Latest News

Filters

File photo of Akkuyu construction last year. Courtesy Rosatom. Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom is expecting to receive a construction licence for Unit 4 of the Akkuyu nuclear power station by the end of summer 2021, company head Alexey Likhachev said in an interview with the Russia 24 television channel.

He told the state channel that this would allow Rosatom to proceed with first concrete, making the Akkuyu project “the world’s largest nuclear construction site”, where four units are being built simultaneously.

He said the Covid-19 pandemic has not affected the company’s schedules for Akkuyu, the first commercial nuclear project in Turkey.

Last week, a virtual ceremony marked the start of construction Akkuyu-3. Construction of the station’s first two units, Akkuyu-1 and -2, began in April 2018 and in April 2020.

Date: Thursday, 18 March 2021
Original article: nucnet.org/news/russia-expecting-construction-licence-for-akkuyu-4-by-end-of-summer-3-3-2021

Read more …

The UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has today provided EDF with permission for Reactors 3 and 4 at the Hinkley Point B power station in Somerset, England, to return to service for a limited period of operation. This follows ONR's assessment of whether cracking observed in the graphite bricks that form the reactor core could compromise the key nuclear safety requirements.

Date: Thursday, 18 March 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/UKs-Hinkley-Point-B-approved-for-restart

Read more …

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has failed in its duty to protect nuclear materials at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, according to Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA). A series of security breaches has prompted the regulator to suspend the process for inspections needed to restart unit 7 at the plant.

Date: Thursday, 18 March 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Security-lapses-impact-Kashiwazaki-Kariwa-restart

Read more …

A group of South Korean firms has signed a partnership agreement with Egyptian state-owned construction company Petrojet to help train Egyptian employees for the planned El Dabaa nuclear power plant, which is to be built by Russia. A construction licence for the El Dabaa plant is expected to be issued in the second-half of 2021.

Date: Thursday, 18 March 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Korean-companies-to-train-Egyptian-plant-workers

Read more …

Southern California Edison (SCE) has released a three-part strategic plan for the relocation of used nuclear fuel from the shut-down San Onofre plant. The company has also launched a stakeholder coalition with two local counties to advocate for and encourage federal government action to deal with used fuel currently stored at San Onofre and other US nuclear sites.

Date: Thursday, 18 March 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/SCE-plans-for-relocation-of-used-fuel

Read more …

The first project of the Chinese Helium-Cooled Ceramic Breeder Test Blanket System (HCCB TBS) for the Iter fusion reactor project was launched on 15 March at China National Nuclear Corporation's (CNNC's) Southwestern Institute of Physics in Chengdu, Sichuan province. It marks the start of China's implementation phase of tritium breeding technology in Iter.

Date: Thursday, 18 March 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/China-launches-Iter-tritium-breeding-project

Read more …

The existing high radioactive waste treatment and storage building (Habog) at Covra in the Netherlands Courtesy Covra. The Netherlands’ Central Organisation for Radioactive Waste (Covra) has announced plans for a new storage building for low- and medium-level radioactive waste.

Covra, which operates the Netherlands centralised radioactive waste processing and storage facility near Vlissingen-Oost in the municipality of Borselle, in the southwest of the country, said the additional storage space is needed because the current storage building for low- and medium-level radioactive waste is filling up.

The new building is intended for waste that is stored on the premises of medical isotope producer NRG in Petten and for future decommissioning waste. The building also offers potential space for future residual waste.

Date: Wednesday, 17 March 2021
Original article: nucnet.org/news/covra-announces-plans-for-new-radwaste-facility-3-2-2021

Read more …

The ETRR-2 research reactor in Egypt. Courtesy Rosatom. Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (NCCP) and the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority have signed a contract for Russia to supply another batch of low-enriched uranium (LEU) for the ETRR-2 research reactor.

Russia’s Tvel nuclear fuel company, of which NCCP is a subsidiary, said the contract follows the successful completion of a similar contract signed in 2020.

The Argentinian-designed multipurpose ETRR-2, Egypt’s only reactor, uses uranium fuel with an enrichment of 19.75%. The reactor is used for research in particle physics, materials engineering, and the production of stable isotopes.

Date: Wednesday, 17 March 2021
Original article: nucnet.org/news/russia-signs-contract-to-supply-another-batch-of-research-reactor-leu-3-2-2021

Read more …

A computer-generated image of a proposed UKSMR nuclear power plant. Courtesy Rolls-Royce. The UKSMR (UK small modular reactor) consortium led by Rolls-Royce has joined the Brussels-based European nuclear industry group Foratom, Rolls-Royce announced.

The consortium is designing a low-cost factory built SMR. According to Rolls-Royce, the plant’s standardised, factory-made components and advanced manufacturing processes push costs down, while the rapid assembly of the modules and components inside a weatherproof canopy on the power station site itself avoids costly schedule disruptions.

Tom Samson, interim chief executive officer of the UKSMR consortium, said nuclear power is central to tackling climate change, economic recovery and energy security. “To do this it must be affordable, reliable and investable and the way we manufacture and assemble our power station brings its cost down to be comparable with offshore wind.”

Foratom director-general Yves Desbazeille, said the topic of SMRs is gaining momentum in the European Union as there are discussions on how the technology could fit into Europe’s future energy mix. “We are happy to be able to benefit from the expertise of the UKSMR consortium and its experts in this field in order to ensure that the potential of SMRs is fully recognised by EU decision makers,” he said.

Date: Wednesday, 17 March 2021
Original article: nucnet.org/news/rolls-royce-smr-consortium-joins-european-industry-group-foratom-3-2-2021

Read more …

The ability of nuclear energy to stabilise electricity systems and secure the grid is all the more essential in an increasingly unpredictable weather world, write Bryan Hanson, executive vice president and chief generation officer at Exelon, Bodhan Zronek, chief nuclear officer at CEZ Group, and Sama Bilbao y Léon, director general of World Nuclear Association.

Date: Wednesday, 17 March 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Viewpoint-Nuclear-can-weather-any-storm

Read more …