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Issued by the World Nuclear Association
Leaders of the G7 countries have committed accelerate deployment of ‘zero emissions energy’ to achieve a decarbonized power system.
World Nuclear Association has today published a new White Paper calling upon policymakers and regulators to adopt a science-based, all-hazards risk assessment and management system that holistically evaluates the contributions of different energy sources and sets a level playing field.
Nuclear energy makes a “significant contribution” to the IEA's Net Zero Emissions scenario, and will provide an “essential foundation” in the transition to a net-zero energy system.
Ahead of the forthcoming IEA report on Net Zero, national and regional associations joined World Nuclear Association in calling for acceleration of the scale and timeframe for investment in new nuclear capacity
The Unit 1 reactor at the Barakah plant in the United Arab Emirates has successfully transitioned to full commercial operations.
World Nuclear Association
Published: Fri, 30 Jul 2021 15:25:44 GMT
China General Nuclear announced today it is taking unit 1 of the Taishan nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province offline to replace damaged fuel rods. Last month, an increase in the concentration of noble gases in the primary circuit of the EPR was attributed to a few damaged fuel rods.
Published: Fri, 30 Jul 2021 14:43:23 GMT
Japanese laboratories monitoring radionuclides in seawater, marine sediment and fish near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant continue to produce reliable data, according to a new International Atomic Energy Agency report. Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric Power Company plans to rear fish in treated radioactive water from the plant to demonstrate its safety. A University of Georgia study has shown that radioactive contamination in the Fukushima Exclusion Zone can be measured through its resident snakes.
Published: Fri, 30 Jul 2021 14:17:59 GMT
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its final environmental impact statement on Interim Storage Partners, LLC's application to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility for used nuclear fuel in Texas. The regulator recommends granting a licence for the facility.
Published: Fri, 30 Jul 2021 11:05:55 GMT
An International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts has completed a review of the long-term operational safety of the Ascó nuclear power plant in Spain. The team reviewed implementation of recommendations made during a previous review mission and assessed the plant's preparedness, organisation and programmes related to long-term operation against IAEA safety standards.
Published: Thu, 29 Jul 2021 12:32:34 GMT
A new study published yesterday by the New Nuclear Watch Institute finds that the "supposed dependency concerns" associated with the host-vendor relationship in the nuclear energy sector are "historically and practically unfounded". The report - Energy Security in the Age of Net-Zero Ambitions and the System Value of Nuclear Power - focuses on the issue of energy security and the important contributions that nuclear power can make towards maintaining and strengthening it as energy systems decarbonise, both along the various transition pathways that energy systems have started upon and at their eventual low-carbon endpoint.
Published: Thu, 29 Jul 2021 15:20:04 GMT
Cameco expects to produce up to 12 million pounds U3O8 (4616 tU), on a 100% basis, this year provided there are no further disruptions due to COVID-19, forest fires or any other cause, the Canadian company said yesterday in its quarterly results call.
Published: Thu, 29 Jul 2021 14:53:13 GMT
Fusion energy developer Helion Energy has broken ground on a new facility in Everett, Washington, which will house its seventh generation fusion prototype, known as Polaris. Construction of the facility, which will also produce helium-3 fuel, is expected to be completed in early-2022. Meanwhile, General Fusion and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories are to collaborate on the development of tritium extraction techniques for use in commercial fusion power plants.
Published: Thu, 29 Jul 2021 14:26:25 GMT
Georgia Power today said it now projects an in-service date in the second quarter of 2022 for Vogtle unit 3 and in the first quarter of 2023 for Vogtle unit 4, three-to-four months later than previously expected for each unit. The total project capital cost forecast has been revised to reflect the updated schedule, resulting in a USD460 million increase to Georgia Power. Meanwhile, hot functional testing has been completed at Vogtle 3.
Published: Thu, 29 Jul 2021 13:30:25 GMT
The UK government today published a Call for Evidence that sets out its suggested approach to building the first advanced modular reactor demonstrator. This will specifically explore high temperature gas reactors as the most promising model for the demonstration programme, which ministers are investing GBP170 million (USD237 million) into delivering by the early 2030s.
Published: Thu, 29 Jul 2021 12:22:16 GMT
Exelon Generation yesterday announced the filing of Post Shutdown Decommissioning Activity Reports for its Byron and Dresden plants, due to shut later this year, with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. PSDARs set out long-term site restoration plans for the stations after they shut down, and their filing is one of the final regulatory steps before plant closure.
Published: Thu, 29 Jul 2021 12:01:20 GMT
China National Nuclear Corporation has launched a district heating demonstration project at the Qinshan nuclear power plant in Zhejiang Province. The project, in cooperation with the Haiyan County Government, will "provide a nuclear energy solution to solve the heating problem in southern China," the company said.
Published: Wed, 28 Jul 2021 14:36:03 GMT
Spain's Council of Ministers yesterday authorised decommissioning and waste management firm Enresa to launch a tender for a contract for the design, support with licensing, manufacture and supply of a used nuclear fuel storage system for use at the Almaraz, Ascó, Cofrentes and Vandellós II nuclear power plants. The contract will be worth up to EUR220 million (USD260 million).
Published: Wed, 28 Jul 2021 15:15:54 GMT
The operators of the Bruce, Darlington and Pickering nuclear power plants must submit data to demonstrate the safe operation of pressure tubes and obtain regulatory authorisation before restarting any currently shut-down reactors at those sites. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission says it has issued orders to Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation out of an "abundance of caution".
Published: Wed, 28 Jul 2021 12:45:24 GMT
The dome of the inner containment shell of unit 1 of the Rooppur nuclear power plant in Bangladesh is now being installed, Rosatom announced yesterday. The metal structure has a diameter of 44 metres and a weight of 185 tonnes. The operation is being carried out by Trust RosSEM, using a Liebherr heavy crawler crane that has a lifting capacity of 1350 tonnes. The day before lifting, a special mounting traverse of 15 steel cables was installed.
Published: Wed, 28 Jul 2021 12:25:21 GMT
Recyclable-Fuel Storage Company Ltd (RFS) now expects its interim used fuel storage facility in Mutsu, Aomori prefecture, to begin operating in fiscal year 2023 (ending March 2024). Following several previous delays, the facility - construction of which began in 2010 - had been scheduled to start up later this year. However, the construction of additional safety measures is taking longer than expected.
Published: Tue, 27 Jul 2021 14:21:34 GMT
Nuclear energy must be included in a delegated act of the European taxonomy, 18 trade unions in the energy sector from 10 European Union countries have told Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. In a joint letter, the unions called for "a dialogue with the purpose of nuclear energy to play its full potential and build an economically efficient and socially just carbon-free Europe by 2050".
Published: Tue, 27 Jul 2021 14:51:34 GMT
Jordan has been operating a "pioneering" processing plant to recover yellowcake from uranium ores since the start of the year, the head of the country's Atomic Energy Commission has announced. Khaled Toukan's remarks were reported by state news agency Petra and shared by the Jordanian Uranium Mining Company, operator of the plant. JUMCO, which is the commercial arm of Jordanian Atomic Energy Commission, was established in 2013 to carry out radioactive elements exploration and development in Jordan.
Published: Tue, 27 Jul 2021 14:14:32 GMT
The first steam generator has been removed from Bruce unit 6, marking a significant milestone in the Major Component Replacement project. The unit is the first of six which are to be refurbished as part of a programme to secure the operation of the eight-unit site in Ontario until 2064.
Published: Tue, 27 Jul 2021 12:49:46 GMT
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 refuelling. 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.
Published: Tue, 27 Jul 2021 11:58:15 GMT
Russia's Rosatom has launched construction works for a research reactor facility in Bolivia, which is part of a nuclear technology research and development centre in the city of El Alto. A ceremony held yesterday to mark the pouring of first concrete was attended by Bolivian President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora and Rosatom First Deputy Director General for Corporate Development and International Business Kirill Komarov.
Published: Tue, 27 Jul 2021 11:41:06 GMT
Taiwan Power Company has submitted an application to the Atomic Energy Council to shut down the two-unit Maanshan nuclear power plant. Under Taiwan's nuclear phase-out policy, its power reactors will be decommissioned as their 40-year operating licences expire. The phase-out will be completed with the closure of Maanshan unit 2 in 2025.
Published: Tue, 27 Jul 2021 11:08:04 GMT
Eletronuclear has announced the winners of a tender to complete unit 3 of the Angra nuclear power plant in Rio de Janeiro. A Brazilian consortium comprising Ferreira Guedes, Matricial and ADtranz submitted the winning bid of Real 292 million (USD56.1 million), which Eletronuclear said is 16% lower than the reference value for the project. In total, two companies and five consortia participated in the opening session of the proposals, held on 29 June.
Published: Mon, 26 Jul 2021 14:43:54 GMT
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has called for more Member States to appoint a national focal point on denials of shipment of radioactive materials. Speaking during a webinar organised by the independent Transport Facilitation Working Group and hosted last week by World Nuclear Association, he said having more NFPs would result in the smoother transport of radioactive materials around the globe.
Published: Mon, 26 Jul 2021 15:13:42 GMT
PreussenElektra has received the second and final permit needed for the dismantling of the Unterweser nuclear power plant, while RWE Nuclear has received approval for its so-called 'sub-project 2' for the dismantling of the Lingen nuclear power plant. Both approvals were issued by the Lower Saxony Ministry for the Environment, Energy, Building and Climate Protection.
Published: Fri, 23 Jul 2021 13:14:19 GMT
The decision to take unit 1 of the Taishan nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province offline to investigate a fuel failure issue lies with the plant operator, EDF said yesterday. However, it said under its own operating procedures for its French units, operation of the EPR would be temporarily halted to carry out such inspections and take corrective measures. It noted the chemical composition of the primary circuit water at Taishan 1 remains within regulatory threshold limits.
Published: Fri, 23 Jul 2021 15:25:55 GMT
Samsung C&T Corporation has committed to making an equity investment in NuScale to support deployment of its small modular reactor and is developing a business collaboration agreement with NuScale's engineering, construction and procurement partner Fluor Corporation. The announcement comes days after Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction increased its investment to support deployment of NuScale's SMR.
Published: Tue, 27 Jul 2021 13:18:35 GMT
The nuclear medicine sector is a small part of the wider nuclear industry, but it provides some of the most pioneering technologies in healthcare - and is close to making personalised medicine a reality. Antonis Kalemis, president of Nuclear Medicine Europe and business manager for molecular imaging at Siemens Healthineers, describes how nuclear medicine also tackles the most trenchant condition in modern healthcare: cancer.
Published: Fri, 23 Jul 2021 14:41:51 GMT
The reactor pressure vessel for the first of two Hualong One reactors under construction at the Zhangzhou nuclear power plant in China's Fujian province has passed the factory acceptance inspection. Zhangzhou unit 1, construction of which began in September 2020, is scheduled to enter commercial operation in 2024.
Published: Fri, 23 Jul 2021 14:27:47 GMT
Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems now expects to build six 77 MWe NuScale Power Modules on a site at Idaho National Laboratory, rather than 12 units as previously planned. A 2030 start-up date for the plant - known as the Carbon Free Power Project - is still envisaged.
Published: Fri, 23 Jul 2021 11:53:45 GMT
Unit 4 of the Kola nuclear power plant in Murmansk, Russia has successfully completed the fifth cycle of irradiation using "third generation" RK-3 fuel designed for VVER-440 reactors. During the planned fuel loading, a televisual inspection of the irradiated fuel was performed with the help of specialised equipment, which showed that, after five irradiation cycles, all RK-3 assemblies had retained their original shape and all the fuel rods were sealed.
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