testing of materials and fuels for current and future nuclear reactor designs.

ENSA manufactured and installed the heat exchangers as part of Spain's contribution to the development and construction of the RJH. It completed hydraulic testing of the large components in June 2018. The company said the operation to manoeuvre and install the heat exchangers was complicated by the limited space within the reactor building.

RJH is being built under the framework of an international consortium of research institutes from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the European Commission, plus major companies such as EDF, Framatome and TechnicAtome. Partners from India and Japan have also joined the consortium and the door remains open to more potential European or international partners. The project forms part of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures, and is one of three new research reactors forming the cornerstones of the European Research Area of Experimental Reactors, alongside the Myrrha accelerator-driven research reactor at Mol in Belgium and the Pallas reactor at Petten in the Netherlands.

France's national energy research commission, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), is funding 50% of the total EUR500 million (USD551 million) construction cost, with the remainder coming from EDF (20%), the research institutes (20%) and Framatome (10%). Operated by the CEA, the RJH will replace the 70 MWt Osiris reactor, which itself took over some of the roles of the 35 MWt Siloé reactor. Site preparations for the 100 MWt light water cooled reactor began in March 2007, with first concrete for its basemat poured in August 2009. The 105-tonne dome for the containment building of the pool-type reactor was raised by crane and lowered into place on 13 December 2013. Civil engineering work for the reactor building was completed in March 2017.

The modular design of RJH will be highly versatile and able to accommodate some 20 simultaneous experiments. Over its anticipated 50-year lifespan it will be used for studies on materials used in the nuclear power reactors of today and tomorrow, as well as testing fuels for current and future reactors. The instrumentation to be used with the reactor will allow hitherto unavailable real-time analysis to be performed. The reactor will also play a vital role in producing radioisotopes for use in nuclear medicine across Europe in coordination with existing NRG production facilities at Petten in the Netherlands.

Date: Tuesday, 28 January 2020
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Heat-exchangers-in-place-at-Jules-Horowitz

Ministers from the UK's Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) visited Hinkley Point C (HPC) on 23 January to see progress at the new nuclear power plant. HPC, under construction in Somerset, England, will be the first new nuclear power station to be built in the UK in almost 20 years and will provide about 7% of the country's electricity.

Date: Tuesday, 28 January 2020
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Ministers-see-progress-at-Hinkley-Point-C

Turkey is reassessing its major partner for a second NPP to be built in the Black Sea province of Sinop, Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez said on 19 January. He told the Anadolu Agency, that the time schedule and pricing of the nuclear power plant in Sinop fell short of the ministry’s expectations after the results of feasibility studies, carried out by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). “We agreed with the Japanese side to not continue our cooperation regarding this matter,” Dönmez said, adding that Turkey may hold talks with other suppliers for construction of the plant. The project was agreed on by the Japanese and Turkish governments in 2013. A consortium led by MHI was conducting a feasibility study until March for the construction of a 4,500MWe plant in Sinop.

Date: Monday, 27 January 2020
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsturkey-looks-to-cancel-japan-sinop-project-7653758

The United Arab Emirates company responsible for deploying and operating commercial nuclear power plants, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec), has achieved 75 million safe man-hours at the Barakah nuclear station, a statement said.

Construction of the four South Korean-supplied APR1400 plants at Barakah, west of the capital Abu Dhabi on the Persian Gulf coast began in 2012.

Enec said it has completed more than 93% in the overall construction of the four plants. Unit 4 is more than 83% complete, Unit 3 is more than 91% ready, and Unit 2 is more than 95% complete.

Nawah Energy Company, the operating and maintenance subsidiary of Enec, “is progressing on its operational readiness activities at the plant”, the statement said.

Date: Friday, 24 January 2020
Original article: nucnet.org/news/enec-reaches-75-million-safe-manhours-as-fuel-loading-approaches-1-4-2020