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Issued by the World Nuclear Association
The contribution nuclear generation makes to climate change mitigation is highlighted in a new edition of the World Nuclear Performance Report, produced by World Nuclear Association for COP26.
A new publication highlights how nuclear technologies contribute to addressing issues such as eliminating hunger, improving health, providing access to affordable and clean energy, generating decent work and economic growth, and mobilizing climate action.
World Nuclear Association has launched the 2021 edition of The Nuclear Fuel Report, concluding that the positive trend in nuclear generating capacity projections that began in the previous (2019) report continues.
The performance of the world’s nuclear reactors in 2020 are set out in World Nuclear Association Performance Report 2021, which was published 1 September 2021.
A new Partnership Agreement has been signed today between World Nuclear Association and Women in Nuclear Global at a virtual ceremony.
World Nuclear Association
Published: Thu, 02 Dec 2021 16:25:47 GMT
Ontario Power Generation has selected the BWRX-300 small modular reactor for the Darlington new nuclear site, and will work with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy to deploy the reactor. Canada's first commercial, grid-scale, SMR could be completed as early as 2028.
Published: Thu, 02 Dec 2021 17:14:28 GMT
Westinghouse Electric Company and EDF have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to produce cobalt-60 in selected pressurised water reactors owned and operated by EDF in France. The agreement is the first step towards production in Europe of the radioisotope for medical uses, the companies said.
Published: Thu, 02 Dec 2021 15:15:36 GMT
France's Framatome and Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom have signed a new strategic cooperation agreement further expanding the companies' efforts to develop fuel fabrication and instrumentation and control technologies. The new agreement expands the companies' existing relationship, established through a 2017 Memorandum of Understanding, creating a framework for joint work in new areas.
Published: Thu, 02 Dec 2021 13:24:57 GMT
EDF has demonstrated commitment to safety at its Belleville nuclear power plant in central France by introducing additional methods to prepare for accident management and using innovative approaches in the training of plant staff, an expert team from the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded. The team also identified areas for further enhancement, for example in operation, maintenance and operating experience.
Published: Wed, 01 Dec 2021 16:21:31 GMT
The US Department of Energy has issued a request for information to help it create a consent-based approach to siting an interim storage site for US used nuclear fuel. The move represents a re-start of the federal programme after plans for a repository at Yucca Mountain were dropped in 2009.
Published: Wed, 01 Dec 2021 14:16:19 GMT
The French government will need to take important decisions to ensure the country gets on track to meet its 2050 net-zero emissions goal, particularly in terms of plans to modernise its nuclear power fleet, according to the International Energy Agency. It said the country may need to delay the planned closure of its 12 oldest reactors by 2035 in order to ensure sufficient supply due to the slow pace of growth in renewable energy.
Published: Wed, 01 Dec 2021 15:31:17 GMT
The disassembly phase of Ontario Power Generation's refurbishment of Darlington unit 3 has now been completed and the reassembly phase has begun, the company said yesterday. The disassembly of the reactor included the world's first use of a combined pressure and calandria tube removal technique. Separately, an automated process to install and inspect calandria tubes is to be used in the refurbishment of Bruce Power's Bruce 3 in another industry 'first'.
Published: Tue, 30 Nov 2021 18:05:01 GMT
Russia's Kalinin nuclear power plant shows a commitment to safety, said a team assembled by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which took some new practices away to share with the global industry.
Published: Wed, 01 Dec 2021 15:52:56 GMT
France's EDF and water, waste and energy management company Veolia will early next year create a joint venture - to be known as Waste2Glass - to develop Veolia's GeoMelt vitrification technology. The partners hope to extend the application of the technology beyond high-level radioactive waste.
Published: Tue, 30 Nov 2021 16:13:35 GMT
Nuclear energy offers a "golden opportunity" to create a cleaner and more equitable world, World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León said today at the World Nuclear Exhibition in Paris. However, she noted there are three major challenges hindering the nuclear industry in making its full potential contribution towards sustainable development and combatting climate change: financing, perception and regulation.
Published: Tue, 30 Nov 2021 17:15:52 GMT
Nucleoelectrica Argentina has been given feedback on its preparation of Atucha 1 for long-term operation by an International Atomic Energy Agency team. It is the third such mission at the request of the Argentinian government.
Published: Tue, 30 Nov 2021 15:46:13 GMT
Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organization has completed borehole drilling work at Ignace, which is being studied as a possible host area for a deep geological repository for Canada's used nuclear fuel. Some 6 km of rock has been retrieved during the four-year drilling programme.
Published: Mon, 29 Nov 2021 15:35:45 GMT
Hunterston B Reactor 3 - a 490 MWe advanced gas-cooled reactor - was taken offline for the final time at midday on 26 November, marking the end of 46 years of operation. Its twin - Hunterston B Reactor 4 - is scheduled to shut down in January, which will see the end of power generation for the site in North Ayrshire, Scotland.
Published: Mon, 29 Nov 2021 12:54:39 GMT
Napandee near Kimba in South Australia has been formally selected as the location of a national low and medium-level radioactive waste facility. Under the relevant legislation, the declaration today by Australia's Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt has the effect of the Commonwealth acquiring about 211 hectares of land for the purpose of hosting the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility.
Published: Mon, 29 Nov 2021 16:34:24 GMT
Spain's Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has rejected Berkeley Energia's authorisation to build a uranium processing plant at the company's Salamanca project in western Spain. The company has questioned the legality of the decision.
Published: Mon, 29 Nov 2021 15:56:51 GMT
A milestone was reached in the decommissioning of Slovakia's Bohunice V1 reactor when Javys completed cutting up its pressure vessel. Most of the component has been disposed of as low-level radioactive waste.
Published: Fri, 26 Nov 2021 15:46:40 GMT
A year-long, CAD8.4 million (USD6.6 million) contract will see Canada's Candu Energy prepare the licensing basis for two new Candu pressurised heavy water reactors at Romania's Cernavoda nuclear power plant. The signing was celebrated by the governments of Romania and Canada, as well as the USA.
Published: Fri, 26 Nov 2021 15:05:08 GMT
The premature shutdown of Diablo Canyon units 1 and 2 will "inflict grave harm to California's economy and environment," according to the American Nuclear Society. The closure of California's last remaining nuclear power plant will cause more grid instability and rolling blackouts for the state because Diablo Canyon reliably supplies about 10% of in-state power, it says. Former US energy secretaries Steven Chu and Ernest Moniz have also called for the decision to shut down the plant to be reassessed.
Published: Fri, 26 Nov 2021 15:23:07 GMT
The UK's National Nuclear Laboratory and Norwegian assurance and risk management provider DNV are partnering to explore the potential use of advanced nuclear technologies for the conversion of UK gas networks to hydrogen. The collaboration will enable both the nuclear and gas sectors to gain a deeper understanding of priorities and assess barriers and next steps on aspects including regulation, safety, siting and economics.
Published: Thu, 25 Nov 2021 17:13:30 GMT
Negotiations to address outstanding nuclear verification issues in Iran have so far been inconclusive, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said yesterday. Negotiations among parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - Iran and five world powers - are expected to resume in Vienna next week.
Published: Thu, 25 Nov 2021 16:46:01 GMT
Support for nuclear energy is on the rise in the USA, according to the latest study of US attitudes to energy carried out by environmental non-profit ecoAmerica. The American Climate Perspectives Survey found notable shifts in understanding and support for several energy sources, the group said, with strong support for clean energy coupled with the need for education on the energy-climate connection.
Published: Thu, 25 Nov 2021 15:21:17 GMT
Škoda announced it has completed development of a geological disposal package for the Czech Republic's used nuclear fuel. Made of corrosion resistant steel, it is a hermetically sealed container for the highly radioactive used fuel assemblies from its VVER reactors.
Published: Wed, 24 Nov 2021 17:08:00 GMT
Holtec International has finalised an agreement with Hyundai Engineering & Construction of South Korea for the turnkey supply of Holtec's SMR-160 small modular reactor plant worldwide. Holtec is considering deploying the first SMR-160 at Oyster Creek in New Jersey, where it is currently in the process of decommissioning a former boiling water reactor.
Published: Wed, 24 Nov 2021 16:55:30 GMT
All four of Rooppur 1's steam generators have been lifted into position, Russia's Rosatom has announced. Separately, Rosatom's export subsidiary Atomstroyexport is working with the Bangladesh Ministry of Health on a vaccination programme to protect workers at Rooppur from COVID-19. Bangladesh's first nuclear power reactor is slated to start up in 2023.
Published: Wed, 24 Nov 2021 14:56:43 GMT
The US Department of Energy has awarded funding to the Nuclear Alternative Project to study the potential siting of small reactors in Puerto Rico. Funding also goes to address hurdles to the use of small reactors in commercial shipping and to support the development of advanced reactor designs.
Published: Tue, 23 Nov 2021 16:34:01 GMT
Russian manufacturers are dispatching several components to Turkey's first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu, which is currently the largest nuclear construction site in the world with 13,000 people working on a daily basis on the site that will house four large reactors.
Published: Tue, 23 Nov 2021 15:45:19 GMT
A consortium including Italy's Ansaldo Nucleare and Romania's Reinvent Energy has been awarded a contract worth about EUR20.0 million (USD22.5 million) for the design, procurement, installation and commissioning of a research facility for the development of lead-cooled reactors. The Advanced Thermo-Hydraulics Experiment for Nuclear Application facility will be built at the RATEN-ICN research centre near Pitesti in southern Romania.
Published: Tue, 23 Nov 2021 15:35:19 GMT
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a draft safety evaluation report indicating its initial acceptance of Kairos Power's source term methodology for its Kairos Power fluoride salt-cooled high temperature reactor. The topical report, which Kairos submitted to the regulator in June 2020, is the first of its kind to be reviewed by the NRC.
Published: Tue, 23 Nov 2021 14:40:25 GMT
Kazakh national nuclear company Kazatomprom has signed a framework agreement with Genchi Global to invest in the newly established ANU Energy OEIC Limited physical uranium fund, meaning the fund can begin operations. Meanwhile, Kazatomprom has exercised an option to buy back uranium previously sold to Yellow Cake plc.
Published: Tue, 23 Nov 2021 10:20:09 GMT
An International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts last week completed a follow-up nuclear security advisory mission to the Czech Republic. The two-week International Physical Protection Advisory Service mission included a review of the legislative and regulatory framework for the physical protection of nuclear material and associated facilities and activities, including transport.
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