USA sets roadmap for fusion commercialisation

NOT SO FAST 

THIS IS STILL SCI-FI-TEK 

70 YRS IN THE MAKING

07 June 2024

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has released a strategy aimed at accelerating the viability of commercial fusion energy in partnership with the private sector. The department also announced USD180 million to support fusion research at an event in Washington, DC.

(Image: DOE)

In March 2022, the US government announced the US Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion Energy and launched a department-wide initiative to develop a strategy for accelerating the viability of commercial fusion energy in partnership with the private sector.

The newly released DOE Fusion Energy Strategy 2024 is organised around three pillars: closing the science and technology gaps to a commercially relevant fusion pilot plant; preparing the path to sustainable, equitable commercial fusion deployment; and building and leveraging external partnerships.

In support of DOE's fusion energy strategy, the department has also announced a USD180 million funding opportunity for Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) Collaboratives. These collaboratives are aimed at supporting the further creation of a fusion innovation ecosystem by forming teams that will have a collective goal of bridging the Department's Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) programme's foundational and enabling science research with the needs of the growing fusion industry, including the technology roadmaps of the awardees of the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program. It said these collaboratives are envisioned as "dynamic hubs of innovation" to help bolster US-based manufacturing and supply chains, driving advancements in fusion energy research in collaboration with both public and private entities.

The FIRE Collaboratives Funding Opportunity Announcement, sponsored by the FES programme within the DOE's Office of Science, is open to accredited US colleges and universities, national laboratories, non-profit organisations, and private companies.

The DOE has also made a number of other announcements in moving toward implementation in support of the US Bold Decadal Vision. It has released a new FES vision entitled Building Bridges, through which FES will develop a national fusion science and technology (S&T) roadmap "to address the 'how' and 'when' of closing critical S&T gaps to commercially relevant fusion pilot plants".

The department has also announced that all eight selectees signed agreements to be participants in the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program, which is designed to catalyse further private investments into fusion commercialisation and helps companies resolve critical-path scientific, technological, and commercialisation challenges on the path toward a pilot-scale demonstration of fusion energy.

In addition, DOE released a Request for Information on a proposed Fusion Energy Public-Private Consortium Framework (PPCF). The PPCF aims to complement the Milestone Program and FIRE Collaboratives by catalysing and bringing together state/local government, private, philanthropic funding, as well as new partnerships, to accelerate fusion commercialisation.

"With today's announcements, DOE has shown once again that we are ambitiously implementing our US Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion Energy," said DOE Deputy Secretary David Turk. "We will leverage the opportunities enabled by our world-leading public and private fusion leadership, including humanity's first-ever demonstration of fusion ignition at our National Ignition Facility as well as major new advances in technologies such as high-temperature superconductors, advanced materials, and artificial intelligence to accelerate fusion energy. The development of fusion energy as a clean, safe, abundant energy source has become a global race, and the US will stay in the lead."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

U$ NUKE NEWZ

Granholm calls for tripling of US nuclear fleet

07 June 2024

It is time for the USA to cash in on the experience of nuclear new-build at Vogtle, US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said at an event held to mark the completion of the two units in Georgia. Restarting recently retired nuclear plants could also play a part in meeting the need for new capacity.

Secretary Granholm at the Vogtle celebration (image: Southern Company)

The two AP1000 units built as units 3 and 4 at the Vogtle site near Waynesboro, Georgia, entered commercial operation in July 2023 and April 2024, respectively. Granholm acknowledged the commitment, vision, cooperation and collaboration that went into the project to construct the first US nuclear units in a generation to be built "from scratch".

"This project is a prime example of how first-of-a-kind challenges can become 'nth-of-a-kind' successes, thanks to the work of those who came before and public-private partnerships," she said. First-mover projects of this size are too big and too financially risky for the private sector to do by itself, but are too important for the nation to fail to act, she said.

"To reach our goal of net-zero by 2050, we have to at least triple our current nuclear capacity in this country. That means we’ve got to add 200 more gigawatts by 2050," she said.

"And so it’s time to cash in on our investments by building more these facilities," she added,

In a later interview with Reuters, Granholm said building new reactors at nuclear power plant sites could be a cost-effective way of expanding US nuclear capacity - and also said some recently retired plants could restart. "I do think they can come back," she said, adding that she would be "surprised" if the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office (LPO) - which recently conditionally committed up to USD1.52 billion for a loan guarantee to Holtec Palisades for its project to bring the Palisades plant back online - was not talking to operators of other shuttered plants about reopening as well. She said she was not involved in LPO's talks. The LPO does not reveal the status of loan applications.

About 30 US nuclear power plant sites have already been licensed or permitted for the construction of more reactors, she said, which would be a cost-effective way of expanding nuclear generation: "So you don't have to go through the whole rigamarole again, you can just use the existing footprint to be able to increase generation capacity."

She also told Reuters that, with the rise in energy demand driven by technologies such as artificial intelligence requiring power-hungry data centres, the US Administration is asking big technology companies to invest in clean energy generation, suggesting that such companies could work together to make use of small modular reactors. Placing orders simultaneously could reduce costs.

"We've been talking with data companies. The large ones have commitments to net-zero and would like to see clean baseload power," Granholm said. "If the tech companies are coming in and are going to pull clean power from the grid, they should bring the power with them," she said.

Georgia Power announced the start of commercial operations at Vogtle 4 in April, joining Vogtle 3 which entered commercial operation in July 2023. Operated by Southern Nuclear on behalf of co-owners Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities, the plant is now the largest generator of clean energy in the USA. Georgia Power is a subsidiary of Southern Company.

"Today is a momentous occasion as we celebrate this accomplishment," Southern Company President and CEO Chris Womack said during the celebration to mark the opening of the units. "We have proven in the United States that we can do hard things. We can build big things. We can build new nuclear in the United States."

US microreactor clears initial stage of pre-testing safety review

07 June 2024

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Microreactor startup Radiant Industries has announced that the US Department of Energy has reviewed and approved the Safety Design Strategy for its Kaleidos microreactor in the National Reactor Innovation Center's Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) test bed at Idaho National Laboratory.

A rendering of the Kaleidos microreactor arriving at the DOME facility (Image: Ryan Seper/Radiant)

California-based Radiant is developing the 1 MWe Kaleidos high-temperature gas-cooled portable microreactor, which will use a graphite core and TRISO (tri-structural isotropic) fuel. It was one of three microreactor developers selected in October last year to receive a share of USD3.9 million Department of Energy (DOE) funding to develop and test their designs in the new DOME test bed facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Testing is scheduled to begin in 2026.

Radiant said the Safety Design Strategy (SDS) - which describes the accepted safety analysis approach for the Kaleidos reactor - marks the initial stage in a comprehensive safety review process each microreactor developer will undertake prior to a fueled test at DOME.

The company said testing in DOME will allow it to gather critical safety and performance data to support the future commercial licensing process with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Radiant is currently working with INL on the next phase of the safety review, focusing on the Conceptual Safety Design Report (CSDR). The purpose of the CSDR is to summarise the hazard analysis efforts and safety-in-design decisions incorporated into the conceptual design, along with any identified project risks associated with the selected strategies.

Following its successful completion of reactor testing in the DOME facility, Radiant expects to deliver a limited number of pre-ordered Kaleidos units as soon as 2028, after obtaining NRC licences.

"The SDS is the cornerstone of the safety roadmap we're building as we approach commercialisation of a fueled reactor in a few years' time," said Radiant CEO Doug Bernauer. "We're grateful for DOE Idaho's review and approval as we take this important step forward and for INL's continued thorough support throughout this critical process."

"The approval of the SDS is an important step towards enabling a microreactor developer to perform a test in our DOME facility," said Brad Tomer, acting director and chief operating officer of the National Reactor Innovation Center. "As the nation's nuclear energy research laboratory, we are committed to working with private companies to help further develop advanced nuclear technologies that will provide clean energy solutions for the US."

The DOME test bed will repurpose the Experimental-Breeder Reactor-II containment structure at INL. EBR-II operated from 1964 to 1994, and was originally built to demonstrate a complete sodium-cooled breeder reactor power plant. It was later modified to test other reactor designs and to test materials and fuels for fast reactors, as well as generating power and heat for the site. While the reactor and much of its supporting equipment has been dismantled, the remaining 70-foot diameter, 80-foot high containment structure is particularly suited to host reactor demonstration and other nuclear projects.

DOE-designed railcar cleared for use

05 June 2024

The Atlas railcar - developed by the US Department of Energy to transport used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste - has been certified by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) to operate on all major freight railroads in the USA.

The Atlas railcar (Image: DOE)

The 12-axle railcar comes fully equipped with high-tech sensors and monitoring systems. It was designed to safely and securely transport shipments of commercial used nuclear fuel weighing up to 480,000 pounds (218 tonnes). DOE said the railcar project took ten years to complete and cost about USD33 million.

It noted the certification was the highest safety standard set by the AAR for transporting high-level radioactive material.

The entire railcar system includes the Atlas railcar, two buffer railcars and a rail escort vehicle that was developed in partnership with the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.

Final testing of the railcars was marked by the completion of a 1680-mile round-trip journey from Pueblo, Colorado, to Scoville, Idaho. They are the first DOE railcars to meet the rigorous testing requirements of AAR's S-2043 standard for transporting high-level radioactive material.

"The certification of the Atlas railcar by the AAR is a significant step forward as we develop the infrastructure to safely manage and store the nation's nuclear waste," said DOE Deputy Assistant Secretary for Spent Fuel and High-Level Waste Disposition Paul Murray. "The capability for DOE to safely and securely transport spent nuclear fuel is a key component of DOE's vision for an integrated waste management system that includes transportation, and government-owned storage and permanent disposal identified through a consent-based siting process."

Atlas is one of two railcars DOE is developing to provide flexibility in transporting used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste to future federal interim storage facilities and disposal sites.

The eight-axle Fortis railcar - designed to carry lighter loads - is expected to begin single car testing no earlier than 2025 and could be operational before the end of the decade.

The management of civilian used nuclear fuel in the USA is a federal responsibility, but the planned permanent repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, which in 1987 was designated as the sole initial repository for 70,000 tonnes of high-level wastes, has not been built. This means used fuel from more than 70 shutdown, decommissioned and operating nuclear energy facilities is currently in storage at sites across the nation.

Subject to appropriations, DOE is moving forward on a government-owned consolidated interim storage facility project that includes rail transportation. Commercial used nuclear fuel is packaged in containers weighing between 80 and 210 tonnes, which is beyond legal weight limits for truck transport in the USA. Rail is therefore the preferred mode to move these containers.

DOE intends to eventually transport more than 140,000 tonnes of commercial used nuclear fuel that it is estimated will have been generated in the USA by 2060.

The location of the consolidated interim storage facility would be selected through DOE's consent-based siting process that puts communities at the forefront and would ultimately reduce the number of locations where commercial used nuclear fuel is stored in the USA.

Construction and operation of the storage facility will require amendments to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act to move those phases of the project forward.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Qatar calls for protection of rights of Palestinian workers

LIKE WORKERS HAVE IN QATAR

Published: 07 Jun 2024 - 

Assistant Undersecretary for Migrant Labour Affairs at the Ministry of Labour, Sheikha Najwa bint Abdulrahman Al Thani, at the session.

Doha, Qatar: Qatar participated in the extraordinary session to discuss the Director-General’s report on the situation of workers in the occupied Arab territories, held on the sidelines of the 112th session of the International Labour Conference currently taking place in Geneva, Switzerland.

Representing Qatar in the session was Sheikha Najwa bint Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Assistant Undersecretary for Migrant Labour Affairs at the Ministry of Labour.

In her speech, Sheikha Najwa said, “We appreciate the decision of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO) to hold an extraordinary session to discuss the conditions of workers in the occupied Arab territories, in the hope of continuing this extraordinary session in future conferences until there is a change in the situation of Palestinian workers on the ground.”

She highlighted that the Director-General’s report on the workers in the occupied Arab territories reflects the deteriorating economic and social conditions and the high levels of unemployment which have reached their peak in the sector, noting Israel’s ongoing violation of Palestinian workers’ rights and the tightening of restrictions on their freedom of movement and the non-provision of adequate occupational health and safety conditions.

She emphasised the necessity for ILO to take necessary actions to assist about 5,000 workers from Gaza who are without work and shelter, in addition to enhancing its efforts to provide emergency humanitarian aid to the three production parties in Gaza and in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Sheikha Najwa Al Thani called on the member states of the ILO and social partners to use all available mechanisms to pressure the Israeli authorities to respect their obligations as an occupying power towards Palestinian workers under international law, international humanitarian law, and international labour standards, particularly the fundamental labour conventions.

Brazil seeks $20.7 billion from Vale, BHP over 2015 dam collapse

Story by Reuters • 1d • 

FILE PHOTO: The Bento Rodrigues district is pictured covered with mud after a dam owned by Vale SA and BHP Billiton Ltd burst in Mariana, Brazil, November 6, 2015.REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes/File Photo© Thomson Reuters

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's government presented on Thursday a counteroffer requesting that miners Vale and BHP and their joint venture Samarco pay 109 billion reais ($20.74 billion) as reparations for a tailings dam collapse in 2015.

The proposal is higher than a previous offer from the miners to pay the federal and local governments 72 billion reais to settle reparations for the disaster in the town of Mariana, Minas Gerais state.

The dam collapse killed 19 people and left hundreds homeless, while also polluting the Doce River, a major waterway that flows through neighboring Espirito Santo state.

The government offer, endorsed by Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo, does not include any amount already spent by the miners in reparation measures, as well as the cost of executing obligations such as removing tailings from the river.

It also sets a 12-year period for the payments to be made, according to a statement from Brazil's solicitor general's office.

($1 = 5.2554 reais)

(Reporting by Peter Frontini; Editing by Gabriel Araujo)

Abused, exploited, treated like ‘slaves’: the plight of Filipino farm workers in South Korea

• Rights groups say a seasonal worker scheme aimed at easing South Korea’s acute labour shortage has turned into a new form of modern slavery

Reuters

7 Jun 2024

Vulnerable, low-paid Filipinos have been exploited, tricked and abused under a migrant worker scheme launched by South Korea to plug its severe labour shortage, an investigation by the Thomson Reuters Foundation has found.

Under the scheme – which also recruits workers from Nepal, Vietnam, Mongolia, Laos, Cambodia, Uzbekistan and Thailand – farmers and fishermen relocate to South Korea for five to eight months of work with the promise of big wages to take home.

But the Thomson Reuters Foundation has talked to a dozen ex-workers who say the scheme falls short – many say they returned empty-handed and some risked losing land to the brokers who sealed their temporary contracts.

Workers said brokers had charged excessive fees for securing them back-breaking work, controlled their movements by confiscating their passports and documents, and cheated them out of promised wages.

“This clearly demonstrates the vulnerability of seasonal workers to human trafficking and forced labour,” said Ko Gikbo of the Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea (JCMK), a coalition of groups working to improve migrant rights.

Ko called the programme a new form of modern slavery.

“It is like human trafficking in modern day. The brokers treated seasonal workers like slaves,” said Ko.

The South Korean government refused requests for comment.

The Philippine government said the scheme was run on a state-by-state basis – at least 45 local governments took part – and that it had no jurisdiction over the local level.

The country has a total of 1,600 local government units that can enter into deals with their counterparts in South Korea.

This hands-off stance means it is hard to tally the numbers of workers affected or track the extent of abuses.

Seeking better oversight, Manila announced plans in March to channel all future migrant workers through a bilateral deal.

No bilateral agreement on the seasonal farm workers programme has yet been reached.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation contacted several local governments for comment – none replied.

More than 3,500 Filipinos have been recruited since 2022, when South Korea launched sister-city agreements that twin local Filipino states with richer ones in the East Asian country.

The workers were drawn to the scheme by the promise of earning up to five times what they can make at home.

For South Korea, the migrants plug a chronic labour shortfall exacerbated by an ageing and shrinking population, with foreign workers taking on low-paid jobs that many locals shun.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation analysed the documents of 12 former seasonal workers – papers that revealed systemic contract violations, the deals often struck by independent brokers.

Among complaints: welfare violations, exorbitant broker fees, harsh conditions, diluted pay and a lack of any redress.

Many Filipinos also said they were too afraid to speak out for fear of being shut out of future job prospects.

Here are the stories of three former migrant workers, all of whose names have been changed to protect their identities.

Rice farmer Juan is typical of the victims interviewed over a four-month investigation.

Enticed by the prospect of a hefty salary, Juan staked his family’s two-hectare (five-acre) farm for a chance to work a season in South Korea, only to face hard labour when he moved abroad then a legal battle for his assets once back home.

The work was brokered last July by his town – General Mamerto Natividad, 120km (75 miles) north of Manila – which contracted the 42-year-old for a five-month stint abroad.

He was promised a monthly salary of 43,000 Philippine pesos (US$752), more than double his usual takings.

But when he arrived in Hwasun, at the foot of South Korea, Juan was forced to work as a mountain grass cutter, a gruelling job only doable after hiking two hours through peak summer heat.

Juan said the entire employment process – from his hiring at home to drop-off at post – was handled by three people whom he called brokers, a married Filipino couple and lone Korean man.

Juan complained to the brokers, expecting to be redeployed.

“We thought they would hear our complaints and help us find a new employer,” Juan said.

Instead, he was told to go to the airport the following day.

“The brokers forced us to go back to the Philippines and told the local government that we wanted to go home. But that’s not true,” he said. “They also refused to return our collateral.”

The family had signed over land as collateral to secure the overseas work contract and said the brokers tried to keep that land when Juan returned early. Juan said it took a four-month fight and 180,000 pesos in legal fees to win back the plot.

Migrant labourers work inside a greenhouse at a farm in Pocheon, South Korea. Photo: AP

Bianca – who spent five months picking strawberries in South Korea – said she had to work 14-hour days and that brokers kept her bank book and passport for her entire stay.

“The brokers only sent our families in the Philippines 15,000 pesos a month,” said the ex-seasonal farmworker.

She left for South Korea in 2022 on a promise of 35,000 pesos a month, but said she was then charged 20,000 a month for housing, food and “handling”.

She said no charges were mentioned in her contract but she felt too scared to complain.

“It was my dream to go to South Korea. I didn’t know that the job there would be hard – 14 hours. It was hard to endure.”

Last year, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), the government arm set up to protect Filipinos working overseas, received 150 complaints related to illegal recruitment, labour practice and welfare under the seasonal farm workers programme.

The DMW said it was looking into all of them, as well as investigating 66 brokers for wrongdoing.

Since 2022, the DMW said it had identified five workers who had suffered physical abuse, another five who needed medical attention and four deaths of Filipino seasonal workers.

There is no data on the total number of complaints filed.

While the government knows who signed up to state schemes, it has no data on workers contracted by unregulated brokers.

“And the brokers, of course, they are in it for business,” said Tatcee Macabuag of the Migrant Forum in Asia, a regional NGO for the protection of migrant workers.

This informal set-up led to contracts that “were not rights-based” and opened up “opportunities for abuse”, she said.

In Laguna, an agricultural province about 90km (55 miles) from Manila, former farm workers recruited in the towns of Paete and Pangil said they were asked to pay 60,000 pesos as a “processing” fee to land a job.

Yet there was no mention of any fee in the contract that Mark signed in April 2023.

The 42-year-old statistical researcher, should have earned about 60,000 pesos per month – five times his usual salary – but was charged for flights, insurance and other fees.

So he earned only half that, working on a 20-hectare (50-acre) potato farm in the northeastern province of Gangwon.

“I never expected that we had to work harder than a carabao,” said Mark. “I vowed to never work in farms in South Korea again.”

In January, the DMW told local governments to stop sending farm workers to South Korea until rules were rewritten to ensure decent wages, fair conditions and ready access to medical care.

But Ko – of the Joint Committee with Migrants – said there had been “no policy change” nor had the rules been reworked.

So the old scheme persists – along with all the complaints.

“We cannot provide jobs for our people … but we should at least protect their rights,” said Macabuag of the Migrant Forum in Asia. “The ideal would be for us to have a really good economy where people don’t have to leave.”