Germany’s CDU, scenting power, tacks Right with new party programme

8 May 2024

Paddy Belton

Germany’s Christian Democrats (CDU) has adopted a party programme that positions it distinctly more to the Right from its centrist orientation under former chancellor Angela Merkel.

Among the new manifesto proposals revealed on May 7 are requiring immigrants to sign up for Germany’s Leitkultur, or dominant culture, with a body of beliefs that include recognising Israel’s right to exist.

Other proposals in the programme included sending refugees to “safe third countries” (a nod to the UK’s Rwanda policy), bringing back nuclear power and introducing an obligatory “year of service” to benefit society for school leavers. Regarding “green” policy, the party adopted a line of “leaving it to inventors” to develop technological solutions to climate change.

The new programme reflected an attempt to distinguish the CDU’s party leader Friedrich Merz, leading in polls with around 30 per cent, from a Chancellor Olaf Scholz whose coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals is performing poorly.

Scholz’s Social Democrats currently ranks at around 15.5 per cent, the Greens 12 per cent and Liberals 5 per cent.

The rise of the AfD, coming in at 18 per cent in a May 6 poll, suggests more swing votes may lie to the Right.

On Europe, the programme is “pro EU but with some EU-sceptic language”, said German broadcaster Deutsche Welle’s Michaele Kuefner.

Brexit “wouldn’t have happened if Europe had made more concessions to the UK”, Merz said during the conference, adding that Merkel’s Germany was partly to blame.

Merz was a former rival to Merkel, shunted aside in a power struggle in the 2000s, and many aspects of the programme – the party’s first since 2007 – are pointed reversals of Merkel’s policies.

Merkel had abolished the draft, allowed more than 1 million refugees to settle in Germany in 2015-6, and phased out nuclear power after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.

Merz “is trying to overcome his trauma, the trauma of being pushed out by Merkel”, said Berlin-based columnist Maurice Höfgen.

For a Merz who appears to be keen on abolishing Merkel’s legacy, there could also be one more trophy to be claimed: European Commission President and European People’s Party (EPP) member Ursula von der Leyen, now seen as close to Scholz’s Government.

In France, French President Emmanuel Macron currently is looking to “form an EPP alliance with Merz”, to displace von der Leyen with an alternative candidate as EC chief, said Mujtaba Rahman of the Eurasia Group.

His climate policy line also appeared pitched to a moment of growing scepticism with von der Leyen’s Green Deal, even if it caused German science writer Christian Scharun to retort: “we have already invented the necessary technologies and are just not using them sufficiently.”

Merz has been the CDU’s leader since 2022 and is still attempting to put his stamp on a party he has only led in opposition.

At the party conference, he faced the danger of being eclipsed by Bavarian chief minister Markus Söder.

This was the problem of “when your guest act becomes the top act at the party conference that just re-elected you as leader”, quipped Kuefner.

Other ambitious challengers also beckon in the CDU’s wings, including North Rhine-Westphalia’s chief minister.

“The media are betting on Hendrik Wüst,” said German journalist Roland Tichy.

Japan-Russia tensions flare over Ukraine war amid decades-long land disputes

May 08, 2024 
By Chermaine Lee

In this undated photo, a turret from an old tank set in the ground as a part of war fortifications in front of a lighthouse near Yuzhno-Kurilsk on Kunashiri Island, one of the Kuril Chain, known as the Northern Territories in Japan.

SAPPORO, JAPAN —

Friction between Japan and Russia will likely escalate amidst the burgeoning Ukraine war, with the decades-long land conflicts showing no sign of thawing.

The Kremlin recently banned non-Russian vessels from waters near the Kuril Islands – known in Japan as the Northern Territories – currently occupied by Russia but claimed by Japan.

Tokyo saw the move as part of a series of Moscow threats after the recent security alliance between the United States and Japan.

There will be further retaliation from Moscow against Japan, according to James DJ Brown, professor of political science at Japan’s Temple University.

“The Putin regime feels an obligation to retaliate against what it regards as unfriendly actions by Japan,” Brown told VOA News. “Every time Tokyo does something more to assist Ukraine or to strengthen military ties with the United States, Moscow takes some measures to punish Japan.”

He said that as Japan is likely to introduce further sanctions to support Kyiv, Moscow’s retaliation is “all but guaranteed.”

The retaliatory measures aren’t just targeting Tokyo. A Russian man residing in the Kuril Islands was warned in March by a Russian court over his remarks to Japanese media that the territory had belonged to Japan in the past.

Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would visit the Kuril Islands, putting a damper on hopes for negotiations over sovereignty that both countries have attempted for decades.

Kuril Islands

Land disputes run deep

Russia and Japan’s competing claims over the four islands off the northeast coast of Hokkaido – Japan's second-largest island – date back to at least the 19th century. Near the end of WWII, the then Soviet Union started fully occupying the Kuril Islands.

Japan claimed that the Soviet Union incorporated them “without any legal grounds” and refused to sign a peace treaty. Tokyo said about 17,000 Japanese residents were deported from the islands. The Russian public, Brown said, view the Kuril Islands as reward for the sacrifices of the Soviet people during the war.

The two countries have held talks off and on for decades to reach an agreement but to no avail.

The conflict eased in 2016, when the two countries agreed on joint economic activities including tourism projects on the islands, as well as visa-free visits for Japanese citizens.

Two years later, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proposed a split of the four islands, returning two islands to Japan, but Putin rejected it. Akihiro Iwashita, professor of the Slavic-Eurasian Research Center at Japan’s Hokkaido University, called this Putin’s “failed diplomacy” toward Japan that eventually led to Tokyo taking a more hardline approach against Moscow.

“If Putin had shown goodwill to Japan, negotiating with Shinzo Abe for the peace treaty, Japan would not have taken a critical position over the Ukraine war,” Iwashita told VOA News. “Remember Japan’s hesitation to sanction Russia after its 2014 aggression against Ukraine? Japan now does not need to restrain its policy towards Russia.”

Tensions over the Ukraine war

Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow put all peace treaty talks with Japan on hold and suspended the previously agreed economic activities and visa-free visits to the islands for Japanese citizens. This followed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s siding with Ukraine in the war, with Kishida calling the suspension “extremely unjust.”

Japan has been providing assistance to Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, including supplying Patriot air defense systems last year. Kishida was the first Japanese leader to visit an active war zone, to show solidarity with Ukraine and the U.S.

Moscow warned of “grave consequences” for its ties with Tokyo. That did not stop Japan from pledging $4.5 billion in aid to war-torn Ukraine last December, including $1 billion for humanitarian purposes.

Japan’s aid to Ukraine has affected residents of Hokkaido. A survey conducted by Hokkaido authorities and the Hokkaido Shimbun last year showed that over half of the respondents near the Russia-Japan border in the north felt a negative effect of the Ukraine war on local life, including reduction in fishing activities and trade, and human contacts.

In October last year, Russia banned all seafood imports from Japan, citing Tokyo’s release of wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant.

“Moscow used the pretense of the threat of radiation from treatment water from the Fukushima plant. In reality, it was an attempt by Moscow to punish Japan for its support for Ukraine,” Brown said.

In the survey, many also said they cannot foresee a solution for the northern territories, but a majority said they support Tokyo’s policy against Russia.

Both experts said Russia does not currently pose a military threat to Japan. Brown said, “the Russian military is present on the disputed islands, but their role is to defend the Sea of Okhotsk, which is important as a bastion for Russian nuclear submarines. It does not have the capabilities on the islands to launch an amphibious assault on Hokkaido.”

Peace treaty negotiations are expected to continue to be frozen for the foreseeable future, despite Kishida’s calls for their resumption in February this year.

“Kishida is displaying diplomatic goodwill towards Russia, but with no expectations of it being reciprocated…There is little room to fill the interest gap between the two,” said Iwashita.

He added that Russia’s pressure on Japan “will not lead to any results.”

 

Nuclear site licence issued for UK's Sizewell C site

07 May 2024

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has granted a nuclear site licence for the Sizewell C site in eastern England, where the plan is to replicate the Hinkley Point C model of a nuclear power plant featuring two EPRs.

(Image: Sizewell C Ltd)

The licence application was initially submitted in 2020, and despite it having met "almost all" regulatory requirements, two issues prevented the granting of a licence in 2022 - relating to the shareholders' agreement and the ownership of the land at the site. The ONR said at that time it would carry out a "proportionate reassessment" once those two issues had been "resolved to its satisfaction". It has now done so and recommended the granting of the nuclear site licence.

The issuing of the licence is a significant step in the long-running Sizewell C process, but it does not permit the start of nuclear-related construction at the site - instead it formalises ONR's regulatory responsibility and allows it to require project company Sizewell C Ltd to request permission for the start of nuclear-related construction.

It is the first site licence issued by the ONR since the one issued for Hinkley Point C in 2012 and it means that Sizewell C has a legal responsibility to comply with health and safety and nuclear security regulations and needs the project to meet 36 conditions attached to the licence covering the design, construction, operation and decommissioning of the plant.

ONR CEO Mark Foy said: "I am pleased to confirm that following extensive engagement and review by the ONR team, our assessment of the Sizewell C application is complete and a nuclear site licence has been granted. The licensing process is fundamental in confirming that operators of a nuclear site are ready and able to meet their obligations under the nuclear site licence, to protect their workforce and the public.

"The granting of this licence is one step in ONR's process, allowing us to provide greater regulatory oversight, advice and challenge to the licensee as they progress their plans. We will continue working with Sizewell C to ensure that the highest levels of safety and security are met."

Sizewell C director of safety, security and assurance, Mina Golshan, said: "Securing a nuclear site licence is a show of confidence from our nuclear regulator that we have a suitable site, that we can achieve a safe design replicated from Hinkley Point C, and that we have a capable organisation ready to begin major construction work. It’s a huge milestone and demonstrates that this project is firmly on track."

The EDF-led plan is for Sizewell C to feature two EPRs producing 3.2 GW of electricity, enough to power the equivalent of around six million homes for at least 60 years. It would be a similar design to the two-unit plant being built at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, with the aim of building it more quickly and at lower cost as a result of the experience gained from what is the first new nuclear construction project in the UK for about three decades.

EDF agreed in October 2016 with China General Nuclear (CGN) to develop the Sizewell C project to the point where a final investment decision could be made. EDF had an 80% stake and CGN a 20% stake. However, the so-called "golden era" of UK-China relations has ended in recent years with the UK government citing security concerns as it reviewed and blocked Chinese investments in UK infrastructure. In November 2022, the UK said it would invest GBP679 million (USD845 million) and become a 50% partner with EDF in the Sizewell C project. A further GBP511 million of funding was made available to the project in summer 2023, with the government funding designed to get the project to the final investment decision. EDF said in November 2022 that it planned to "retain only a minority stake in the final investment decision - a maximum of 20%".

The UK government has been seeking investment in the Sizewell C project, launching a pre-qualification for potential investors as the first stage of an equity raise process last September. It has also taken legislation through Parliament allowing a new way of funding new large infrastructure projects - a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) funding model, which can see consumers contributing towards the cost of new nuclear power plants during the construction phase. Under the previous Contracts for Difference system developers finance the construction of a nuclear project and only begin receiving revenue when the station starts generating electricity.

In January, a further GBP1.3 billion of government funding was approved allowing for necessary infrastructure work such as roads and rail lines to continue pending a final investment decision being taken. In March Sizewell C Ltd, a standalone company majority-owned by the UK government, signed a deal with EDF Energy to purchase the freehold of the land which will be used for the new power plant.

Minister for Nuclear and Renewables Andrew Bowie said: "Sizewell C will be the cornerstone of the UK's clean energy transition, supplying six million homes with green energy for decades. Obtaining a nuclear site licence is a significant achievement and should instil further confidence from investors - bringing us another step closer towards reaching a final investment decision this year."

Sizewell C Ltd said that earthworks are under way at the site, that the process of raising private equity from investors "continues to make good progress" and "the project is anticipating taking a Final Investment Decision in the coming months".

WEC panelists welcome growth in support for nuclear power

07 May 2024

The public and political perception of nuclear energy has significantly improved over the past few years, speakers agreed in a panel session during the recent World Energy Congress 2024.

The panel session (Image: WNN)

"The fact that we're having this panel here at WEC is really a testament to the growing interest in nuclear," session moderator John Gorman, president and CEO of the Canadian Nuclear Association, noted in his introduction. The session - titled Leap of scale or faith: Realising the full potential of nuclear - was held on 24 April during the congress in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that although some people refer to a nuclear 'renaissance', he prefers to think of it as "a return to realism".

"We are seeing this realisation that ... ensuring the means to grow and to power our economies ... it would be very difficult, if not simply impossible, to get to that place without nuclear," he said. Grossi said there was a "common understanding" when it comes to energy and the transition to cleaner energy systems - "nuclear has a place. It always had it. We always knew it, but for quite a long time it was challenged, it was contested". He continued: "We have a global consensus that [nuclear] should be accelerated side-by-side with renewables, side-by-side with fossils."

People are now realising that nuclear energy does not emit greenhouse gases and is necessary, along with renewable energies, to reach the target of reaching net-zero by 2050, Laurence Piketty, deputy general administrator of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) said. She said France's fleet of 56 power reactors - which provide about 70% of the country's electricity - had helped France maintain electricity prices at a "fair level compared with other European countries" during the energy crisis that began in 2022.

Piketty highlighted the 12-member Nuclear Alliance that is calling on the European Commission to recognise nuclear energy in the EU's energy strategy and relevant policies. "I see the excitement around this European alliance as a clear change in the public perception and European perception of nuclear and an increasing acceptance of it, even in countries where nuclear energy was banned for many years," she said.

Referring to the first Nuclear Energy Summit, held in Brussels in March this year, Grossi said some leaders "very candidly said, 'We have changed. Things have changed. And the reality has changed'. And the people out there are saying it even in countries phasing out nuclear - when you go and ask people on the street they would like to have nuclear."

Grossi said there was a generational change in public opinion about nuclear energy. "Young people are very favourable in general to nuclear," he said. "And what we see is that those having expressed more doubts perhaps belong more to my generation than the new generations that are not carrying this package of doubts and sometimes ideological issues." He added: "We have to address problems squarely, including those having to do with opposition, societal doubt. And in this I think there has been a real change."

Naomi Hirose, vice chair of the World Energy Council and chairman of the Japan Energy Association, said that public opinion about nuclear energy in Japan had been "very, very negative" in the years following the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. "But I was very much surprised to see [the results of] a public opinion poll which took place a year and a half ago, the end of 2022," the former CEO of Tokyo Electric Power Company said.

"The question was whether nuclear power plants that have passed safety review from the Nuclear Regulatory Authority should be restarted, 58% of the respondents said they should be restarted. I was honestly very surprised because this same question had been asked many times over the years after the accident and the average positive answer is something like 20-25%. But it suddenly changed up to 58%. This is the public reacting to energy security. It was brought about by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and people are very much scared about the safe, stable supply of electricity in Japan. And the price of electric power jumped up. That's why the people changed [their opinion] dramatically."

"The young generation is so important and in much of the world we see that the young generation is actually pushing for the adoption of nuclear," Gorman said.

Piketty said that nuclear energy was now widely recognised as a valuable source of low-carbon, stable, long-lasting, predictable energy that will enable countries to decarbonise in the long-term. "But, with the electrification of many sectors in the world, starting with mobility, nuclear energy needs to show its potential and its capacity to match this ... we have to take up several challenges. We must develop and deploy a new generation of reactors (including SMRs) in a timely manner."

"We are at the moment, unfortunately, in the international scene seeing conflict, we see tension," said Grossi. "And we see problems. It's not the first time - history is not linear. But when it comes to nuclear, there is a lot of convergence. There is a perception and a conviction that there are many things in which we can cooperate and we see that this pattern is a reflection of that.

"There are still challenges ahead of us and nothing is guaranteed, because if we fail to address and to give the right answers to some of the issues perhaps preventing nuclear to flourish in the way we want, we will still have nuclear, but we will not have the nuclear we need. And this is the gap. We know that nuclear is going to continue, but we also know that we need more nuclear. Are we going to get it, yes or no? This is the question."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

 

Italy sees role for nuclear in hitting climate goals, says minister

29 April 2024

Italian Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said he hopes there can be a discussion based on science about the renewed role of nuclear, specifically small modular reactors, in the country's future.

(Image: Screengrab from Atlantic Council TV/Youtube)

Pichetto was speaking at an Atlantic Council event on The role of nuclear in the energy transition, on Sunday, ahead of the G7 ministerial meeting taking place in Italy at which he is heading the energy ministers' talks.

He said that Italy currently gets one-third of its energy from renewables and two-thirds from fossil fuels, and it had the aim of reversing those proportions by 2030. But he also said that "we must consider the use of nuclear in the short and medium term" because its contribution would help meet the 2050 net-zero target.

The minister said he was specifically talking about small modular reactors (SMRs) and referenced the research and development funding the government had put into both their development and into nuclear fusion. He also noted the countries which, at COP28, had backed the goal of tripling nuclear energy capacity.

Pichetto, who spoke in Italian with a translator summarising his words in English, said that as well as the environmental benefits of new nuclear power, it would also help "to shield" Italy from the impact of geopolitical events. It was also confirmed that Italy is taking part in the European industrial alliance to develop SMRs. The minister added that he hoped Italy could have a "constructive and scientific discussion and not an ideological one" on the nuclear energy subject.

Italy operated a total of four nuclear power plants starting in the early 1960s but decided to phase out nuclear power in a referendum that followed the 1986 Chernobyl accident. It closed its last two operating plants, Caorso and Trino Vercellese, in 1990.

In late March 2011, following the Fukushima Daiichi accident, the Italian government approved a moratorium of at least one year on construction of nuclear power plants in the country, which had been looking to restart its long-abandoned nuclear programme.

The public mood has changed since then, and in May 2023, the Italian Parliament approved a motion to urge the government to consider incorporating nuclear power into the country's energy mix. In September, the first meeting was held of the National Platform for a Sustainable Nuclear, set up by the government to define a time frame for the possible resumption of nuclear energy in Italy and identify opportunities for the country's industrial chain already operating in the sector.

There are a variety of emerging plans for nuclear energy in Italy, including Edison last October announcing its ambition to construct two nuclear power plants based on EDF's SMR technology between 2030 and 2040 "if the conditions are created for its return to Italy".

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

 

Commercial operation marks completion of Vogtle expansion

29 April 2024

Georgia Power has announced the start of commercial operations at the second of the two AP1000 units built as an expansion of the existing two-unit Vogtle plant. The plant is now the largest generator of clean energy in the USA.

With all four units now in commercial operation, Vogtle is expected to produce xpected to produce more than 30 million MWh each year (Image: Georgia Power)

Vogtle 4 reached first criticality in February and was connected to the grid in March, following Vogtle 3 which entered commercial operation in July 2023. They are the first new nuclear units to be constructed in the USA in more than 30 years.

The construction of Vogtle units 3 and 4 was originally approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) as part of Georgia Power's Integrated Resource Plan process in which regulators analyse and discuss the company's plans on how it will continue delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy for millions of customers over a 20-year planning horizon. Construction of the two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors began in 2013.

"It's an exciting time to be a Georgian as our state continues to grow and thrive, with new demand for more clean energy each year," said Kim Greene, chairman, president and CEO of Georgia Power. "The new Vogtle units are a key piece of our strategy to meet the energy needs of our customers not only tomorrow, but 20 years from now."

The plant is operated by Southern Nuclear on behalf of co-owners Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities. Georgia Power is a subsidiary of Southern Company.

Chris Womack, chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company, described the completion of the expansion of the Vogtle nuclear plant is a "hallmark achievement" for Southern Company, the state of Georgia and the entire USA. "Working with our partners across government, industry, labour and beyond, we have added new nuclear generation to the diverse energy resources that enhance the reliability, resiliency and affordability of our system as we work to achieve our goal to be net zero by 2050. These new Vogtle units not only will support the economy within our communities now and in the future, they demonstrate our global nuclear leadership," he said.

Plant Vogtle has provided billions of dollars of positive economic impact for Georgia and local communities, Georgia Power said. The new units have created 800 permanent jobs, in addition to over 9000 on-site jobs at the peak of construction.

Vogtle 1 and 2 have been in commercial operation since 1987 and 1989 respectively, and are currently licensed for a 60-year operating life.

Construction starts of second Lianjiang unit

29 April 2024

The first safety-related concrete has been poured for the nuclear island of unit 2 at the Lianjiang nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province. It is the second of two CAP1000 units planned as the initial phase of the plant, which will eventually house six such reactors.

Concrete is poured for the foundations of the nuclear island of Lianjiang 2 (Image: SPIC)

State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) said the first concrete was poured at 11.56am on 26 April. It expected to pour a total of about 6615 cubic metres of concrete over a 57-hour period.

The construction of the first two 1250 MWe CAP1000 reactors at the Lianjiang site was approved by China's State Council in September 2022. Excavation works for the units began in the same month, with the pouring of first concrete for the foundation of unit 1 completed at the end of September last year. Lianjiang unit 1 is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2028.

The CAP1000 reactor design - the Chinese version of the AP1000 - uses modular construction techniques, enabling large structural modules to be built at factories and then installed at the site.

Concrete pouring for Lianjiang 2 (Image: SPIC)

Once all six CAP1000 units at the site are completed, the annual power generation will be about 70.2 TWh, which will reduce standard coal consumption by more than 20 million tonnes, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 52 million tonnes, sulphur dioxide by about 171,000 tonnes and nitrogen oxides by about 149,000 tonnes.

SPIC noted the Lianjiang project is the first nuclear power project it has developed and constructed in Guangdong province. It will also be the first nuclear power project in China to adopt seawater secondary circulation cooling technology, as well as the first to use a super-large cooling tower.

With a total installed nuclear power capacity of 8.09 GWe, SPIC is one of the three largest nuclear power investment, construction and operators in China. It has reactors in operation, four units under construction and a number of preliminary nuclear power project sites.

Grid challenges add to need for more nuclear, WEC side-event told

26 April 2024

Massive growth is expected in the global demand for electricity, which will require an expansion of both generation and the transmission system, speakers at a side event at the World Energy Congress 2024 agreed. Nuclear power will play an important role, they said, in ensuring the resilience of the future electricity system.

The panel (Image: WNN)

The session - Building low-carbon resilient electricity system - was co-organised by World Nuclear Association, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress, held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, on 22-25 April.

Asked about the biggest challenges to the global electricity system, World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León said that many developed countries have "very robust and reliable energy systems" that have been built over the years but when adding new generation - particularly intermittent renewable generation - "we have forgotten to ensure the resiliency of the system". "We are finding ourselves close to breaking point where any most-needed capacity ... is really going to require major investment into the grid itself," she said.

Neil Wilmshurst, Senior Vice President, Energy System Resilience and Chief Nuclear Operator at EPRI, said that in the developed world the challenge is integrating renewables, reliability, and resilience in the context of increasing demand. He noted that conservative estimates put future electricity demand at twice or three times the current demand. "If you look at the amount of hydrogen people say could be in demand in the US, it would take the entire current generation capacity of the US to produce it. That is the kind of magnitude of generation we're talking about. Then you throw on top of that the coming load from data centres." Meanwhile, electricity demand in developing countries is also rapidly expanding. A major challenge, he said, will be simultaneously increasing electricity supply in the developed world whilst electrifying the developing world.

Iva Brkic, Secretary of UNECE's Sustainable Energy Division, noted a recent International Energy Agency report which estimated that there was a need to add or refurbish a total of more than 80 million kilometres of grids by 2040, the equivalent of the existing global grid. "We need to double it in the next 14 years to meet our targets," she said. "So where are those resources going to come from? Where are the critical raw materials that we need to identify, to secure the supply chains, to really build that infrastructure? Now we add another layer to this - keeping the resiliency but also the reliability of that grid."

Brkic said the effects of climate change are already being experienced around the world. "How can we ensure that the system that we are now redesigning and building and modernising can withstand those impacts of climate change - the heatwaves, the droughts. This is something that we need to pay attention to.

"At the UNECE, we like to think also about the aspects of balancing between delivering on energy security, affordability and environmental sustainability. And when we think now about modernising the electricity system, it's also about balancing those aspects and creating the resiliency while actually cleaning the energy system."

The electricity sector is still one of the highest emitters of CO2, with many countries relying heavily on fossil fuels for electricity production, said Wassim Ballout, and energy analyst at EDF's Corporate Strategy Division. "One of the biggest challenges will be to satisfy this significant demand growth with decarbonised production. Not only decarbonising the existing production but also to cope with the significant increase ... the challenge would be to invest in all low-cost, low-emission technologies and to have a technological neutral approach and have good incentives to do that."

Bilbao y León said people tend to think of the energy systems of the future as being a version of what currently exists. However, she said the technology is going to be very different. "Very importantly I think that we are going to see a lot of coupling of systems … electricity is obviously going to be very important as we try to electrify a lot of energy, but clearly there are going to be additional energy vectors … all these technologies are going to make this system more complex … we can have different energy products depending on what is needed at different times to ensure the reliability and the resiliency and the flexibility of the system."

Ballout spoke about scenarios that EDF have been developing for more than 15 years, mainly for internal use. This year the company has made its scenario for net-zero publicly available. "It's fundamentally different from the other scenarios we're developing because we start with the constraints and the end. We start with net neutrality in 2050 and we go backwards. So we try to find the most economically efficient pathway to achieve this neutrality. And when I say economically efficient, I think of welfare maximisation, the minimisation of the cost and the optimisation of the resilience of the system.

"And that's how we come to a mix that shows we have to multiply by six our renewable capacity in Europe [by 2050] - we've been talking about 15 Western European countries. We will have between 120 and 150 gigawatts of nuclear capacity. We will enhance significantly the production of biofuels and CCS. We see this path will take us to a significant increase of flexibility needs … it's a very important part of the resilience of the system."

Wilmshurst said it was clear that nuclear and renewables will have a role together in the future electricity system. "If we have an idealistic view that renewables can expand and expand and expand, the transmission grid needs to expand and expand, get more complicated, and when it gets more complicated the potential for it be less reliable increases."

However, he noted that financing is a hurdle for nuclear deployment in most countries. "A great part of nuclear being perceived as expensive is the financing cost. So why is the financing cost so high? Because you have to build the nuclear plant - it takes a long time, it's complicated - but that huge capital investment upfront alone then gives you the facility that runs for many decades to recoup the investment."

"If we get deployment plans together with a clear picture ... all of a sudden, the deployment experience increases, deployment risk goes down, the confidence in the financial markets that the projects can be delivered on time increases. Finance starts flowing. If we don't make a decision to move, we don't start doing things, we don't learn as well. There's hesitancy in the markets to invest."

Ballout said nuclear and hydro play a very important role because outages of plants can be scheduled during periods where the demand is lower. "But that's why we say we have to continue financing and investing in hydro and nuclear. The nuclear fleet is capable of ramping up when suddenly you don't have sun or wind. It's possible technologically and technically speaking and at the same time it is possible to ramp down in order to leave room for renewables to produce and that's really the very important message for us."

Poland's nuclear programme making good progress, says IAEA

26 April 2024

An International Atomic Energy Agency review mission has praised steps taken to develop the necessary infrastructure for a safe and sustainable nuclear power programme in Poland. Meanwhile, Bechtel marks the start of site field work for the country's first nuclear power plant.

Ceyhan, right, presents the draft report to Motyka (Image: Polish Climate Ministry)

The 11-day IAEA mission to Poland - a Phase 2 Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review - took place from 15 to 25 April at the invitation of the Polish government and used the IAEA's Milestones Approach to review the status of 19 nuclear infrastructure issues. The aim is the check the readiness of a country to invite bids or negotiate a contract for their first nuclear power plant.

The 10-person team "identified good practices that would benefit other countries developing nuclear power in the areas of contracting approach, strategic approach to funding, early authorisation of technical support organisations to support the nuclear regulator, engagement with the electrical grid operator, stakeholder involvement and industrial involvement".

Mission team leader Mehmet Ceyhan, Technical Lead of the IAEA Nuclear Infrastructure Development Section, said: "The Polish Nuclear Power Programme (PNPP) was initiated with clear objectives and is progressing towards the construction stage in a structured way. We observed strong and dedicated teams in each of the key organisations that will help to achieve the government’s objectives for the PNPP."

Among the areas highlighted for further action was "the need to further review its legal and regulatory framework, and finalise the preparatory work required for the contracting and construction stages".

Miłosz Motyka, Undersecretary of State for the Ministry of Climate and Environment of Poland, said: "Poland's cooperation with the IAEA is a long-term collaboration, and the review mission is extremely valuable and beneficial for the implementation and execution of the Polish nuclear power programme."

The collaboration with the IAEA also involved a September 2023 Integrated Regulatory Review Service mission to the country which found Poland's nuclear regulatory framework met IAEA safety standards.

Field work getting under way

Meanwhile, a symbolic kick-off ceremony was held by US-firm Bechtel at its Warsaw office to mark the start of geological surveys for Poland's first nuclear power plant at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in the Pomeranian municipality of Choczewo.

Bechtel is a member of the US consortium responsible for the implementation of the nuclear power plant project which is set to feature three Westinghouse AP1000 units. The field work is due to start in May on an area covering about 30 hectares with approximately 220 research points being constructed with depths of 20 to 210 metres. Bechtel has awarded the contract for the geological work to PSD Poland, with the work expected to be completed in November.

The findings will be crucial for the earthworks design for the plant and will also inform the Location Report which Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) will need to submit to obtain a construction permit from Poland's National Atomic Energy Agency, the PPA.

The event was attended by the US Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski, who called it "another important step forward as Poland and the United States work together to create a civil nuclear industry in Poland, and it shows that the United States is delivering on our shared commitment to Poland’s energy security and supporting Poland’s energy transition".

Leszek Hołda, Bechtel Poland Country Manager, said: "The commencement of the initial fieldwork for the construction of this plant is a significant moment for the Polish economy, the companies that will participate in the supply chain, and the local community."

Leszek Juchniewicz, a member of the board of directors and acting president of PEJ, said this was an important time for the enterprise and showed that "the project to build Poland's first nuclear power plant is gaining momentum".

Project background

PEJ - a special-purpose vehicle 100% owned by the State Treasury - is responsible for the construction project of the first nuclear power plant in Poland.

In November 2022, the then Polish government selected the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor technology. An agreement setting a plan for the delivery of the plant was signed in May last year by Westinghouse, Bechtel and PEJ. The Ministry of Climate and Environment in July issued a decision-in-principle for PEJ to construct the plant. The aim is for Poland's first AP1000 reactor to enter commercial operation in 2033.

Under an engineering services agreement signed in September last year, in cooperation with PEJ, Westinghouse and Bechtel will finalise a site-specific design for a plant featuring three AP1000 reactors. The design/engineering documentation includes the main components of the power plant: the nuclear island, the turbine island and the associated installations and auxiliary equipment, as well as administrative buildings and infrastructure related to the safety of the facility. The contract also involves supporting t

Industria and Rolls-Royce SMR plans take step forward

26 April 2024

Poland's Industria says that it now has all the necessary ministerial opinions required to move on to the next stage of its plans for the construction of small modular reactor plants using Rolls-Royce SMR's technology.

Rolls-Royce SMR’s Woods and Industria's Ruman, pictured last year (Image: Rolls-Royce SMR)

The Polish Minister of Climate and Environment needed to get opinions from a range of government departments - the Minister of State Assets, the Internal Security Agency and Poland's chief Geologist - that the investment would have a "positive impact".

Now it has received all the required opinions, the ministry is able to move ahead to the next step which would be to issue a Decision In Principle to deploy Rolls-Royce SMRs, a 470 MWe design based on a small pressurised water reactor.

Last year, state-owned Industria - part of Industrial Development Agency JSC (IDA) - selected Rolls-Royce SMR technology to fulfil the zero-emission energy goals of the Central Hydrogen Cluster in Poland and as part of their plans to produce 50,000 tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen every year.

Industria submitted its application for a Decision in Principle in December to Polish Climate and Environment Minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska, and has now welcomed the receipt of the last required opinion, from Poland's Internal Security Agency.

Szczepan Ruman, President of the Management Board of Industria, said: "The positive opinion from the Internal Security Agency is a very important document for us, not only because it is the last opinion we have been waiting for and the Minister of Climate and Environment has complete documentation to decide on issuing the Decision in Principle. The positive opinion from the Internal Security Agency is important for us primarily because in this opinion, the agency - responsible for the internal security of the state, as well as for supervising the energy sector - confirms that our planned investment has a positive impact on the security of the Republic of Poland."

He added that with the Central Hydrogen Cluster he hoped "it will be possible to build a significant order portfolio from several entities for SMR units using Rolls-Royce technology, giving the Polish side a strong position in negotiations on the delivery terms of individual units, as well as, above all, in terms of the participation of the Polish industry in a supply chain for RR SMRs and thus the creation of attractive jobs in Poland."

Alan Woods, Rolls-Royce SMR’s Director of Strategy and Business Development, said: "We are delighted the Polish Government has concluded that the deployment of our unique 'factory-built' nuclear power plants would have a positive impact for the country, and we look forward to a Decision in Principle to deploy Rolls-Royce SMRs in Poland."

In July last year, Industria signed a letter of intent with the Kostrzyn-Słubicka Special Economic Zone SA (KSSSE) regarding cooperation on the location of a modular power plant based on Rolls-Royce SMR technology in the areas covered by the KSSSE.

Last month, Industria also signed a letter of intent with Chiltern Vital Group. With its partners - including Western Gateway, SGSC, University of Bristol, Vital Energi and Rolls-Royce SMR - Chiltern Vital Group intends to create a world-first net-zero and nuclear technologies campus at a site next to the former Berkeley Magnox nuclear power plant in Gloucestershire, southwest England. This will be the first step towards a 'net-zero super cluster' investment zone, encouraging the roll out of Rolls-Royce SMRs alongside an array of net-zero technologies.

The main provisions of the agreement include cooperation in: training and development of skills of Polish students and specialists; exchange of know-how to accelerate the licensing process of components dedicated to the nuclear industry; joint development of related technologies to create large low-carbon regional technology parks; and creating private financing models to ensure the viability of small modular reactor projects.he investment process and bringing it in line with current legal regulations in cooperation with the PAA and the Office of Technical Inspection.

Romanian President leads visit to Doosan SMR production facilities

25 April 2024

Romania plans a small modular reactor power plant, using NuScale technology, with South Korea's Doosan Enerbility set to manufacture and supply the core equipment, including the upper reactor module.

Geewon Park, centre, with President Iohannis, right, during the visit (Image: Doosan Enerbility)

Romania's SMR project is aiming for 462 MWe installed capacity, using six 77 MWe NuScale modules. The SMR project, at Doicesti where a thermal power plant will be replaced, is expected to create nearly 200 permanent jobs, 1500 construction jobs and 2300 manufacturing and component assembly jobs, as well as facility operation and maintenance jobs over the 60-year life of the facility.

During the visit to the manufacturing facilities in Changwon, the delegation of senior Romanian politicians and industry figures toured the forging shop and reviewed specific facilities for SMR production and discussed the project schedule. Doosan signed a business collaboration agreement with NuScale for the supply of NuScale Power Modules and other equipment in 2019. Together with other Korean financial investors it has also made an equity investment of nearly USD104 million in NuScale Power.

President Klaus Iohannis said after the visit: "Romania wants to develop its supply chains in the clean energy industry and hence lead in supporting the regional decarbonisation efforts. International cooperation and partnering with well-established actors is key to achieving this objective and securing Romania’s energy and economic future".

Also on the visit was Cosmin Ghita, CEO of Romania's nuclear power company Nuclearelectrica, who said: "The Romanian SMR Project will benefit from the highest level of nuclear safety and technological robustness. Doosan Enerbility, with their internationally acknowledged experience in nuclear equipment manufacturing and advancements in SMR technologies, will significantly contribute to ensuring that, by the end of the 2030s, Romania will become a benchmark in advanced nuclear technology implementation and efficient long-term clean energy projects."

Melania Amuza, CEO of the SMR project company RoPower, a joint venture between Nuclearelectrica and Nova Power and Gas, said: "The sustainable development of the Doicesti SMR project includes strong supply chain links ... we look forward to building together a flagship SMR project for Romania."

Doosan Enerbility CEO and Chairman Geewon Park, said: "Leveraging a strong cooperative relationship with NuScale Power, Doosan Enerbility is consistently improving its production capabilities through innovation and technological advancements for SMRs. We are actively preparing for the deployment of Romania's first SMR project, with the goal of supporting the reliable provision of clean energy in Romania."

NuScale Power and RoPower have been conducting a Front End Engineering and Design Phase 1 study to analyse the preferred SMR site - which got International Atomic Energy Agency approval earlier this month - and received USD275 million funding last May from the USA and "multinational public-private partners" to support procurement of "long lead materials, Phase 2 Front End Engineering and Design work, provision of project management expertise, site characterisation and regulatory analyses, and the development of site-specific schedule and budget estimates for project execution".

IAEA assesses operation of Japanese reactor for 60 years

25 April 2024

Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power Company is implementing timely measures for the safe long-term operation of unit 3 at its Mihama nuclear power plant, a team of International Atomic Energy Agency experts has concluded. The team also provided recommendations and suggestions to further improve the safe operation of the unit beyond 40 years.

The Mihama plant (Image: NRA)

Under revised regulations which came into force in July 2013, Japanese reactors have a nominal operating period of 40 years. Extensions can be granted once only and limited to a maximum of 20 years, contingent on exacting safety requirements.

In November 2016, Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) approved an extension to the operating period for Kansai's Mihama unit 3, a 780 MWe pressurised water reactor that entered commercial operation in 1976. The NRA's decision cleared the unit to operate until 2036. Mihama 3 was the third Japanese unit to be granted a licence extension enabling it to operate beyond 40 years under the revised regulations, following Kansai's Takahama 1 and 2 which received NRA approval in June 2016.

Mihama 3 was restarted in June 2021 after having been idle since May 2011 following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant two months earlier. It became the first Japanese power reactor to operate beyond 40 years.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has now completed a ten-day Safety Aspects of Long-Term Operation (SALTO) mission to Mihama 3, carried out at Kansai's request.

A SALTO peer review is a comprehensive safety review addressing strategy and key elements for the safe long-term operation of nuclear power plants. SALTO missions complement IAEA Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) missions which are designed as a review of programmes and activities essential to operational safety. SALTO peer reviews can be carried out at any time during the lifetime of a nuclear power plant, although according to the IAEA the most suitable time lies within the last ten years of the plant's originally foreseen operating period. SALTO and OSART reviews are carried out at the request of the IAEA member country in which the review is to take place.

The team reviewed Mahama 3's preparedness, organisation and programmes for safe LTO. The mission was conducted by an 11-person team comprising experts from the Czech Republic, France, Sweden, the UK and the USA, as well as three observers from Finland and South Korea, and two IAEA staff members.

The team identified good performances, including that the plant has developed and effectively implemented a comprehensive methodology for identification and management of design obsolescence. The plant has also participated in benchmarking efforts related to ageing management of the steel containment and containment pressure testing and uses these benchmarking efforts to enhance the ageing management activities of the civil structures. In addition, it has put in place an effective mentoring programme using retired staff as mentors for new and current staff to develop their competencies and skills.

The team also provided recommendations and suggestions, including that the plant should further develop and implement its LTO programme and should fully develop and complete the ageing management review process for mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation and control components and civil structures. It also said the plant should improve its so-called equipment qualification programme, designed to confirm the resistance of components to harsh conditions.

"The team observed that Kansai is implementing measures for safe LTO in a timely manner and the staff at the plant are professional, open and receptive to proposals for improvement," said team leader and IAEA Nuclear Safety Officer Martin Marchena. "Some ageing management and LTO activities already meet IAEA safety standards. We encourage the plant to address the review findings and implement all remaining activities for safe LTO as planned."

The team provided a draft report to the plant management and to the NRA at the end of the mission. The plant management and the NRA will have an opportunity to make factual comments on the draft. A final report will be submitted to the plant management, the NRA and the Japanese government after comments are addressed.

"Kansai is wholly committed to improving upon the topics recommended and suggested through the SALTO review," said Kazutaka Tsuru, the general manager of the Mihama plant. "As a pioneer in Japan's nuclear power generation sector, we also intend to roll out the improvements to domestic nuclear power stations and contribute to maintaining and developing the country's nuclear power generation. Harnessing the knowledge obtained from the review, we hope to make efforts to achieve higher standards with the support of IAEA members."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News