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Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) announced that it has safely completed a project to refuel the Royal Military College of Canada’s (RMC) SLOWPOKE-2 nuclear reactor. 

Date: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newscnl-completes-refuelling-of-slowpoke-2-research-reactor-9111180

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Ministers drawing up legislation that would allow construction of two EPR units through RAB scheme Britain wants to build two EPR nuclear plants at Sizewell C in southeastern England. Courtesy EDF. British government ministers are closing in on a deal that could see China excluded from a project to build a £20bn nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast and pump in tens of millions of pounds of taxpayer’s money instead, newspaper reports said.

The Guardian newspaper said the government could announce plans to take a stake in the Sizewell C nuclear station, alongside the French state-backed power giant EDF, as early as next month.

That would probably result in China General Nuclear (CGN), which currently has a 20% stake in the project to build two EPR unts, being removed from the project.

Reports have said CGN could be blocked from all future power projects in the UK, with ministers reported to be investigating ways to prevent its involvement because of concerns over security.

According to The Guardian, Washington has been leaning heavily on London to remove China from Britain’s nuclear power plans, blacklisting CGN, citing fears over national security and accusing it of stealing military technology – claims it denies. The former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo last year urged Britain to choose sides in the battle to develop nuclear technology, saying it “stands ready to assist our friends in the UK with any needs they have”.

Date: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Original article: nucnet.org/news/government-close-to-deal-to-exclude-china-from-gbp20bn-sizewell-c-project-9-1-2021

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Fatih Birol said the share of nuclear power generation in Europe could fall from about 20% to about 5% without policy changes. Courtesy IEA. Nuclear power has an important role to play in an emerging new global clean energy economy, but analysis has shown that global reactor capacity should increase threefold by 2050 if the world’s net-zero emission targets are to be met, Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency said.

Mr Birol told the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy and Climate Cooperation ministerial conference in Warsaw, Poland, that if countries are serious about meeting climate targets such an effort would require the construction of 30 GW of new nuclear power capacity every years, five times higher than what was built annually over more than a decade.

He said renewables made up more than 90% of new installed power capacity globally over the last two years, but their growing share would require policymakers to think about how to integrate intermittent generation into markets. “On the days of no sun, or no wind…it’s a huge electricity security issue,” he said.

Date: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Original article: nucnet.org/news/iea-head-says-major-reactor-construction-programme-could-be-needed-to-help-meet-climate-goals-9-1-2021

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To facilitate rapid decarbonisation and cut dependency on fossil fuels, both nuclear energy and renewables are needed for power and hydrogen production, a new independent study has concluded. The study, by Aurora Energy Research, investigates the benefits of deploying both nuclear and renewables for hydrogen production, to support the energy transition and meet UK climate targets.

Date: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Nuclear-needed-for-hydrogen-production,-study-says

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Congress needs to take action to break the impasse over a permanent solution for commercial used nuclear fuel, according to a report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). The report identifies four matters for congressional consideration - including amending legislation to authorise a new consent-based siting process and restructuring the Nuclear Waste Fund - and recommends that the Department of Energy (DOE) finalise its consent-based siting process.

Date: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/GAO-calls-on-Congress-to-break-used-fuel-disposal

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Biden administration believes falling nuclear share in Europe is ‘alarm bell’ Ms Granholm said the US government wants to speed up work on the deployment of US-made AP1000 reactor technology in Poland. The US government wants to accelerate its support for a front-end engineering and design study for the deployment of US-made AP1000 reactor technology in Poland, US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm said.

In July, US-based Westinghouse Electric Company and Bechtel Corporation announced the start of the study, which will provide Poland’s Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) – the company responsible for managing the country’s first nuclear power project – with layout plans for the location of a first nuclear power station, together with a licensing plan, project schedule and cost estimate.

The US Trade and Development Agency has released a grant to fund the study.

“US industry and government have come together at a critical juncture in the development of Poland’s nuclear energy programme,” Ms Granholm said during a press conference in Warsaw.

Date: Saturday, 25 September 2021
Original article: nucnet.org/news/us-wants-to-speed-up-westinghouse-ap1000-study-says-energy-secretary-granholm-9-5-2021

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US company Westinghouse wants to build its AP1000 reactor technology at the north Wales site Plans to build two UK advanced boiling water reactor units at Wylfa were withdrawn earlier this year. The British government is reportedly backing plans for another large-scale commercial nuclear power station in the UK to help the country achieve its net zero targets.

It is in discussions with US nuclear reactor manufacturer Westinghouse, amongst other groups, to develop the new station at the Wylfa Newydd site in Anglesey, Wales, The Times reported. The existing Wylfa site has two gas-cooled units that have been permanently shut down and are being decommissioned.

If the plans were to go ahead, the new station would be able to generate enough electricity to power more than six million homes from the mid-2030s.

The new facility would come in addition to two EPR units under construction by EDF at Hinkley Point C, Somerset, and a proposal for two new EPR units at Sizewell C, Suffolk, which is in advanced planning stages.

Date: Saturday, 25 September 2021
Original article: nucnet.org/news/government-in-talks-over-plans-to-revive-abandoned-wylfa-nuclear-project-9-5-2021

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Tokamak Energy of the UK announced it has demonstrated a transformative magnet protection technology that improves the commercial viability of fusion power plants, delivering higher performance than alternative magnet systems. It said results from the latest tests validate a revolutionary approach to scaling up high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets, which are highly resilient to plasma disruptions.

Date: Saturday, 25 September 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Tokamak-Energy-develops-new-magnet-protection-tech

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The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has confirmed or amended orders issued to Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) related to pressure tube fitness for service following a public hearing held on 10 September. The regulator confirmed the orders issued for certain units at the Bruce, Darlington and Pickering CANDU plants, but removed Pickering units 1 and 4 from the list. It said it will consider restart requests for the reactors concerned on a case-by-case basis.

Date: Saturday, 25 September 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/CNSC-confirms-orders-on-CANDU-restarts

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NuScale has signed a second agreement to consider its small reactors as a general replacement for coal units in Poland. The US small reactor vendor will support two energy firms, Poland-based Unimot and USA-based Getka, in their joint work to explore the possibility.

Date: Saturday, 25 September 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/NuScale-signs-with-new-Polish-partners-to-replace

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