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The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest report, Electricity 2024, dedicates a significant amount of space to nuclear power – a departure from its previous studies which treated it as peripheral. In its press release on the new report, IEA says the increase in electricity generation from renewables and nuclear "appears to be pushing the power sector's emissions into structural decline". Over the next three years, low-emissions generation is set to rise at twice the annual growth rate between 2018 and 2023. Global emissions from electricity generation are expected to decrease by 2.4% in 2024, followed by smaller declines in 2025 and 2026.

Date: Friday, 26 January 2024
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsiea-acknowledges-significance-of-nuclear-energy-in-new-report-11463539

Ukrainian nuclear utility Energoatom says it has begun transporting used nuclear fuel from its operating reactors to the newly built and commissioned Holtec-engineered Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility (CSFSF) known as a Consolidated Interim Storage (CIS) Facility in the US. The CSFSF is expected to save approximately $200m a year compared with the previous practice of transporting used fuel to Russia for reprocessing. “Today, Ukraine is entirely self-sufficient in the strategically crucial area of storage and management of the used nuclear fuel discharged by its reactors eliminating a critical constraint in the continued generation of electricity by the nation’s nine reactors,” Energoatom noted.

Date: Wednesday, 03 January 2024
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsoperations-begin-at-ukraines-used-fuel-dry-storage-facility-11406011

Advances in emerging field of ‘theranostics’ are a game-changer Millions of patients around the globe rely on the regular and timely production of diagnostic and therapeutic isotopes produced in research reactors and accelerator facilities. Image courtesy IAEA. Advances in medical isotope diagnostics and therapy are holding promise for cancer patients, despite challenges facing the nuclear medical field in recent years related to radionuclide production and supply, rising costs, and stricter regulation.

Medical isotopes are radioactive substances used in various diagnostic and therapeutic procedures to treat various types of cancers and other conditions. They are essential for modern medicine, allowing physicians to visualise and target specific organs, tissues and cells in a patient’s body.

Over more than a decade, personalised medicine using nuclear techniques has been gaining pace, allowing doctors to tailor therapies and treatments to the specific needs and physiology of a patient, and to avoid harm to healthy organs or tissues.

According to Sven Van den Berghe, chief executive of Belgium-based isotope producer PanTera, one technique that has seen significant advances is known as theranostics – the term used to describe the combination of using one radioactive drug to diagnose and a second to deliver therapy to treat the main tumour and any metastatic tumours.

Date: Friday, 14 April 2023
Original article: nucnet.org/news/sector-aims-to-tackle-isotope-supply-problems-as-excitement-grows-over-targeted-therapies-4-4-2023

‘No technical arguments’ for shutting down nuclear plants after 40 years Unit 2 at the Tihange nuclear power station in Belgium is scheduled for permanent shutdown this week. Courtesy Electrabel. Belgium should repeal its 2003 nuclear exit law as it looks for ways to deal with the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and resulting gas and electricity price increases, the Brussels-based Belgian Nuclear Forum said.

The underlying argument of the 2003 law is that a nuclear plant is obsolete after 40 years and should be decommissioned, the forum said.

“Nothing could be further from the truth: there are no technical arguments for definitively shutting down a nuclear power plant after 40 years of operation, but only political arguments,” it added.

The forum issued the statement as owner and operater Engie Electrabel prepares to permanently shut down the Tinhange-2 nuclear power plant on 31 January. The 1,008-MW pressurised water reactor unt began commercial operation on 1 June 1983 and has been online for 40 years.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the last couple of decades have witnessed increased interest in the extension of the operating life of nuclear power plants. Extending the life of a plant is more economical than building a new one, and where it makes business sense. The agency says about 90% of US plants have already renewed their licences to extend their operation to 60 years, with additional extensions for a total of 80 years being considered. In Europe, plants are regularly seeking lifetimes of 60 years.

Date: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Original article: nucnet.org/news/as-tihange-2-approaches-closure-industry-group-calls-for-repeal-of-2003-nuclear-exit-law-1-1-2023

An Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has concluded a 13-day mission to Argentina. The IRRS team reviewed all regulatory functions and responsibilities of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ARN) against international safety standards and concluded that the regulator had demonstrated a long-standing commitment to enhancing and promoting nuclear safety. The team also recommended areas where improvements can be made. The mission was conducted at the request of the Government of Argentina and hosted by ARN.

Date: Friday, 16 September 2022
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsiaea-mission-reviews-nuclear-regulation-in-argentina-10009986

The final 19 used fuel assemblies have been removed from Russia’s floating technical base (FTB) Lepse at the Nerpa shipyard in Kola Bay. On 11 June, the motor ship Serebryanka delivered the assemblies in TUK-18 containers to the special storage site at FSUE Atomflot in Murmansk. Unloading and transportation of the 19 assemblies was funded from the federal budget.

Date: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsfinal-used-fuel-removed-from-lepse-8822807

Ukraine's nuclear regulator has issued a permit to SSE Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) for the retrieval of undamaged used nuclear fuel from the ISF-1 interim used fuel wet storage facility. The fuel will be moved into the new ISF-2 dry storage facility. The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) has also issued a licence for the operation of the Liquid Radioactive Waste Treatment Plant at the Chernobyl site.

Date: Thursday, 27 May 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Permit-issued-for-Chernobyl-used-fuel-transfer

Thirty-five years on from the Chernobyl accident, Ukraine and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have highlighted their commitment to cooperation in nuclear power. Meanwhile Ukraine’s nuclear regulator has launched the start of operations at a new storage facility for used nuclear fuel at the Chernobyl site.  

Date: Wednesday, 28 April 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Title

The challenges the nuclear industry faces are largely external and must be overcome if it is to help tackle the existential threat of climate change, panellists in the Nuclear Energy and its Future session of the Reuters Next conference on 11 January said. These challenges include: the notion nuclear is an out-dated technology; the cost of finance; market design; political changes; perceived competition with renewable energy; and the public's misconceptions about radioactive waste.

Date: Friday, 15 January 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/The-real-challenges-to-nuclear-are-external,-says