'Innovation in existing plants can help meet growth targets'

L-R: Svenningsson, Martinez Sancho, Ponchon, Edwards and Singh (Image: World Nuclear Association)

Extending operating lifetimes, improving efficiency, and restarting shut-down plants - not just building new capacity - will be needed to meet that tripling target - and innovation will have a big part to play, moderator Johan Svenningsson, who is chairman and CEO of Uniper Sweden, as well as being World Nuclear Association's vice chairman, said in a panel discussion on Maximising Value from Existing Nuclear Power Plants.

France's Grand Carénage investment programme to extend the operating lifetimes of its reactors has involved many activities, including the replacement of critical components and the renewal of instrumentation and control systems. Framatome CEO Gregoire Ponchon said close collaboration with French reactor operator EDF, and a focus on mitigating problems, had allowed the time taken for major activities such as the replacement of steam generators to be shortened. Using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help with time management will also mean such tasks can be completed in a shorter time.

Lou Martinez Sancho is Chief Technology Officer at Westinghouse and acting president of the company's eVinci microreactor. As well as investing in maintaining the generating fleet, she said, continued investment and innovation in the entire fuel cycle will also be critical to achieve continued operation.

A major disruptor in the nuclear materials sector is the availability of new materials and techniques that could in future become widely used in nuclear fuel production, Martinez Sancho said, noting that Westinghouse began producing fuel containing some 3D printed components as long ago as 2020. And AI is also likely to play a key role in nuclear fuel innovation too, helping to shorten development timescales.

The timescales involved in fuel innovations have in the past been long - often longer than the time taken to design a reactor, she said: "But what we are seeing is that [in] nuclear, we have over 75 years of operations, of data - and data is what makes your AI actually develop … and allows you to understand better how closely those developments are going to happen."

Westinghouse's nuclear-specific generative AI system is called Hive. It was launched at the 2024 Symposium - and it "allows us to move that much faster", she said. As well as supporting design innovation, AI is also able to leverage that data to help improve efficiency, both in operations and in products like configuration management systems, optimising processes and supporting power uprates.

Asked if AI was just a "buzzword", Martinez Sancho was emphatic that it is not: Westinghouse is already using both "traditional" AI tools such as machine learning, and more modern tools such as generative AI, daily. But managing AI to unlock its true value is more complex than many realise, she added, needing a secure infrastructure - and full traceability of data is paramount. It needs engineers, data scientists, mathematicians, legal teams and regulators to work closely together. Access to the wealth of data from an AI, coupled with engineering knowledge, can be used to improve and speed up some process - including licensing - but "the final responsibility is always that of the engineer, not the AI", she said.

AI is also useful for knowledge management, to capture the experience of employees of many years and transfer it across generations, she said. "They need to have access to that information much faster," she said.

Never-ending story

AtkinsRéalis CEO Ian Edwards, emphasised the benefits from digitalisation in the execution of work on existing nuclear assets, allowing tasks including maintenance, life extension and even decommissioning to be performed more efficiently.

"We can digitally plan an activity in a nuclear zone to the nth degree virtually, and train our people virtually, so that the actual exposed time and the actual time, from an efficiency perspective, is reduced really consistently. And we are doing this on existing assets all the time and using technology to improve."

Maximising the use of existing nuclear assets is not just about preserving megawatts on the grid: it is also important as a foundation for future developments, Ponchon said, and nuclear companies have benefitted from the experiences of their predecessors. "Innovation is a never ending story," he added.

Operating life extensions and capacity uprates of existing nuclear plants are without doubt critically important for the industry going forward, said Kris Singh, President and CEO of Holtec International, but the challenge is how to make them affordable and also how to design plants and carry out the work in such a way as to ensure they continue to perform well and even to improve: for example, introducing features to make plants more easily inspectable.

"The owner user community and the designers, developers, consultants, they need to get together on this," he said. "There's an opportunity to make every plant last longer, be more resilient, be more reliable, be more maintainable while you are doing the life extension, while you are doing power upgrade."World Nuclear Symposium took place in London from 3-5 September. 'Innovation in existing plants can help meet growth targets'

Back To Top

Tell-Us

Nuclear at heart of Ontario's integrated energy strategy

Minister Lecce (front row, third from left) was joined by many generations at the launch of the new plan (Image: Stephen Lecce/X)

The government's newly released energy roadmap brings together electricity, natural gas, hydrogen and other energy sources under a single coordinated strategy to ensure the province which already gets more than half of its electricity from nuclear plants has the affordable, secure, reliable and clean energy it needs.

Energy for Generations, which was launched on 12 June by Minister of Energy and Mines Stephen Lecce, builds on a 2024 vision paper setting out a comprehensive assessment of the challenges facing the province's energy system, including the need to meet rapidly growing demand, electrify key sectors, and maintain reliability, all while keeping energy rates down. A public consultation on that paper, Ontario's Affordable Energy Future: The Pressing Case for More Power, attracted responses from Indigenous communities, municipalities, utilities, stakeholders and the public.

With the subtitle Ontario's Integrated Plan to Power the Strongest Economy in the G7, the government says this is Ontario's first integrated energy plan. It establishes a planning horizon to 2050. Four principles of affordability, security, reliability, and clean energy are embedded throughout the plan, which the government says "enables smarter decision-making, better system coordination, and more cost-effective investments that will benefit families, workers, and businesses across the province."

With nuclear currently responsible for 50% of Ontario's total generation and hydro contributing 24%, Ontario already has one of the cleanest grids in the world, the plan notes. Under Energy for Generations, "nuclear power will continue to serve as the backbone of the province's electricity system providing the 24/7 baseload power the province's economy requires" as demand continues to rise.

Ongoing refurbishments of Ontario's existing nuclear power plants "are anchoring a domestic nuclear supply chain that supports long-term energy security, economic resilience, and innovation," the plan notes, and the province is building on the experience from these major projects as it supports the development and deployment of small modular reactor (SMR) units at Darlington. The construction, operation and maintenance of the four units will add CAD38.5 billion (USD28.4 billion) to Canada's GDP over the next 65 years, with 80% of spending going to Ontario companies and with construction and operations sustaining an estimated 3,700 highly skilled, good-paying jobs for the next 65 years.

Bruce units 1 and 2 are not part of the current round of refurbishments: those two units were fully refurbished and returned to service more than a decade ago. But a second refurbishment of those units "remains an available option that can be explored under the existing contract between Bruce Power and the IESO", the plan said. The IESO is Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator.

The province is also looking to new large-scale nuclear generation, which the plan notes will be needed in the long-term to meet future electricity demand. Pre-development work has already begun to site the first large-scale nuclear build in Ontario since 1993 at the existing Bruce nuclear site; Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is advancing early-stage planning for new large scale nuclear generation at Wesleyville, Port Hope.

"As Ontario plans for the next generation of nuclear energy, the government is ensuring OPG and Bruce Power take a deliberate, coordinated approach to evaluating future large-scale nuclear technologies at their sites. This approach recognises the long lead times, complexity, and lasting impacts of new nuclear projects and would draw on the expertise of the IESO to support informed, long-term decision-making on the role of nuclear energy in Ontario's future electricity system," the plan notes.

Lecce described the plan as Ontario's most ambitious energy plan in a generation. "At the turn of the century, our great grandparents had the vision to build Ontario's hydroelectric dams, later our grandparents started the build-out of Ontario's nuclear fleet, and today, that responsibility falls on us to build for the future," he said. "While every jurisdiction around us scrambles for affordable power, our government is thinking ahead, building for our children and grandchildren. Energy for Generation represents the ambition and long-term thinking necessary to deliver critical nation-building priorities that solidify Canada's self-reliance."

"With this blueprint, Ontario has the opportunity to lead the world in both small and large nuclear development," OPG President and CEO Nicolle Butcher said. "Coupled with our expanding hydroelectric portfolio and other low-carbon technologies, the growth of a reliable provincial grid will also boost economies and strengthen our energy security."Bruce Power President and CEO Eric Chassard said the company was "proud" of its central role in building a "clean, reliable, and affordable energy future" for Ontario. "As a company that's Canadian at our core, we're committed to powering the growth of our economy and communities with made-in-Ontario nuclear innovation. Our investments in life-extension and pre-development work for Bruce C support the province's growing economy and population while ensuring we remain a global leader in emissions-free electricity." Nuclear at heart of Ontario's integrated energy strategy

Back To Top

Tell-Us

Nuclear plants could safely operate for 100 years, suggests Grossi

The IAEA director general spoke at the opening of the #Atoms4Climate programme of events

As the nuclear sector takes its place at the COP27 gathering, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general says that Long Term Operation (extending the lifetime of existing nuclear plants) is the "unsung hero of the fight against global warming". 

Rafael Mariano Grossi was speaking at the first full day of events at the #Atoms4Climate stage at the 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.

Grossi and a host of other industry figures stressed the important role nuclear must play in efforts to cut carbon emissions and to tackle climate change. He said that the fact there was a pavilion at COP27 for nuclear was "a first and a reflection of how things are changing".

In a question and answer session with Bloomberg’s William Kennedy, Grossi was asked about the fact that the many reactors built in the 1970s were now approaching their 50th year, with some having had operational permissions extended to 60 or 70 years and was asked whether that would be safe.

Grossi replied: "The unsung hero of the fight against global warming is Long Term Operation, which is basically having, with half or even less the initial investment, a new reactor that is going to be there - you say to 70 years, I say 100, you know, it's going to be closer. We see reactors now that are closer to 80 years and are perfectly safe, having undergone very thorough refurbishing operations."

He said that the involvement of the IAEA was crucial "because what we do is work with national regulators through very intensive peer reviews to make sure that Long Term Operation is giving you a new nuclear reactor, not simply an old one which is more or less muddling through".

Asked if he thought that from a climate change point of view, countries shutting reactors were making a mistake, he said: "Well in my personal opinion, yes. This is a matter that requires a technical, scientifically-sound discussion. I think from the vantage point of the nuclear sector, we must also recognise political realities, because in politics 2 plus 2 is not 4. Sometimes, from a scientific or technical point of view, it is very difficult to accept that people are taking decisions that do not seem to square, but it happens and the challenge for us is to prove, and to show, that keeping nuclear in the equation is going to give you the energy, is going to give you the solution to your climate problem, is going to give you jobs, is going to give you opportunities - it is going to give you things that are very important for political people to get the votes they need."

During the session Grossi also restated the need for a protection zone around the nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine which, as he pointed out, is on the frontline of the war. The six reactor plant, occupied by Russian forces, currently has IAEA staff stationed there, but Grossi said there was an emerging question about future safeguard inspections, because the IAEA had different mechanisms for inspecting nuclear facilities in countries without nuclear weapons - such as Ukraine - and those with nuclear weapons - such as Russia. Efforts continue to try to establish the protection zone "in the near future", for what, he noted, was a very large site with a variety of different facilities.

Other speakers on the first full day of events at the #Atoms4Climate stage included World Association of Nuclear Operators President Mohamed Al Hammadi who said that the “new momentum” seen in the civil nuclear industry sector was being driven by the world’s need for large scale decarbonisation and energy security and the industry "must get ahead of the curve when it comes to ensuing that we have the resources and the capacity to deliver" safe, reliable and timely new capacity.

World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León, in a video message, said the association had represented nuclear at COP meetings for more than 20 years, and said there had been a change of attitude - a positive change - towards nuclear last year at COP26. She added: "This is now the moment for the nuclear industry to really step up - it is essential for the nuclear industry to demonstrate it has the capacity and the ambition to deliver the massive contribution to climate change mitigation that is needed if the global community is to succeed in reaching net-zero with the urgency needed."Here is the full list of events on the #Atoms4Climate stage. They are being live streamed, via the links provided. Nuclear plants could safely operate for 100 years, suggests Grossi

Back To Top

Tell-Us

World Bank and IAEA backing new nuclear for development

(Image: @rafaelmgrossi/X)

The World Bank has taken its first step since ending its ban on funding nuclear energy projects by partnering with the International Atomic Energy Agency to support countries that choose to include nuclear energy in their development strategies.

Under the partnership agreement the two institutions will build capacity, strengthen safeguards and share technical expertise and help the World Bank "deepen its internal knowledge across areas such as energy planning, regulatory frameworks, refurbishment of existing reactors, and the deployment of new technologies like small modular reactors".

Nuclear power was approved by the World Bank Board two weeks ago "as part of a broader approach to electrification - one that prioritises accessibility, affordability, and reliability, delivered in a way that manages emissions responsibly. The goal is to help countries deliver the energy their people need, while giving them the flexibility to choose the path that best fits their development ambitions, national context, and nationally determined contributions."

World Bank President Ajay Banga and International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, signed the agreement at an event in Paris.

Banga highlighted that the average person in high-income countries was using about 50 MWh of electricity per year, while in Africa the figure was 4 MWh. He said the gap had widened in recent years making it "far more challenging for the growth and development of our world in a fair way", with electricity demand in developing countries projected to more than double by 2035.

"Meeting that demand will require annual investment in generation, in grids, in storage to rise from USD280 billion today anually to roughly USD630 billion. That scale is what drives our effort to connect 300 million people in Africa to electricity by 2030 with the African Development Bank. It's why we developed a very clear path forward on delivering electricity as a driver of development."

Banga added that its approach "prioritises accessibility, affordability and reliability delivered in a way that manages emissions in a responsible way - and the goal is to help countries deliver the energy their people need while giving them the flexibility to choose the path that best fits their development ambitions, their national context ... we believe access to electricity is a fundamental human right and the foundation of development - jobs require electricity, as do health systems, education, clean water, public safety and so much more".

Dependable long-term baseload is required for development, he said, and "what is new is that for the first time in decades, the World Bank Group will begin to re-enter the nuclear energy space ... it's a significant step and one that we take with care, but importantly with partnership and with purpose",

The three areas prioritised are firstly, to build capacity and strengthen the World Bank's ability to advise on non-proliferation safeguards, on safety, on security and on regulatory frameworks. The second area is to look at extending the life of existing reactors, "one of the most cost-efficient ways" to produce electricity, and thirdly to see if "we do something together to accelerate the potential of small modular reactors so over a period of time they can become a more viable option for more countries".

Banga said: "The World Bank Group cannot do this alone, and that is why the partnership with the IAEA is critical to us. It marks a very tangible first step in our return to nuclear energy. The IAEA will help us build internal capacity across a wide range of topics, energy planning, project life cycle, fuel management, waste disposal and the technical infrastructure required for success. That coordinated approach will deepen our understanding of where nuclear energy can play a responsible role and give our clients access to the guidance and the support they need to pursue that path if they choose to take it."

IAEA Director General Grossi referred to the current global events and said that this agreement showed that "when we work together, when we have a good idea, when we have a determination to do something and to change things, this is possible".

He praised the work of the World Bank president, saying that "for many, many years a narrative was saying that this was not possible and for many, many years, and ... the nuclear industry, the guys really doing this stuff, were hitting a wall that was saying that investing in nuclear was not something for international finance institutions".

Grossi said that nothing could change without the World Bank. "It's as simple as that. In my endless rounds of conversations in many parts of the world when I was approaching banks and regional banks and financing people" they would refer to the World Bank position. Grossi said that the policy change followed a year of working together, and he also said he wanted to "say thanks to the industry" saying that they had worked closely with the IAEA.

He concluded by saying the "one big problem we had was the lack of finance - the fact that many, many clients in the Global South in developing countries, even in industrialised economies, need some financing support. And now they know they can come to the World Bank, they can talk to the World Bank. They can explain what they want to do in different areas, starting with life extensions, but also doing feasibility studies ... look at concrete projects, see the feasibility of them and work together".

"I think this is a very important day," added Grossi, who said that he had already had calls from some regional development banks looking to find out more about the agreement with the World Bank.

The agreement was welcomed by Sama Bilbao y León, Director General of World Nuclear Association. Speaking at the association's first Financing Nuclear Briefing taking place in London she said it was "a momentous shift for the World Bank’s lending policy, that comes after years of engagement on the sustainability of nuclear energy. We know access to finance is essential for many newcomer countries and this broad coalition is crucial to expanding nuclear capacity for all. It is also crucial to continue to engage with the nuclear industry who will be responsible for delivering the projects with speed and scale." She added that the association, on behalf of the global nuclear industry, had worked with the World Bank for some time "and is ready for further partnership to help build their knowledge of the industry".

Background

The World Bank Group, whose largest shareholder is the USA at 17%, is a multilateral lending organisation whose mission "is to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet. This is threatened by multiple, intertwined crises. Time is of the essence". In 2024 the World Bank Group says it facilitated USD117.5 billion "in loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to partner countries and private businesses".

Although some multinational development banks have provided lending for decommissioning or upgrades to existing nuclear plants, they do not contribute to the financing of new-build projects - the World Bank's only loan for new nuclear capacity was USD40 million in 1959 for Italy's first nuclear power plant.

The pledge to aim for a tripling of nuclear energy capacity, originally unveiled at COP28 and backed by more than 30 countries, included inviting "shareholders of the World Bank, international financial institutions, and regional development banks to encourage the inclusion of nuclear energy in their organisations’ energy lending policies as needed, and to actively support nuclear power when they have such a mandate, and encourage regional bodies that have the mandate to do so to consider providing financial support to nuclear energy".At the moment there are about 440 nuclear power reactors operating in 31 countries with at least 70 power reactors under construction. The IAEA says there are about 30 countries considering, or embarking on, nuclear power, with about two-thirds of them in the developing world and financing remains a major hurdle for many. World Bank and IAEA backing new nuclear for development

Back To Top

Tell-Us

India's Gorakhpur slated for 2031 operation

The minister reviewed progress at the Gorakhpur site (Image: Office of Manohar Lal/X)

The first concrete for unit 1 at Nuclear Power Corporation of India's four-unit Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana plant is to be poured in October, Minister of Power Manohar Lal Khattar has said.

Gorakhpur, in the Fatehabad district of Haryana, is earmarked for the construction of four Indian-designed 700 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) to be built in two phases. India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) granted a siting licence in 2015, and approved the start of excavation work for the construction of the first two units as long ago as 2018 - several years after an official groundbreaking ceremony had been held.

At that time, first concrete had been expected to be poured for unit 1 in 2019, with construction expected to take five and a half years. Consent for the pouring of first concrete was given by the AERB in 2020.

According to the Press Trust of India, the minister visited the site on 14 July "to review the progress of the nuclear power project being implemented by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) under the Department of Atomic Energy" and confirmed that the first pour of concrete for unit 1 is targeted "by October 2025". First criticality is targeted by June 2030 and commercial operation by March 2031. Unit 2 is expected to follow "with a 6-month gap from Unit 1".

The Indian government already classes Gorakhpur 1 and 2 as "under construction", although the International Atomic Energy Agency's PRIS database does not consider a reactor to be under construction until the first major placing of concrete for the base mat of the reactor building is made.

The second phase at Gorakhpur - units 3 and 4 - are amongst ten units that the Indian government has sanctioned to be built under a "fleet" approach: the others are Mahi Banswara units 1-4 (in Rajasthan), Kaiga units 5 and 6 (in Karnataka), Gorakhpur units 3 and 4 (Haryana), and Chutka units 1 and 2 (Madhyar Pradesh).India currently has 24 operable nuclear energy reactors with a total installed capacity of 8.88 GW, with six units - totalling 4,768 MWe - under construction. The country is targeting an aiming to increase its nuclear energy capacity to 100 GW by 2047. India's Gorakhpur slated for 2031 operation

Back To Top

Tell-Us

India welcomes newest Rajasthan unit to the grid

The site is home to two 700 MWe PHWRs (Image: screengrab from NPCIL video)

Unit 7 at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project is the third 700 MWe indigenous pressurised heavy water reactor to be connected to the Indian grid.

The unit - which is also known as RAPP-7 - reached first criticality in September and was connected to the northern grid early on Monday.

"With the clearance from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board AERB and passing all tests with flying colours, unit 7 is now synchronised with the National Grid," Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) said in a video released to mark the achievement.

Once a new unit has been connected to the grid, it undergoes a process known as power ascension testing when its power levels are gradually raised - under approval from the regulator - until it reaches full capacity. It will then enter commercial operation.

RAPP-7 follows Kakrapar 3 and 4 in a planned fleet of 700 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs): unit 3 achieved first criticality in July 2020, was connected to the grid in January 2021 and was declared to be in commercial operation in July 2023. Unit 4, which reached first criticality in December 2023, was connected to the grid in February and entered commercial operation in March 2024.

"NPCIL has mastered the art of building and operating these reactors," the company said.

A second 700 MWe unit, RAPP-8, is also under construction at the site at Rawatbhata, which is already home to six operating PHWRs with a total capacity of 1180 MW. NPCIL said it expects RAPP-8 to be operational "in 2025-26".

The government has sanctioned the "fleet mode" construction of further 700 MWe units at Kaiga in Karnataka; Gorakhpur in Haryana; Chutka in Madhya Pradesh; and Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan.Earlier this year, Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman outlined ambitions for the development of at least 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047 to support India's energy transition efforts. This new capacity would include the development of Indian-designed small modular reactors to be operational by 2033, with amendments to Indian legislation to encourage private sector participation in nuclear projects.India welcomes newest Rajasthan unit to the grid

Back To Top

Tell-Us

EU funding for French enrichment plant expansion

The Georges Besse II plant (Image: Orano)

The European Investment Bank and Orano have signed a loan agreement for EUR400 million (USD434 million) to partly fund the project to extend the Georges Besse II uranium enrichment plant in Tricastin in southern France. The project will increase the plant's capacity by more than 30%.

The Georges Besse II centrifuge enrichment plant - which superseded the Georges Besse I gaseous diffusion enrichment plant that ended production in June 2012 - was officially opened in December 2010 and reached its full production capacity of 7.5 million Separative Work Unit (SWU) in 2016.

In October 2023, the board of directors of Orano approved an investment of about EUR1.7 billion to raise the production capacity of the plant. The decision followed requests from some US and European customers who are seeking alternatives to Russian sources of supply.

The project consists of building a further four modules identical to the fourteen existing modules that use "the same recognised and proven technology, offering the best guarantees in terms of safety, competitiveness and energy savings, while having a reduced environmental footprint", the company said. The additional cascades will increase the plant's capacity by 2.5 million SWU.

This project was the subject of a notification under Article 41 of the Euratom Treaty on 7 September 2023. The European Commission issued a positive opinion on 9 October 2024, underlining the project's compliance with the Euratom treaty and its contribution to the security of supply in Europe.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) - the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States - has now agreed to lend Orano EUR400 million towards the Georges Besse II expansion project.

EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle said: "This significant EIB financing contributes to European energy independence. Decarbonised energies are essential to enable the European Union to meet the ambitious climate neutrality objectives it has set itself."

"We are very proud of this cooperation, which represents further recognition of the strategic value of our investment plan for the climate and for the production of sustainable and decarbonised energy," said Orano CEO Nicolas Maes. "The financing granted by the EIB for the capacity extension at our Georges Besse II enrichment plant is perfectly in line with this objective, as the project will make it possible to take the number of households supplied with low-carbon energy up to a total 120 million. Not least, in the current geopolitical context, this support for our activities from the EIB will help to strengthen security of supply in the European Union."Orano held a ceremony in October last year to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the Georges Besse II plant extension. The new modules are expected to begin operating in 2028, with complete commissioning of the extension in 2030. EU funding for French enrichment plant expansion

Back To Top

Tell-Us

Japanese reactor cleared for use beyond 50 years

The four-unit Takahama plant (Image: Kansai)

Kansai Electric Power Company has received approval from Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority to operate unit 1 at its Takahama nuclear power plant - the country's oldest operating reactor - beyond 50 years.

The utility applied to the NRA in November last year to operate the 780 MWe (net) pressurised water reactor (PWR), which entered commercial operation on 14 November 1974, for a further ten years after conducting an ageing technical evaluation and formulating a long-term facility management policy.

At that time, Kansai said: "As a result of the ageing technical evaluation conducted this time, we have confirmed that the plant can be maintained in a sound manner even 50 years after the start of operation by implementing additional maintenance measures for some equipment and structures as a long-term facility management policy, in addition to the current maintenance activities for equipment and structures that are important for safety."

At a 16 October meeting, the NRA approved Kansai's plan for ageing countermeasures at the unit over the next ten years.

"We will continue to actively incorporate the latest knowledge from Japan and abroad and reflect it in plant design and equipment maintenance, thereby striving to improve the safety and reliability of nuclear power plants," Kansai said.

Under regulations which came into force in July 2013, Japanese reactors had a nominal operating period of 40 years. One extension to this - limited to a maximum of 20 years - could be granted, requiring among other things, a special inspection to verify the integrity of reactor pressure vessels and containment vessels after 35 years of operation.

However, in December 2022, the NRA approved a draft of a new rule that would allow reactors to be operated for more than the current limit of 60 years. Under the amendment, the operators of reactors in use for 30 years or longer must formulate a long-term reactor management plan and gain approval from the regulator at least once every 10 years if they are to continue to operate. The new policy effectively extends the period reactors can remain in operation beyond 60 years by excluding the time they spent offline for inspections from the total service life.

The legislation was approved by Japan's Cabinet in February last year and enacted in May 2023. It comes into full effect in June next year.Takahama 1 - which was restarted in July 2023 after being offline since January 2011 - becomes the first Japanese unit to be approved for operation beyond 50 years. Japanese reactor cleared for use beyond 50 years

Back To Top

Tell-Us

Brazil's Angra 1 approved for 20-year life extension

Angra 1 and 2 (Image: Eletronuclear)

Eletronuclear's Angra 1 nuclear power unit has been authorised by Brazil's National Nuclear Energy Commission to operate to 2044 - extending its life to 60 years.\

Angra 1 reached criticality in 1982 and entered commercial operation in 1985. The Westinghouse pressurised water reactor has a design capacity of 640 MWe. Eletrobras Eletronuclear also operates Angra 2, a 1275 MWe PWR which began commercial operation in 2001.

The request for the life extension was submitted in 2019. Since then there has been a "meticulous technical evaluation" of the request, a series of studies, four missions undertaken by International Atomic Energy Agency experts and an Integrated Implementation Plan for Safety Improvements.

As part of this plan there will be upgrades to control systems, physical protection structures and radioactive waste management protocols, the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) said. They will be implemented during maintenance and refuelling shutdowns.

CNEN’s Director of Radiation Protection and Safety Alessandro Facure said: "Each aspect of this process was analysed with technical rigour and responsibility. Our mission is to ensure that the Angra 1 operation remains safe for workers, the environment and society."

Eletronuclear said it will be investing BRL3.2 billion (USD550 million) between 2023 and 2027 and noted that similar plants in the USA had been going on to receive approval for further extensions to 80 years.

In May the company said that it also uses the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's License Renewal Application process and said that measures already taken to extend the service life include new steam generators, changing the reactor pressure vessel cover and replacing the main transformers, as well as implementing ageing/obsolescence management systems. It said it would get short-term financing from its main shareholders, ENBPar and Eletrobras, while negotiations were completed with the US Export-Import Bank for the full modernisation programme.

President of Eletronuclear Raul Lycurgo said: "The renewal of Angra 1 should be celebrated and praised as it is the culmination of the great work carried out by our technical team. Everyone has dedicated themselves to the maximum over the last five years and have proven that Angra 1 continues to be completely safe and able to deliver steady, clean energy for the development of Brazil."

Angra 1 generated 4.78 million MWh in 2023 and has had a load factor of 88.24% for the past five years. It delivers enough energy to supply a city of two million people.

CNEN said that an important part of the authorisation process had been the Local Emergency Plan and the Fukushima Response Plan, implemented after 2011 - "CNEN teams will continue to monitor the implementation of these measures, including technical improvements and emergency response protocols, which are fundamental to the safety and protection of the plant and surrounding areas".The decision was a "milestone" not just in terms of energy production but also in showing the maturity of the regulatory system in Brazil. It said Eletronuclear will also be required to carry out a Periodic Safety Reassessment in 2033 "where compliance with the highest international safety standards will be verified". Brazil's Angra 1 approved for 20-year life extension

Back To Top

Tell-Us

Argentina aims to be nuclear pioneer, President Milei says

The president, centre, IAEA director general, right and Demian Reidel, left (Image: Argentina's presidential office)

Argentina's President Javier Milei has said "nuclear energy will make its triumphant return and we will not only not be left behind, but we intend to be pioneers".

The president, standing between his chief adviser Demian Reidel, who will oversee a new nuclear programme, and International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, said "we are contemporaries of a true technological revolution ... the development of artificial intelligence opens a new frontier for this manifest destiny that we share as a species" but "many of the free nations that have always been at the forefront of technological development are now afraid of innovation and punish the technological sector with taxes and regulations". Argentina by contrast was "removing the regulations that have tied the hands of our people for decades and inviting the world's big capitals to cooperate with Argentina".

He added: "The potential for development in artificial intelligence is so immense that conventional energy will not be enough to supply this new demand, which is why we are convinced that a resurgence of nuclear energy will occur throughout the world, because despite the countless campaigns of discredit that some international foundations have mounted, nuclear energy is the only source that is sufficiently efficient, abundant and rapidly scalable to cope with the development of our civilisation.

"So, after decades of decline, nuclear energy will make its triumphant return and we will not only not be left behind, but we intend to be pioneers."

The outline of the plan announced, according to various reports, is initially for the construction of a small modular reactor on the Atucha site. According to the Financial Times, Reidel said the plan was to use Argentine technology, developed by its nuclear engineers, but with funding from a US investor joining a joint venture with Invap, with the goal of having a first plant online by 2030. No mention was made during the announcement about the existing Argentine SMR project, the CAREM-25.

The second stage of the government's nuclear plan is reported to be to develop uranium reserves to cover domestic demand and position the country as an exporter of high-value-added fuel elements.

Grossi said that the IAEA had signed a memorandum of understanding agreement with Argentina following the announcement, which aimed to expand their collaboration on small modular reactors "to meet the energy demands of data centres and AI applications".

The background

Argentina currently has three operable nuclear power units - Atucha 1, connected in 1974, Atucha 2, which was connected in 2014 and Embalse which was connected to the grid in 1983. Between them they generate about 5% of the country's electricity. There have been plans for a fourth unit, as Atucha III, with an EPC contract signed with China's CNNC in February 2022. It is unclear what the current status is of this project and whether it will be part of the nuclear programme.The CAREM SMR - the name comes from Central Argentina de Elementos Modulares - is a 32 MWe prototype and is Argentina's first domestically designed and developed nuclear power unit. First concrete was poured in 2014, but construction has since been suspended a number of times. It is currently estimated to be about two thirds complete, and a Critical Design Review was ordered for it in May this year with reported uncertainty over funding. Argentina aims to be nuclear pioneer, President Milei says

Back To Top

Tell-Us

New drone for mapping radiation in nuclear plants

The Elios 2 RAD drone (Image: Flyability)

Swiss drone developer Flyability has launched an indoor drone equipped with a radiation sensor specifically for conducting inspections at nuclear facilities. The Elios 2 RAD is designed to help maintain low radiation exposure levels to nuclear facility workers. It does this both by taking the place of personnel where possible for visual and radiation data collection, and by providing high-quality data for planning interventions that do require exposure, so that it can be kept to a minimum.

Equipped with an energy compensated Geiger-Muller detector, the Elios 2 RAD can detect radiation while in flight through Flyability's piloting app. The drone is supplied with three sensors capable of measuring dose rates within a range of 3 microsieverts per hour to 10 sieverts per hour. After the inspection flight, nuclear engineers can use Flyability's Inspector 3.0 software to map the radiation along the flight path of the drone, showing the exact location of dangerous dose levels within a nuclear facility. They can also play back the inspection flight within Inspector 3.0, using it to see dose rate measurements displayed synchronously on top of the video footage.

According to Flyability, the Elios 2 RAD can be quickly deployed from a non-contaminated area to evaluate risks and dangers in case of a leakage or incident. When planning interventions, the drone can be used to estimate the total dose workers would be exposed to and identify hot-spots to minimise human exposure. It can also be used to evaluate how much exposure was avoided after an intervention and over time by leveraging Elios 2 RAD's cumulative radiation measurement.

"The Elios 2 RAD represents the first chapter in our efforts to create indoor drones targeted specifically for each of our key verticals, accelerating our mission to use robots instead of people for dangerous indoor inspection jobs," said Flyability CEO Patrick Thévoz. "The Elios 2 RAD has the potential to significantly reduce the need for inspectors to be exposed to harmful radiation or to the hazards of confined space entry for the purposes of conducting routine inspections."

The Elios 1 was Flyability's the first collision-tolerant drone, designed for the inspection and exploration of the most inaccessible places. This was followed by the Elios 2 model, which featured additional capabilities, from which the Elios 2 RAD has evolved.

Last year, Flyability released footage of a flight taken with its Elios 2 drone being used at the incomplete unit 5 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The drone was used to investigate whether any nuclear fuel rods had been placed within the unit's storage pool.

"Now, with the Elios 2 RAD, it would be possible to return and not just see whether any rods remained, but also record the amount of radiation present throughout the entire site," Flyability said.

The company's Elios 1 and Elios 2 drones are already in wide use at nuclear power plants around the world, particularly in the USA. Their use, it says, has reduced the length of outages and avoided the need for scaffolding and other costly temporary structures required for manual inspections to be carried out."Over 80% of US nuclear operators already use Flyability's indoor drones for their visual inspections," said Alexandre Meldem, VP of Sales at Flyability Inc. "Now [with Elios 2 RAD] we can expand that support by allowing engineers to collect actionable, high quality dose data. Helping nuclear inspectors collect this data remotely means that less people will be exposed to the potential harm of radiation." New drone for mapping radiation in nuclear plants

Back To Top

Tell-Us

International banks express support for nuclear expansion

The Financing the Tripling of Nuclear Energy event (Image: Hechler Photographers)

A group of 14 global financial institutions have expressed their support for the call to action to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050.

Last December, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai saw the 198 signatory countries to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change call for accelerating the deployment of low-emission energy technologies including nuclear power for deep and rapid decarbonisation, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors such as industry. In addition, 25 countries at COP28 pledged to work towards tripling global nuclear power capacity to reach net-zero by 2050.

At New York Climate Week, a group of 14 financial institutions on Monday stated their recognition that global civil nuclear energy projects have an important role to play in the transition to a low-carbon economy. They further expressed support for long-term objectives of growing nuclear power generation and expanding the broader nuclear industry to accelerate the generation of clean electrons to support the energy transition.

The institutions include: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Ares Management, Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Brookfield, Citi, Credit Agricole CIB, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley, Rothschild & Co, Segra Capital Management, and Societe Generale.

"Capital markets and financing can play a critical role in developing and growing nuclear energy projects worldwide. Financial institutions can provide experience, global presence, services and solutions to support the industry," according to World Nuclear Association.

Opening the event, John Podesta, Senior Advisor for International Climate Policy to President Biden, said: "Our collective mission is clear - nuclear energy is clean energy, and if we are to ensure a liveable planet, build secure, sustainable supply chains for clean energy and bolster prosperity around the world, we need to make sure that nuclear energy does its part. I know we can make it happen - as long as we work together."

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob added, "The only riddle left to solve is the financial side, the financial costs. Financial markets need to adapt and develop new financial instruments in order for nuclear energy to become competitive with other CO2-free energy sources."

"It is time to take concrete action towards necessary expansion of nuclear energy," said Sweden's Minister for Energy, Business and Industry and Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch. "The Swedish government is exploring a proposed financing model which includes government-backed loans, contracts-for-difference (CfDs) and risk-sharing mechanisms. The aim of the proposal is to significantly improve the conditions for nuclear new build in Sweden and with it, a more sustainable future."

Last month, a Swedish government study proposed that state aid be given to companies for investments in new nuclear power following an application procedure. It said a new legislative act should regulate conditions for receiving the support, the support measures, and what an application must contain.

James Schaefer, senior managing director of Guggenheim Securities, said: "New nuclear power is both clean and safe, and more importantly proven, with a number of nations now operating highly advanced and commercially viable third and fourth-generation fission technologies. It is essential that we accelerate the progression of planned projects into plants on the ground given the huge demand coming down the line for data centres and AI technologies. This will require nuclear companies, plant owners, data centre and technology companies, together with banks and financial institutions to collaborate closely."

"Including nuclear energy as a zero-carbon technology alongside renewables is essential to meeting the world's carbon reduction goals and ensuring that heavy industrial manufacturers like Nucor have a reliable and clean electricity supply to continue growing, prospering, and providing high-paying jobs," said Benjamin Pickett, vice president and general manager of public affairs and government relations at Nucor Corporation.

"Since COP28 in Dubai last year, we have witnessed a step change in momentum across the nuclear sector, buoyed by a significant increase in demand for clean electrons for data centres and AI, with global power demand for this sector alone set to double by 2026," said Mohamed Al Hammadi, Managing Director and CEO of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation and chairman of World Nuclear Association.

"With the support of 14 global banks and financial institutions witnessed this morning on the sidelines of New York Climate Week, it is clear that not only is nuclear energy viewed as a crucial enabler to decarbonise the power sector, but it also fits the profile for sustainable and transition financing, especially as we now see multiple nuclear plants being delivered efficiently, providing confidence to the market and a clear market signal that nuclear is a proven, bankable route to energy security and net zero in parallel."

Last week, ten industry associations issued a communiqué during the second Roadmaps to New Nuclear conference in Paris, organised by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. They called on all OECD member states to set out clear plans for nuclear energy deployment. Among the eight key areas highlighted by the associations were: ensuring ready access to national and international climate finance mechanisms for nuclear development; ensuring that multilateral financial institutions include nuclear energy in their investment portfolios; and providing clarity to investors on the funding and investment recovery mechanisms available for nuclear projects and including nuclear energy in clean energy financing mechanisms.

Sama Bilbao y León, Director General of World Nuclear Association, welcomed Monday's announcement from leaders in the global finance community. "Now we need to see today's commitment translate to changes in lending policies and greater access for nuclear to sustainable finance mechanisms. Nuclear offers investors long-term returns and a means of tackling the world's urgent and growing need for abundant, affordable, 24/7 clean energy."Today was a major step forward. Meeting the goal of tripling nuclear output will require the commitment and ingenuity of policy makers, financial leaders, the nuclear industry, and many others in a coalition of the ambitious." International banks express support for nuclear expansion

Back To Top

Tell-Us

Indian nuclear joint venture gets go-ahead

Representatives from NTPC and NPCIL mark the formation of the Ashvini joint venture (Image: NTPC))

The Indian government has approved the creation of a joint venture between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and National Thermal Power Corporation to construct, own and operate nuclear power plants in India.

Under Indian legislation, only two companies - Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (Bhavini, set up to build and operate fast reactors) - are legally allowed to own and operate nuclear power plants in India, but a 2016 amendment to the 1962 Atomic Energy Act allows public sector joint ventures.

State-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) agreed with NPCIL to form a joint venture for nuclear power plant construction as long ago as 2011, and last year signed a supplementary joint venture agreement for the development of six 700 MWe Indian-designed pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs), including the four earmarked for construction at Mahi Banswara in the state of Rajasthan. These units are amongst a list of ten PHWRs already accorded administrative approval and financial sanction to be built in "fleet mode".

On 11 September, the government approved the formation of Anushakti Vidhyut Nigam Ltd (Ashvini), a joint venture between NPCIL (51%) and NTPC Ltd (49%). The companies were informed of that decision on 17 September.

In addition, the government has approved the transfer of the project to build four 700 MWe PHWRs at Mahi Banswara from NPCIL to Ashvini.

NTPC said that, in addition to the Mahi Banswara project, "Ashvini shall also pursue other nuclear power projects in different parts of the country".

The government also approved exemption to NPCIL to invest more than INR5 billion (USD59.7 million) and exemption to NTPC to invest more than INR50 billion in a single joint venture or subsidiary company.

"This will enable adequate financing for accelerated nuclear power capacity addition in India," the two companies said.

Welcoming approval for the joint venture, NPCIL and NTPC said: "This will pave the way for pooling of resources from both NTPC and NPCIL, in terms of finances, technology and project expertise, for the rapid expansion of nuclear power productivity in the country to meet the target of net-zero by 2070."

Last month, NTPC - India's largest power company - confirmed it intends to set up a 100% nuclear power subsidiary, called NTPC Nuclear Power Company, with NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Gurdeep Singh saying the utility sees nuclear capacity - including small modular reactors - as central to its plans. Singh said the company is actively looking for locations for nuclear power plants, including in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Karnataka.

According to a Reuters report in February, government sources said India was planning to invite private firms to invest some USD26 billion in its nuclear energy sector, and is in talks with "at least" five private firms including Reliance Industries, Tata Power, Adani Power and Vedanta Ltd to invest around INR440 billion (USD5.30 billion) each.

Plans are not yet finalised, but the government hopes to use the investments to build 11,000 MWe of new nuclear capacity by 2040, the sources said. The plants would be built and operated by NPCIL, with the investing companies earning revenue from electricity sales from the plants. This hybrid plan would not require any amendment to India's Atomic Energy Act of 1962 - which prohibits private control of nuclear power generation - but would need to be approved by the Department of Atomic Energy, they said.As well as further 700 MWe PHWRs, Indian plans envisage the construction of large reactors from overseas vendors, including further Russian-designed VVER reactors in addition to those already in operation and under construction at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu. In August 2023, Minister of State Jitendra Singh also told the country's parliament that the government was considering options for small modular reactors, and looking at ways to allow the participation of the private sector and start-ups in such projects. Indian nuclear joint venture gets go-ahead

Back To Top

Tell-Us

Canada to turn radioactive sources from Thailand into cancer treatments

The benefits of the scheme are called 'monumental' (Image: Archara Phattanasub/TINT/IAEA)

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) has received shipments of disused radium-226 sources from the Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology, which will be recycled to produce actinium-225 to be used in targeted radiotherapy.

The arrangement is part of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) Global Radium-226 Management Initiative, which aims to connect countries who have old radiotherapy sources with other countries interested in recycling or reusing them.

According to the IAEA: "Radium-226, discovered in 1898 by Marie Sklodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie, was formerly used in radiotherapy but has since been replaced by other sources. Today, it serves as a feedstock for the production of the radioisotope actinium-225, which is so rare that annual global production is less than a grain of sand. Actinium-225 is an alpha-emitting source known to be effective in destroying malignant cells in targeted cancer treatments. It allows for targeted radiotherapy as it can be placed close to the tumour and will kill cancerous cells without damaging nearby healthy tissue."

Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology and CNL have been in contact via the scheme since 2022 and over the past year 70 packages of disused radium-226 have been sent to Canada. The institute's Archara Phattanasub, Head of the Radioactive Waste Technology and Development Section, said: "Recycling these sources has multiple benefits for Thailand and is in line with circular economy objectives. This initiative has helped up significantly reduce the risk for any type of incident associated with these disused sources and freed up a lot of space in our national storage facility."

Jack Craig, President and CEO of CNL, said: "The IAEA has long championed the safe storage and disposal of disused sealed radioactive sources, which has always been appreciated and supported by Canada. However, their initiatives to assist donor nations in removing long-term liabilities while enabling a new radiotherapeutics industry is monumental."

Olena Mykolaichuk, the Director of the IAEA’s Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology, said the collaboration "serves as a great example of how to effectively conduct complex source transportation operations with many moving parts ... fostering sustainable practices is a key element of the IAEA’s mandate, and we look forward to delivering on this initiative for many years to come."

The transport of radioactive material is closely regulated and overseen by national bodies and port authorities, with IAEA support prior to shipment. More transfers are planned for this year, including from El Salvador, Fiji and Slovenia.Researched and written by World Nuclear News Canada to turn radioactive sources from Thailand into cancer treatments : Waste & Recycling - World Nuclear News

Back To Top

Tell-Us

Small is beautiful for federal funds

• The US Department of Energy (DoE) is to help push forward the manufacture of small modular nuclear reactors through new cost-sharing arrangements with private industry to support design and licensing activities.
• Cutaway of NuScale's containment vessel and integrated reactor system (Image: NuScale Power)
• The DoE intends ultimately to fund up to two designs for small modular reactors (SMRs) through a cost-shared partnership which will support first-of-a-kind engineering, design certification and licensing. To that end, it has issued a draft Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit inputs from industry in advance of the full FOA, aiming at a deployment date for the reactors of 2022.
• Small, compact reactors of around 300 MWe in capacity - around a third of the size of a typical commercial nuclear power plant - can potentially offer a range of strengths in terms of safety, construction and siting as well as potential economic benefits. Their modular 'plug and play' nature means that they could be made in factories and transported to generation sites, offering economies of scale and reducing both capital costs and construction times. Their small size makes them suitable for small electric grids and locations that cannot support large reactors, while offering the flexibility to install units individually or as modules in a larger generating complex, adding more modules incrementally as required. As well as using a simpler reactor design, SMRs can incorporate a high level of passive or inherent safety in the event of malfunction.
• US Energy Secretary Steven Chu described the funding as a "significant step" in designing, manufacturing, and exporting small modular reactors.
• "America's choice is clear - we can either develop the next generation of clean energy technologies, which will help create thousands of new jobs and export opportunities here in America, or we can wait for other countries to take the lead." Steven Chu: US Energy Secretary
• Several US companies are involved in the design of SMRs, with development at various stages of advancement. Westinghouse, which is developing its own 200 MWe SMR, has already pledged to take advantage of the DoE's offer. Westinghouse chief technology officer and senior vice president of research and technology Kate Jackson said the company would be applying for the federal funds with a consortium of utilities. "Access to this investment fund helps lower the barrier to market entry for American companies," she said, noting that "virtually all energy sources that feed the national grid" had been developed through public-private research and development partnerships. Indeed, the design certification by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission of Westinghouse's AP1000 nuclear reactor design, granted in December 2011, was supported through a cost-shared agreement with DoE.
• Other US SMR designs at an advanced stage of development include NuScale Power Inc's 45 MWe NuScale reactor, which is envisaged as being clustered in modules of 12 to form a power plant of around 540 MWe, and Babcock & Wilcox's 160 MWe mPower. The NRC is currently involved in pre-application activities on both designs in anticipation of a design certification application for the NuScale reactor in the first months of 2012, followed by one for the mPower design towards the end of 2013.
• Researched and written by World Nuclear News Small is beautiful for federal funds - World Nuclear News

Back To Top

Tell-Us

Germany aims to build fusion power plant

Bettina Stark-Watzinger announcing the new fusion research funding programme (Image: BMBF)

A new funding programme for nuclear fusion research has been announced by Germany's Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger aimed at paving the way for the first fusion power plant to be constructed in Germany by 2040.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has long supported fusion research at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Garching and Greifswald, at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and at the Research Center Jülich (FZJ).

"This institutional funding is supplemented by a second pillar with the new project funding programme," the ministry said. "The aim of the project funding is to advance the technologies, components and materials needed for a fusion power plant in a first phase by the early 2030s. In the second phase, the focus is on integration into a power plant design. The funding programme is open to technology and addresses both the technology of so-called magnetic confinement and laser fusion."

In order to achieve the construction of a fusion power plant as quickly as possible, the programme is essentially based on application-oriented collaborative research as a form of public-private partnership. Projects on specific sub-technologies are to be carried out jointly by research institutions, universities and industry. The ministry said this allows new findings from research to be taken up at an early stage and know-how to be transferred to the domestic industry for further use.

"The energy crisis has shown us how important a clean, reliable and affordable energy supply is," Stark-Watzinger said. "And fusion is a huge opportunity to solve all of our energy problems. Thanks to its excellent research landscape and strong industry, Germany offers excellent conditions for the construction of fusion power plants.

"This is where we come in with our new funding programme - named Fusion 2040 - Research on the way to a fusion power plant - and we want to pave the way to the first fusion power plant in Germany. We want to build a fusion ecosystem made up of industry, start-ups and science so that a fusion power plant in Germany becomes a reality as quickly as possible."

She said the government wants to "bundle Germany's existing strengths and create synergies between the different players".

"The global race is on. I would like us in Germany to be among the first to build a fusion power plant. We must not miss this huge opportunity, especially with a view to growth and prosperity," the minister said.

In September last year, Stark-Watzinger announced that Germany would significantly increase research funding for fusion with an additional EUR370 million (USD403 million) over the next five years. Together with funds already earmarked for research institutions, the ministry will provide more than EUR1 billion for fusion research by 2028.

In August 2011, the 13th amendment of the Nuclear Power Act came into effect, which underlined the political will to phase out fission nuclear power in Germany. As a result, eight units were closed down immediately: Biblis A and B, Brunsbüttel, Isar 1, Krümmel, Neckarwestheim 1, Phillipsburg 1 and Unterweser. The Brokdorf, Grohnde and Gundremmingen C plants were permanently shut down at the end of December 2021. The country's final three units - Emsland, Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 - shut down in April last year.Researched and written by World Nuclear News Germany aims to build fusion power plant : Nuclear Policies - World Nuclear News:

Back To Top

Tell-Us

French reactor using full core of recycled uranium fuel

The Cruas-Meysse plant (Image: EDF)

Unit 2 of the Cruas-Meysse nuclear power plant in south-eastern France was recently restarted with its first full core of recycled uranium fuel. The move marks a major milestone in France's efforts to revive its domestic uranium reprocessing industry.

Reprocessed uranium (RepU) is derived from used fuel from nuclear reactors that has been processed at Orano's La Hague reprocessing plant. Once enriched, this uranium can be used again to fuel nuclear power reactors.

In France, only the four reactors at the Cruas-Meysse plant in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes are certified to use Enriched Reprocessed Uranium (ERU).

Historically, the enrichment process, requiring centrifuges solely dedicated to RepU, was carried out for industrial and economic reasons by Russia's Rosatom at its Seversk site. However, the new geopolitical situation since the onset of the war in Ukraine may lead to a reevaluation of these contracts.

For many years, EDF's Fuel Division has been developing a strategy for the management, recycling and reprocessing of used nuclear fuel assemblies, as well as the diversification of sources of supply, to ensure energy independence and the preservation of natural resources.

On 5 February, Cruas 2 was restarted with its first entirely recycled uranium fuel load.

"A decade-long effort has been made to revive a uranium reprocessing sector, which was suspended in 2013 (and resumed in 2018), and has just reached a historic milestone," Cédric Lewandowski, Senior Executive Vice-President, Nuclear and Thermal at EDF, said on LinkedIn.

He noted: "Reprocessing spent fuel to extract the energy-potential material (which constitutes 96% of the spent fuel's mass composition), namely uranium, for its second use is a circular economy approach that will save 25% of natural resources in the coming decades. Moreover, this sector emits 30% less CO2 than the natural uranium sector and reduces environmental impact."

Fuel containing RepU has the same general characteristics as natural uranium fuels. Worldwide, 75 reactors have used, or currently use, RepU.

Lewandowski said EDF's goal was to be able to reuse RepU in certain 1300 MWe reactors by 2027, aiming for over 30% RepU usage in the French nuclear fleet by the 2030s.

In May 2018, Framatome signed a contract to design, fabricate and supply fuel assemblies using enriched reprocessed uranium to EDF between 2023 and 2032. The fuel assemblies were to be produced at Framatome's facility at Romans-sur-Isère in the Drôme region of France.

EDF studied the possibility of recycling reprocessed uranium in pressurised water reactors in the early 1980s. The utility has demonstrated the use of reprocessed uranium in its 900 MWe power plants. The first enriched reprocessed uranium manufacturing campaign took place at Romans in 1987 on behalf of EDF. Precursor fuel assemblies were loaded into Cruas unit 4 from 1987 to 1990 and a first enriched reprocessed uranium fuel reload was introduced in the same reactor in 1994. EDF used RepU between 1994 and 2013 in the four Cruas reactors, allowing 4000 tonnes of RepU to be recycled.

EDF has made provision to store reprocessed uranium for up to 250 years as a strategic reserve. Currently, reprocessing of 1100 tonnes of EDF used fuel per year produces 11 tonnes of plutonium (immediately recycled as mixed-oxide fuel) and 1045 tonnes of reprocessed uranium converted into stable oxide form for storage.

According to Orano, there are currently nearly 34,000 tonnes of RepU being held in interim storage on the Tricastin site.Researched and written by World Nuclear News. French reactor using full core of recycled uranium fuel : Waste & Recycling - World Nuclear News

Back To Top

Tell-Us

Sweden moves to lift uranium mining ban

Sweden's Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari has announced the launch of an investigation to abolish the country's ban on uranium mining. The move was welcomed by Australia-based Aura Energy, which hopes to extract uranium as a by-product from its 100%-owned Häggån polymetallic project in Sweden.

On 16 May 2018, the Swedish parliament passed an amendment to the Environmental Code banning uranium exploration and mining in the country. As from 1 August that year, no permits for uranium exploration or mining have been issued for any such applications submitted from that date.

There is currently no uranium mining in Sweden, which has six nuclear power reactors providing about one-third of its electricity. Sweden imports most of its nuclear fuel, including all enrichment services.

The investigation - to be carried out by the Ministry of Climate and Enterprise - will determine what rule changes are needed to enable and clarify the conditions for uranium extraction. In addition, it will analyse whether the requirement for the government's admissibility review should be limited to cover uranium mining only when it is a nuclear activity.

The ministry said the purpose of the investigation is "to remove a ban that is not needed". "Extraction of uranium must be handled in the same way as extraction of other metals, where the environmental assessment determines the conditions under which it can be permitted," it noted. "Uranium often occurs together with other metals and today must be sorted out and handled as waste."

"If the European Union is to become the first climate-neutral continent, access to sustainable metals and minerals must be ensured," Pourmokhtari said. "We need to use the uranium we have, instead of sorting it out and considering it as waste, as is the case now - due to the current ban on mining uranium."

The Ministry of Climate and Enterprise noted that more than one-quarter of Europe's known resources of uranium are found in Sweden's bedrock. "Today, it is not possible to grant either an exploration permit, a processing concession or an environmental permit regarding uranium. Uranium mining must in future be tested according to relevant environmental legislation, which means that the current ban on uranium mining must be removed."

The result of the investigation must be reported by 15 May at the latest, at which point the government can choose to proceed with a legislative proposal to parliament to lift the ban on uranium mining.

In November last year, Sweden's parliament approved a bill that cleared the way for new nuclear power in the country by removing the current limit on the number of nuclear reactors in operation, as well as allowing reactors to be built on new sites. The amendment entered into force on 1 January.

Sweden currently uses 2.4 million pounds U3O8 annually in its three nuclear power plants and has committed to building two additional nuclear reactors by 2035.

Aura welcomes investigation

In 2019, Aura Energy lodged a claim against the Swedish government for compensation for the financial loss resulting from the ban on uranium exploration and mining, introduced the previous year. The company had planned to extract uranium as a by-product from its 100%-owned Häggån polymetallic project in Sweden.

Häggån, previously known as Storsjon, is located in the municipality of Berg in the county of Jämtland and forms part of a large uranium field in central Sweden. Figures released in mid-2012 estimated resources of 800 million pounds U3O8 (307,718 tU) at Häggån, making the Swedish project the second largest undeveloped uranium resource in the world, Aura says. The uranium occurs with molybdenum, vanadium and zinc in black shales, and Aura has reported yields of up to 85% uranium from bioheap leaching tests.

In February 2013, Aura announced it had accepted Areva Mines as strategic partner in the project and had entered a binding cooperation agreement, but Areva later pulled out of this.

Welcoming the prospect of the uranium mining ban now being lifted, Aura said Häggån has the potential to supply a significant portion of Sweden's nuclear fuel requirements.

"This announcement is a logical step by the Swedish government towards allowing the extraction of uranium domestically to secure its own and others' needs," said Aura Energy CEO Andrew Grove. "It is the start of a process which I hope will result in new legislation that not only makes it legally possible to mine uranium, but also provides a predictable permit process for uranium extraction alongside the mining of other metals.

"The Swedish government's stated aim aligns well with the ability to mine domestic uranium, reducing foreign dependency and strengthening domestic and European energy supply," he added. "It is of course essential that uranium is mined in a way that does not threaten the local environment or water supply, and I am certain that we will be able to demonstrate that within the framework of the Swedish permit process."

The company intends to file for processing concession for Häggån K1 during 2024 with the Swedish Mining Inspectorate. A Swedish processing concession (exploitation permit) is valid for 25 years.Researched and written by World Nuclear News  Sweden moves to lift uranium mining ban : Uranium & Fuel - World Nuclear News

Back To Top

Tell-Us

Fuel loading begins at Indian fast breeder reactor : New Nuclear

Modi was briefed about features of the reactor during his tour to the PFBR site (Image: Narendra Modi)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessed the start of fuel loading at the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu. Fast breeder reactors form the second stage of India's three-stage nuclear programme.

The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) has been developed by BHAVINI (Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited), a government enterprise under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) which was set up in 2003 to focus on fast breeder reactors. Construction of the PFBR began in 2004, with an original expected completion date of 2010.

India has adopted a three-stage nuclear power programme, with the long-term goal of deploying a thorium-based closed nuclear fuel cycle. The first stage involves the use of pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs), fuelled by natural uranium, and light water reactors. The second stage involves reprocessing used fuel from the first stage to recover the plutonium to fuel FBRs. In stage 3, Advanced Heavy Water Reactors (AHWRs) will burn thorium-plutonium fuels and breed fissile uranium-233.

The PFBR will initially use a core of uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel, surrounded by a uranium-238 'blanket', with plans to use a blanket of uranium and thorium to "breed" plutonium and U-233 for use as driver fuels for AHWRs.

"In line with the true spirit of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, PFBR has been fully designed and constructed indigenously by BHAVINI with significant contribution from more than 200 Indian industries including MSMEs," the DAE said. "Once commissioned, India will only be the second country after Russia to have a commercial operating Fast Breeder Reactor."

Aatmanirbhar Bharat translates to 'self-reliant India'. MSMEs are micro, small and medium enterprises.

The DAE describes the PFBR as an "advanced third generation reactor with inherent passive safety features" which, since it recycles material recovered from used fuel from the first stage of the programme, "offers great advantage in terms of significant reduction in nuclear waste generated, thereby avoiding the need for large geological disposal facilities".

"Upon completion of the core loading, the first approach to criticality will be achieved, leading to generation of power subsequently," it added.

The Prime Minister's 4 March visit included a tour of the reactor vault as well as the control room (Image: DAE)

In January, Modi formally dedicated to the nation the Demonstration Fast Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Plant at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (ICGAR) in Kalpakkam, a precursor to large-scale plants for the reprocessing of fast reactor fuel, and in February, he visited the Kakrapar plant in Gujarat for the dedication of the first two Indian-designed and built 700 MWe PHWRs. The second of those units - Kakrapar 4 - was connected to the grid just days later.

A fast breeder test reactor has been in operation at IGCAR since 1985, although it did not reach its full 40 MWt design capacity until 2022.

"The growth of the Indian nuclear power programme is imperative to meet the twin goals of energy security and sustainable development," the DAE said. "As a responsible nuclear power with advanced technology, India remains committed to expand peaceful applications of nuclear technology, both in power and non-power sector, while ensuring the security of nuclear and radiological materials."Researched and written by World Nuclear News Fuel loading begins at Indian fast breeder reactor : New Nuclear - World Nuclear News

Back To Top

Tell-Us