World Nuclear Association Weekly Digest Archive 2021

World

Small increase in world nuclear capacity in 2020

Last year five new reactors came on line in China, Russia, Belarus and UAE. These totalled 5631 MWe net. A further reactor in India, 630 MWe, is in the process of coming on line. Uprates mostly in USA totalled 188 MWe, and there were seven construction starts, in China and Turkey, total 6875 MWe. These include a fast neutron reactor and small modular reactor in China. However, six reactors totalling 5165 MWe were finally closed down in four countries; each had operated 43 to 46 years. At the end of 2020 there were 441 operable reactors totalling 392,434 MWe in 31 countries plus Taiwan, according to WNA data. Over 50 reactors in 19 countries were under construction. In 2021 about 15 new reactors are expected on line, including an innovative Chinese high-temperature gas-cooled reactor.
NP in World today

International Energy Agency calls for much increased role for nuclear power

The head of the OECD International Energy Agency (IEA) at the Glasgow COP26 gathering has said that "nuclear power generation needs to double if we are to reach our energy and climate goals." It has “an integral part to play if we are serious about the climate challenge.” As well as securing the long-term operation of existing nuclear power plants, the nuclear sector also needs to "renew itself", through innovation such as bringing small reactors to market. And “we have to increase the pace of new build of nuclear power plants by a factor of five,” he said.

The IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook for 2021 presents electricity generation growth of between 75% and 116% to 2050 across its three main scenarios. In its Sustainable Development Scenario the proportion of final energy consumption that is in the form of electricity doubles to 40%. In that scenario nuclear generation increases by 75% to 2022 TWh/yr to 2050, requiring capacity growth of about 61% (254 GWe), a slightly lower rate than in the previous WEO report.
WNN 4/11/21.  World energy needs & nuclear power

COP26 resolves to try harder

The UN climate conference in Glasgow for the first time identified fossil fuels as a specific problem, with countries called on to make efforts to “phase down” unabated coal and “phase out” inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. Some new measures to reduce emissions were pledged. On the margins of COP, nuclear technology had a more positive profile than ever before, especially in the context of acute UK and EU energy problems. With nuclear generation already providing one quarter of the world’s low-carbon electricity, Rosatom’s director general suggested that “COP26 was a watershed moment for nuclear power”, establishing its vital future role.

The International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2021, this year pitched for COP26, identifies electricity as having the greatest potential for emissions reduction. The electricity sector emitted 12.3 billion tonnes of CO2 in 2020, more than any other sector, largely from coal. In 2020, coal provided 35% of world electricity and all projections have this dropping significantly, with some countries pledged to phase it out. Nuclear power is a key means of replacing coal reliably, accompanying an increase of intermittent renewables which WEO2021 optimistically says “are set to become the foundation of electricity systems around the world.” This involves heroic assumptions about solar PV and wind and the means of matching them to demand, while nuclear potential is played down in the publication.
WNN 12/11/21.  Climate change policies

COP26 energised by nuclear power as UK wind power fails

While south Scotland including Glasgow was largely nuclear-powered, in the middle of the first week of COP26 the British grid system had minimum wind power coinciding with maximum demand, and Drax power station was paid £4,000/MWh, nearly 100 times the norm before the current UK crisis, for running two coal-fired units. Other fossil fuel generators received similar sums as the UK’s extensive wind power capacity was becalmed. A record daily cost of stabilising the grid was also achieved: £44.7 million. The UK’s increasing dependence on intermittent renewables undermining its energy security is very relevant to COP26 agenda, as is Glasgow’s dependence on nuclear power.
ANS 4/11/21, NetZeroWatch 3/11/21.   UK.

International Energy Agency confirms nuclear cost-effective for hydrogen

IEA modelling has made it clear that with natural gas prices above about $6/GJ, nuclear and renewables become more cost-effective than steam-reforming of methane for making hydrogen. This is currently the way almost all hydrogen is made. The difference above $20/GJ gas price is marked.
WNN 29/10/21.  Hydrogen

IAEA increases nuclear power estimate for 2050

World nuclear generating capacity will double to 792 GWe (net) by 2050 from 393 GWe in 2020 under the high case scenario of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) latest projections, to contribute 12% of supply. This is over 10% higher than last year’s projection, marking the first time since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident that the IAEA has revised its projections upwards. The low case scenario assumes no net growth. The new "projections reflect growing recognition of climate change issues and the importance of nuclear power in reducing emissions from electricity generation.”

Global final energy consumption is projected to increase by about 30% by 2050. Electricity consumption is expected to double by 2050, along with total electrical generating capacity. Nuclear power is seen “to play an indispensable role in low-carbon energy production”. The World Nuclear Association’s Harmony goal is to build 1000 GWe of new nuclear capacity by 2050 so as to have about 1250 GWe able to provide 25% of world electricity then.

This week the IAEA (a UN body) has set up a new Group of Vienna with 13 leading companies to work together to foster the role of nuclear technology in addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges and in particular how new nuclear technologies and techniques can be used to their full potential.
WNN 17 & 23/9/21.   World

WNA Symposium highlights nuclear priority

"It is necessary for us to significantly accelerate our efforts so that we can deliver nuclear at the scale and speed that the world needs" for decarbonisation and sustainable development, Director General Sama Bilbao y León said today at the close of World Nuclear Association's Annual Symposium. Other messages included the need for the nuclear community to communicate more effectively with external stakeholders including policymakers and the financial community, but also with other low-carbon industries.

The symposium coincided with leaders of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) reiterating that "sustainable and efficient use of energy sources" including nuclear energy is essential for each country to build reliable energy systems and strengthen energy security.
WNN 10/9/21.  Nuclear power in world

New climate change report firms up scientific understanding

The physical sciences volume of IPCC Assessment Report 6 is an impressive publication of over 3700 pages plus a 150-page Technical Summary. In great detail it shows little that is new or changed from its predecessor eight years ago, or unexpected, and confirms the IPCC conclusion that most observed global warming is anthropogenic. It significantly firms up our understanding of the complex science involved in the world’s climate so we have a better idea of what is happening. On that basis its scenarios to 2100 are clearer. Lower emissions lead to less warming and associated climatic and ocean effects. Governments now need to decide: So what? - as science hands over to politics.

There is no obvious reason why the world cannot adapt to envisaged changes, though that will be easier in the reduced emissions scenarios. But the stark question is how to achieve those reduced emissions when the main emitting countries have no immediate intention of reducing, and in fact are clearly increasing strongly. Apart perhaps from USA with 15% of world CO2 emissions (vs China, India & Russia with 40% between them), there is nothing that any other country can do that will make any real difference to world climate, so Western governments (with 1% or 2% share each) in particular must balance virtue with practicality on a wide economic front.

World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León welcomed the report and said that as well producing a lot more clean electricity from nuclear power in the more than 30 countries already using it, new initiatives were needed. "Governments, regulators, and industry must work together to accelerate the deployment of new nuclear projects, large and small, including small modular reactors and advanced nuclear technologies, so that nuclear power can help decarbonise sectors beyond electricity supply, providing domestic and industrial process heat, producing hydrogen and decarbonising the transport sector."
WNN 9/8/21.  Climate change: science, https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/

G7 leaders reaffirm decarbon goals

Leaders of the G7 countries meeting in UK have committed to “an overwhelmingly decarbonised power system in the 2030s and to actions to accelerate this.” Hence they have pledged to accelerate deployment of ‘zero emissions energy’ including nuclear power. World Nuclear Association commented that “The G7 nations must turn their ambitions into actions and take all the steps necessary to maximise the contribution of nuclear power plants in operation today and ensure a rapid and substantial increase in nuclear new build.”
WNN 14/6/21.  

Industry plea for rational risk assessment

World Nuclear Association has published a new White Paper on Recalibrating Risk, calling upon policymakers and regulators to review their perceptions of risk. They need to adopt a science-based, all-hazards risk assessment that holistically evaluates the contributions of different energy sources and sets a level playing field. Different risks associated with energy producing technologies must be put in context and perspective then weighed in line with proper scientific evidence. Policymakers and regulators must ensure that their prejudices and decisions regarding radiation protection do not create greater risks elsewhere. The perception of nuclear power as being uniquely dangerous endures, despite its safety record being unmatched by any other energy source.

Disproportionately focusing on the risks posed by radiation is likely to result in the acceptance of other, more significant, risks such as air pollution from fossil fuels. This is reflected in the regulatory burden placed on the nuclear industry, which is geared towards an “as low as possible” approach, demanding radiation levels to be far below the levels where health effects have been observed, and in many cases below natural background radiation. This has resulted in higher costs, without delivering any additional health benefits and policymakers have tended to choose other energy sources. If those alternatives have been fossil fuels, there are air pollution and climate change implications. If they are intermittent renewables, reliability is compromised and cost increased at high levels of contribution.

Nuclear power’s demonstrated contribution to global decarbonization is often disregarded, with any advance towards Paris Agreement goals and Sustainable Development goals thereby being downgraded.

WNN 27/5/21.   Safety of NP, Viewpoint https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Viewpoint-Recalibrating-nuclear-risk
https://world-nuclear.org/our-association/publications/policy-papers/recalibrating-risk-putting-nuclear-risk-in-context.aspx

International Energy Agency Net Zero by 2050 report disappoints

The IEA’s new Net Zero by 2050 report acknowledges that nuclear energy will make a “significant contribution” to the Net Zero Emissions scenario and will provide an “essential foundation” in the transition to a sustainable energy system. The report also notes that failure to take timely decisions on nuclear power would “raise the costs of a net‐zero emissions pathway and add to the risk of not meeting the goal.” World Nuclear Association applauded the IEA setting “a target that we must achieve” but deplored its sidelining of actual nuclear potential while making heroic assumptions on other fronts. The projected tripling of electricity supply costs by 2050 makes the omission all the more remarkable.

WNA pointed out that the Zero Emissions scenario puts too much faith in technologies that are uncertain, untested, or unreliable and fails to reflect both the size and scope of the contribution nuclear technologies need to make. “Nuclear energy can contribute much more than what is projected in the report” and needs to do so. The report does not consider nuclear power as a source of industrial heat, so fails to properly identify potential decarbonization far beyond electricity generation. It also relies greatly on human behaviour in reducing energy use, introducing a further dimension of uncertainty. WNA said that a more ambitious scenario for nuclear energy than the token recognition in the IEA report would do much more to meet both the UN Sustainable Development Goals and global climate goals. The WNA Harmony goal where nuclear energy would provide at least 25% of the world’s electricity by 2050 provides a more realistic scenario.
WNN 18/5/21.   Nuclear Power in world today

UK report on nuclear power for hydrogen

A new report published by the UK's Nuclear Sector Deal’s Innovation Group presents a series of recommendations for realising the opportunity of zero-carbon hydrogen from nuclear energy. The report is pitched to inform the government’s Hydrogen Strategy and suggests that nuclear power needs to be at the heart of zero-carbon hydrogen production, starting with today’s technologies. A strong framework for a nuclear-derived hydrogen economy is needed. Policy should be enabled to embrace the potential for nuclear to decarbonise sectors such as heavy industry, transport (including through synthetic fuels) and direct heat. A low (and zero) carbon hydrogen standard should be defined, to ensure consistent access to finance and market mechanisms for all relevant technologies as they come to commercialisation.
WNN 14/6/21.   Hydrogen

Annual nuclear conference takes stock

The World Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference in April emphasised the need for the industry to communicate better its vital role in future energy provision. UxC summed up: the industry continues to fight the ever-present headwinds posed by cheap natural gas, subsidized renewables, an ageing global nuclear fleet, and a lack of universal recognition as a clean energy source under global Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) guidelines. Its ESG attributes, especially regarding climate change, though widely recognised are politically contested and disparaged in some countries.
WNN 16/4/21. Nuclear power today, NP & Sustianable Development

International Energy Agency call for “decisive action”

The head of the IEA has called for decisive action over the next decade to achieve world energy transformation of “unprecedented speed and scale”. This would mean, by 2030: increasing electric cars’ share of annual sales from 3% to over 50%; expanding the production of low-carbon hydrogen from 450,000 tonnes to 40 million tonnes; and boosting investment in clean electricity four-fold from $380 billion to $1.6 trillion.

Following this, the head of the World Nuclear Association at an Atlantic Council meeting has pointed out that based on a recent IEA report, "Nuclear energy is currently the most cost-effective way to provide low-carbon dispatchable electricity, that is 24/7 electricity." It can be deployed on large or small scale.  Furthermore, nuclear energy is the only energy source able to provide low-carbon heat directly through heat production or indirectly through provision of clean hydrogen.
WNN 18 & 20/1/21.   World Energy Needs

Nuclear applications beyond electricity supply hold key to future

Using nuclear plants to generate heat as well as electricity for non-grid industrial applications could be central to deep decarbonisation efforts beyond being a source of zero-carbon electricity, according to speakers at the fifth Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum. Both today’s conventional reactors and high-temperature gas-cooled reactors can support the heat and electricity demands of industrial processes, hydrogen production for transport fuels, and the increasing need for desalination to produce potable water.

Hydrogen is becoming a focus of attention in using intermittent renewable sources to produce “green hydrogen” and there are numerous substantial investments aiming to demonstrate this. Off-peak use of nuclear electricity could do the same. However, in both cases, low capacity factor of electrolysers makes the economics dubious. Applying high-temperature nuclear reactors specifically to hydrogen production promises much better economics. Along with the direct supply of process heat, this is likely to be most effective by deploying relatively small reactors, up to 400 MW thermal, for industrial applications.
WNN 26/1/21.   Hydrogen, Process heat, Desalination

French report points to nuclear power for hydrogen

A new report from the French Parliamentary Office for Scientific and Technological Assessment (OPECST) said that only nuclear and hydro power could realistically produce low-carbon hydrogen, since the cost of green hydrogen from renewables would be four times as great. Due to their high capital cost, “electrolysers must be made profitable by lengthening the duration of their use (a minimum threshold of 5000 hours per year and an optimal threshold of up to 8000 h/year), which the intermittency of renewables does not allow (2000-4000 h/year). In this regard, only nuclear energy and hydroelectricity present the double advantage of being controllable and carbon-free," the report says. 

Worldwide, 70 million tonnes per year of hydrogen could be supplied by 400 GWe of nuclear capacity, it said. There is also a question of whether electrolysers fed by intermittent renewables take all the electricity from those sources, or only the surplus over grid requirements, resulting in much lower usage.
WNN 21/5/21.  Hydrogen

New initiatives for marine nuclear propulsion

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries have announced plans to work together on the development of a molten salt reactor (MSR) for marine propulsion and floating nuclear power plants. Samsung Heavy is also carrying out R&D into using ammonia and hydrogen to power ships in efforts to find alternative, low-emission propulsion options. Nuclear power is likely to be a key to producing these. The company’s president said that the "MSR is a carbon-free energy source that can efficiently respond to climate change issues and is a next-generation technology that meets the vision of Samsung Heavy Industries." It could put South Korea in a leading position globally for such technology.

Shipping is seen as a 'hard-to-abate' sector for decarbonisation. The UN’s International Maritime Organisation aims to halve greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping by 2050 from 2008 level, and eventually to eliminate them completely. IMO already has a code of safety for nuclear-propelled merchant ships and Lloyd's Register maintains a set of provisional rules for them. Lloyds earlier led a major study on the practical maritime applications of small modular reactors. This resulted in a preliminary concept design study for a 155,000 dwt Suezmax tanker based on a conventional hull with a 70 MWt nuclear propulsion plant delivering up to 23.5 MW shaft power and average: 9.75 MW. Since then, modular molten salt reactors of about 100 MWt have been seen as particularly suitable for marine propulsion due to ambient operating pressure and low-enriched fuel. The large shipping company X-Press Feeders is investing in Core Power (UK) Ltd, which is promoting for marine propulsion Southern Company and TerraPower’s molten chloride fast reactor as a modular MSR which would never require refuelling during its operational life.
WNN 11/6/21.  Nuclear powered ships

US university plans microreactor on campus

There are about 25 small research reactors operating on university campuses around the world, providing neutrons rather than heat, and a new proposal is for a small power reactor on the Urbana campus of University of Illinois.  The university has told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it intends to apply for a licence to install a USNC MMR of 15 MWt as both a power source and research and training reactor. The high-temperature gas-cooled reactor will provide a zero-carbon demonstration of district heat and power to campus buildings as part of its green campus initiative. The US Department of Energy has offered funding on cost-share basis for such demonstration advanced reactors. Another MMR is planned in Canada at the Chalk River Laboratories campus.
WNN 29/6/21.   Small reactors

International Energy Agency quantifies material requirements for energy

A mismatch between the world's climate ambitions and the availability of critical minerals could mean a slower and more expensive energy transition, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions, explores the implications of energy policies driven by reducing CO2 emissions for the materials requirements in generating capacity and also some applications such as electric vehicles. ‘Critical minerals’ exclude concrete, iron and aluminium. “Today’s supply and investment plans for many critical minerals fall well short of what is needed to support an accelerated deployment of solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles.” Geopolitical considerations are included.

Considering only capacity rather than output, “An energy system powered by clean energy technologies differs profoundly from one fuelled by traditional hydrocarbon resources. Building solar photovoltaic (PV) plants, wind farms and electric vehicles (EVs) generally requires more minerals than their fossil fuel- based counterparts. … Since 2010, the average amount of minerals needed for a new unit of power generation capacity has increased by 50% as the share of renewables has risen.” This is set for a further sixfold increase if renewables and EVs remain the focus of investment. An offshore wind plant needs 13 times more critical minerals per unit of capacity than a gas-fired plant, and if the comparison is on MWh output, that would be up to 40 times more.

“The types of mineral resources used vary by technology. Lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite are crucial to battery performance, longevity and energy density. Rare earth elements are essential for permanent magnets that are vital for wind turbines and EV motors. … The shift to a clean energy system is set to drive a huge increase in the requirements for these minerals, meaning that the energy sector is emerging as a major force in mineral markets.” Nuclear power is shown to need mainly copper, nickel and chromium.

“The rise of low-carbon power generation to meet climate goals also means a tripling of mineral demand from this sector by 2040. Wind takes the lead, bolstered by material-intensive offshore wind. Solar PV follows closely, due to the sheer volume of capacity that is added.” Of the low-carbon technologies, nuclear power is shown as having the lowest intensity for critical minerals, though advanced technology may increase the level slightly. In terms of kg/MW capacity, nuclear is shown as half the critical minerals intensity of onshore wind and one third of offshore wind. In terms of MWh output that would become one sixth of onshore and about 12% of offshore wind. Hydro is also low, but with limited growth potential.

WNN 5/5/21.   Nuclear Energy & Sustainable Development
https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions

NASA announces nuclear propulsion reactor concepts for space

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Department of Energy (DOE) have selected three reactor design concept proposals for a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system.  DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) will award 12-month contracts to BWX Technologies (with Lockheed Martin), General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (with X-energy and Aerojet Rocketdyne) and Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies (with USNC, GE Hitachi, GE Research, Framatome and Materion).  INL in 2022 will review the extent to which each has progressed towards building a prototype and will advise NASA.

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has also awarded contracts to General Atomics and Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies for a NTP system, to be demonstrated above low Earth orbit by 2025.

The US Administration in December 2020 announced a national strategy to ensure the development and use of space nuclear power and propulsion systems, including NTP systems, which can power spacecraft for missions where alternative power sources are inadequate. This would include NASA missions to Mars and deep space exploration beyond. They would utilise high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel. USNC said that NTP systems offer a thrust-to-weight ratio around 10,000 times greater than electric propulsion and a propellant efficiency that is two-to-five times greater than chemical propulsion.

NASA is well advanced in developing the KiloPower nuclear fission power source for use on the moon or Mars, delivering 10 kilowatts from a heatpipe reactor.
WNN 14/7/21.   Reactors for space

Plutonium power doubled on Mars

NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover has landed on the planet as the second mobile science laboratory to explore it.  At 1025 kg it is a little heavier than its Curiosity predecessor, which has travelled some 24 km since it landed in 2012. Both are powered by multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generators fuelled by 4.8 kg of plutonium-238. The radioactive decay of this produces 2 kW thermal which is used to generate about 110 watts of electric power, 2.7 kWh per day. The half-life of Pu-238 is 88 years, potentially giving several decades of function.
WNN 19/2/21.  Reactors & Radioisotopes in space

Major US uranium company diversifies into rare earths

Energy Fuels Resources Corp (EFRC) owns and operates the White Mesa mill in Utah, primarily producing uranium from ores and other materials from several states and also vanadium. Its own mines are mostly on standby. In March 2020, EFRC joined Canadian-based Neo Performance Materials to launch a US-European rare earth elements (REE) initiative producing value-added REE products from natural monazite sands, a phosphate by-product of heavy mineral sands mined in the southeastern United States, especially Georgia.

In March 2021 EFRC commenced production of a mixed rare earth carbonate extracted from monazite at the White Mesa mill. Most of this REE carbonate production is shipped to Neo's REE separation facility in Sillamae, Estonia (Silmet), with a first 20 tonne shipment recently. Neo then processes the REE carbonate into separated rare earths for use in permanent magnets and other REE-based advanced materials. EFRC is looking at the feasibility of setting up REE separation capability at White Mesa. EFRC retains the small amount of uranium recovered from the monazite sands.

In the light of increasing anxiety about world supplies of REE (58% come from China), EFRC is aiming to source 15,000 tonnes of monazite per year, which would utilise 2% of White Mesa’s capacity and supply half of US demand for REE. US monazite contains about 55% REE, and about 22% of this is neodymium and praseodymium (light REE) and 8% the more valuable heavy REE including dysprosium and terbium.
WNN 8/7/21.   US mines

USA

US infrastructure bill boosts nuclear power prospects

The $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, a major part of President Biden's domestic agenda, has been passed by Congress and signed into law. It promotes major investments in nuclear energy. It includes $2.5 billion to fund innovative reactor technology including small modular reactors, microreactors and advanced nuclear demonstration projects. It also provides a $6 billion Civilian Nuclear Credit program to support nuclear facilities under threat of closure due to market factors, preserving their carbon-free service. It has provisions for the US government to fund a clean hydrogen production initiative by deploying hydrogen electrolysers at US nuclear power plants, part of $8 billion earmarked for clean hydrogen. Many billions are allocated to improving and extending the transmission grids. In the related Build Back Better Act still pending in Congress is a nuclear production tax credit (PTC) plan to support nuclear facilities, equivalent to PTC support provided over many years for renewables.
WNN 9 &16/11/21, E&E 11/11/21.  US NP

US legislation to support nuclear energy future

Both existing commercial reactors and the US Department of Energy’s advanced reactor demonstration program (ADRP), would receive about $8.5 billion over several years under key nuclear provisions in the $1.2 trillion infrastructure and investment bill being debated by the US Senate. It appropriates $2.477 billion for the ARDP over 2000 to 2025, with a view to more over 2026-27, on a cost-share basis. This is focused on two advanced designs to be operational in seven years: X-energy’s Xe-100 – an 80 MWe high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, and Terrapower’s 345 MWe Natrium – a sodium-cooled fast reactor being developed with GE-Hitachi and based on its PRISM. The Xe-100 demonstration unit is to be built in Washington state and the Natrium one in Wyoming.

The bill also provides $6 billion for a nuclear credit program for nuclear units in merchant power markets that are at risk of closure. This will likely be too late to prevent Exelon from closing four reactors at its Byron and Dresden plants later this year unless Illinois approves subsidies. Separately, it would give financial and technical assistance to entities to determine suitable locations for microreactors, small modular reactors and advanced nuclear reactors in isolated communities. It would also promote hydrogen production using electrolysers.

Provisions of $1 billion over four years to reinforce the resilience of the US electric grid are included, reflecting concerns after extreme weather disabled Texas’ self-contained grid and California’s reliance on domestic renewables threatened supply. A nationwide grid reliability program is to be established within 180 days, to “demonstrate innovative approaches to transmission, storage, and distribution infrastructure to harden and enhance resilience and reliability.” Strategies to improve resilience on a regional basis should be “implemented through States by public and rural electric cooperative entities on a cost-shared basis.” The bill requires a report to Congress on cybersecurity for energy distribution systems.

Final action of the essentially bipartisan senate bill is expected next month. The Biden Administration has said maintaining the nation’s fleet of nuclear power is needed to help meet its ambitious climate goals, which include a carbon-free electric grid by 2035 and a carbon-free economy by 2050. The US Nuclear Energy Institute points out that nuclear energy provides “more carbon-free electricity than all of our wind, solar and hydropower combined.”
Platts NW 5/8/21, Bloomberg 2/8/21.   US NP

Illinois votes to save nuclear plants

Exelon has eleven nuclear reactors at six plants which supply almost half of Illinois electricity, but five of these plants have been at risk of closure. In December 2016 the state voted to provide up to $235 million over ten years in zero emission credits for the Clinton and Quad Cities plants. The Illinois House of Representatives has now voted 83-33 to approve a sweeping clean energy package that includes $694 million in zero emission credits over five years for the Byron, Dresden and Braidwood nuclear power plants – six reactors totalling 6.4 GWe.

A week earlier the state senate had voted 39-16 for this but without a contentious part of the bill to close down coal-fired capacity, leading to amendments and delay. The preservation of nuclear power had largely bipartisan support and is also backed by unions and environmental groups. Without this legislation to enable nuclear plants to compete on the same basis as renewables in the face of low gas prices, the Byron plant (2300 MWe) was to close very soon, with Dresden (1800 MWe) to follow in November. Braidwood (2340 MWe) would close later. The Senate will reconvene on Monday to confirm the legislation.

Several US states with deregulated power markets have zero emission credit arrangements to level the playing field with renewables and gas. In 2014 the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners urged the adoption of regulations which “encourage states to preserve, life-extend, and expand existing nuclear generation.” As well as Illinois, Ohio, New York state, Connecticut and New Jersey have done so at rates substantially less than the federal subsidy for renewables.
WNN 10/9/21.    US NP

US budget application includes strong provision for nuclear energy

The Administration’s budget request for the Department of Energy in FY22 totals $46.2 billion, with a "record" $1.85 billion for the Office of Nuclear Energy. This includes over $370 million for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Programme which aims to build advanced reactors within the next six years, cost-shared with developers. Two thirds of this is to demonstrate two advanced reactor technologies, one developed by X-energy and the second by TerraPower. The two companies received $80 million each from DOE last year, as part of a multi-year $3.2 billion program to build two advanced reactors that can be operational by about 2026. TerraPower has just announced plans to build a 345 MWe demonstration Natrium fast reactor unit with heat storage in Wyoming. This is essentially a GE Hitachi PRISM design based on substantial US experience. X-energy’s 80 MWe Xe-100 high-temperature pebble bed reactor, also with significant antecedents, is the other type.

The budget request also includes $145 million for the Versatile Test Reactor Project, which aims to provide fast neutron testing capability to aid US development of advanced nuclear reactor technology. Both these represent very large increases from FY21. The Fuel Cycle Research and Development program includes $368.5 million for advanced fuel cycle technologies including “high-assay low-enriched uranium for civilian domestic use”. It also aims to lay the groundwork for the development of a consent-based siting process to support consolidated interim storage for used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

In addition to the civil nuclear energy programs, the Pentagon has requested $60 million to fund Project Pele, a program for building a transportable nuclear microreactor (under 5 MWe) to deliver high-output, resilient electric power for Defense Department missions.
WNN 2/6/21.   US NP

US Defense Department progresses plans for small mobile reactor

The US Department of Defense's (DOD) project to develop a mobile reactor - Project Pele - is proceeding well. Three companies were awarded contracts in 2020 to develop preliminary designs. BWXT Advanced Technologies and X-energy have now been selected to develop a final engineering design by March 2022. Westinghouse with a particularly novel design dropped out and one of the two companies may be commissioned next year to build a prototype reactor. Thus Project Pele is on track for full power testing of a mobile reactor in 2023, with outdoor mobile testing in 2024 at Oak Ridge or Idaho National Laboratories. While the US Army operated a number of small reactors over 1954-1977 at remote sites, these were fairly primitive by today’s standards. Advances in nuclear technology have made possible a largely autonomous reactor which can be safely moved.

Under the DOD’s Strategic Capabilities Office, the project is driven by concerns about the reliability of electrical grids and vulnerability of fuel supply logistics abroad. The small reactors – up to 5 MWe - are to be portable by truck or large aircraft and operate for at least three years on full power. They would load-follow and run on high-assay low-enriched uranium (<20%), as TRISO (tristructural-isotropic) fuel in high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. Designs must be "inherently safe", ensuring that a meltdown is "physically impossible" in various complete failure scenarios such as loss of power or cooling, and must use ambient air as their ultimate heat sink, as well as being capable of passive cooling. Set up is to be in three days, and removal in under seven days. The DOD uses about 30 TWh of electricity per year and some 40 million litres of fuel per day.
WNN 19 & 24/3/21.  Small reactors

US announces site for first military microreactor

The US Air Force has confirmed that it intends to install a very small nuclear power plant at the Eielson base in Alaska. A microreactor could be operational there as soon as 2027. Eielson is currently served by its own 25 MWe coal-fired power plant, which typically runs at 13-15 MWe, using up to 800 tonnes of coal every day. The planned microreactor would supplement this with up to 5 MWe of nuclear power. It would be owned and operated commercially and licensed by the US civil Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). So far only one very small reactor is fully in the NRC’s licensing process – Oklo’s Aurora 1.5 MWe heatpipe fast reactor. However, several other more conventional US designs are not far behind.

A separate Department of Defense microreactor initiative is Project Pele, for a moveable unit for forward bases, using a high-temperature gas-cooled design (HTR) able to be set up in three days. These are to be less than 40 tonnes and be sized for transport by truck and C-17 aircraft. BWXT Advanced Technologies and X-energy were selected in March 2021 to develop a final engineering design by March 2022.
WNN 26/10/21.   Small reactors

US move to small reactors for military

The US Administration prior to inauguration of the new president issued an Executive Order on Promoting Small Modular Reactors for National Defense and Space Exploration, which it says will further revitalise the US nuclear energy sector and reinvigorate its space exploration program. The Order includes directives to demonstrate the use of civil-licensed microreactors on military bases and also to ensure a viable US-origin supply of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU).  Micro-reactors - less than 10 MWe - have the potential to enhance energy flexibility and energy security at military installations in remote locations.

In the 1960s the US Army built eight nuclear reactors, five of them portable or mobile. A 2018 report from the Army analysed the potential benefits and challenges of mobile nuclear power plants with very small modular reactor technology. The purpose is to reduce supply vulnerabilities and operating costs while providing a sustainable option for reducing petroleum demand and consequent supply challenges. The reactors would be portable by truck or large aircraft and if abroad, returned to the USA for refuelling after several years. The Department of Defense has since solicited proposals and has awarded contracts to three developers: Westinghouse, X-energy and BWX Technologies.
​WNN 13/1/21.   Small reactors

President Biden sets out climate action plan

President Biden has signed executive orders to take aggressive action on climate change, including re-joining the Paris Agreement and “empowering American workers and businesses to lead a clean energy revolution that achieves a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and puts the United States on an irreversible path to a net-zero economy by 2050." He has directed his administration to make the climate crisis central in US foreign policy and national security considerations and rebuild US infrastructure for a sustainable economy. It remains to be seen what all this means for electricity generation. The order includes an immediate review of "harmful rollbacks" of environmental standards under his predecessor.

Meanwhile, a UN survey claims to have found that almost two-thirds of people around the world now view climate change as a global emergency. Poll questions were distributed through advertisements in mobile gaming apps across 50 countries last year. With 1.2 million respondents, the survey used a new and unconventional approach to polling. Almost half the participants in the survey were aged 14 to 18. Oxford University weighted the data to create what it said were representative estimates of public opinion.
WNN 28/1/21.   US NP

Global Laser Enrichment project in USA restructured

After approval from the US government, Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) in USA has detached from GE-Hitachi and is now owned by Australia’s Silex Systems (51%) which developed the technology and owns the intellectual property, and Cameco Corporation (49%), both foreign companies.  GLE has exclusive rights to commercially develop the SILEX laser isotope separation process technology under an agreement reached between GE (now GE-Hitachi) and Silex in 2006. Cameco joined the project in mid-2008. Silex and Cameco in December 2019 agreed to jointly purchase GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy's 76% interest for a total of $20 million, and the three parties executed an agreement for the restructure of GLE. Cameco has an option to increase its share in GLE to 75% in two years.

Silex Systems and GLE jointly continue to focus on the SILEX uranium enrichment technology demonstration project in Wilmington, North Carolina, and anticipate completion of a full-scale pilot plant by the mid 2020s. GLE also plans to commercialise the technology by enriching depleted uranium tails to natural-grade uranium at a SILEX plant to be built at Paducah, Kentucky. This is underpinned by a 2016 agreement with the US Department of Energy to sell hundreds of thousands of tonnes of DU material from its inventory to GLE for re-enrichment at the Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility over several decades. Annual production is to be about 2300 tonnes natural U3O8 equivalent. GLE will evaluate commercial opportunities for enriching to higher levels at Paducah to produce low-enriched uranium (LEU) for conventional nuclear plants and high-assay fuel (HALEU) for new generation small modular reactors (SMRs).

All world enrichment of uranium today uses centrifuges which are vastly more efficient than earlier technology. SILEX is a third-generation technology.
WNN 19/1/21 & 1/2/21.   US Fuel Cycle, Enrichment

Texas shivers in the dark

Unusually cold conditions in Texas and contiguous US states – more typical of Alaska - have boosted electricity (and gas) demand while limiting supply from wind and solar PV sources due to snow and ice, and also from gas. More reliable sources of power, notably several nuclear power plants, proved insufficient after some 15 years of subsidised investment in unreliable sources coupled with undue reliance on natural gas. Texas wind and solar farms get $2.4 billion a year in direct regulatory support which provides some 44% of their revenues, skewing investment away from reliable sources. Government policies have also favoured using electricity for heating. Natural gas spot prices peaked at 200 times normal, and electricity prices at 360 times the seasonal average. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) presided over blackouts to shed up to 10.5 GWe of load as demand reached 69 GWe.
WNN 18/2/21.  US NP

USA licences first central storage facility for used fuel

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a licence to Interim Storage Partners LLC to construct and operate a consolidated interim storage facility for used nuclear fuel in Andrews, Texas. Despite unanimous support from local government in 2015, the state government now opposes the project.  Initially the licence is for 5000 tonnes of fuel for 40 years, and 5000-tonne increments are planned. It is almost 40 years since Congress established federal responsibility for all used fuel and set out to build a geological repository for final disposal, so some progress towards that repository is possible in the next 40 years.

This is to be the first such away-from-power plant facility is USA, and alongside a well-established low-level radioactive waste disposal site. All US used fuel is currently stored at reactor sites. Storage will be in Orano’s NUHOMS canister and cask system already widely used across the country, including at Comanche Peak and South Texas power plants in Texas.  The NRC expects to licence a similar facility in New Mexico next year.
WNN 14/9/21.  US fuel cycle

US Congress put on notice to take action on nuclear wastes

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). US nuclear waste management policy is enshrined in the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which established federal responsibility for all civil used fuel and obliged the government to begin removing it from nuclear power plants across the country by 1998 for disposal in a federal facility. In 1987 Yucca Mountain in Nevada was designated as the sole site for the repository for all US used fuel, identified as high-level waste.

Then in 2010 the President defied Congress to terminate the Yucca Mountain project, resulting in an ongoing impasse and federal payments of some $9 billion in damages to nuclear power plant owners for the cost of alternative storage arrangements. About 86,000 tonnes of used fuel is currently stored on-site at 75 operating or shutdown nuclear power plants in 33 states, an amount that grows by about 2000 tonnes each year.  Until 2014 nuclear power generators paid about $750 million per year into a Nuclear Waste Fund, which now holds over $45 billion ready to be used for the purpose intended – geological disposal.

The GAO report suggests enhanced measures to develop a consent-based process for both consolidated interim storage and final disposal of used fuel. Private initiatives for consolidated decades-long storage of used fuel have yet to be implemented.
WNN 27/9/21.   US Fuel Cycle

Another US reactor retired

Two reactors at Indian Point, close to New York city, have each provided electricity for about 45 years. In April last year the 998 MWe unit 2 was closed down, and at the end of April this year unit 3 – 1030 MWe - also ends its service life. The two reactors provided about one quarter of the power used by New York City and the lower Hudson Valley region. They are replaced by gas-fired generation.

Entergy in January 2017 announced that it would permanently close Unit 2 and Unit 3 as part of a settlement agreement with New York State. Key considerations in the shutdown decision were sustained low current and projected wholesale energy prices, increased operating costs and continuing costs for license renewal. New York State in 2016 adopted legislation explicitly recognising the zero-carbon contribution of nuclear power plants and protecting the continued operation of three other plants, located in the "upstate" region.

Ownership will now pass to Holtec Decommissioning International and the work will be undertaken over 12-15 years by a Holtec - SNC-Lavalin joint venture. The site will then be clear except for a small storage for used fuel, pending its removal by the federal government which is responsible for it. Decommissioning and dismantling of these two reactors, plus the small unit 1 which ran for only 12 years, will cost about $2.3 billion which is fully funded from trust funds accumulated during their operation.
WNN 29/4/21.   US NP

Further US reactors licensed to 80 years operation

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved an application by Dominion Energy's Virginia subsidiary for a 20-year extension to the operating licences of the twin-unit Surry nuclear power plant. This will enable the two 838 MWe pressurised water reactors to operate until 2052 and 2053, respectively. Surry is the third nuclear power station to receive a subsequent licence renewal from 60 to 80 years from the NRC, following Florida Power & Light's Turkey Point units 3 and 4 and Exelon Generation's Peach Bottom units 2 and 3. The NRC is reviewing a similar application for Dominion’s two North Anna units and for NextEra’s Point Beach 1&2. Before all these, the NRC had renewed the licences for 94 reactors, taking them to 60 years of operational life.
WNN 5/5/21.   US NP

US government to support SMR exports

The US State Department has launched the Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology (FIRST) programme. After three decades of government indifference to development and export of US nuclear technology, this is to build “on more than 60 years of US innovation and expertise in nuclear energy”. FIRST provides capacity-building support to partner countries developing nuclear energy programmes to support clean energy goals “under the highest international standards for nuclear safety, security, and non-proliferation”. It envisages support for small modular reactors in particular.
WNN 29/4/21.   US NP

High-level US discussion on nuclear subsidies

The Biden Administration is considering support for tax credits for nuclear power nationwide, the same as those subsidising wind and solar power – currently $18/MWh. Since it started in 1992 the PTC has ranged up to $23/MWh, applied for the first ten years of a plant’s operation. Unusually compared with other subsidies for renewables, it is borne by taxpayers rather than electricity consumers. The Energy Secretary says that “We are not going to be able to achieve our climate goals if nuclear power plants shut down. We have to find ways to keep them operating.” Levelling the playing field in an era of cheap natural gas will help. The proposed support for nuclear is tied to the $2.3 trillion climate infrastructure legislation being considered in Congress, which has some problematic aspects.

The question is not resolved, nor any wide subsidy assured, but it is remarkable that this discussion is occurring at high level and it is encouraging that it is in a Democrat Administration. Any support for nuclear power will be opposed both ideologically from the left and by natural gas interests.
​US NP

US state votes to extend nuclear subsidies

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has unanimously voted to extend subsidies of about $100 million per year for two nuclear power plants operated by Public Service Enterprise Group Inc (PSEG). They provide about 40% of the state’s electricity from 3587 MWe. "If the nuclear power plants were to be retired today, that retirement would significantly and negatively impact New Jersey's ability to comply with state air emissions reductions," it said. The subsidies now extend to May 2025. Three PSEG units - two at Salem and the single-unit Hope Creek plant were awarded zero emission certificates (ZECs) in 2019 under a new law which enabled the state to recognise and compensate eligible nuclear power plants for their zero-carbon attributes and contribution to fuel diversity. The program is funded by a tariff of 0.4 cents/kWh imposed on retail distribution customers.  The subsidy is much less than that for wind power. Cheap natural gas and subsidised renewables make these plants uneconomic without some support.  Similar provisions apply in New York, Illinois and Connecticut.
WNN 28/4/21.   US NP

Further US power plant uprate

The Tennessee Valley Authority has completed a 7 MWe uprate of its Browns Ferry 2 nuclear power unit by replacing major components on all three low-pressure turbines, the first major work on these since the plant was commissioned in 1974. It is licensed to 2034.
WNN 27/4/21. US NP

Rosatom sells US uranium operations to Texas company

Since Russia’s uranium mining enterprise took over Toronto-based Uranium One with its US operations and prospects, there has been some political discomfort due to US perception of uranium as a strategic mineral. This is now resolved by Uranium Energy Corp agreeing to buy Uranium One Americas from the parent Russian company. The total purchase price comprises $112 million in cash and the replacement of $19 million in rehabilitation bonds. This will make the Irigaray plant in Wyoming a hub for several in situ leaching operations in the Powder River Basin alongside two Cameco ISL mines.
WNN 9/11/21.  US U mines

US public opinion firms in favour of nuclear

Generally US public opinion regarding nuclear power has been positive for many years, and has firmed up as security of energy supplies became newsworthy. According to the latest study of US attitudes to energy carried out by environmental non-profit ecoAmerica, support for nuclear power has grown 10 percentage points from 2018 to 2021, with 59% overall now saying they are strongly or somewhat in support. The highest levels of support were amongst males (72%) and adults over the age of 60 (69%). Those aged 18-29 were 57% supportive. Less than half of the females surveyed were found to support nuclear energy. The proportion of respondents who think the USA should spend more on nuclear energy R&D has increased since 2018 to 57%.
WNN 25/11/21.    US NP policy

Canada

Canadian study sets scene for small reactor deployment

A new feasibility report carried out by four major electric utilities at the request of provincial governments has outlined three streams of project proposals, two of which are already under way. It broadly concludes that deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) will support domestic energy needs, curb greenhouse gas emissions and position Canada as a global leader in this emerging technology.

Stream 1 proposes a first grid-scale SMR project of about 300 MWe, to be built at the Darlington nuclear power station in Ontario by 2028. Up to four subsequent units in Saskatchewan would follow, with the first SMR projected to be in service in 2032. The particular technology will be selected later this year and is likely to be a design from GE Hitachi, X-Energy or Terrestrial Energy. The Darlington site is already licensed.
Stream 2 would see two fourth-generation advanced SMRs in New Brunswick, with an initial ARC Clean Energy 100 MWe fast reactor at the Point Lepreau nuclear plant site operational by 2030, and a Moltex Energy waste recycling SSR-W 300 MWe stable salt reactor by the early 2030s. The first draws on US experience with its EBR-II reactor over 1963-94 and more recent GE-Hitachi technology. The second also involves a plant to recycle used Canadian fuel for it.
Stream 3 proposes a new class of micro-SMRs designed primarily to replace the use of diesel fuel in remote communities and mines. A project with a 5 MWe Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation gas-cooled reactor - MMR-5 - is under way at the Chalk River site in Ontario and is expected to be in service by 2026.

A joint strategic plan, to be drafted in collaboration by the four provincial governments of Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, is next. This will identify the steps required within each stream to achieve project commitments while identifying key risks and how they can be mitigated, as well as the policy analysis required to clearly set out the requirements for government support at both federal and provincial level. The strategic plan is to be completed soon.

"We will only meet climate change goals through a swift transition to clean energy sources. This will require the adoption of existing and emerging low-carbon technologies, including small modular reactors. In fact, for a successful clean energy transition, new nuclear must play a lead role.” according to the Canadian Nuclear Association.
WNN 15/4/21.   Canada NP, https://www.opg.com/innovating-for-tomorrow/small-modular-nuclear-reactors/

Canada looks to small reactors for remote sites

Very small modular reactors of less than 10 MWe could provide clean, economic and reliable power and heat to remote northern mines and surrounding communities, reducing or eliminating reliance on diesel, according to a new study. Ontario Power Generation (OPG), Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, and Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation & Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCO) combined in the project. The study found that the most economical energy mix would be for vSMRs to provide 90% of the base-load power required for mining operations and associated uses, which it said could reduce emissions by 85%. OPG is involved with development of the 15 MWt/ 5 MWe Micro Modular Reactor, a high-temperature gas-cooled design. It is also promoting three grid-scale SMRs of 80-300 MWe.
WNN 24/6/21.   Canada NP

Canadian prospects for GE Hitachi small reactor

PwC Canada has produced a major report on the substantial economic benefits of manufacturing, building and operating GE Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactors in Canada for the local market and for export. GEH commissioned the report and claims that "As the tenth evolution of the boiling water reactor, the BWRX-300 represents the simplest, yet most innovative BWR design since GE began developing nuclear reactors in 1955."

GEH aims to commercialise and manufacture the BWRX-300 in partnership with Ontario Power Generation (OPG). This would involve a local supply chain and possibly the first commercial deployment of a grid-scale SMR in Canada. The collaboration would provide a base for future SMR deployment in Canada and internationally. OPG has been considering the BWRX-300 and two other designs - Terrestrial’s 192 MWe Integral Molten Salt Reactor, and X-energy’s 80 MWe Xe-100 high-temperature reactor - as possible SMRs for its Darlington site.
WNN 3/6/21.  Small reactors, Canada NP

Europe

Europe battles energy crisis

Across Europe (including UK) political groupthink has pushed investment in wind and solar power over the last decade. Many coal plants have shut down and even natural gas has been marginalised in policies for electricity generation. Hundreds of billions of dollars equivalent has been spent subsidising intermittent (non-hydro) renewables, and as the Glasgow UNFCC COP26 climate change conference approaches, the ‘green’ rhetoric is unabated. But the virtuous pursuit of ‘net zero’ has questionable timelines and methods.

Low wind power output across Europe this summer – called a “perfect storm”! – has put pressure on remaining fossil fuel generators to make up the shortfall even as their fuel prices rise dramatically. Their increased output has boosted the price of CO2 emission permits, exacerbating the situation. Russia is limiting gas deliveries on which Germany and others depend, boosting prices further.  Germany’s electricity prices have more than doubled since February to well over EUR 100/MWh. Some energy-intensive industries in UK and EU are suspending production. However, Europe’s nuclear power plants with no CO2 emissions are demonstrating both reliability and profitability, as Germany moves to shut down its last six (8.1 GWe) for ideological reasons (three this year, three in 2022). With three quarters of its electricity from nuclear power, France will be able to help its neighbour. But Europe’s energy prospects for winter look poor.

Meanwhile China’s ban on importing high-quality Australian steaming coal - formerly about 50 million t/yr - is contributing to rolling blackouts in many provinces. The ban is part of a wider diplomatic stand-off. Domestic policies exacerbate the coal and electricity shortages.
Europe

EU countries urge increased nuclear power

The energy and economy ministers from ten EU member states have called for nuclear power as “an affordable, stable and independent energy resource” to be urgently included in the framework of the EU sustainable finance taxonomy, as supported by scientific reports and despite the issue becoming highly politicised. Finland, led by its Green Party, joined France and the Czech Republic, along with Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and others. This push is opposed by Germany, Austria and Spain, though 126 reactors now operate in 14 European countries. The major trade unions of ten EU countries earlier renewed their call for the European Commission to support finance provisions for new nuclear capacity. The unions called for "fair treatment" of the nuclear power sector, noting it should be included "on the basis of neutral technology and science-based evidence."

Nuclear power is at the heart of the new France 2030 plan for re-industrialisation. The first priority is a EUR 1 billion programme to demonstrate small reactor technology. Then two large electrolyser factories to equip mass production of hydrogen using nuclear electricity are planned as part of EUR 8 billion for energy projects by 2030. Separately, a decision on construction of six large new reactors is expected in a few weeks.

Earlier, the OECD International Energy Agency published Seven Key Principles for Implementing Net Zero, including that energy systems “need to be sustainable, secure, affordable and resilient”, so that those managing them meet challenges “including ensuring uninterrupted flow of energy.” These have been supported by most IEA members. The role of reliable nuclear power as an “indispensable contribution to fighting climate change” while keeping the lights on is highlighted by the current EU energy crisis.
WNN 11/10/21, 29/3/21.   Europe

UN Economic Commission for Europe affirms vital need for nuclear power

Despite Europe harbouring some strong ideological opposition to nuclear power in two or three countries, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in a new technology brief says it must be part of addressing the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “Nuclear power is an important source of low-carbon electricity and heat that can contribute to attaining carbon neutrality and hence help to mitigate climate change." Policies which prioritise climate and sustainable development goals must be technology-neutral to expedite new nuclear development along with other low-carbon technologies. “Analyses indicate that the world’s climate objectives will not be met if nuclear technologies are excluded.”

Some 292 nuclear power reactors are currently in operation in 20 UNECE countries, accounting for 20% of total electricity generation and 43% of low-carbon generation. They account for over 30% of total electricity generation in 11 of them. Seven UNECE member States are in the process of developing nuclear power programmes for the first time.

However, over 70 reactors have been shut down in the UNECE region since 2000, for political, economic or technical reasons. UNECE notes that, in most cases, these have been replaced at least partly by fossil-fuel power generation, therefore representing a setback for climate mitigation efforts. Preventing the premature closure of further nuclear power plants and building new ones is an urgent priority in Europe for addressing climate change.
WNN 11/8/21.  Europe

EU grapples with defining what generating technologies it wants to support

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) has reported on its technical assessment of nuclear energy generation in the EU, regarding the “do no significant harm” criteria. It considered the effects of the whole nuclear energy lifecycle in terms of existing and potential environmental impacts across all objectives, with emphasis on the management of wastes. It said that its analysis, based on recent ISO Life Cycle Analyses, showed no more harm to human health or the environment than other technologies already approved “as activities supporting climate change mitigation”. “The impacts of nuclear energy are mostly comparable with hydropower and the renewables, with regard to non-radiological effects”.

The EU Taxonomy on Sustainable Finance has become highly politicised, so that nuclear power has so far been neither included nor excluded. Subject its review by two expert groups, this JRC report should enable its inclusion, allowing better access to low-cost financing. The World Nuclear Association urged the European Commission to “not delay in setting out the process and the timeline for the inclusion of nuclear energy within the Taxonomy, to safeguard the transparency of the process.”

Nuclear energy is the largest (26.7% in 2019) single source of low-carbon energy in the EU, ahead of hydro (12.3%), wind (13.3%), and solar (4.4%). Last week seven leaders of EU countries urged the European Commission to recognise nuclear energy’s “indispensable contribution to fighting climate change” on several fronts. Also a group of 46 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from 18 countries has written to the president of the European Commission, calling for the inclusion of nuclear energy in the EU taxonomy.
WNN 29/3/21, 7/4/21.   Europe

International waste repository organisation launched in Europe

The European Repository Development Organisation (ERDO) has been launched by Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, with other countries, notably Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria, expected to join soon. It aims for member countries to collaborate in safely managing long-lived radioactive wastes, including establishing shared multinational geological repositories. All have small individual requirements. Previously the national organisations had worked together for ten years in the ERDO Working Group. This was founded with support of 10 EU Member States in 2009. It followed comprehensive feasibility studies (the SAPIERR projects) into multinational disposal in Europe, organised by the Arius Association and funded by the European Commission. Fourteen European countries were involved in SAPIERR and 13 are, or have been, involved with ERDO work over the past decade. SAPIERR was based on a recognition in the EU that implementing 25 national repositories would not be optimal economically or for safety and security.

While there is clear and unequivocal understanding that each country is ethically and legally responsible for its own waste, there have been several proposals for regional and international repositories for disposal of high-level nuclear waste, and in 2003 the concept received strong endorsement from the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The default position is that all nuclear waste will be disposed of in each of the 50 or so countries concerned. The main ingredients of high-level nuclear waste are created in the nuclear reactors which make the electricity in 31 countries and function as neutron factories in many more. They are not simply left-overs from imported uranium. There is thus no obligation on uranium suppliers in respect to the waste, other than that involved in safeguards procedures.

Apart from ERDO which is focused on small volumes of waste, there have been proposals for large-scale international repositories, most recently from the South Australian Royal Commission into the Nuclear Fuel Cycle in 2016.
WNN 8/1/21.   International repositories

Study calls for European nuclear renaissance

The European Union should embark on a "nuclear renaissance" programme if it is to achieve its climate objectives, a new study on the EU climate policy has concluded. Commissioned by ECR Group and Renew Europe, the report says it is practically impossible to generate sufficient energy with wind and solar energy. The study focused on the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. As well as limitations on land required, it concluded that nuclear energy was more cost-effective than intermittent renewables, but needed a level playing field. The European Commission needed to do “a comprehensive cost/benefit analysis of alternative policy options available to pursue the EU's climate neutrality objective.” The authors said that “It's time for all policy makers to live up to the EU principle of technological neutrality.”
​WNN 5/2/21.  Europe

United Kingdom

UK government puts nuclear power at heart of energy policy for net zero

As Britain struggles with constrained gas supplies and a wind drought the government has identified nuclear power as the key to future reliable supply with environmental virtue. Nuclear currently supplies about 16% of electricity but much of the plant is old. Winter power constraints loom with the countdown to COP26 in Glasgow. Wholesale electricity prices have soared to many times normal. Gas prices have climbed four-fold since April. The new UK Net Zero Strategy is an economy-wide plan to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

Establishing the Regulated Asset Base model is planned to fund new nuclear projects at a low cost of capital, since the financing model used for Hinkley Point C project is not attracting support for the next large plant - Sizewell C in Suffolk. Minority equity in both plants by China General Nuclear Corp has become contentious. After years of standing back from investing in generating capacity it seems that the government might now invest directly in future plants. Sizewell C is due to start construction in 2024. A new £120 million Future Nuclear Enabling Fund is to help in "retaining options for future nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors, with a number of potential sites including Wylfa in North Wales."

The UK Ten Point Plan in November 2020 announced the Advanced Nuclear Fund of up to £385 million to invest in the next generation of nuclear including up to £215 million for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and up to £170 million for a research and development programme to deliver an Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) demonstrator by the early 2030s. Plans to be announced next year for several smaller Rolls Royce reactors is expected to kick start what could be a new wave of investment at that level. In May 2021 the cost of a 470 MWe Rolls Royce SMR was put at about £1.8 billion with LCOE at £35 to £50/MWh, and the company expected the design to enter the UK generic design assessment process by year end.

UK public opinion is about 65% pro nuclear and 12% against. Meanwhile the two 1720 MWe Hinkley Point C reactors are due online in 2026 and 2027, and four projects for large reactors are suspended due to financing problems.
WNN 8 & 19/10/21.  UK

UK government adopts new financing model for nuclear power

The UK government has introduced into parliament a bill to adopt the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model of financing new nuclear projects, both large and small. It is to reduce the cost of financing especially large projects and hence reduce the cost to consumers. Under this model the UK energy regulator (OFGEM) would establish an estimated cost for a nuclear project and set a fixed rate of return for investors. Payments from retail power consumers would be made during construction and operation to the project company building a plant, with payments increasing over the construction period in line with cumulative spending. The company then receives a licence from OFGEM to charge a regulated price to consumers in exchange for providing the infrastructure in question.  It has been used for the Thames Tideway Tunnel and Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said that large-scale nuclear power is the only technology available to provide continuous, low-carbon electricity and has key role to play in reducing UK’s dependency on fossil fuels. Diminishing the risk for developers “will ultimately lower the cost of financing new nuclear power and reduce the costs to consumers and businesses" by more than £30 billion over the full life of a large nuclear power plant such as Sizewell C, according to BEIS. Significantly it “will reduce the UK's reliance on overseas developers for financing new nuclear projects by substantially increasing the pool of private investors to include British pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors," BEIS said with apparent reference to contentious Chinese equity in future plants. The Nuclear Industry Association said that it provided “a clear signal to investors that the UK believes in nuclear as a green technology which is essential to our energy transition. We hope the legislation will proceed swiftly, as investment is urgently needed." It will open the way for the large Sizewell C project – 3340 MWe – to proceed. Beyond that is the planned Bradwell B plant of 2300 MWe in Essex, intending to use Chinese Hualong One technology, and also Wylfa in Anglesey, Wales.

The government then announced direct funding of up to £1.7 billion to expedite a final investment decision on the Sizewell C power plant, which is expected to cost £18 billion ($22 billion). Five years ago, China General Nuclear Corporation agreed to take a 20% stake in the project, following on from its one third share of Hinkley Point C. Like that plant, Sizewell C will provide about 7% of UK’s electricity, contributing to climate goals.
WNN 26 & 28/10/21.  UK

Rolls Royce ‘small’ reactor gets UK government backing in new venture

The UK government will contribute £210 million in grant funding to Rolls Royce SMR Ltd to match private investment in this new venture. Rolls-Royce Group, BNF Resources UK Ltd and Exelon Generation Ltd will invest £195 million over about three years in it. Rolls-Royce Group will own approximately 80% of the new company on completion of this equity raise. Rolls-Royce said the SMR business, which will continue to seek further investment, will now "proceed rapidly with a range of parallel delivery activities, including entry to the UK Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process and identifying sites for the factories which will manufacture the modules that enable on-site assembly of the power plants." The reactor is designed for hydrogen and synthetic fuel manufacturing as well as low-cost reliable electricity generation.

Announcing the government funding, the Business and Energy Secretary said: "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the UK to deploy more low-carbon energy than ever before and ensure greater energy independence." He added, "In working with Rolls-Royce, we are proud to back the largest engineering collaboration the UK has ever seen - uniting some of the most respected and innovating organisations on the planet. Not only can we maximise British content, create new intellectual property and reinvigorate supply chains, but also position our country as a global leader in innovative nuclear technologies we can potentially export elsewhere." The new funding follows £18 million in November 2019.

The Rolls Royce SMR consortium, involving many of the major UK engineering firms, aims to build 16 reactors, each a pressurised water type of 470 MWe. The design is fully modularised to enable major components to be transported from the factory by road or rail and assembled in less than 18 months. The first unit is envisaged at Trawsfynydd in Wales, the site of a former Magnox nuclear power station. Projected cost is £2.2 billion for the demonstration unit decreasing to £1.8 billion each by the fifth one, so $5100/kW, and LCOE of £35 to £50/MWh.
WNN 9/11/21.  UK, Small reactors

UK climate watchdog emphasises need for more nuclear capacity

The UK Climate Change Committee, an independent statutory body established under the 2008 Climate Change Act, has reported to parliament that the country needs at least two more large nuclear power stations after the 3400 MWe Hinkley Point C, to be operational by 2035. The report envisages a “Final Investment Decision for at least one new nuclear power plant by the end of this parliament”, hence 3400 MWe Sizewell C next year and another large-scale project to follow. "That requires urgent action from government to introduce a new financing model for large and small nuclear this year”, according to the UK Nuclear Industry Association. The report addresses “the necessary scale-up of policy action in all sectors” actually to deliver outcomes rather than rhetoric. It recognises recent government commitment to funding a Small Modular Reactor design and to build an Advanced Modular Reactor demonstrator.

Another new report, from the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory, calls for advanced nuclear fuel cycle developments. This would include improving the economic performance of advanced technology fuels for current light water reactors while also delivering R&D on revolutionary coated particle (TRISO) fuels and fast reactor fuels for advanced reactors. “Recycle technology is at the heart of the programme, evolving world-leading science and technology to reuse precious resources,” particularly uranium, plutonium and minor actinides in fast reactors. Several scenarios for UK are expounded and require government support.
WNN 24/6/21.   UK

UK bipartisan parliamentary group urges urgent nuclear investment

The UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Nuclear Energy has called for urgent decisions to maintain at least 10 GWe of nuclear capacity. "The most critical step now is for government to begin legislating for a financing model for new nuclear in 2021.” It outlined a 10-point roadmap free of EU constraints.
WNN 30/6/21.   UK

UK publishes Hydrogen Roadmap

The UK Nuclear Industry Council, a joint industry-government body, has published a Hydrogen Roadmap for the UK showing how the country might achieve 225 TWh (6.76 million tonnes) of low-carbon hydrogen each year by 2050. It outlines how large-scale and small modular reactors (SMRs) can produce both the power and the heat necessary to produce clean hydrogen. It proposes 12-13 GW of nuclear reactors of all types using high-temperature steam electrolysis and thermochemical means to produce 75 TWh/yr (2.25 Mt) of clean hydrogen by 2050. This would complement some ‘green hydrogen’ from intermittent renewables but with higher load factors for expensive electrolysers reducing cost to that of today’s ‘grey’ hydrogen production which has large CO2 emissions. A “robust policy framework” will be required.

This is complementary to an October 2020 policy briefing by The Royal Society in UK on Nuclear Cogeneration. It examines how the use of nuclear power could be expanded to improve the overall efficiency and energy system resilience to meet the UK net-zero 2050 goal. It considers particularly cogeneration, where the heat from a nuclear power station is used to address some of the ‘difficult to decarbonise’ energy demand, as well as providing electricity. Hydrogen production is a prime focus, and small reactors could match their thermal output to the requirements of a single plant or cluster of co-located industrial processes.
WNN 17/2/19.   UK, Hydrogen

UK flags commitment to High-Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors

In line with its November 2020 Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution the UK government has published for consultation its plans for investing in high-temperature gas-cooled reactors to enable a research and development program resulting in a demonstration unit by the early 2030s. The high temperature heat is for clean hydrogen production, industrial processes and electricity generation. The UK already has considerable experience operating gas-cooled reactors. The government said that this initiative is separate from its interest in small modular reactors and is part of its £385 million support for more flexible nuclear technologies.
WNN 29/7/21.   UK

Over 2015 to 2019 a number of well-supported proposals were put forward for small modular reactors in UK and in mid 2020 the government attempted to prioritise some of these. Now the Dalton Nuclear Institute at Manchester University has published a Strategy for Action that aims to cut through the confusion. It set out eight actions required to assess objectively the role of nuclear power in achieving the government’s aim of net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. These focused on early commissioning of a demonstration high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, with major consideration also paid to demonstrating hydrogen generation using nuclear heat. Then an ongoing review of all kinds of small modular reactors should be maintained and led by a body that is not conflicted by claims and lobbying by any particular proposer. R&D into closed fuel cycles should continue.
WNN 15/6/21.   UK

UK nuclear plant closed down

Due to costs and complications in refurbishment, EDF Energy has decided to defuel and finally retire the two advanced gas-cooled reactors at the Dungeness B nuclear plant in Kent.  The 1090 MWe (net) plant has not operated since September 2018, having started generation in 1983. This is one of three AGR plants which have experienced problems with age cracking in the graphite moderator. The company has already announced plans for early closure this year of the 965 MWe Hinkley Point B and 985 MWe Hunterston B plants for this reason. Each has twin AGR reactors. Thus 3040 MWe of AGR capacity – six reactors - will retire for decommissioning this year, leaving four twin AGR plants and one PWR operating, total 5883 MWe. The UK's fleet of seven AGRs have met around 20% of the country’s electricity needs over the last four decades. They are unique to UK and have a high thermal efficiency.

At Hinkley Point in Somerset EDF Energy is building two new French EPR units of 1720 MWe each, the ‘C’ plant, due online in 2026 and 2027. China General Nuclear Corporation (CGN) has a one-third share in this project. EDF has plans to build more: twin EPRs at Sizewell, with 20% share by CGN, and then with CGN being the major partner and EDF 33.5%, twin Chinese 1150 MWe Hualong One reactors at Bradwell, near London. CGN built and operates the only two completed EPR units, at Taishan in Guangdong province.
WNN 8/6/21.  UK

France

France announces plans to build more nuclear capacity

Though already having over 70% of its electricity from nuclear power, President Macron has announced that “to guarantee France's energy independence, to guarantee our country's electricity supply and achieve our objectives, in particular carbon neutrality in 2050, we are going, for the first time in decades, to relaunch the construction of nuclear reactors in our country”. An official plan to build six large EPR2 units at a cost of about EUR 50 billion is expected soon, before the single EPR under construction at Flamanville is commissioned. “These investments will allow us to live up to our commitments. As we conclude the COP26 in Glasgow, this is a strong message from France” to the world.

This reverses a 2014 decision and 2015 legislation to cap nuclear power provision at 50% by 2025, then deferred to 2035. The President's France 2030 plan for re-industrialisation, announced last month, includes a programme to demonstrate small reactor technology and mass production of hydrogen using nuclear electricity in this decade. It will also provide a backstop for Germany’s increasingly fraught electricity supply.
WNN 10/11/21.  France

Proposal for six large new French reactors

Electricite de France has submitted to the French government a plan to construct six EPR2 reactors at several nuclear power plant sites across the country. The €46 billion proposal is intended to stimulate government thinking about the country’s power mix from the mid 2030s. A preliminary safety report has been submitted to the Nuclear Safety Authority detailing how the simplified 1750 MWe EPR2 design differs from the EPR already under construction at Flamanville - vastly over both budget and schedule. Sites proposed are Penly, Gravelines and another in Rhone-Alpes region, with two units each.  EDF is also supporting plans for small modular reactors, and "To give this product every chance in its target markets outside France, we propose that the next multi-year energy programme will include the construction of the first SMR in France."
LaTribune 6/5/21.   France

Germany

German government agrees compensation for nuclear phaseout

The German government has reached an agreement with EOn, EnBW, RWE and Vattenfall on compensation for the forced premature closure of their nuclear power reactors. The utilities are set to receive a total of almost EUR 2.5 billion ($3.0 billion) in compensation after agreeing to drop all legal actions against the government related to the nuclear phaseout. The final regulation related to the compensation will be made into law by the end of this year.

In August 2011 legislation came into effect to close down eight reactors immediately and the rest by the end of 2022, despite these being among the best and safest reactors in the world. At that stage Germany was obtaining around a quarter of its electricity from 17 nuclear reactors operated by the four utilities. Since then, legal engagement has pursued proper compensation both for loss of electricity sales (paying off the plants) and for fresh investments made to extend the lives of plants just before the phaseout decision.
WNN 5/3/21.  Germany, Energiewende

France to finish repatriating German nuclear wastes

France's Orano has signed contracts with German utilities EnBW, PreussenElektra, RWE and Vattenfall for the return of all the German nuclear waste remaining at its La Hague reprocessing plant. This is classified as intermediate-level and results from the reprocessing of 5310 tonnes of German used fuel over 1977-2008 at La Hague in France, with the uranium and plutonium being recycled s fresh fuel. The high-level waste, amounting to 99% of the radioactivity, was returned to Germany over 1996-2011. The new contracts will speed up the return of all the long-lived intermediate-level waste, or its mass and activity equivalent which will simplify the actual shipments. The two governments need to approve the arrangement.

The German Nuclear Waste Management Fund was set up in 2016 and is funded by the four utilities on the basis of nuclear electricity produced. Currently it has about EUR 24 billion in hand to cover management and disposal of German nuclear waste including a 35% contingency amount. Since 2017 a joint venture between the utilities and the Federal Ministry of Environment is responsible for all nuclear wastes, under state control.
WNN 20/8/21.  Germany

Poland

USA takes lead in Poland nuclear plans

After a decade of slow progress towards building nuclear capacity, frustrated by financing challenges, the state treasury took over the specialist state-owned company dealing with the matter and set up a new state-owned company, Polish Nuclear Power Plants (Polskie Elektrownie Jadrowe, PEJ) to lead the investment. It will hold 51% of the construction company and nuclear power project, with a partner for 49% being sought. At least 6 GWe and possibly 9 GWe is envisaged, with the first reactor on line in 2033 and a further unit being added every two years to reduce the country’s heavy reliance on coal. The first units are to be built in Lubiatowo and Zarnowiec in Pomerania, northern Poland.

In March this year, the government ratified an intergovernmental nuclear cooperation agreement that gives the USA 18 months to prepare a technology and financing offer for these nuclear power plants. Now the US Trade & Development Agency has provided a grant to PEJ to assist front-end engineering and design studies by Westinghouse and Bechtel with a view to possibly building an AP1000 reactor as the country’s first nuclear power plant. Further US government funding is anticipated.  The studies will be reviewed in mid 2022 by the Polish government to help it select a partner for PEJ. (Earlier, GE Hitachi, Kepco, SNC-Lavalin, Westinghouse and EdF/Areva were considered.)

This is in addition to plans for deployment of high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTR) for industrial process heat included in the government’s 2016 draft strategy for development. Poland has 13 large chemical plants that need 6500 MWt at 400-550°C. The government plans to build a cogeneration HTR of 200-350 MWt for process heat, and before this a 10 MWt experimental HTR at Swierk. The energy minister has nominated the Nuclear Energy Department in the Ministry of Climate & Environment as responsible for proceeding with the experimental HTR. There is close cooperation with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency on HTRs, with a view to hydrogen production.
WNN 1/7/21, 25/6/21.   Poland

Poland set to draw on US nuclear power support

An intergovernmental agreement signed last year has now come into force, giving the USA 18 months to prepare both technology and finance offers to build nuclear power plants in Poland. The country plans to commission six nuclear units from 2033 to 2043, providing 6 to 9 GWe of new reliable capacity to supply at least one third of the country’s demand. They are expected to be built near the Baltic Sea coast and at Belchatow in central Poland.

The USA envisaged that Poland would spend $18 billion on US nuclear technology and services from companies such as Westinghouse, Bechtel and Southern Company, though the total bill for six units was estimated to be $40 billion.  Poland wants to choose a partner to provide the reactor technology and to finance a 49% stake in the project by the end of this year, leaving a controlling share with Poland. 

Coal provided 74% of Poland’s electricity in 2019, and the government plans to reduce this to less than one third by 2040. Nuclear power is seen to be essential to achieve this. Poland also aims to become independent of Russian gas supplies, replacing them from Norway and the USA.

Deployment of high-temperature reactors (HTRs) for industrial heat production was included in the government’s July 2016 draft strategy for development and has been pursued since. Poland has 13 large chemical plants that need 6500 MWt at 400-550°C. The government plans to build a cogeneration HTR of 200-350 MWt for process heat, and before this a 10 MWt experimental HTR. There has been close cooperation with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency on HTRs, partly with a view to hydrogen production.
WNN 3 & 5/3/21.  Poland

Poland advances prospects for small reactor deployment

Polish chemicals group Synthos and energy group ZE PAK have signed an investment agreement to explore the construction of four to six BWRX-300 small modular reactors at the site of ZE PAK's Pątnów coal-fired power plant in eastern Poland. Synthos, which has exclusive rights in the country for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's small nuclear reactors, will participate in the project as both an investor and the technology provider.
WNN 1/9/21.  Poland

Romania

Romania sets out to double nuclear power capacity

The Romanian government has adopted an integrated energy plan that calls for two new 675 MWe CANDU reactors at Cernavoda to be in operation by 2031 and the refurbishment of the oldest unit there about 2027. The two operating reactors at Cernavoda now supply about 19% of the country’s electricity and the new plan would double this. They came online in 1996 and 2007. The nuclear utility Nuclearelectrica says that they contribute EUR 5.7 billion to the economy annually. Plans for two further CANDU reactors at the site date back to 1980s when Romania almost uniquely in the Eastern/Soviet Bloc embraced Western nuclear power technology (Slovenia commissioned a Westinghouse reactor in 1981.)

Beyond Romania's conventional nuclear capacity, the plan also includes ongoing support for research and development of advanced reactors, specifically the innovative ALFRED lead-cooled fast reactor design. This is funded by the European Union. The plan said that a consortium of engineering and scientific organisations set up to build ALFRED estimates the project could be completed before 2030. The reactor would have capacity of 300 MWt and an estimated cost of EUR1.0-1.4 billion.
WNN 5/10/21.  Romania

Russia

Russia starts building innovative demonstration reactor

Rosatom’s fuel cycle company TVEL has started construction of the demonstration BREST-300 reactor at the Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC) in Seversk. This is a new-generation fast neutron reactor which supersedes the sodium-cooled BN designs now operating at Beloyarsk. Lead cooling enables more efficient use of the dense mixed nitride uranium-plutonium (MNUP) fuel derived from recycled plutonium and depleted uranium. In a fast reactor the depleted uranium is transformed to fissile plutonium. The fuel has been extensively tested in the BN-600 reactor at Beloyarsk since 2015, and by the end of last year more than 1000 MNUP fuel assemblies had been produced in SCC’s pilot plant.

The BREST project is remarkable because it is an integral part of the Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex (PDEC) which comprises three elements: a mixed uranium-plutonium nitride fuel fabrication/re-fabrication module; a nuclear power plant with BREST-300 reactor; and a used nuclear fuel reprocessing module (for 2024 operation). The combination enables a fully closed fuel cycle on one site. In November 2019 SCC awarded a contract to Titan-2 to build the first BREST unit and in February 2021 Rostechnadzor issued a construction licence for it.

If BREST is successful as a 300 MWe unit, a 1200 MWe (2800 MWt) version will follow. Rosatom's long-term strategy up to 2050 involves moving to inherently safe nuclear plants using fast reactors with a closed fuel cycle and MOX or nitride fuel.
WNN 8/6/21.   Russia NP

New Russian reactor in commercial operation

Rosatom has started commercial operation of the second VVER-1200 reactor at the Leningrad nuclear power plant in western Russia, after receiving regulatory approval. The existing Leningrad plant site at Sosnovy Bor has four RBMK-1000 units, while Leningrad II will have four VVER-1200 units progressively replacing them to provide more than half the electricity in the St Petersburg region.
WNN 15 & 22/3/21.  Russia NP

Construction licence for first new-generation Russian fast reactor

Russian regulator Rostechnadzor has issued a construction licence to Siberian Chemical Combine at Seversk for a lead-cooled fast neutron reactor, the BREST OD-300. This is a new-generation fast reactor which supersedes Russia’s established sodium-cooled BN fast reactor designs and represents a major step forward in nuclear power technology. Lead cooling enables greater utilisation of minor actinides from recycled fuel than in BN reactors.

Plans have evolved since 2010 and in 2012 Rosatom announced that a pilot demonstration BREST-300 fast reactor with associated fuel cycle facilities would be built at the Siberian Chemical Combine at Seversk, near Tomsk, 3500 km east of Moscow. The SCC is a subsidiary of TVEL, the nuclear fuel manufacturing subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom. The whole project comprises three phases: a mixed uranium-plutonium nitride fuel fabrication/re-fabrication module; a nuclear power plant with BREST OD-300 reactor; and a used nuclear fuel reprocessing module. It is known as the pilot demonstration energy complex (PDEC) and is a key part of Rosatom's high-priority 'Proryv' (Breakthrough) project to create a new generation of nuclear power technologies on the basis of a closed nuclear fuel cycle using fast neutron reactors. On this basis Rosatom envisages nuclear power providing 45-50% of Russia’s electricity by 2050, rising to 70-80% by the end of the century.

Rostechnadzor issued a licence in 2014 for the fuel fabrication module for dense mixed uranium-plutonium nitride nuclear fuel. The government then in 2016 ordered construction of the reactor by 2025, but Rosatom has since announced that it would not begin commercial operation before 2026. It will be built by Titan-2 engineering. Proceeding with the project depended on successful testing of the nitride fuel in the BN-600 reactor from the end of 2013. If BREST is successful as a 300 MWe unit, a 1200 MWe version will follow.

A related facility is the multi-purpose fast neutron research reactor, MBIR. This is a 150 MWt multi-loop reactor under construction since 2015 at the Research Institute for Atomic Reactors at Dimitrovgrad, about 800 km east of Moscow. It will be capable of testing lead or lead-bismuth and gas coolants as well as sodium, simultaneously in three parallel outside loops. Initially it will have sodium coolant and will run on MOX fuel with high plutonium content. Completion was expected in 2020, but the project was paused after starting construction and commissioning is now expected in 2028. It is to be part of an international research centre at RIAR’s site, with the project open to foreign participation in connection with the International Atomic Energy Agency's International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO). MBIR will replace the old BOR-60 fast reactor at the site which has been widely used by international researchers since 1969.
WNN 16/1/19, 11/2/21.   Russia NP

Russia commits to further floating nuclear power plants for remote mine

Rosatom and a subsidiary of Kaz Minerals have signed for power supply to the new Baimskaya copper mining project in the Chukotka region of eastern Siberia. Rosatom proposes to use three floating nuclear power plants each employing a pair of the new 55 MWe RITM-200M reactors, a version of which is in service powering icebreakers. A fourth unit would be held in reserve for use during repair or refueling. The first reactors are already under construction by Atomenergomash. The companies said that they would conclude a long-term take-or-pay contract for the electricity by April 2022.

The mine is expected in operation about 2027, contingent on the regional government agreeing to share infrastructure development costs, in particular to finance and construct the power lines to the mine. The overall project is expected to cost $8 billion. In the first few years it is expected to produce 320,000 t/yr copper as well as gold and other minerals providing one third of revenue.

The first two nuclear vessels are expected to be delivered to their working location at the project’s port, Cape Nagloynyn, Chaunskaya Bay and connected to 110 kV transmission lines leading about 200 km to Bilibino and then another 200 km inland to the Baimskaya mine at the end of 2026. The third unit is due to be connected at the end of 2027, increasing power supply to about 330 MWe. Russia’s first floating nuclear power plant is in service at Pevek at the entry to Chaunskaya Bay, using two older model 35 MWe reactors. It, with the Bilibino nuclear power plant, is supplying 20 MWe to the Baimskaya project during the construction phase until 2027. The old nuclear capacity of 33 MWe at Bilibino is due to be retired by then.

Meanwhile, 1200 km west, but still in a remote part of Siberia, Rosatom plans a land-based RITM-200M plant at Ust-Kuyga in Yakutia and has signed an electricity supply agreement with the government of Sakha (Yakutia). A site licence is expected to be issued in 2023, with construction from 2024 and operation in 2028. It will replace coal and diesel capacity in the Ust-Yansky district and also supply the Kyuchus gold mine project in the Verkoyansky district. It is expected to halve the local cost of electricity.
WNN 26/7/21.  Russia NP

Russia announces plans for first onshore small reactor

The first SMR onshore nuclear power plant in Russia will be built in Yakutia from 2024, with operation scheduled for 2027. It will have two RITM-200M modules. These are derived from those now operating in the LK-60 icebreakers and are integral 175 MWt/50 MWe pressurised water reactors. Operational lifetime is 60 years, with 5-7 year refuelling cycle. This will be a reference plant for export sales. It will provide power for mining operations in the remote region. Several floating nuclear power plants with these reactors are planned for the northern Siberian coast, to service mining and oil production.
WNN 11/11/20.  Russia NP

Russian proposal for fleet of floating nuclear power plants

The Baimskaya copper-gold mining project in the remote Chukotka Autonomous District is expected to need 350 MWe of reliable power. Rosatom has offered to supply this using five floating nuclear power plants of 100 MWe each – four in service and one rotating backup, for RUR 169 billion ($2.29 billion). These would use the new RITM-200M reactors of 50 MWe each, with pairs on much smaller barges than that used for the plant at Pevek. The alternative is a natural gas fired plant built by Novatek, producing at RUR 6.45/kWh (9 cents/kWh), but with limited lifetime.  The cost of the whole mining project is RUR 570 billion.
NW 20/5/21.  Russia NP

Russia announces successful trial of new nuclear fuel

A five-year operational trial in a large power reactor has confirmed the performance of Russia’s REMIX fuel and Rosatom is now proceeding to pilot testing of full-REMIX fuel assemblies. REMIX is designed to reduce uranium consumption and close the fuel cycle using mainstream reactors. It corresponds to the use of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel in many Western reactors, but with no plutonium addition to recycled fuel. REMIX fuel is produced directly from a non-separated mix of recycled uranium and plutonium from reprocessing used fuel, with a low-enriched uranium (up to 17% U-235) addition comprising about 20% of the mix. This gives fuel with about 1% Pu-239 and 4% U-235 which can sustain burn-up of 50 GWd/t over four years and has similar characteristics to normal fuel. (MOX comprises depleted uranium left over from enrichment with recycled plutonium added as the main fissile ingredient.)

REMIX fuel can be repeatedly recycled in Russia’s main reactors and correspondingly reprocessed up to five times, so that with fewer than three fuel loads in circulation a reactor could run for 60 years using the same fuel, just with low-enriched uranium recharge of the recycled material. The waste from each reprocessing (fission products and minor actinides) is vitrified and stored for geological disposal.
WNN 17/9/21.  Russia fuel cycle

Belarus

First Belarus reactor in commercial operation

Belarusian regulator Gosatomnadzor has issued the full operating licence for Ostrovets 1 so that the country’s first nuclear power station is now cleared for commercial operation. The VVER-1200 reactor of 1109 MWe was connected to the grid in December. A second unit is about a year behind it.
WNN 3/6/21.   Belarus

International review confirms safety of Belarus plant

The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) has undertaken a peer review of the new Ostrovets. nuclear power plant in Belarus and confirmed its safety in the face of concerns expressed by neighbouring Lithuania. A preliminary report assesses progress against seven criteria arising from EU stress tests following the Fukushima accident. Belarus is engaging voluntarily with the full EU process. Rosatom, which supplied the plant, describes the VVER-1200 as the backbone of its export portfolio comprising 36 units across 12 markets.
WNN 5/3/21.  Belarus

Ukraine

Ukraine commits to new reactors from Westinghouse

Energoatom and Westinghouse have followed through on a September agreement and signed a contract to build two AP1000 reactors at Khmelnitsky. These are to cost $5 billion each and have 60% Ukrainian content. Financing will be from US Eximbank. Khmelnitsky units 4 and 5 will use AP1000 components sourced from the aborted VC Summer 2 & 3 project in USA. Components for unit 4 will be almost entirely from there. Energoatom said it expected to complete unit 3, a Russian VVER-1000, before 2025. It plans to build further AP1000 units at Zaporozhe, Rovno and South Ukraine, and beyond that: four AP1000 at Chehyryn in Cherkasy region and four at a new site in western Ukraine.

The goal is to have 24 GWe of nuclear plants operating by 2040, nearly double the present capacity, which comprises Russian reactors, mostly VVER-1000 commissioned in the 1980s. Just over half of Ukraine’s electricity is supplied by these. The planned increase in nuclear capacity is partly with a view to export to Poland and Hungary and partly due to the eastern Donbass coalfields adjacent to Russia being in contested territory.

For fifteen years Energoatom has increasingly sourced fuel assemblies for the Russian reactors from Westinghouse in Sweden and about six of the 15 reactors are now supplied from there. There has been a series of plans for a fuel fabrication plant in Ukraine, the latest involving Westinghouse.
WNN 22/11/21.  Ukraine

Ukraine to build Westinghouse reactors rather than Russian

A Memorandum of Cooperation between Ukraine’s Energoatom and Westinghouse envisages significant expansion of Ukraine’s nuclear capacity with four Westinghouse AP1000 reactors built at established sites. But before that, a pilot project will be joint completion of Khmelnitsky unit 4, a part-built Russian VVER-1000 reactor about one quarter complete. It will now have some AP1000 components. The agreement covering the five reactors is valued at about $30 billion and could lead to 70% of Ukraine’s electricity being from nuclear power, similar to France today. There are four AP1000 reactors operating in China.

Westinghouse already has some involvement with Energoatom in providing an increasing proportion of the fuel for its 15 Russian reactors, providing monitoring instrumentation systems at the Zaporozhe plant, and since 2016 it has been working with Turboatom and Energoatom to uprate the capacity of 13 VVER-1000 turbine generator sets by up to 10%.

The agreement is subsidiary to a government-level one on enhancing bilateral energy and climate cooperation involving “a comprehensive energy sector plan, one that provides for mutually beneficial cooperation in nuclear energy, solar and wind energy, hydrogen, energy storage, carbon capture utilisation and storage, cyber and physical security, and other supply and demand-side technologies.”

Khmelnitsky unit 3 is still nominally under construction. It was about 75% complete when work was halted in 1990. Since then, Khmelnitsky 3&4 together have been the subject of a political saga over 30 years as Ukraine has sought to diminish Russian involvement in its nuclear and other affairs. Skoda JS (Czech) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power have been leading contenders to complete the two units.
WNN 1/9/21.  Ukraine

NuScale small modular reactors potential for Ukraine

NuScale Power and state-owned nuclear utility Energoatom have signed a memorandum of understanding to consider using NuScale small modular reactors in Ukraine to increase the load-following capabilities of the system. NuScale will conduct feasibility and cost studies and assist Energoatom with technical evaluation, engineering studies, siting studies and licensing and permitting. This follows a February 2020 agreement focused on regulatory issues.

NuScale has signed agreements to explore deployment of its SMRs in several countries outside the USA and reciprocally it has many significant international partners, though Fluor is the main strategic investor. The company said that investments in its SMR technology in 2021 were approaching $200 million. Its basic design is a 77 MWe power module of relatively conventional design to be built in multiples of four or six to comprise a power station. The first such plant will be in Idaho, the UAMPS Carbon-Free Power Project with six NuScale units.
WNN 2/9/21.   Ukraine

Ukraine commissions central spent fuel facility

Ukraine has joined the ranks of countries having implemented plans for managing spent nuclear fuel at central facilities rather than simply storage at reactor sites. Its Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility (CSFSF) near Chernobyl is in the final stages of commissioning. The CSFSF was built and equipped by US-based Holtec International. It is a dry storage facility in which the used fuel will be stored in double-walled stainless steel canisters. It has a total storage capacity of 16,530 used fuel assemblies, from nine of the country’s 15 reactors, located at Rovno, South Ukraine and Khmelnitsky. All these are VVER types, similar to most Western reactors. Holtec transport casks are used to ship the used fuel. The Zaporozhe nuclear power plant operates its own on-site used fuel storage facility that was commissioned in 2001. The new CSFSF will mean that Ukraine will no longer have to pay Russia $200 million annually to transport and reprocess this used nuclear fuel.

The different kind of used fuel from the decommissioned RBMK reactors at Chernobyl will be stored in a new dry storage facility not far from CSFSF. This ISF-2 was designed by Areva but completed by Holtec International. The fuel will be progressively transferred from wet storage into Holtec canisters for long-term storage in inert gas.
WNN 18/11/21.  Ukraine

China

First Chinese Hualong reactor in commercial operation

China National Nuclear Corporation has put its first Hualong One reactor, Fuqing 5, into commercial operation.  The 1090 MWe (net) unit was connected to the grid in November after 66 months construction (despite delay due to primary coolant pumps).  Unit 6 at the site is about a year behind it. China now has 49 nuclear reactors in commercial operation, total 47.5 GWe.

The design and construction of the Hualong One as a third-generation large reactor is a flagship project for China, so achieving commercial operation of the first unit is celebrated. It “marks a milestone for the development of China’s nuclear power, making China the fourth country to master its indigenous Generation III nuclear power technology following the USA, France and Russia," CNNC said. It intends to promote the design in export markets.
WNN 1/2/21.   China NP

New-generation Chinese pebble-bed reactor starts up

Promising a new era in nuclear power, China’s first high-temperature gas-cooled reactor designed for power generation has started up in Shandong province. The Shidaowan HTR-PM demonstration plant has a pair of small reactors to drive a 210 MWe turbine. The 9% enriched fuel is in ‘pebbles’ the size of billiard balls and the fission heat is removed by helium to a steam generator. Construction commenced in 2012 and extensive tests have preceded this start-up. Localisation of 93% was achieved. The fuel is made at Baotou, Inner Mongolia. Several commercial 600 MWe

New Chinese reactors connected to grid

Tianwan 6, a 1118 MWe (gross) Chinese ACPR1000 reactor, has been connected to the grid after 56 months construction. Its twin, unit 5, started operation last year. Tianwan 5&6 (phase III of the plant) were built as Chinese-designed reactors instead of continuing the line of four Russian VVER-1000s at Tianwan. Due to urgency in meeting power demands, it appeared likely that Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation might build units 5&6 ahead of 3&4, using the ACPR1000 local technology with French provenance. The phase IV reactors, Tianwan 7&8, will be Russian VVER-1200 types, with construction start expected very soon.

For units 5&6 ACPR1000, an EPC contract between Jiangsu NP and China Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation was signed in 2011, making CNPE the project manager. China Nuclear Industry Huaxing Construction Co built both nuclear islands. Dongfang Electric supplied turbine generators using Arabelle low-speed technology, built under an agreement with GE Alstom. These are in most large new nuclear plants in China.

Tianwan 6 is the fourth of six ACPR1000 reactors which represent the culmination of Chinese development of the 900 MWe French design, over 30 of which make up most of that country’s nuclear capacity. China has built and now operates 24 CPR-1000 reactors upgraded from the French design, and the ACPR1000 has evolved from those with full Chinese intellectual property rights claimed. Beyond these, the Hualong One reactor is being built, merging the proven ACPR with another design, the rationalisation being by political edict.
WNN 12/5/21.   China NP

Unit 5 of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in China's Liaoning province has been connected the grid as the country’s 51^st commercial nuclear power reactor. The nuclear total is now about 50 GWe. Construction of the 1080 MWe domestically-designed ACPR1000 unit started in March 2015 and took about 57 months, but commissioning was delayed. Its twin, unit 6 at the site, will be the last second-generation reactor built in China.
WNN 25/6/21.   China NP

New Chinese reactors in commercial operation

After connecting to the grid in May, Tianwan 6 has completed tests and in now in commercial operation. Units 5 & 6 are locally-designed ACPR1000 reactors of 1080 MWe net.  Units 7 & 8 at the site will be Russian VVER-1200 units, and the first is under construction.
WNN 3/6/21.  China NP

Unit 5 of Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in Liaoning province has commenced commercial operation. The ACP1000 reactor was grid-connected in June. Unit 6 is undergoing final testing before start-up. The Hongyanhe plant is owned and operated by a joint venture between China General Nuclear and State Power Investment Corporation, each holding a 45% stake, with a local company holding 10%. The five reactors at Hongyanhe will now provide about 15% of the electricity in the northeastern province.
WNN 2/8/21.  China NP

New Chinese reactor starts up

Unit 5 of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in China's Liaoning province has attained a sustained chain reaction for the first time. Construction of the 1080 MWe domestically-designed ACPR1000 pressurised water reactor started in March 2015 and was largely completed in 2019, but commissioning has been delayed.
WNN 17/6/21.   China NP

China starts building new nuclear power plants

On new year’s eve China General Nuclear Corp (CGN) commenced construction of the first unit at San’ao Cangnan nuclear power plant in Zhejiang province.  This is a Hualong One reactor of 1150 MWe gross, the first of six planned there. Two units of phase 1 are expected to cost $5.54 billion, partly from private capital – 2% from Geely Technology Group.
WNN 4/1/21.      China NP

Construction of Changjiang unit 3 on Hainan island has commenced. It is the first of a pair of Hualong One reactors alongside two smaller CNP-600 units. The China Huaneng Group holds a 51% share of the project, with China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).  Construction will be managed by Huaneng and is expected to take 60 months.

Huaneng is a very active newcomer to China’s nuclear power scene.  It has a 49% share in the smaller reactors at Changjiang, 45% of the Shidaowan project building two CAP-1400 reactors in Shandong, it is the lead organisation in building the HTR-PM demonstration reactor at Shidaowan and has a 10% stake in the demonstration CFR600 project at Xiapu where two commercial-scale fast neutron reactors are being built. Huaneng also has further nuclear plans at those sites and elsewhere.

CNNC is building the first ACP-100 small modular reactor at the Changjiang site. This Linglong One Demonstration Project envisages the design being a standard SMR widely used by 2030. The whole 125 MWe reactor with integral steam generators will be factory-made.

In 2019 Hainan Province Development and Reform Commission published energy policies specifying that nuclear power will become the primary source of electricity for the island, with gas power mainly used for peaking management.
​WNN 31/3/21.  China NP

Two closely related major projects to build four Russian nuclear power reactors in China have been launched jointly by the Presidents of China and Russia via video link. Hailed as “a truly iconic flagship joint project”, there was simultaneous concrete pouring at two sites, for Tianwan 7 and Xudabao 3. There are to be two VVER-1200 units at each site.  They will be the same as two now operating at Leningrad NPP.  Tianwan in Jiangsu province already has four Russian VVER-1000 reactors, and two Chinese reactors.  Xudabao in Liaoning province is a greenfield site with two CAP-1000 reactors – derived from Westinghouse AP1000 – due to start construction this year. Construction start for Tianwan 8 and Xudabao 4 is expected later this year.

China is on track to commence building eight large new reactors this year, total nearly 10 GWe.
WNN 19/5/21.   China NP

After a high-profile launch with Russian and Chinese Presidents in May, actual construction of the first reactor at Xudabao has begun, a Russian VVER-1200, designated unit 3. Construction of units 1 & 2 as CAP1000, the Chinese version of the flagship Westinghouse design, has not yet commenced.
WNN 2/8/21

China starts construction of new small power reactor

Construction of a small modular reactor (SMR) demonstration project at the Changjiang nuclear power plant on China's island province of Hainan has officially started. China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said the project will be the world's first land-based commercial SMR. It is expected to take 58 months to build.

The multi-purpose ACP100 or Linglong One integral pressurised water reactor is designed for electricity production, heating, steam production or seawater desalination. It can deliver 125 MWe or 1000 GJ/hr process heat. It has integral steam generators so that the whole reactor can be shipped from the factory in Bashan, Jilin province, as a single module about 5.5 m diameter and weighing 256 tonnes. The ACP100 was identified as a 'key project' in China's 12th Five-Year Plan, and is developed from the 1150 MWe Hualong One, two of which are being built at the same site. More ACP100 units are planned at two sites in Jianxi province and then in Zhejiang and Heilongjiang provinces. A marine version – ACP100S – is planned for floating nuclear power plants.
WNN 13/7/21, 25/6/21.  China NP

New Chinese mini electric vehicle heads for mass market

At the end of 2020 some ten million electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrids, were on the road worldwide. The move to greater electromobility depending on reliable electricity is led by Tesla but boosted by a new Chinese car.  SAIC-GM-Wuling released the Wuling HongGuang mini EV in mid 2020 at a price of $4200. It immediately became very popular, with sales of 119,000 in six months. The concept is for a small and affordable 2-door, 4-seat car, with 665 kg kerb weight which exploits the inherent simplicity of an EV. It has a 13 kW motor and a 9.2 kWh battery, giving 120 km range. It is sold only in China.
Electric vehicles

China’s oldest reactor gains licence renewal

China’s first power reactor has been given a 20-year licence renewal to take it to 2041. China National Nuclear Power’s Qinshan 1 in Zhejiang province 100 km southwest of Shanghai, is China's first indigenously-designed and constructed nuclear power plant (though with the pressure vessel supplied by Mitsubishi, Japan). Design of the 300 MWe PWR was by the Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute (SNERDI). Construction work spanned 6.5 years, with first grid connection in December 1991. From 2007 a major upgrade replaced the entire instrumentation and control system, along with the reactor pressure vessel head and control rod drives, with a view to extending the operating lifetime beyond the original 30 years. CNNP invited the International Atomic Energy Agency to conduct a Safety Aspects for Long-Term Operation peer review of the reactor, which was done in 2017. Last year a licence amendment increased nominal capacity from 310 to 330 MWe.
WNN 13/9/21.   China NP

Taiwan

Taiwan reactor retired

Unit 1 of Kuosheng nuclear power plant has closed down a few months prematurely due to constraints on used fuel storage imposed by local government. The 40-year operating licence for the 985 MWe reactor expires in December. Taipower’s decommissioning plan for the reactor was approved last year. Three nuclear power reactors remain in service.
WNN 1/7/21.  Taiwan

Japan

Japan strengthens nuclear power commitment

The new prime minister and senior ministers are confronting public post-Fukushima reservations about nuclear power. "Nuclear power is indispensable when we think about how we can ensure a stable and affordable electricity supply while addressing climate change," according to Japan's new minister for economy, trade and industry. The PM later said that restarting nuclear plants awaiting various approvals since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident is vital - "It's crucial that we restart nuclear power plants”. Though the tsunami causing that accident killed about 19,000 people, none died from the radiation releases.

Until 2011, Japan was generating some 30% of electricity from its 33 reactors and this was expected to increase to at least 40% by 2017. The plan is now for at least 20% by 2030. The first two reactors restarted in 2015, with a further eight having restarted since. 16 more reactors are currently in the process of negotiating new regulatory requirements from 2013 and local government approvals. In addition to these, supposed threats from a dormant volcano and anti-terrorism guidelines have constrained progress.

The reactor restarts are facing significant implementation costs ranging from $700 million to $1 billion per unit, regardless of reactor size or age. Up to March 2017 the total cost was estimated at JPY 1900 billion ($16.6 billion) for eight companies, according to an industry survey. An Institute of Energy Economics report noted that for each 1000 MWe of nuclear off-line, replacement fossil fuel costs are JPY 60 billion ($520 million) per year and CO2 emissions of four million tonnes per year result. In 2020, only 5.1% of electricity came from nuclear plants.
WNN 6 & 13/10/21.   Japan

Japan’s energy minister underlines necessity of nuclear power

In the light of winter power shortages, Japan's energy minister has said he considers nuclear energy "indispensable" if the country is to meet its target of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 while maintaining reliable supply. In 2019, nuclear energy provided only 7.5% of the country's electricity, compared with 30% ten years ago. Much of Japan’s nuclear power capacity remains off line due to post-Fukushima modifications being required. Japan's 2018 Basic Energy Plan, due for revision this year, targets 20-22% from nuclear power by 2030 with a similar amount from renewables and 56% from fossil fuels. Political rhetoric calls for much more from renewables, but industry points to the practical need for more nuclear.
WNN 3/2/21.  Japan NP

Japanese reactors slowly return to service

Ten years after the Fukushima accident most of Japan’s nuclear power reactors remain offline. Kansai’s Mihama 3 has just returned to full power operation after completion of safety upgrade work. The 780 MWe (net) reactor started commercial operation in 1976 and is licensed to 2036.  Of 33 operable reactors, only ten are now online, all pressurised water types. Five others, including four boiling water reactors, are in final stages of approval. The new Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) took over from the discredited Nuclear & Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) and the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) in 2012, 18 months after the accident, and has insisted on safety provisions and procedures unique to Japan.

Early in 2011 nuclear energy accounted for almost 30% of the country's total electricity production from 47.5 GWe of capacity (net). There were plans to increase this to 41% by 2017, and to 50% by 2030. Current nuclear contribution is about 6%. This month the latest draft version of Japan’s Basic Energy Plan maintains a target of 20-22% nuclear contribution to supply by 2030. This assumes that 30 reactors will be operating then.
WNN 28/7/21.   Japan NP

Tenth anniversary of Fukushima accident

The strongest earthquake ever recorded in Japan ten years ago caused a tsunami which resulted in the meltdown of three operating reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant and the release of much airborne radioactive material. While the reactors shut down automatically from the earthquake, the tsunami about an hour later disabled their cooling which was required to remove decay heat from the fuel. Following hydrogen explosions, failure of containment resulted in radioactive material – mainly iodine and caesium – being released and carried downwind. The iodine rapidly decayed to innocuous levels, while some contamination from caesium remains.

Some 20,000 people were killed by the tsunami, but there were no deaths or serious ill effects from the radioactivity. However, the precautionary evacuation of many people up to 20 km downwind was prolonged indefinitely by the government (instead of for a couple of weeks) and resulted in over two thousand deaths, according to official figures. The UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) has published an updated report of the accident, confirming its 2013 view that “future health effects directly related to radiation exposure are unlikely to be discernible.”

The March edition of the IAEA Bulletin covers safety issues focused on Fukushima lessons.
WNN 9/31/20.  Fukushima accident, Effects of nuclear accidents 

Fukushima plant to discharge contaminated water

After years of indecision and the accumulation of 1.37 million cubic metres of treated water in tanks since the accident ten years ago, the Japanese government has approved the progressive release of the water into the ocean after dilution. All of it has been treated in an Advanced Liquid Processing System to remove all contaminants except tritium (as H₂O). The level of tritium in the released water – under 1500 Bq/L - will be one seventh of World Health Organisation drinking water standards, and the annual amount will be well below the licensed level for the plant before the accident of 22 TBq/yr.  Tritium has a half-life of 12.3 years and is considered one of the least harmful radionuclides. Controlled discharge of water containing tritium into the sea is routine worldwide. The radiological impact of the discharges will be many orders of magnitude less than from natural background radiation.
WNN 13/4/21.  Fukushima accident

India

India connects new reactor to grid

Unit 3 of the Kakrapar nuclear power plant in India's Gujarat state has been connected to the electricity grid after 122 months construction. The reactor - the country's first indigenously designed 700 MWe pressurised heavy water reactor - achieved criticality in July last year. A second one is under construction at Kakrapar, and two more at Rajasthan. India plans to put 21 new nuclear power reactors - including 10 indigenously designed PHWRs - with a combined generating capacity of 15,700 MWe into operation by 2031, the Department of Atomic Energy announced two years ago. It has 23 reactors operating, total almost 7000 MWe.
WNN 11/1/21.      India

Construction start on new Russian reactor in India

Full construction of unit 5 at Kudankulam nuclear power plant has commenced with pouring of the massive concrete base of the plant. This and unit 6 are VVER-1000 Russian reactors like units 1-4. Kudankulam 1 & 2 have been operating since 2013 and 2016. Units 3 & 4 have been under construction since 2017 and are about half complete.
WNN 29/6/21.   India

US-India energy partnership focuses on nuclear energy

A newly-relaunched US-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership “places greater emphasis on electrification and decarbonization of processes and end uses, scaling up and accelerating deployment of emerging clean energy technologies, and finding solutions for hard-to-decarbonize sectors.” This includes continuing to advance innovation in civil nuclear power as a net-zero emission solution through different collaborative programs, including the long-standing Civil Nuclear Energy Working Group. It also aims to engage the private sector and other stakeholders to help deploy clean technologies to accelerate a clean energy transition. India sees energy security being at the core of the bilateral partnership. It is congruent with the expanded scope of the ‘Quad’ which links USA, India, Australia and Japan and from this year includes working groups on climate and emerging technology.
ANS Newswire 16/9/21.       India. 

Pakistan

Large Chinese reactor in Pakistan in commercial operation

The 1100 MWe Karachi unit 2 has commenced commercial operation in Pakistan. It is the first in a pair of Hualong One (HPR1000) reactors at the site, and was built in 67 months by China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Group Co.
WNN 21/5/21.   Pakistan

Grid connection for large new reactor in Pakistan

The 1100 MWe Karachi unit 2 has now been put into operation in Pakistan.  It is the first in a pair of Chinese Hualong One (HPR1000) reactors at the site, and on its own almost doubles the country’s nuclear power capacity.
WNN 19/3/19.   Pakistan

New large Chinese reactor in Pakistan starts up

The 1100 MWe Karachi unit 2 is the first in a pair of Chinese Hualong One reactors to be completed and to start up in Pakistan.  The country has four smaller Chinese reactors inland at Chashma and a very small 50-year old Canadian reactor at Karachi. Pakistan is the first export country to build the new Hualong reactor.  When it is grid-connected about the end of March it will almost double Pakistan’s nuclear power capacity.
WNN 3/3/19.   Pakistan

UAE

Second new reactor in United Arab Emirates starts supplying power

Barakah-2, the United Arab Emirates' second nuclear power reactor, has been connected to the grid, 101 months after construction commenced. The 1,345 MWe (net) South Korean APR1400 unit is operated by Nawah Energy Company, the nuclear operations and maintenance subsidiary of Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), which was set up in joint venture with Korea Electric Power Corporation in 2016. ENEC itself - set up in 2009 - has drawn heavily on international expertise and has worked closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency. It has joined the World Association of Nuclear Operators to benefit from its peer review processes. Nawah has ongoing agreements with France’s EdF for fuel cycle management, operational safety and radiation protection, and with KEPCO for maintenance. The UAE is widely seen to have benchmarked the process for establishing nuclear power in a new country, starting from scratch in 2008. The Barakah plant is now the largest single generator of electricity in the Arab world.
WNN 14/9/21.    UAE

Second new reactor starts up in United Arab Emirates

Barakah-2, the United Arab Emirates' second nuclear power reactor, has started up. The 1,345 MWe (net) South Korean APR1400 unit is the second of four reactors built at Barakah as part of the UAE's efforts to diversify energy supplies away from gas. It was built by a consortium led by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and is located between Abu Dhabi city and Qatar.

Barakah 2 was completed last year and received an operating licence in March, units 3 & 4 are 94% and 89% complete respectively. Construction began in April 2013. Unit 1 was connected to the grid in August 2020. The UAE is the first country in the Arab world, and the 33rd nation globally, to develop a civil nuclear power program. It will supply about one quarter of the country’s electricity.
WNN 27/8/21.    UAE

UAE’s first Barakah reactor in commercial operation

After seven months of checking and testing since first supplying power to the grid, the 1400 MWe Barakah unit 1 is now in full commercial operation.  Unit 2 is expected to start up later this year, with units 3 & 4 to follow.
​WNN 6/4/21.  UAE

Turkey

Construction start for third new reactor in Turkey

Three years after construction started on the initial unit, first concrete has been poured for the third of four Russian VVER-1200 reactors at Akkuyu. The complete power station will provide 4800 MWe capacity and supply up to 37 TWh per year – about one tenth of Turkey’s anticipated needs. The onsite workforce of 8000 is mainly Turkish, and the first 186 graduates in nuclear engineering and related disciplines have returned after 6.5 years study in Russian universities. This is a Russian build-own-operate project with offtake ageements.

Russia is now building nine large reactors in five export countries. Twelve more are under contract.
WNN 10/3/19.   Turkey

Africa

Ghana steps forward to nuclear power

Ghana plans to start producing nuclear electricity by 2030, according to the head of Nuclear Power Ghana (NPG) in August. By about 2025 NPG expects to have identified the vendor, selected a site and be ready to conclude a contract arrangement. First power is envisaged in 2030 at $50 to 80/MWh. The country has had a small research reactor operating since 1994.

For more than ten years Ghana has been proactive regionally on nuclear power and following the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) milestones program. The IAEA undertook an Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review in the country in 2017, and NPG was set up in 2018 to manage the country’s first nuclear power project. Two nuclear cooperation agreements with Rosatom suggest Russia as a likely source of technology, and Ghana is understood to be open to the possibility of a foreign build-own-and-operate project for nuclear power, as now in Turkey.
WNN 1/9/21.  Emerging countries

Australia

Australian reports highlight deficient energy policy and need for reliability

A report from Australia’s Energy Security Board canvasses the possibility of setting up a capacity market for electricity in order to achieve more reliability than can is possible with current policies favouring intermittent renewables. The need for dispatchable capacity is emphasised, to avoid blackouts and price spikes. The Australian Energy Market Operator said that up to 19 GWe was needed in “new flexible dispatchable power” – equivalent to nearly one third of present total capacity. This may build in long-term reliance of gas, with short-term reprieve for coal.

Meanwhile the Energy Policy Institute of Australia has published a policy paper which addresses these issues. It points out that Australia lacks a credible national policy for energy and also lacks a national technology-based energy plan to guide investment in electricity generation and CO2 emissions reduction. “Current policy settings are a mixture of technological choices based on political expediency, defending existing rent-seekers, opportunistic market intervention and poor to non-existent economic analysis.” They can be summed up as “a complicated way of trying to make solar and wind work and they result in fragmented oversight and planning.”

“Much more attention needs to be paid to overall grid stability and the destablising impacts of asynchronous generation” such as wind and solar PV on which about A$ 50 billion has been spent. “A blind preferential approach” excluding nuclear power amounts to gambling the economy and risks huge failure. “It is difficult to find any economically coherent reason for not searching for the lowest cost, long-term, technology mix that achieves the zero emission target.” The paper calls for a fundamental economic analysis of all generation technologies.

Financing of new capacity is obviously crucial. “Without a serious and properly analysed national policy based on technical realities as well as market needs, institutional investors will be reluctant to support the needed infrastructural investment.” It points to Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant project in UK as an example of poor financing policy and suggests alternatives, in particular, “any policy or plan must fix responsibility for determining and following through on outcomes with a single authority” to keep costs down.
Australia   http://energypolicyinstitute.com.au/images/3-21__Stephen_Anthony.pdf

Australian report on small modular reactor potential

The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has issued a report Small Modular Reactors in the Australian Context, written by Dr. Ben Heard. It provides an SMR technology overview and assesses their potential role in Australia’s economy with operating cost estimates. It focuses on three SMRs: NuScale’s Power Module, GE-Hitachi’s BWRX-300 and Terrestrial Energy’s Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR). The report says that under conservative assumptions, the future LCOE for these would range between A$64/MWh and A$77/MWh (US$46 to $56/MWh). “If realized, this would make it the cheapest 24/7 zero emission power source available in Australia.”

The MCA calls on the Australian federal government to pivot from its current stance of being an observer of SMR technology to begin quickly adopting action plans to include these solutions into the country’s energy mix. Some policy and legislative change “will allow Australia to match a diverse range of nations from Canada to Rwanda who are actively establishing the context and capabilities to deploy SMRs” and not be left behind. The substantial Australian Workers Union has called for the government to put SMRs at the heart of its decarbonisation plans, in line with the national commitment to nuclear-powered submarines.
WNN 6 & 13/10/21.   Australia

Australia’s Ranger Uranium mine closes down

After almost 40 years of operation and the production of 132,000 tonnes of uranium oxide (112,000 tU), Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) Ranger mine 230 km east of Darwin has closed down due to expiry of its operating licence and refusal of traditional owners of the land to extend it. Substantial resources remain – about 37,000 tU in an orebody extending to 500 m deep.  Production since 2012 has been from stockpiled ore, as a massive rehabilitation project ramped up. This is to return the site to something like its original condition by 2026, with tailings in mine pits. It will then be incorporated into the surrounding Kakadu National Park. The mine closure plan is here: https://www.energyres.com.au/sustainability/closureplan  Some A$ 642 million has been spent on rehabilitation and water management since 2012. The town of Jabiru 8 km away will become simply a tourist centre. For the last 20 years ERA has been a subsidiary of Rio Tinto.
WNN 8/1/21.   Australia

South Africa

South Africa approves new research reactor

The South African cabinet has approved the construction of a Multipurpose research reactor to succeed the 20 MWt Safari-1 research reactor at Pelindaba, near Pretoria, which started operation in 1965. The South Africa Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA) which operates the facility said the approval allows the lead-time needed to ensure radioisotope production is not interrupted. Safari-1 is one of the four leading world producers of medical radioisotopes.

Recently the country's energy regulator approved a ministerial decision to procure 2500 MWe of new nuclear generation capacity, adding to 1860 MWe at present.
WNN 30/9/21.       South Africa 

Iran

Iran stokes Western world fears with step towards weapons material

Since 1970 the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has curbed the aspirations of countries wanting to develop nuclear weapons by promoting cooperation on peaceful nuclear energy and dissuading activities which are potentially weapons-related. With very few exceptions (eg North Korea, Pakistan) this has restricted nuclear weapons to six countries. 

Iran has been the focus of attention since a major clandestine uranium enrichment program became evident in 2002. In 2006 the UN Security Council called on Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment. This was ignored. Quite independently of this, since 2011 Iran has had a large Russian nuclear power reactor operating, providing about 3% of its electricity. All the fuel is provided by Russia. A second such reactor is under construction.

Following considerable international expressions of concern about the uranium enrichment program, and related sanctions, Iran and the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) with the European Union signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) in July 2015. Under its terms, Iran agreed to limit its uranium enrichment to 3.67% U-235. The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency has now informed its Member States that this week Iran began feeding uranium already enriched up to 4.1% U-235 into six centrifuge cascades at one of its three enrichment plants for further enrichment up to 20%. While enriching from 4% up to 20% U-235 is quite a major step, less energy is required to upgrade 20% enriched uranium to weapons grade.

The UK, French and German foreign ministers have now said "We are deeply concerned by the commencement by Iran on the 4th of January of uranium enrichment up to 20% at the underground facility of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. This action, which has no credible civil justification and carries very significant proliferation-related risks, is in clear violation of Iran’s commitments under the JCPoA and further hollows out the Agreement." It added: "This is a serious negative development which ….. risks compromising the important opportunity for a return to diplomacy with the incoming US Administration. We strongly urge Iran to stop enriching uranium to up to 20% without delay, reverse its enrichment programme to the limits agreed in the JCPoA and to refrain from any further escalatory steps which would further reduce the space for effective diplomacy."
WNN 7/1/21.   Iran, Safeguards, Enrichment

Further European concern about Iran’s uranium enrichment

Following Iran’s announcement that it intends to proceed with enriching uranium to 20% U-235, France, Germany and UK (E3) have raised objections to other aspects of the December law which repudiates the internationally-agreed Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). The law also stipulates that Iran will no longer be bound by the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol it had signed with the International Atomic Energy Agency, meaning that access to its nuclear sites by international inspectors would cease. A particular issue for the E3 is production of enriched uranium as metal, which has no civil use, but “potentially grave military implications.” So "We strongly urge Iran to halt this activity and return to compliance with its JCPoA commitments without further delay.”
WNN 19/1/21.      Iran