Outdoor store MEC commits to cutting carbon emissions from products, supply chain

Brett Bundale, The Canadian Press

Canadian outdoor retailer Mountain Equipment Co. has set sweeping new emissions targets for its supply chain, part of what the company is calling a stronger, science-based plan to help address the climate crisis. 

MEC said its goal is to slash emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 and 90 per cent by 2050. 

The targets apply to both direct operations, like MEC stores and buildings, and its supply chain, from the manufacturing of its in-house brand products to the vendor gear and clothing it carries, the company said.

"It's easy in the environmental movement to have jazz hands," said Adam Ketcheson, MEC's chief commercial officer, referring to actions that may help the environment but don't significantly reduce a company's carbon footprint. 

"What we are really trying to focus on right now is doing things that are measured and have the greatest impact."

MEC has deep roots in Canada's environmental movement. The outdoor recreation brand was one of the first retailers in the country to eliminate single-use shopping bags from its stores and pull plastic bottles with certain chemicals from its shelves. It also previously committed to a green building program, and only uses 100 per cent organic cotton in its MEC-branded apparel.

"It's nice to remove plastic and reduce the size of your cardboard boxes and have LEED-certified buildings," Ketcheson said.

"All of those things are good and important. But when we did the hard work to really look at the impacts of the business, the place where we can do the most good is really around product and supply chain."

One of the areas that MEC is focusing on is its private-label brand, a logo with a stylized green mountain with two peaks. 

"It's a significant part of our footprint and one that we have the most control over," Ketcheson said. "We have visibility to the entire supply chain."

The company aims to use more recycled materials, which have a much smaller carbon footprint than new materials, he said. 

MEC is also focused on consolidating its mills and factories to reduce the shipping required to make a product, Ketcheson said.

"In the past, we sourced materials from all over the world," he said. "We may have found a great recycled nylon in Taiwan but if we have to ship it all the way to El Salvador ... we may have just undone the good. 

"We need to consider the ripple effects of choosing that fabric on the total supply chain and carbon footprint. We're trying to avoid putting something on a boat or, even worse, on a plane."

MEC is also planning to encourage suppliers to set similar goals and source products with a smaller carbon footprint. 

While big brands such as North Face, Patagonia and Prana often "share the same ethos" as MEC and have a high level of transparency within their supply chain, Ketcheson said it can be harder for smaller brands "because it's very expensive." 

"We audit aggressively our factories and mills and supply chain because we've made a choice to do that ... but it's not cheap," he said.

MEC has set its targets to do more to fight climate change, Ketcheson said.

"For too long the onus has been on the consumer," he said. "We're talking about it publicly because this is such a huge challenge for the world. We're going to try to be as transparent as we can ... our the hope is it will be infectious across the industry." 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2023.

STATE CAPITALI$M + EV = SOCIALISM*

Canada matched Biden subsidies to win Volkswagen battery plant

Brian Platt, Bloomberg News

François-Philippe Champagne, left, looks on as Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference in Ottawa on April 17. , 

Photographer: David Kawai/Bloomberg

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government agreed to subsidies that may top $13 billion over a decade to land an electric-vehicle battery plant by Volkswagen AG, the company’s first gigafactory outside Europe.

The money is provided through an unprecedented contract negotiated by Trudeau’s industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne. Canada will provide annual production subsidies as well as a grant toward the factory’s capital cost — effectively matching what the German automaker could have received via the Inflation Reduction Act if it had located the plant in the U.S., according to government officials.

The deal offers a stark example of how the U.S.’s trading partners are trying to keep pace with the financial incentives contained in climate legislation signed by U.S. President Joe Biden last year. The factory, to be part of Volkswagen’s PowerCo unit, will be likely be the largest manufacturing site in Canada, the minister said. 

Champagne and other government officials believe the financial aid for Volkswagen is necessary to protect Canada’s position in the North American auto sector as it moves away from internal-combustion engines, and to ensure the country isn’t seen as merely a provider of critical minerals but also a source of advanced manufacturing and clean technology. The government is also in talks on financial help for a plant that LG Energy Solution and Stellantis NV have said they’re planning to build in Ontario, the minister said.  

“This is about us seizing generational opportunities,” Champagne told Bloomberg News in an interview. “This is about raising our level of ambition.”

The minister said the plant will cost about $7 billion to build, will have a footprint equal to 350 football fields, and will create thousands of jobs in the region around St. Thomas, the southern Ontario city where it will be located, about two hours northeast of Detroit. 

The economic value of bringing one of the world’s largest automakers to Canada for the first time — with the supply chain spinoffs it will create — is worth far more than the cost of the subsidies to the government, Champagne argued.

Still, the size of the incentives is striking. The production support alone is expected to range from $8 billion to $13 billion over 10 years, depending on how much the plant produces and what happens with US policy. The contract is written so that Canada’s production subsidies will stay in place only as long as the Inflation Reduction Act is in force. If the U.S. reduces its incentives for clean manufacturing, Canada’s will go down proportionally. 

On top of that, Canada is offering about $700 million in capital expense grants to Volkswagen through its Strategic Innovation Fund. And there may be more money from Ontario’s provincial government, though Champagne declined to go into detail. 

The Inflation Reduction Act, despite its name, is in fact a law that enacts large-scale subsidies for low-carbon industries, particularly through production tax credits. Those incentives are generous and broadly available, meaning they could go beyond the official US$370 billion in estimated costs, depending on how widely they’re used.

The legislation has put massive pressure on Canada and other US trade partners to provide money or lose out on lucrative new investments in the green economy. In a speech in Washington last week, Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland warned that democracies need to avoid a “race to the bottom” in corporate subsidies that could erode their tax bases and social safety nets.

The Volkswagen deal in Canada also raises the question of how much financial help other automakers and battery producers might be able to get. Last year, LG and Stellantis announced a US$4 billion joint venture in nearby Windsor, Ontario, across the border from Detroit.

“We are negotiating,” Champagne said when asked if the LG-Stellantis plant would receive the same incentive package from Canada. He pointed out the government has promised to level the playing field with the U.S. 

Champagne added that the sheer size of the subsidies means Canada has to be selective. Asked how many vehicle battery plants the country can realistically support, the minister said it’s going to be “at best, a few of them.”

Trudeau’s Liberal government is likely to face some backlash over the deal. It has already taken some criticism for not giving more detail on the cost. “How much of Canadians’ money is he giving to this foreign corporation?” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre tweeted shortly after the factory was announced last month. “How much is the cost per job?”

Canadians will understand why the government put up so much funding to attract Volkswagen, Champagne said. He also noted the money won’t start flowing for many years, given it’s tied to production at a factory that still needs to be built.

The industry minister argued the economic impact of the plant in its first five years will equal the entirety of government funding for it. Over the next 30 years, the plant will generate more than $200 billion in value for Canada, he said.

“You have to look at what others are doing, and particularly in our case, what the U.S. is doing,” he said. “What’s the cost of inaction?”

New Ontario Volkswagen EV battery plant to 

create 3,000 jobs

Mia Rabson, Liam Casey and Jessica Smith, The Canadian Press

Volkswagen's massive new electric-vehicle battery plant, being built in southwestern Ontario, could eventually grow to be the automaker's biggest gigafactory in the world, the CEO of the company's battery arm said Friday.

The company announced last month it had selected St. Thomas for the site of the first gigafactory in North America. 

On Friday, further details, including some of the financing, were made public at a splashy announcement in the town's railway museum that attracted the prime minister, the premier and almost every federal, provincial and municipal politician with even a tenuous connection to the region.

"Congratulations from our side for outperforming the competition and bringing this gigafactory to St. Thomas," Blome told them. "That wasn't easy."

It also wasn't cheap.

Canada has committed $700 million in up front capital costs towards the $7-billion price tag to build the factory. Ontario added $500 million. 

Once the factory is producing batteries — the goal is initially to make enough every year to power one million electric vehicles — Canada is offering production subsidies to equal the production tax credits Volkswagen would have received if it had set up shop in the United States.

Those subsidies, which are estimated to be in the range of $8 billion to $13 billion over a decade, will disappear or be reduced if the U.S. supports within the Inflation Reduction Act are eliminated or phased down.

Blome said money on the table wasn't the only factor in deciding to set up shop in St. Thomas, but it was "the first entry."

"You have to be competitive," he said. "If your product is not competitive in product or in cost, you have no future."

He said 200 factors were considered.

Every cent is worth it, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

"Let's be really clear about what's happening today. Other parts of the world, including our neighbours to the south, were willing to put up an awful lot of money to get this project there," he said. 

"Everyone wanted this, so yes, we put up a lot of money. Money that's going to come back in economic investments very quickly."

The federal government said that with the economic benefits from the plant, the government investments will be recouped in just five years.

The plant will create up to 3,000 direct jobs and 30,000 indirect jobs in the region. It will be operated by PowerCo, the battery subsidiary Volkswagen created last year. The St. Thomas plant is the third planned by the company, but Blome said given the fast growth in demand for electric vehicles in the United States, it could eventually become the company's biggest.

Ontario Economc Development Minister Vic Fedeli said it's a huge win for St. Thomas and the province as a whole.

"We've landed the largest auto investment in the province's history," he said.

"It's not only a big win for the people of St. Thomas, but it's huge for Ontario."

The plant will be built on a 1,500-acre "megasite," with construction set to begin in 2024 and production expected to begin by 2027.

The sprawling plant will anchor an industrial park where several other manufacturers will be needed to supply critical components for the batteries, Fedeli said.

Ottawa and Ontario began wooing the German automaker a year ago when the Volkswagen board came to Toronto, Fedeli said.

Federal Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Fedeli formally pitched the company in Germany last fall, which became a turning point in the deal.

"We really felt that when we flew back from that meeting with Volkswagen, we were very confident then that Ontario was the right place for them, but we had to put the right package together," Fedeli said.

The United States had an edge on proximity to vehicle manufacturing because Canada has no Volkswagen plant. But Canada had the edge on raw materials — namely the minerals and metals needed for the batteries — as well as an abundance of clean power.

Fedeli said the pitch included two "line items that were missing" from every other country's pitch to Volkswagen: universal health care and the loonie.

"We showed the value of the Canadian dollar and the value of universal health care and what that means in savings," Fedeli said.

This will be the second electric-vehicle battery factory in Ontario. Last year, automaker Stellantis and South Korean battery-maker LG Energy solution announced they were building a facility in Windsor, Ont., with a $5-billion price tag. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2023. 

*THE QUOTE IS PARAPHRASED FROM LENIN WHO SAID;

SOCIALISM IS STATE CAPITALISM AND ELECTRICITY

 

Russia says it doesn't need US fuel for Zaporizhzhia

20 April 2023

Russia will switch the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant back from US-made nuclear fuel as soon as possible, according to reported comments from Renat Karchaa, an adviser to Rosenergoatom's CEO. It follows a CNN report that the US Department of Energy had sent a letter saying that the occupied plant in Ukraine "contains US-origin nuclear technical data that is export-controlled by the United States Government".

IAEA staff on a recent mission to Zaporizhzhia (Image: IAEA)

According to the CNN report the US DOE letter says: "It is unlawful under United States law for non-authorised persons, including, but not limited to, Russian citizens and Russian entities, such as Rosatom and its subsidiaries, to knowingly and willfully access, possess, control, export, store, seize, review, re-export, ship, transfer, copy, manipulate such technology or technical data, or direct, or authorise others to do the same, without such Russian entities becoming authorised recipients by the Secretary of the US Department of Energy.”

On Thursday, Russia's Tass news agency reported that a commentary by Rosatom says: "We have informed the Russian Foreign Ministry on our readiness to discuss with the American side the issues it is interested in within the framework of existing agreements between the government of the Russian Federation and the government of the United States on cooperation in the area of peaceful nuclear development."

The document reportedly says that Russia always "observes all international obligations in the field of non-proliferation and export control", and adds, according to the Tass report, that this position "fully covers" the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Meanwhile, a report by Reuters, citing Interfax, said that Karchaa had said the plant had about four years' worth of US-made fuel in reserves but would seek to replace it with Russian fuel as quickly as possible.

In a report of his comments by Tass, Karchaa is quoted as saying that the USA should negotiate with Russia over the presence of the nuclear fuel at the plant in a "constructive" manner, saying the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could be involved and "all issues are resolved at the negotiating table between equals". It also says "he reiterated that Russia needs neither US nuclear fuel, nor US technologies".

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, with six units, is Europe's largest. In recent years Ukraine has been diversifying its nuclear fuel supplies - since the war began it has halted all Russian fuel supplies. Zaporizhzhia is on the front line of the Russian and Ukrainian forces and has been under Russian control since its military took it by force in early March 2022. It has continued to be mostly operated by its Ukrainian staff. It has suffered some shelling over the past year and also had to rely on emergency diesel generators for essential safety functions when external power was lost. The IAEA has warned about the risks of military action in the vicinity of a nuclear facility and has been seeking to get the two sides to reach an agreement on safety and protective measures for the plant.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

SCI FI TECH

Fluor and Longview MoU for laser fusion development

19 April 2023

Fluor Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Longview Fusion Energy Systems to be its engineering and construction partner in designing and planning laser fusion energy commercialisation.

The target chamber at the National Ignition Facility (Image: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

The MoU will see Fluor using its experience in developing and constructing large-scale facilities to provide the preliminary design and engineering support for the development of Longview's proposed fusion plant.

Longview's plan is for laser fusion power plants, with capacity of up to 1600 MW to provide electricity or industrial production of hydrogen fuel and other materials that can help to decarbonise heavy industry.

Ed Moses, CEO of Longview Fusion Energy Systems, said its plant design was based on the breakthrough work of USA's National Ignition Facility (NIF) in "showing the world's only experimental demonstration of fusion with energy gain" and "will combine modern, efficient lasers and a patented design to replicate these conditions several hundred times a minute - similar to the repetitive pulses in a car engine but delivering over one million horsepower".

Tom D’Agostino, group president of Fluor’s Mission Solutions business, said: "We look forward to working with Longview on the mission to demonstrate the feasibility of laser fusion technology and deliver it to the commercial market."

Longview's plan is to have a fusion pilot plant up and running in the "early 2030s". Moses, a former National Ignition Facility director, said on the day NIF announced its breakthrough in December that Longview had been "working quietly in anticipation of this day - we knew ... it would too late to begin to plan for full-scale commercialisation" at that stage so it had "been working with a broad partnership of US industry, utilities, academia, national labs, and strategic investors over the past 18 months to design a power plant based on the physics that has now been proven at the NIF".

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Partnership formed to deploy Seaborg's Power Barge

21 April 2023

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Seaborg Technologies have established a consortium to develop floating nuclear power plants featuring Seaborg's compact molten salt reactor (CMSR) technology.

The signing ceremony for the consortium agreement (Image: Seaborg)

"The consortium aims to enable timely commercialisation and a scalable export of factory-produced CMSR-based floating nuclear power plants worldwide, offering improved efficiency and inherent safety characteristics," Seaborg said. "With KHNP's extensive experience in nuclear power generation, SHI's offshore construction expertise and Seaborg Technologies' innovative technology, the consortium is well-positioned to meet the growing demand for clean and reliable energy."

Seaborg's design is for modular CMSR power barges equipped with two to eight 100 MWe CMSRs, with an operational life of 24 years. Instead of having solid fuel rods that need constant cooling, the CMSR's fuel is mixed in a liquid salt that acts as a coolant, which means that it will simply shut down and solidify in case of emergency. The timeline for Seaborg, which was founded in 2014, is for commercial prototypes to be built in 2026 with commercial production of Power Barges beginning from 2028.

The Power Barges are modular and can produce from 200-800 MW of electricity (Image: SHI/Seaborg)

The consortium's first project is expected to be a 200 MWe Power Barge.

In April last year, SHI and Seaborg signed a memorandum of understanding to manufacture and sell turnkey power plants combining SHI's ship-building expertise and Seaborg's CMSR. It also covered the development of hydrogen production plants and ammonia plants.

SHI announced in January that it had completed the conceptual design for the CMSR Power Barge and obtained the basic certification of the design from the American Bureau of Shipping.

"Floating nuclear power plants are a carbon-free energy solution which is efficiently responding to climate change issues and a next-generation technology expandable to floating hydrogen, ammonia plant that meets the vision of Samsung Heavy Industries," said SHI CEO Jintaek Jeong.

KHNP CEO Jooho Whang added: "KHNP's active effort will be aimed at fostering a mutually beneficial partnership between Korea and Denmark, with a focus on cooperation in the next generation nuclear power project, for a safer and cleaner future."

"This consortium is unique for deploying nuclear power at scale," said Seaborg CEO Navid Samandari. "We are proud to say we have partnered with the best for construction and operations as part of our shared mission to develop and deploy the power barges."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

CANADIAN NUKE NEWZ

MoU sees KAERI, Alberta cooperation on SMRs

20 April 2023

Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Alberta to collaborate on the deployment of small modular reactor (SMR) technology - including the Korean-designed SMART reactor - in the Canadian province.

KAERI President Joo Han-Gyu signing the MoU with Alberta (Image: KAERI)

The MoU was signed on 19 April by KAERI President Joo Han-Gyu, Alberta Minister of Jobs, Economy and Northern Development Brian Jean and Alberta Minister of Trade, Immigration and Multiculturalism Rajan Sawhney.

KAERI said that since Alberta took an "ambitious initiative" to deploy SMR technology along with other Canadian provinces, KAERI and Alberta have discussed clean energy cooperation based on KAERI's SMR technology, particularly the SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactor).

"This mutual cooperation agreement was promoted to discuss the issue of applying SMART technology with almost no carbon emissions to supply necessary steam to oil sands (tar sands) mining areas in Alberta," KAERI said. "Based on this agreement, the two sides plan to share in advance the information necessary to confirm the feasibility of SMART construction and further obtain licences.

"Korean companies, including Hyundai Engineering, have already been promoting projects that utilise SMART technologies for Alberta oil sand mining. This mutual cooperation agreement is expected to promote the activities of these companies."

The signing of the MoU followed a visit by the Canadian ministers on 28 February to KAERI to discuss ways of supplying high-temperature and high-pressure steam for oil sand mining through the use of the SMART reactor. They also visited KAERI's research facilities, including the SMART-ITL and SMART-MCR simulators.

Commenting on the MoU, Joo said: "It is time to translate the net-zero emission commitment into actions, and SMR technology is crucial in carbon reduction actions. A deployment of SMART in Alberta will be the pioneer in the battle against climate change."

Jean added: "Alberta is a global leader in providing safe, clean and reliable energy that helps power the world. The Government of Alberta is open to exploring all technologies, including SMRs, to help energy production thrive in a low-carbon future. Through this agreement with KAERI, we are continuing to explore deploying SMR technology and strengthening Alberta's position as a world-leading responsible energy producer for years to come."

"I am proud of the agreement we are making as a result of our trade mission to Korea, and am excited about the potential for SMR technologies, such as KAERI," Sawhney said. "This is yet another example of continued global interest in Alberta and the diverse opportunities that Alberta offers."

SMART is a 330 MWt pressurised water reactor with integral steam generators and advanced safety features. The unit is designed for electricity generation (up to 100 MWe) as well as thermal applications, such as seawater desalination, with a 60-year design life and three-year refuelling cycle.

While the basic design is complete, development had been stalled by the absence of any orders for an initial reference unit. Developed by KAERI, SMART received standard design approval from the Korean regulator in mid-2012. KAERI had planned to build a demonstration plant to operate from 2017.

Alberta has been considered in the past as a possible location for large-scale nuclear power plants, but a 1000 MWe electricity generation plant proposed for the north of the province was shelved in 2011. The province's interest in SMRs is centred on their potential as an economically attractive and carbon-free source of steam and process heat to support extractive industries including the production of natural gas from the province's extensive oil sands deposits.

Alberta is one of four Canadian provinces - the others are New Brunswick, Ontario and Saskatchewan - that have agreed to a joint strategic plan outlining their strong support for the path forward on SMRs.

Invest Alberta - a Crown corporation of the Government of Alberta - last month signed an MoU with ARC Clean Technology Canada Inc to jointly pursue activities to support commercialisation of ARC's ARC-100 SMR technology in the province. That followed the signing of an MoU in January with X-Energy Canada to develop economic opportunities supporting the potential deployment of the Xe-100 SMR. It has also supported SMR developer Terrestrial Energy in its efforts to expand its operations into Alberta.

Terrestrial SMR completes Canadian pre-licensing review

19 April 2023

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has completed Phase 2 of the vendor design review (VDR) of Terrestrial Energy's Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR). The regulator said that no fundamental barriers to licensing the small modular reactor design were identified during the review.

An IMSR400 plant (Image: Terrestrial Energy)

The VDR is an optional service provided by the CNSC to provide an assessment of a nuclear power plant design based on a vendor's reactor technology. It is not a required part of the licensing process for a new nuclear power plant but aims to verify the acceptability of a design with respect to Canadian nuclear regulatory requirements and expectations, providing early feedback during the design process.

In February 2016, a service agreement was signed between the CNSC and Terrestrial for the conduct of a Phase 1 VDR of the IMSR. During this phase, CNSC staff assessed how the vendor's design processes demonstrate intent to meet CNSC requirements. The Phase 1 review of the ISMR was completed in November 2017.

The CNSC entered into an agreement with Terrestrial in May 2018 to conduct the second phase of the VDR of the reactor design. Phase 2 of the review focuses on identifying whether there are any potential fundamental barriers to licensing.

The VDR involved a comprehensive review of the IMSR design covering 19 'focus areas' defined by the CNSC and required Terrestrial's preparation of hundreds of technical submissions. Its scope included a systematic review of Terrestrial's engineering management processes, confirmatory testing programme for IMSR components and systems, reactor controls and safety systems, defence-in-depth strategy, safety analysis, and the requirements for safeguards, security, fire protection and radiation protection.

CNSC staff have now concluded that there are no fundamental barriers to licensing the IMSR plant.

"The IMSR design requires further advancement in some areas for CNSC staff to confirm that it meets all Canadian regulatory expectations. Terrestrial will be required to perform additional work to address the technical clarifications and findings raised in this review, should it or another proponent pursue a licence for the design," the CNSC noted.

"The VDR is a comprehensive pre-licensing regulatory review, and its completion is a breakthrough for Terrestrial Energy," said Terrestrial CEO Simon Irish. "Its scope and conclusion provide commercial confidence to proceed to licensing and construction of IMSR plants.

"It is the first technology review completed by a major regulator of a nuclear plant design that uses a Generation IV reactor technology to supply heat at high temperature, and the first time for molten salt reactor technology," he noted.

"This review is a major step to bring molten salt technology to commercial markets and IMSR plants to large industrial companies seeking practicable high-impact solutions to decarbonise industrial production."

Terrestrial's IMSR is a 4th generation reactor that uses molten salt as both fuel and coolant, with integrated components, which can supply heat directly to industrial facilities or use it to generate electrical power. The use of molten salt as both fuel and coolant also enables passive, or inherent, safety features to be built into the reactor design. The design integrates the primary reactor components, including the graphite moderator, into a sealed and replaceable reactor core unit with an operating lifetime of seven years. Terrestrial's IMSR400 configuration, with twin reactors and generators, will mean an overall power plant design with a potential output of up to 390 MWe.

New Brunswick, Saskatchewan enhance collaboration on SMRs

18 April 2023

The governments of Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation on the development of small modular reactor (SMR) technologies in both Canadian provinces.

ARC's vision of an ACR-100 plant, which has been selected for deployment at Point Lepreau, New Brunswick (Image: ARC)

This new agreement builds on a previous MoU signed in December 2019 that committed to New Brunswick, Ontario and Saskatchewan working together to advance SMRs in Canada. Alberta joined in April 2021. Through this work, participating provinces released a joint strategic plan in March 2022 outlining the path forward on the development of SMRs.

The new MoU provides the ability for the two provinces and their utility Crowns - SaskPower and New Brunswick Power - to formally share experiences, knowledge and successes on deployment plans, supply chain development, Indigenous relations, labour market development, regulations and other areas.

"Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have established a strong working relationship on SMR development over the years," said Don Morgan, minister of Crown Investments Corporation of Saskatchewan. "This renewed partnership will bring mutual benefit to both provinces by capturing opportunities stemming from the work on nuclear energy development across Canada and internationally. Together, we can accelerate the progress of decarbonising power grids and industrial facilities using SMR technologies."

In June 2022, SaskPower announced the selection of the GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 as the preferred SMR technology for initial grid-scale deployment in Saskatchewan - the same model Ontario Power Generation selected in December 2021 for its Darlington New Nuclear Project.

"New Brunswick has expertise to share from four decades of reliable nuclear operations," said Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland. "We are committed to playing a leadership role nationally and globally on clean and renewable energy. Nuclear energy is a key resource in the transition to a low-carbon future and our two provinces are well positioned to lead this evolution."

SMR technologies are also recognised in New Brunswick's Climate Change Action Plan as an important part of achieving net-zero electricity emissions by 2035.

ARC Clean Technology Canada Inc's ARC-100 is a 100 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor based on proven technology developed at the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II reactor, which operated successfully at the US government's Argonne National Laboratory for 30 years. It has been selected for deployment in New Brunswick, with a fully operational unit at the Point Lepreau nuclear site by 2029. The Belledune Port Authority is also considering using an ARC-100 for the provision of energy for hydrogen production and other industries as part of a future expansion at the port in northern New Brunswick.

New North American nuclear training programme launched

19 April 2023

Westinghouse Electric Company, Spanish engineering firm Tecnatom and US consulting and training services provider Accelerant Solutions have agreed to form the Nuclear Excellence Academy (NEXA), a nuclear training programme for utilities in the USA and Canada.

(Left to right): Billy Mack of Accelerant Solutions, Pamela Cowan of Westinghouse, and Francisco Sanchez of Tecnatom after the signing of the Teaming Agreement (Image: Westinghouse)

The three companies have signed a Teaming Agreement to launch NEXA, which they say will "leverage the companies' unmatched knowledge of industry standards and digital technology innovations to provide in-person, digital and on-demand training for nuclear personnel at American and Canadian utilities. The programme ensures practical, cost-effective, and compliant approaches to nuclear operations".

The partners said the programme "unites the industry expertise of Westinghouse and Accelerant Solutions with Tecnatom's world-class digital products and services to offer the current and future nuclear fleet a comprehensive and efficient solution for training needs".

Pamela Cowan, President of Global Engineered Systems and Solutions at Westinghouse, said: "This effort demonstrates Westinghouse's commitment to provide innovative solutions to our customers. NEXA uses a digital platform to optimise the learning process, enhancing competencies, worker engagement, and performance excellence for the long-term".

"NEXA offers a solution to utilities seeking to retain and hire nuclear professionals who have the highest qualifications," said Francisco Sanchez, Vice President of Safety, Operation and Training at Tecnatom. "The training will be standardised to fit the needs of all utilities."

"This agreement ensures that centralised nuclear training delivered through NEXA is innovative, cost-effective, and compliant," said Billy Mack, President of Accelerant Solutions, which says it has partnerships with all 28 American utilities that operate nuclear power plants.

Writing in a blog in February, Mack said: "NEXA brings together the right people with the right experience and the right technology to modernise and transform nuclear training. Through sound analysis, design, and development, NEXA finds the right place and balance for VR/AR, adaptive learning, gamification, AI, and SME mentorship in nuclear training".

Canadian education system

Last month, leaders from Canada's nuclear industry wrote to the country's ministers of education to highlight the need for more female engineering graduates.

"Among the rapid advances being made in the nuclear sector is the development of small modular reactors (SMRs) which harness nuclear fission to generate heat to produce energy ... However, there are not enough university graduates or skilled tradespeople required for the construction, installation, operation and regulation of SMRs," the letter said.

It continued: "Ensuring that Canada has a diverse labour force with the right skillsets to succeed is fundamentally important to safety. Diverse voices bring a broader range of viewpoints and ideas to innovation, which results in a better safety outcome in the nuclear sector. Having a diverse nuclear workforce is to everyone's advantage - but we're falling far short, particularly with respect to gender equality."

The letter calls for the Canadian educational system to promote greater interest in STEM subjects overall, and "particularly among K-12 girls (the school grades prior to college), so that more of them go on to pursue studies and careers in STEM. Very specifically, we must encourage greater interest in the nuclear sector if we are to meet the 2050 net-zero goals that policy-makers have set for us."

It concludes: "For decades, Canada has been a leading industrialised economy and an innovator in nuclear technologies. But we will never reach our net-zero goals without a significant shift in our educational system. We have to do better to prepare our workforce of the future."

The signatories of the letter include: Rumina Velshi, President and CEO of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission; Lori Clark, President and CEO of New Brunswick Power Corporation; Rachna Clavero, President and CEO of CANDU Owners Group; Fred Dermarkar, President and CEO of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd; Tim Gitzel, President and CEO of Cameco; Ken Hartwick, President and CEO of Ontario Power Generation; John MacQuarrie, President and CEO of BWX Technologies; Joe McBrearty, President and CEO of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories; Rupen Pandya, President and CEO of SaskPower; Michael Rencheck, President and CEO of Bruce Power; Laurie Swami, President and CEO of Nuclear Waste Management Organization; and Jay Wileman, President and CEO of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy.

Urenco, Cameco sign supply deals for Bulgaria's Kozloduy

21 April 2023

Urenco and Cameco are joining Westinghouse in the supply chain for one of the Kozloduy units in Bulgaria as the country diversifies its nuclear fuel supplies.

Kozloduy supplies about one-third of Bulgaria's electricity (Image: Kozloduy NPP)

The long-term agreement will see Urenco's enrichment facilities in Europe - which are in the UK, Netherlands and Germany - receive natural uranium (UF6) from Cameco and supply enriched uranium product for fabrication into nuclear fuel rods by Westinghouse.

Urenco CEO Boris Schucht said: "Urenco is ready to support countries seeking to increase their energy security and independence and I am pleased to welcome Kozloduy as our newest customer. We are fully equipped to provide Bulgaria with a reliable nuclear fuel supply - alongside our partner organisations. We are looking forward to a very trustful and long-term partnership."

Cameco said that the 10-year supply contract was for it to supply natural uranium hexafluoride to meet the full requirements of Kozloduy unit 5 through to 2033.

The switch of supply from Russian-produced fuel for the VVER-1000 Kozloduy unit 5 was confirmed in December when Westinghouse signed a 10-year contract to supply it with fuel. In a tweet following the new agreements, Westinghouse said: "We're excited to partner with Cameco for the next decade in supplying VVER-1000 fuel to Kozloduy Nuclear Plant."

The Russian war with Ukraine has led to a number of plants and countries in Europe seeking to switch from Russian-supplied fuel and Bulgaria's National Assembly voted in November for an acceleration of the diversification process.

At the end of last year, a separate agreement was signed with France's Framatome relating to the supply of nuclear fuel for the sixth unit at Kozloduy. The Bulgarian Ministry of Energy said at the time that having different nuclear fuel suppliers for the two units at Kozloduy was intended to meet European Union requirements to ensure security of supply.

The Kozloduy plant is in the northwest of Bulgaria on the Danube River and provides about 34% of the country's electricity. It features two Russian-designed VVER-1000 units currently in operation, which have both been through refurbishment and life extension programmes to enable extension of operation from 30 to 60 years.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News