Lithium Americas’ breakup is really about China, executive says

Bloomberg News | May 12, 2023 |

The Caucharí-Olaroz project, located in Argentina’s Jujuy province. (Image courtesy of Lithium Americas.)

Lithium Americas Corp.’s decision to split the company came down to one thorny issue: US-China relations.


The mining company announced a plan in November to separate its Argentine and North American units into two separate entities. If approved by shareholders, the split would effectively distance it from one of its top shareholders, Ganfeng Lithium Group Co., a Chinese producer of the white, slivery metal. Ganfeng partnered with Lithium Americas in 2017 to help advance the project in Argentina.

Ganfeng is a “smart, dedicated” partner, said Lithium Americas’ John Kanellitsas, executive vice chair. But Kanellitsas said Lithium Americas needed to cut ties with Ganfeng to build the Thacker Pass mine in Nevada, a project that has drawn a $650 million investment from General Motors Co. as the US pushes to build a domestic supply chain for electric vehicles.

Lithium Americas has since applied for funding from the US Department of Energy, which has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars toward battery-metals projects.

“What makes it problematic, optics wise — and optics matter — is when the beneficial owners of those Department of Energy funds are Chinese shareholders,” Kanellitsas told an audience of investors and industry members at Canaccord Genuity’s annual metals and mining conference in Palm Desert, California.

“You can only imagine a press release saying here, ‘Lithium Americas and Ganfeng announce a new joint venture’ — it just would not fly at all, especially given what we’re trying to accomplish here in North America.”

The US and its allies have cracked down on Chinese investment in mining as they push to compete with China for access to critical minerals. Lithium Americas’ separation, which is expected to close this year, was announced one day after the Canadian government ordered three Chinese companies to divest their stakes in the country’s lithium miners.

(By Jacob Lorinc)

LME fights to regain trust after last year’s nickel crisis

Bloomberg News | May 16, 2023 |

London Metal Exchange. (Image by HM Treasury, Flickr.)

The embattled London Metal Exchange is still trying to rebuild faith in its nickel contract after an epic short squeeze last year, according to chief executive officer Matthew Chamberlain.


The crisis last March, when the metal used in stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries spiked 250% in little more than 24 hours, brought the venerable LME to the brink of collapse. It raised doubts about the exchange’s viability as the world’s benchmark pricing mechanism for nickel and was followed by plunging trading volumes and frequent wild price swings.

“Every day, every week, every month you are competing for people’s confidence,” Chamberlain said in a Bloomberg TV interview in Hong Kong. “Trust doesn’t arise overnight, but I really hope people feel that we are doing the right things to strengthen this.”

The LME didn’t restart nickel trading in Asian hours, the time in which prices jumped most dramatically, until this March, a year after the crisis.

“It was such an important step to be able to reopen nickel trading in Asian hours,” Chamberlain told reporters at LME Asia Week in Hong Kong on Tuesday. “Because we know how important this time zone, this geography is to all of our metals, particularly nickel,” he said at the exchange’s first in-person event in Asia since 2019.

The LME has made a number of changes to its rules since the crisis, including imposing daily price limits, and is proposing more changes to its nickel operations. It’s also facing a rare investigation from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority over its handling of the debacle, and lawsuits from hedge funds.

Nickel is still the worst-performing contract on the LME so far this year. It’s fallen by 28%, compared with drops of around 2% for copper and 5% for aluminum.

April was probably the best-volume month for the exchange in well over a year, Chamberlain said in the TV interview.

“There’s a lot of interest in base metals and people are still trying to figure out where it’s going to go,” he said. “But in many ways that’s a good place to be because it means people want to hedge, they want to express an opinion. And that’s obviously all great for the exchange and our community.”

LME to require warehouses to feel their nickel bags after heist

Bloomberg News | May 12, 2023 |

Credit: LME

The London Metal Exchange is tightening rules for handling nickel by its network of warehouses, following the shock discovery earlier this year that some of its nickel contracts were instead backed by bags of stones.


The LME will now require warehouse companies to carry out additional checks in an attempt to prevent a repeat of the scandal, according to people familiar with the matter. The tests include using magnets and metal detectors to ensure that the bags do in fact contain metal, and a so-called “touch inspection,” which involves warehouse workers feeling the outside of the bags to verify that the material inside is an appropriate size and shape.

The changes come two months after the exchange discovered that 54 tons of “nickel” held at a warehouse in Rotterdam and owned by JPMorgan Chase & Co. was actually just bags of stones. While the amounts involved were small, the incident shook traders’ faith in the LME, whose contracts have long been seen as unquestionably safe in an industry where fraud and theft are commonplace.

At the heart of the case is a quirk specific to the nickel market: unlike aluminum and copper, which are kept in neat stacks in warehouses, most of the nickel in the LME is in the form of briquettes stored in bags. It is typically only weighed by warehousing companies once: when it first enters their warehouse. That meant that the existence of the bags of stones at the Rotterdam warehouse was able to go undetected for a significant period of time.

The warehousing company, Access World, believes it’s likely that someone snuck into the warehouse at some point after the bags were first delivered, several years ago, and replaced the nickel with stones. The heist was only noticed when the bags had been sold, delivered out and were inspected upon their arrival elsewhere.

The changes mandated by the LME, which only cover nickel stored in bags and were communicated to warehousing companies in recent days, seek to reduce the chances that the incident could be repeated.

The exchange will require warehouses to carry out additional checks when bags of nickel are delivered in. It will also require them to carry out certain checks when bags of nickel are “warranted” (registered for delivery on the exchange) and when they are “rewarranted” (registered again, after previously having been deregistered).

Finally the exchange is asking warehouses to weigh bags of nickel as they are delivered out of the LME system — a final check to ensure the trustworthiness of the system and to prevent traders getting a nasty surprise when metal they bought on the LME turns out to be the wrong weight, as happened to Trafigura Group and Stratton Metals with “nickel” from the Access World Rotterdam warehouse.

An LME spokesperson confirmed the exchange is putting in place “enhanced operating procedures for bagged products in LME-licensed warehouses,” and said the LME is committed to continuing to evolve its procedures to ensure the future robustness of its physical storage network.

(By Jack Farchy and Archie Hunter)

London court rejects BHP’s 14-month delay request to Brazil dam case

Reuters | May 12, 2023 | 

The collapse of the Fundao tailings dam in 2015 killed 19 people and polluted hundreds of miles of rivers. (Image: Agência Brasil Fotografias).

A London court on Friday rejected BHP Group’s request to delay until mid-2025 a potential 36 billion pound ($44 billion) lawsuit over Brazil’s worst environmental disaster, instead granting a five-month deferral.


The world’s biggest miner by market value is being sued by 720,000 Brazilians over the 2015 collapse of the Fundao dam owned by the Samarco joint venture BHP holds with Brazilian iron ore producer Vale.

When the dam collapsed, 19 people were killed as mud and toxic mining waste swept into the Doce river, obliterating villages, contaminating water supplies and reaching the Atlantic Ocean more than 650 km (400 miles) away.

BHP said in an email on Friday “it denies the claims brought in the UK in their entirety and will continue to defend the case”.

The company was initially being sued by around 200,000 people but in March the number of claimants leapt by 500,000.

BHP’s lawyers had said the April 2024 trial should be delayed until at least June 2025 to give the company more time to prepare and allow Vale to participate.

But Judge Finola O’Farrell on Friday set a trial start date of Oct. 7, 2024 and said “this will give the parties a more relaxed, achievable timetable and will provide time for Vale and others to participate if necessary.”

BHP applied in December to have Vale join the case.

Vale has challenged the London High Court’s jurisdiction to determine the claim, and that challenge will be heard in July.

Reparation and compensation programmes implemented by the Renova Foundation, a redress scheme established in 2016 by Samarco and its shareholders, in connection with the disaster had funded $6 billion in financial aid as of the end of 2022, BHP said.

The lawsuit, one of the largest in English legal history, first began in 2018 and was thrown out of court two years later, before the Court of Appeal ruled in July that it could proceed.

“Over seven years on from the disaster, today’s Judgment means our clients will finally have their day in court and they are now one step closer to the justice they deserve,” Tom Goodhead of law firm Pogust Goodhead, which represents the claimants, said in a statement.

BHP has also applied to the Supreme Court to end the case without trial following the Court of Appeal’s decision last year.

(By Clara Denina; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Viewpoint: Turkey’s ambitions as a nuclear energy player

16 May 2023

With fuel having arrived at the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, the President of the Nuclear Industry Association of Turkey (NIATR), Alikaan Çiftçi, explains that Turkey aspires to be a major regional manufacturing, trade and logistics hub to meet the opportunities for nuclear energy in the Middle East, Africa and Turkey.

Nuclear electricity generation capacity in Turkey, the Middle East and Africa is expected to increase rapidly in the next two decades thanks to the completion of existing projects and projected construction agreements between countries in the region and nuclear vendors.  

Accounting for more than 95% of electricity production, fossil fuels are the primary resources for all these countries' current energy needs. The growth in nuclear power capacity in the region will lead not only to reduction in dependence on these sources, but also ensure energy security and meet increasing energy demand from population and economic growth.

Nuclear energy provides clean, stable, reliable, and cost-effective electricity. As a carbon-free baseload energy source, nuclear energy serves an important role for the decarbonisation of the economy and achieving supply stability in Turkey where energy security is a vital issue for its strategic position in the region.

Within the framework of the Turkish National Energy Plan, the electricity to be produced from nuclear power plants in Turkey will reach 11.1% of the total production by 2030. The Turkish government says the country's energy portfolio will include the conventional nuclear power plants under construction and planned. Additionally, small modular reactors (SMRs) are on the agenda.  

The Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP) on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast will be the first nuclear power plant for Turkey, and is expected to have an installed capacity of 4800 MWe. The first of four units now has its fuel on site - coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic. Akkuyu NPP, when completed, will employ about 4000 people during its operation phase. The estimated contribution of the power plant to Turkey's gross domestic product over its entire life-cycle is approximately USD50 billion.

Two devastating earthquakes centred in Turkey’s southern province, where the Akkuyu project is located, struck in February this year. However, there has been no damage to the Akkuyu nuclear power plant being constructed in Mersin, Gulnar district. According to statements from Akkuyu NPP, the experts did not detect any damage to the buildings, equipment, and cranes. Construction and assembly work continues..

The economic vitality created by the Akkuyu NPP, which Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom is constructing, attracts attention. The project, which has become one of the largest employment centres in the region during the construction process, has set an example of successful localisation with its supply chain of more than 400 Turkish companies.

Turkish manufacturers are supplying a wide range of equipment from valves to pipes, storage tanks, reinforcing steel and various construction materials. Cables, heat and water insulation materials, cable trays, building materials, fire-resistant products, paints and coatings, brick products, stainless steel materials are also supplied by Turkish manufacturers. Thanks to Akkuyu, Turkish companies are gaining great experience in how and which materials should be manufactured in the nuclear field. Thus, Akkuyu NPP not only contributes to employment, but also creates 'know-how' in the Turkish nuclear energy sector.

A solemn ceremony dedicated to the delivery of the first batch of nuclear fuel for the first nuclear power plant in Turkey was held at the construction site on 27 April. This historic event marked the entry of the Republic of Türkiye into the community of countries developing nuclear generation technologies on their territory.

Recep Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye, and Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, took part in the ceremony via videoconference. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Fatih Dönmez, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey, Alexei Likhachev, director general of Rosatom, Anastasia Zoteeva, CEO of JSC Akkuyu Nuclear, and other official guests attended the event.

The Akkuyu NPP is the first project in the global nuclear industry being implemented according to the Build-Own-Operate model.

Regarding supply chain, Turkey is monitoring the example of the United Arab Emirates which is deploying four Korean-designed APR1400 reactors at the Barakah site - with three of these units now online. To date, more than 2000 UAE companies have secured contracts totalling more than USD4.8 billion for a range of products and services to support Barakah. The percentage of local content is rising. A UAE cable manufacturing company, Ducab - which provided electric cables to Barakah NPP - has even exported its product back to the Korean market.

Targeting its 2053 zero-carbon goal, Turkey will continue to increase its nuclear capacity soon. Negotiations continue for the second nuclear power plant, which is planned to be in the country’s north. The Turkish government remains in contact with Russian, South Korean and USA-based nuclear vendors. For the third nuclear power plant project, communication with China and South Korea has taken place. Moreover, the Turkish government is looking at SMR technologies which could be a game-changing technology for the country’s energy market. Turkey is also looking at Generation IV reactors based on indigenous thorium resources.

Turkish companies have sufficient knowledge, ability, and experience in manufacturing and construction sectors. Therefore, we, as NIATR, believe that our industrialists can take important roles in the equipment supply chain for nuclear power plants not only in Turkey but also in the region. Many neighbouring countries, including Bulgaria, Romania, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are either embarking on, or expanding, their nuclear power programmes.

In this regard, NIATR along with Ankara Chamber of Industry and with Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources support and the Association of Organizations of the Construction Complex of the Nuclear Industry are organising Nuclear Power Plants V Expo and IX Summit (NPPES) to be held on 21-22 June, in Istanbul, which will welcome leading companies in the international nuclear market, industrial associations and government bodies. International nuclear industry players will meet with the Turkish industrialists in the fair area to negotiate opportunities for nuclear energy investments. The summit will include special sessions for Akkuyu NPP’s suppliers and practical B2B meetings traditionally attended by hundreds of Turkish people in business. Tender opportunities for the construction materials of Akkuyu NPP will also be announced at the NPPES for local and global industrialists.

In conclusion, Akkuyu and other nuclear power plant projects should be considered not only a power plant to meet the electricity needs, but also a tool to put the technological level of Turkish industry on a new step in the international arena. So, we are so pleased to bring together the leading representatives of the nuclear industry on a global scale in Istanbul at the NPPES.

NuScale SMR simulator opens in Romania

15 May 2023

The first simulator for the control room of a NuScale VOYGR small modular reactor (SMR) power plant in Europe has opened at the University Politehnica of Bucharest in Romania. The simulator is the fifth in total, but the first outside the USA.

The opening of the NuScale VOGYR power plant simulator at the University Politehnica of Bucharest (Image: Nuclearelectrica)

The NuScale Energy Exploration Centre (E2 Centre) at the university's Faculty of Energy Engineering offers users a hands-on opportunity to apply nuclear science and engineering principles through simulated, real-world nuclear power plant operation scenarios. The E2 Centre employs state-of-the-art computer modeling to simulate a NuScale VOYGR SMR power plant control room.

The E2 Centre was funded by the US Department of State under the Foundational Infrastructure for the Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology (FIRST) programme. FIRST supports partner countries in advancing their nuclear energy programmes to meet their clean energy goals under the highest international standards for nuclear safety, security, and non-proliferation. It builds on the intergovernmental agreement between the USA and Romania for cooperation on Romania's nuclear energy programme signed in December 2020.

"As the first international E2 Centre, this workforce development tool will enable Romania to develop the next generation of advanced nuclear experts, technologists, and operators and become a hub for deploying SMRs in Europe," NuScale Power said. "Romania has the potential to be one of the first deployments of an SMR in Europe and to become a catalyst for SMRs in the region by serving as a base for supporting operations of this new technology in other countries, as well as the production and assembly of plant components."

The first E2 Centre opened at Oregon State University in November 2020, followed by a second at the University of Idaho at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies in August 2021. The third centre is located at Texas A&M's Engineering Experiment Station and opened in November 2021. The fourth one opened in October 2022 in Pocatello, Idaho, in collaboration with Idaho State University.

In 2021, NuScale Power and state-owned nuclear power corporation Nuclearelectrica signed a teaming agreement to deploy a 462 MWe NuScale VOYGR-6 power plant in Romania by the end of the decade. In June last year, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to begin conducting engineering studies, technical reviews, and licensing and permitting activities for the project.

A front-end engineering and design contract was signed in late December by NuScale and RoPower - a joint venture of Nova Power & Gas and Nuclearelectrica - for the site of a former coal plant at Doicești, Romania, the preferred location for the deployment of the VOYGR-6 power plant.

Key government officials attended the opening of the E2 Centre on 15 May, including US Ambassador to Romania Kathleen Kavalec, Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and Romanian Minister of Energy Virgil Popescu.

"Nuclearelectrica has strong assets, which qualifies us to be the first country after the US to deploy a NuScale SMR," said Nuclearelectrica CEO Cosmin Ghita. "The first E2 Centre launched in Romania is only the beginning of this new era in technology, human resources, safe, affordable clean energy, with multiple benefits for communities and industries, to which we are happy to contribute."

"The SMR project at Doicești, which this E2 Centre supports, will showcase Romanian leadership in energy innovation, accelerate the clean energy transition, create thousands of jobs in Romania and the US, and strengthen European energy security while upholding the highest standards for nuclear safety, security, and nonproliferation," said Ann Ganzer, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation.

According to Nuclearelectrica, it is estimated that the NuScale VOYGR-6 power plant will generate about 200 permanent jobs, 1,500 jobs in construction, 2,300 jobs in production and will help Romania to avoid the emission of 4 million tonnes of CO2 per year.

The NuScale Power Module on which the VOYGR nuclear power plants are based is a pressurised water reactor with all the components for steam generation and heat exchange incorporated into a single 77 MWe unit. It is the first SMR design to receive approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The company offers a 12-module VOYGR-12 power plant is capable of generating 924 MWe as well as the four-module VOYGR-4 (308 MWe) and six-module VOYGR-6 (462 MWe) plants and other configurations based on customer needs.

Second unit of Belarus nuclear plant connected to grid

15 May 2023

The second unit of Belarus's first nuclear power plant has been connected to the power grid and delivered its first kilowatt-hours to the country's electricity system.

The moment the second power unit was connected (Image: Belarus Ministry of Energy)

The Ministry of Energy in Belarus said that the connection took place on Saturday 13 May at 13:24 as part of the continuing process of power start-up.

It said on Telegram: "The synchronisation of the turbogenerator of the second power unit of the nuclear power plant with the power system was preceded by a large amount of work, including bringing the reactor plant to a critical state, then to a minimum controlled power level with its further increase to 40%."

The ministry added: "All technological operations were performed in accordance with the regulations, in compliance with the necessary safety requirements."

Rosatom said that specialists will increase power "up to 50% in the coming days and carry out tests to verify the compliance of the thermal performance of the main equipment in the reactor and turbine compartments of the power unit with the design values".  The unit will then see its power increased in further stages - with tests along the way - until it reaches 100%. Commissioning of the unit is scheduled for Autumn this year.

Energy minister Viktor Karankevich said: "One of the most important and critical sub-stages of the power unit start-up has been carried out, which was the result of large-scale work related to the installation and commissioning of equipment, serious preparatory operations."

The first power unit of Belarus's nuclear power plant, which is in Ostrovets, was connected to the grid in November 2020 and, the energy ministry says, once both units - Russian VVER-1200 reactors - are commissioned, the plant will produce about 18.5 TWh of electricity per year, equivalent to 4.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas, with an annual effect on the country's economy of about USD550 million.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

AFCONE and STUK collaborate on nuclear safeguards in Africa

The African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE) has launched a five-year programme, Uplifting Nuclear Safeguards in Africa, which will have support from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland (STUK) and funding from the European Union and Finland.

Delegates from 40 countries attended the four-day launch event (Image: AFCONE)

The programme, which aims to strengthen nuclear material control measures in Africa, was launched at the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) in Pretoria this week.

Enobot Agboraw, executive secretary of AFCONE, said: "African states are in different stages when it comes to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and many need to build capacity to maintain state systems of accounting for and control of nuclear materials, and to effectively implement IAEA safeguards."

The main goal of the AFCONE safeguards programme is to "provide support for the development of effective nuclear safeguards and effective systems of accountancy along with control of nuclear materials as key elements of non-proliferation in Africa", with peer-support from STUK to "ramp up its operations as a regional knowledge-hub and coordinator for safeguards activities".

With Africa being rich in natural resources the programme will complement the goal of utilising nuclear energy for socioeconomic development.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards system is a set of technical measures through which the agency seeks to independently verify nuclear facilities are not misused and nuclear material is not diverted from peaceful uses. So far, 47 African states have signed a comprehensive safeguards agreement (CSA) with the IAEA - part of the requirements under the Pelindaba Treaty, established in 2009, which established the African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone.

STUK Director General Petteri Tiippana described it as the "beginning of an exciting journey", adding: "We are experienced in regulatory control of nuclear materials and in providing expert support in non-proliferation matters, as Finland was the first country in the world to bring a CSA into force, over 50 years ago. Because we have the know-how, we have a duty to share knowledge. This is our way of contributing to safety globally."

Agboraw said: "In Africa, there is real momentum for developing safeguards. There is commitment at national levels, there is the regional support structure - AFCONE - and now we can also benefit from Finland's top-of-the-line safeguards expertise. I see that in five years we can substantially improve regulatory control for nuclear materials in many African countries and build sustainable regional structures."

Loyiso Tyabashe, Necsa CEO, said: "Necsa brings on board extensive knowledge and expertise on nuclear safeguards. It is honoured to host a programme of this nature. As a country we have a strong commitment towards non-proliferation as well as our ability to utilise nuclear energy and technology to contribute to our socio-economic development."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Microsoft to buy power from Helion fusion plant

Global technology company Microsoft has signed an agreement with fusion energy developer Helion Energy for the provision of electricity from its first fusion power plant. Constellation Energy will serve as the power marketer and will manage transmission for the project.

Assembled electromagnetic coils that will be used in Helion’s 7th fusion prototype, Polaris (Image: Helion)

Helion is developing a cost-effective, zero-carbon electrical power plant using its patented pulsed, non-ignition fusion technology. Helion says its fusion power plant will provide "flexible, scalable, baseload power that is affordable, providing the world a new path to full decarbonisation of electricity generation".

It says its first power plant is expected to be online by 2028 and will target power generation of 50 MWe or greater after a one-year ramp up period.

The company noted the planned operational date for this first of its kind facility is "significantly sooner than typical projections for deployment of commercial fusion power".

Helion says its approach to fusion energy differs in three main ways from other approaches. Firstly, it uses a pulsed fusion system, which helps overcome the hardest physics challenges, keeps its fusion device smaller than other approaches, and allows it to adjust the power output based on need. Secondly, its system is built to directly recover electricity, while other fusion systems heat water to create steam to turn a turbine which loses a lot of energy in the process. Thirdly, it uses deuterium and helium-3 as fuel, which helps keep its system small and efficient.

The company has previously built six working prototypes and in June 2021 became the first private fusion company to reach 100-million-degree plasma temperatures with its sixth fusion generator prototype, Trenta. Helion is currently building its seventh prototype, Polaris, in Everett, Washington, which it expects will demonstrate the ability to produce electricity in 2024.

"This collaboration represents a significant milestone for Helion and the fusion industry as a whole," said Helion CEO David Kirtley. "We are grateful for the support of a visionary company like Microsoft. We still have a lot of work to do, but we are confident in our ability to deliver the world's first fusion power facility."

"We are optimistic that fusion energy can be an important technology to help the world transition to clean energy," said Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President at Microsoft, which aims to be carbon-negative by 2030. "Helion's announcement supports our own long-term clean energy goals and will advance the market to establish a new, efficient method for bringing more clean energy to the grid, faster."

"Constellation is committed to innovation and supporting next-generation clean energy technologies to combat the climate crisis, and fusion would be a game-changer," said Constellation Chief Commercial Officer Jim McHugh. "Combined with our hourly carbon-free energy matching solution, Helion and Microsoft are helping to build a future where carbon-free energy is the standard."

In March 2022, Constellation announced a five-year collaboration with Microsoft on the development of an energy matching technology to match a customer's power needs with local carbon-free energy sources. The real-time, data-driven carbon accounting solution will use hour-by-hour regional tracking giving customers clearer and more accurate data on their emissions impact and help to achieve zero-carbon goals, the company said. In addition, Microsoft will purchase a portion of its clean energy supply from Constellation over five years.

In September last year, Microsoft Canada said it would procure Clean Energy Credits sourced from Ontario Power Generation's carbon-free hydro and nuclear assets as part of Microsoft's efforts to power its datacentres with carbon-free energy. The strategic partnership, which is aimed at tackling climate change and driving sustainable growth across Ontario, will see the two companies work together on a series of initiatives focused on delivering innovative clean energy solutions and digital skilling programmes.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Dow's Seadrift site selected for X-energy SMR project

Dow has selected its UCC Seadrift Operations manufacturing site in Texas for its proposed advanced small modular reactor (SMR) project with X-Energy Reactor Company. The aim is for the project to be completed by the end of the decade.

How the Xe-100 plant could look (Image: X-energy/Dow)

Dow and X-energy will now prepare and submit a construction permit application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The aim is for construction work to begin in 2026.

Each Xe-100 high-temperature gas reactor is engineered to operate as a single 80 MW electric unit, optimised as a four-unit plant delivering 320 MWe, on a roughly 30-acre site. The reactor can provide baseload power to an electricity system or support industrial applications with 200 MW thermal output per unit of high pressure, high temperature steam.

According to industrial giant Dow its Seadrift site covers 4700 acres and manufactures more than 4,000,000 pounds (1816 tonnes) of materials per year for use in applications such as food packaging, footwear, wire and cable insulation, solar cell membranes and packaging for pharmaceutical products. Around 1000 people work at the site. The companies believe that the project will reduce the Seadrift site's emissions by about 440,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.

The Xe-100 was one of two designs selected by the US Department of Energy (DOE) in 2020 to receive USD80 million each of initial cost-shared funding to build an advanced reactor demonstration plant that can be operational within seven years. X-energy has since completed the engineering and basic design of the reactor and is working on the development and licencing of a fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The DOE named Dow a sub-awardee under the X-energy Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program Cooperative Agreement. The two companies' joint development agreement, unveiled in March, provides for up to USD50 million in engineering work, half funded by the DOE programme and half by Dow.

Texas governor Greg Abbott said: "This SMR project further cements Texas’s position as a global energy leader and will bring good-paying jobs and more economic opportunity to hardworking Texans in the Coastal Bend."

Clay Sell, X-energy CEO, said: "X-energy will deliver our innovative technology to the Texas Gulf Coast to efficiently and reliably decarbonise the Seadrift site’s heat and power assets. This project will serve as a model for how we can decarbonise processes to create the products relied upon by people all over the world."

Dow Chairman and CEO Jim Fitterling said: "Advanced nuclear has attractive advantages over other sources of clean power, including a compact footprint, competitive cost, and enhanced power and steam reliability. The Seadrift site plays an important role in further advancing Dow’s sustainability goals, as evidenced by our increasing growth and investment at the site."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Framatome awarded Ringhals modernisation contracts

Framatome has been awarded contracts by Sweden's Vattenfall to update reactor control systems using its digital instrumentation and control (I&C) TELEPERM XS platform and refurbish the reactor coolant pumps for units 3 and 4 of the Ringhals nuclear power plant. The value of the contracts was not disclosed.

The four-unit Ringhals plant in western Sweden (Image: Vattenfall)

Framatome will modernise the plant's reactor control system using its TELEPERM XS digital I&C platform. The modernisation also includes the upgrade of the Nuclear Safety and Training (Kärnkraftsäkerhet och Utbildning, KSU) simulator at Ringhals. Prior to installation, the equipment will be jointly tested with Vattenfall at KSU Simulator premises. The new reactor control system will be installed and commissioned in 2026 for unit 3 and in 2027 for unit 4.

In addition to the control system upgrades, Framatome will also refurbish six reactor coolant pumps (RCPs). Within the primary loop, RCPs are fundamental to the safety and efficiency of nuclear power plants. Framatome has manufactured, maintained and repaired these components for decades from its Jeumont and Maubeuge industrial facilities in northern France.

The RCP internals and motors will be transported to Maubeuge, where they will be inspected and refurbished, including the installation of new stators and the replacement of thermal barrier covers. The refurbished elements will then be shipped back to Sweden to progressively replace the current operating equipment between 2025 and 2031.

"Framatome's continued dedication to extending the life of critical nuclear facilities is a core focus of our mission," said Framatome CEO Bernard Fontana. "Today's agreement is a step forward in strengthening our long-standing relationship with Vattenfall and our commitment to support the continued operations of safe, economical, reliable and low carbon electricity generation at Ringhals."

Ringhals 3 - a 1062 MWe pressurised water reactor (PWR) - and Ringhals 4 - a 1117 MWe PWR - were commissioned in 1981 and 1983, respectively. Vattenfall is planning to extend operation of both units for a total operational lifetime of 60 years each.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Viewpoint: The networks building bridges between youth and nuclear sector

Anna Talarowska, chair of the European Nuclear Young Generation Forum 2023 (ENYGF), on the importance for young people, and the wider nuclear sector, of Young Generation Networks (YGNs) and the biennial forum which is taking place in Krakow, Poland, from 8-12 May.

More than 200 people are attending the conference (Image: ENYGF)

In almost every country using nuclear technologies, youth nuclear communities are a bridge between the perspective of a young person on their career goals and the nuclear sector in need of workforce. Currently in Europe, more than 4000 people are engaged in their local YGNs and participating in the ENS-YGN, the Europe-wide youth network.

This activity by young people is their direct contribution to showing the attractiveness of working in the sector and enhancing the workforce retention of nuclear sector.

The main event reuniting this crowd every two years is the European Nuclear Young Generation Forum, with its current edition taking place in Poland this week.

What the youth needs to come and stay in the nuclear sector

The conference is designed for young people by young people. Therefore, while ENYGF is a biannual event taking only several days, it reflects what the youngest members of the nuclear space see as essential in their long-term career beyond a good salary and a modern workplace. The forum is a platform for young people to share their scientific findings as well as industrial experiences nurturing constant skills and expertise development.

Apart from scientific sessions, there are also technical tours which provide a chance to expand technical understanding of different nuclear topics. Additionally, the conference is full of soft skills training, necessary for successful performance in any workplace. One of the characteristics of the forum is its multidisciplinarity, allowing participants to get a comprehensive overview of cutting-edge research as well as on the nuclear sector's different issues around the world. It instils the cross-professional and international cooperation required to face many challenges of nuclear these days, like international harmonisation of regulations, supply chain standardisation, creation of international policies on nuclear and climate change issues.

The major objective of the organisers is to put stress on the topics that are in the centre of interest and inspiration of the youth contributing and interested in the nuclear sector. This ENYGF edition has four Hot Topics: Energy transition and all its colours; Neutrons for progress focusing on the scientific and medical nuclear technologies; Communication, policy and education that are the backbones of prosperity and acceptance of the nuclear sector; as well as Future nuclear inspiring with novel designs and findings.

However, deepening the understanding of the nuclear sector is not only learning about new technologies, but also learning from those with more experience on how to use one’s potential to the fullest. For this reason, one of the constant programme elements is the mentoring opportunity and learning about the art of mentorship.

For the second time, the conference will host the finale of innovation contest I4N Europe (Innovation for Nuclear). This is the conclusion of a competition held in several European countries by local YGNs, teaching its young participants about innovative thinking and idea development in the nuclear space.

Symbolic location

ENYGF 2023 is taking place in Poland, a country which once resigned from nuclear power and is now coming back to the game at full speed. In the 1980s, Poland started construction of a nuclear power plant at Zarnowiec, on the country’s Baltic sea coast. Due to financial troubles related to the political transformation as well as public opposition, the project was abandoned at the end of 1990.

But now Poland is a newcomer country with one of the most ambitious plans for the development of nuclear power, including large and small units to be developed by both public and private sectors. A major youth event in this location brings hope that tides can turn even for countries opposed to nuclear energy and continued efforts of capacity building will bear fruit in the future. This is needed to ensure sustainable development of societies in the face of climate change and the growing world population.

This is only a part of the story

The ENYGF is a major event in the calendars of more than 200 ambitious young professionals, but the youth communities work actively to provide opportunities and a sense of identification to students and early career professionals through events and projects every day. With support from the nuclear industry and academia, these efforts will improve the nuclear workforce condition in the future.