SCI FI TEK

Collaborations announced for fusion projects

30 May 2023

General Atomics (GA) of the USA and Tokamak Energy of the UK have agreed to collaborate in the area of high temperature superconducting (HTS) technology for fusion energy and other industry applications. Meanwhile, Germany's Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics will work with Proxima Fusion to further develop the stellarator concept.

Testing of an HTS magnet in liquid nitrogen (Image: Tokamak Energy)

GA - which began working on superconducting magnet technologies in the 1980s - and Tokamak Energy said the collaboration under a newly-signed memorandum of understanding would "leverage GA's world-leading capabilities for manufacturing large-scale magnet systems and Tokamak Energy's pioneering expertise in HTS magnet technologies".

Magnetic fusion uses a tokamak, which uses several sets of powerful electromagnets to shape and confine superheated hydrogen gas - known as plasma. To achieve fusion conditions relevant for energy production, tokamaks must heat the gas to temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius - more than ten times the temperature at the centre of the sun. This is the threshold said to be required for fusion to be a commercially viable energy source.

Strong magnetic fields are generated by passing large electrical currents around arrays of electromagnet coils that circle the plasma. The magnets are wound from ground-breaking HTS tapes, multi-layered conductors with a crucial internal coating of 'rare earth barium copper oxide' (REBCO) superconducting material. Developing more powerful HTS magnets will allow fusion power plants to use thinner magnetic coils while generating plasmas at greater densities.

"GA is excited to collaborate with Tokamak Energy on HTS magnets," said GA Senior Vice President Anantha Krishnan. "Tokamak Energy is a leader in HTS magnet modelling, design and prototyping and GA has expertise in developing and fabricating large-scale superconducting magnets for fusion applications."

"GA has significant experience, knowledge and facilities to produce large superconducting magnets at scale," said Tokamak Energy Managing Director Warrick Matthews. "Tokamak Energy has been developing HTS technologies for fusion for over a decade. The integration of these complementary capabilities promises to accelerate the development and production of HTS technologies in additional fields, such as aviation, naval, space and medical applications."

Tokamak Energy's roadmap is for commercial fusion power plants deployed in the mid-2030s. To get there the plan is for completion of ST80-HTS in 2026 "to demonstrate the full potential of high temperature superconducting magnets" and to inform the design of its fusion pilot plant, ST-E1, which is slated to demonstrate the capability to deliver electricity - producing up to 200 MW of net electrical power - in the early 2030s.

Collaboration in stellarators

The Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) has signed a cooperation agreement with Munich-based Proxima Fusion - which was spun out of IPP earlier this year and was founded by a team which includes six former IPP scientists - to further develop the stellarator concept for fusion power. Proxima Fusion intends to design a nuclear fusion power plant based on IPP research.

"With this cooperation, Proxima Fusion will primarily advance technological approaches, while IPP will contribute its know-how as the world's leading institute in stellarator physics," IPP said.

The institute is the only institution in the world that carries out research on both essential concepts of magnetic confinement fusion with the help of large-scale experiments: it operates the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak in Garching near Munich, and the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in Greifswald.

A tokamak is based on a uniform toroid shape, whereas a stellarator twists that shape in a figure-8. IPP notes the advantage of stellarators is that they can be operated continuously, unlike pulsed tokamaks, and with better plasma stability properties.

In February, the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator succeeded for the first time in generating a high-energy plasma that lasted for eight minutes. The facility is designed to generate plasma discharges of up to 30 minutes in the coming years. Scientists are also working in the field of stellarator optimisation at IPP's Stellarator Theory Division in Greifswald.

"With our research, we want to further develop stellarators towards application maturity," said IPP Scientific Director Sibylle Günter. "With Proxima Fusion's technological focus, we see great synergies in a collaboration and look forward to working together in a public-private partnership".

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Vogtle 3 reaches full power

30 May 2023

The unit is now in the final stages of start-up testing ahead of starting commercial operation and is expected to be declared in service next month.

Vogtle 3 pictured in April (Image: Georgia Power)

The AP1000 unit reached first criticality in March and was connected to the electricity grid in April. It has been undergoing testing through the full range of plant operations at gradually increasing power levels in a process known as power ascension testing.

The operation of the reactor, control systems for the reactor and support systems, and integrated plant operations are tested at each power level, with plant performance monitored under various conditions. Now the unit has reached 100% power, further tests must now be performed before it is available for reliable dispatch in accordance with its combined operating licence, Southern Company said.

"As we enter the final stages of start-up testing, reaching 100 percent power for the first time is an exciting milestone. It tells us we're close to finishing the unit safely and bringing it online to power Georgia homes and businesses with reliable, emissions-free energy for decades to come," Georgia Power President and CEO Kim Greene said.

It is now just over 10 years since construction of two Westinghouse AP1000s began at the site near Waynesboro. Work started on unit 3 in March 2013 and unit 4 in November of that year. Unit 4 completed hot functional testing - which confirms the reactor is ready to be loaded with nuclear fuel - earlier this month. The first fuel for unit 4 was delivered on 3 May, ahead of fuel loading later this year. Vogtle 4 is expected to enter service late this year or early in 2024.

Southern Nuclear and Georgia Power, both subsidiaries of Southern Company, took over management of the construction project in 2017 following Westinghouse's Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The units are co-owned by Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities, and will be operated by Southern Nuclear.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Robotic hand offers innovative nuclear solution

31 May 2023

Atkins and COVVI Robotics plan to develop a robotic solution using a bionic hand that would provide "near-human" dexterity for handling nuclear materials remotely, removing the need for operators to place their hands in gloveboxes when handling nuclear materials and wastes.

The remote-controlled COVVI hand offers "near-human" dexterity (Image: COVVI)

Building on SNC-Lavalin group member Atkins' patented work to deploy collaborative robots in the nuclear sector, the two firms aim to attach COVVI's bionic hand to a robotic arm, to enable dangerous manipulations to be carried out by remote control while more closely replicating human dexterity. This will reduce the presence of humans in hazardous areas and enable glovebox operations to continue over longer periods of time, reducing risk and increasing efficiency, as well as freeing up time for site operators to focus on other activities, the companies said.

COVII's bionic hand was originally developed for people with an upper limb difference, but - when paired with a remote control system - its small weight, size and high levels of dexterity make it ideal for use in small environments, the company says.

Atkins and COVII said they have already been working together for the last six months to develop the integration between the robotic hand and collaborative robots such as Kinova Robotics' Gen3 arm that Atkins already uses to work in gloveboxes, and now intend to develop and market a new variant of COVVI's bionic hand optimised to meet the needs of the nuclear sector. Atkins is also developing a digital twin to rehearse and pre-plan glovebox activity to increase efficiency.

"Robotics hold huge potential for the nuclear sector and we expect their use to become increasingly common over the coming decade as the industry seeks to improve safety, increase efficiency and address increasing skills shortages," SNC-Lavalin's Head of Digital, Nuclear, Sam Stephens said, adding that such collaboration was crucial to help accelerate innovation and bring forward new solutions to address some of the sector's biggest challenges swiftly and cost-effectively. "The new robotic hand has the potential to reduce risk and improve productivity for the nuclear operators that we work with in partnership around the world, and we look forward to seeing it deliver results soon," he said.

"The robotics market continues to develop at pace as it becomes more affordable, scalable, and customisable," COVVI Group CEO Simon Pollard said.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

IAEA finds Fukushima water sampling meets requirements

31 May 2023

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has demonstrated its capabilities for accurate and precise measurements of the radionuclides present in the treated water stored at the Fukushima Daiichi site, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report.

Water storage tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi plant site (Image: Tepco)

At the site, contaminated water - in part used to cool melted nuclear fuel - is treated by the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), which removes most of the radioactive contamination, with the exception of tritium. This treated water is currently stored in about 1000 tanks on site. The total tank storage capacity amounts to about 1.37 million cubic metres and all the tanks are expected to reach full capacity in late 2023 or early 2024.

Japan announced in April 2021 it plans to discharge treated water stored at the site into the sea over a period of about 30 years, and asked the IAEA to review its plans against IAEA safety standards.

Consistent with relevant IAEA international safety standards, Tepco is required to monitor the characteristics and activity of the treated water in order to accurately evaluate public exposure due to the discharge and to comply with its national regulatory authorisation.

As part of its multi-annual safety review, the IAEA is independently checking the types and amounts of radionuclides contained in the ALPS treated water.

The IAEA has now released its latest report covering its independent sampling and analysis work. The IAEA observed and facilitated the collection of the treated water samples analysed in the report from tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi site in March 2022. This water was taken from the first batch of ALPS treated water expected to be discharged into the sea.

The samples were corroborated based on an interlaboratory comparison which involves different laboratories separately testing and analysing samples and then comparing results and procedures to determine their reliability and accuracy. The samples taken for the report were analysed by Tepco; by the IAEA in its laboratories in Monaco, and in Seibersdorf and Vienna, Austria; and in third-party laboratories in France, South Korea, Switzerland and the USA.

Additional samples have been taken from other batches of water and are undergoing a similar analysis as part of the wider review process.

"This report and the analytical results that it contains are an important milestone in the IAEA's safety review," said Gustavo Caruso, Director and Coordinator for the ALPS Safety Review, IAEA Department of Nuclear Safety and Security and Chair of the Task Force. "The data demonstrates Tepco's analytical performance through a transparent and rigorous scientific process."

Additional reports on corroboration will cover baseline environmental samples (eg seawater and fish) from the surrounding environment of the Fukushima Daiichi site and an assessment of the capabilities of monitoring services involved in the assessment of internal and external radiation exposure of workers at the plant.

The report was released as the IAEA Task Force conducting a safety review of Japan's plan to release treated water into the sea carries out its final mission to Japan before publication of the agency's comprehensive report.

During the mission - being held from 29 May to 2 June - the Task Force is meeting in Tokyo with Tepco, as well as with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA).

"The Task Force will use this opportunity to receive updates from Tepco and the Government of Japan regarding their work over the past few months and to confirm our understanding of different technical details – this will help us as we prepare the comprehensive assessment of the safety of Japan's plan for the water release," Caruso said.

The IAEA's comprehensive report will include a broad assessment of Japan's plan to discharge the treated water against relevant international safety standards, factoring in all insights and outcomes from all previous missions. Japan intends to start discharging the ALPS treated water in 2023 having received the NRA's regulatory approval for the plan in May last year.

South Korean inspection

Last week, a team of South Korea experts visited the Fukushima Daiichi site to inspect equipment and facilities to be used in the discharge process. The team comprised 21 experts from the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety and the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology.

In a statement, Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said: "This visit focused on matters requiring on-site confirmation as part of the scientific and technological review process that the Korean government has been conducting since August 2021."

The team inspected the plant's treatment facilities, such as ALPS, and the K4 tanks storing the treated water. They also inspected the mechanisms of the underwater tunnel to be used for discharging the treated water into the sea.

"This visit has made significant progress in the process of scientific and technological review through direct on-site confirmation and more detailed data acquisition, but additional analysis and confirmation work is planned for more precise judgment," Yoo Gook-hee, head of the inspection team said. "Based on this, we plan to comprehensively evaluate Japan's plans for Fukushima-related water pollution and disclose the results."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

UN nuclear chief urges Russia, Ukraine to respect power plant ‘principles’

By AFP
Published May 30, 2023

A general view of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant -- taken during a media trip organized by the Russian army -- is seen in southern Ukraine on March 29, 2023

 - Copyright Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China/AFP Handout

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi on Tuesday urged Ukraine and Russia to adhere to “concrete principles” to prevent nuclear catastrophe at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

The safety of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, located in Ukraine’s southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia, has been a concern since Russian forces seized it over a year ago during Moscow’s war on its neighbor.

It has been subject to frequent shelling that caused several power outages vital to cooling the plant’s reactors.

Ahead of Ukraine’s expected counteroffensive, fears have increased that a nuclear disaster could occur amid increased military activity.

Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), briefed the UN Security Council in New York on his proposals to ensure the safety of the plant.

The diplomat, who visited the plant in March, told ambassadors that “there should be no attack of any kind from or against the plant.”

Grossi added that Zaporizhzhia “should not be used as storage or a base for heavy weapons,” such as rocket launchers, artillery systems and munitions, tanks or military personnel.

He also said that “all efforts should be made to ensure that off-site power remains available and secure at all times.”

And he added that “all structures, systems and components essential to the safe and secure operation” of the plant “should be protected from attacks or acts of sabotage.”

“I respectfully and solemnly ask both sides to observe these five principles,” said Grossi, adding that the IAEA intends to start monitoring the principles on-site.

“These principles are to no one’s detriment and to everyone’s benefit,” he added.

Zaporizhzhia used to supply around 20 percent of Ukraine’s electricity and continued to function in the early months of Russia’s offensive despite frequent shelling, before halting power production in September.

None of its six Soviet-era reactors has since generated electricity, but the facility remains connected to the Ukrainian power grid for its own needs, notably to cool the reactors.

Grossi says Zaporizhzhia principles 'step in right direction'

31 May 2023

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has outlined to the UN Security Council five principles - "the bare minimum" - to help protect Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The discussion took place in New York on Tuesday (Image: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe)

Grossi addressed the United Nations Security Council on the situation at the six-unit nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Ukraine, and Europe. It has been under Russian military control since the start of March 2022 and is on the frontline of Russian and Ukrainian forces. During the conflict it has been damaged by shelling, which both sides blame on the other, and has lost external power on seven separate occasions.

For months Grossi had sought to get the two sides in the conflict to agree on the idea of a demilitarised safety and security zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP), but getting the two sides to agree on the details, amidst the war, proved impossible. Instead, as a result of consultations with the two sides in the conflict, he said "I have identified the following concrete principles to help ensure nuclear safety and security at ZNPP in order to prevent a nuclear accident and ensure the integrity of the plant":

• There should be no attack of any kind from or against the plant, in particular targeting the reactors, used fuel storage, other critical infrastructure, or personnel
• ZNPP should not be used as storage or a base for heavy weapons (i.e. multiple rocket launchers, artillery systems and munitions, and tanks) or military personnel that could be used for an attack from the plant
• Off-site power to the plant should not be put at risk. To that effect, all efforts should be made to ensure that off-site power remains available and secure at all times
• All structures, systems and components essential to the safe and secure operation of ZNPP should be protected from attacks or acts of sabotage
• No action should be taken that undermines these principles

Grossi said that backing for the five points means that the IAEA experts on the site - the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya - will now broaden their remit to include reporting to him on the observance of these principles, adding that he would publicly report any breaches of them.

"I respectfully and solemnly ask both sides to observe these five principles. I request distinguished Members of the Security Council to unambiguously support them ... these principles are to no one’s detriment and to everyone’s benefit. Avoiding a nuclear accident is possible," he said.

Speaking to reporters after the UN Security Council session, Grossi said he was not being guilty of "naive optimism" but, at a time when there is increasing talk of more military action in the area, he did believe that this was a "step in the right direction" and although the agreement covered only the "bare minimum" they would "continue talking, consulting" and would seek to "consolidate what we got today".

Taking questions, Grossi said that the IAEA team at the nuclear power plant had not seen evidence of heavy military equipment there and he said that he plans to have more talks with the two sides, and to visit the Zaporizhzhia plant for a third time.

He added that "history proves that at times of war" there is no guarantee that principles will be "scrupulously respected" but the agreement "deepens and strengthens" the IAEA's power in terms of being able to "report immediately ... so the international community would know from an authoritative source, what is happening and we believe this is a deterrent factor".

For Russia, Vassily Nebenzia said Grossi’s proposals for the plant’s safety were in line with measures the Russian Federation has been implementing and said that no attacks had been carried out from the territory of the plant and no heavy weapons or munitions had ever been placed there.

For Ukraine, Sergiy Kyslytsya said Russia had mined the plant’s perimeter and said its military activities had  regularly lead to the loss of off-site power. He suggested that the five principles should include "the withdrawal of troops and all other Russian personnel illegally present at the station".

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Ontario-based SMR supply chain partnership formed

31 May 2023

Construction company Aecon has formed a partnership with fabricator and constructor ES Fox Limited to jointly manufacture steel components offsite for Canada's first grid-scale small modular reactor (SMR) at Ontario Power Generation's (OPG's) Darlington site.

The new Ontario-based supply chain partnership was celebrated at an event held on 30 May at ES Fox's fabrication facility in Port Robinson (Image: Aecon)

Aecon is the provider of all construction services for the Darlington project, including project management, construction planning and execution as part of an Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) partnership with OPG, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and SNC-Lavalin. Niagara-based ES Fox is currently completing early site preparation work at Darlington.

Through the IPD partnership, Aecon has formed a teaming agreement with ES Fox to jointly fabricate steel components offsite at Aecon's fabrication facility in Cambridge, Ontario, and ES Fox's Port Robinson, Ontario, facility. These components will be welded into sub-assemblies and shipped to the Darlington project site, where they will be built into larger modules on-site and used to construct the primary steel structure of the reactor building.

"This modular fabrication partnership is a made-in-Ontario solution, illustrating the strength of Ontario's robust nuclear supply chain - a network that is critical to deploying the future of nuclear in Ontario and beyond," said Thomas Clochard, Executive Vice President, Nuclear and Civil, Aecon. "Aecon is playing an important role in delivering the next generation of nuclear plants. We look forward to combining the collective capacity and expertise of Aecon and ES Fox to execute this important fabrication scope while working with our project partners to ensure the supply of clean, reliable and affordable electricity to support local communities and global net-zero goals."

"With the experience of both companies, we look forward to building large sections of the structure at the two facilities leveraging a modular approach and shipping them to the DNNP project site – helping reduce field labour and equipment costs, improving the overall project schedule, and supporting high-paying skilled jobs in Niagara Region," said Pat Cimek, Vice President, Construction and Fabrication Services, ES Fox.

In March 2022, ES Fox was awarded the contract to deliver early site preparation work at Darlington, including water supply, electrical power, information technology and road services. This work, valued at CAD32 million (USD24 million), will support more than 100 new jobs in the Durham region. Site preparation work - which consists of non-nuclear infrastructure activities, such as clearing and grading parts of the site to build roads, utilities and support buildings, and for which the site is already licensed - is planned to continue into 2025.

On 31 October last year, OPG submitted an application to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for a Licence to Construct the SMR at the Darlington site. This licence is required before any nuclear construction work on the SMR can begin.

OPG expects to make a construction decision by the end of 2024 and has set a preliminary target date of 2028 for plant operations.

In December 2021, GEH was named as OPG's technology development partner to deploy a BWRX-300 SMR at the Darlington new nuclear site.

In March this year, Cambridge, Ontario-based nuclear engineering firm BWX Technologies was contracted by GEH to provide engineering analysis, design support, manufacturing and procurement preparations for the reactor pressure vessel for the BWRX-300.

The BWRX-300 is a 300 MWe water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems that leverages the design and licensing basis of GEH's ESBWR boiling water reactor. The CNSC issued a positive decision in March, making the BWRX-300 the first SMR to complete such a pre-licensing Vendor Design Review in Canada.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Production hike at Lost Creek uranium project

01 June 2023

Ur-Energy Inc has announced the successful startup of production flow from Header House 2-4 at its Lost Creek in-situ leach (ISL) uranium project in Wyoming. The company also said construction of its centralised services facility in Casper, Wyoming, was now complete.

Lost Creek Mine Unit 1 (Image: Ur-Energy)

Production rates will continue to increase as additional header houses in Mine Unit 2 come online this year, Ur-Energy said. It added that Lost Creek production inventory will be sold into its remaining 2023 contract book of 180,000 pounds U3O8 (68.9 tU) in the second half of the year. Beginning in 2024, the company's total sales quantity under contract is 600,000 pounds U3O8 annually, "plus or minus a small, optional flex".

Ur-Energy said its new centralised services facility will facilitate full laboratory and construction services for each of its mining projects. "The centralised location will allow for reduced drive times and improved safety for our employees while reducing operating costs and increasing efficiencies," the company said.

The new centralised services facility in Casper (Image: Ur-Energy)

"I am very excited to see the planning and hard work pay off for our long-standing and new employees with these achievements at Lost Creek and completion of our new Casper facility," said Ur-Energy COO Steve Hatten. "This restart of normal operations at Lost Creek marks the first of a series of planned production areas scheduled for 2023 and 2024. We hope our return to commercial production also is the beginning of a resurgence of the uranium mining industry in the United States."

Ur-Energy has produced and packaged approximately 2.7 million pounds U3O8 from Lost Creek since the commencement of operations in August 2013.

The company reduced production levels from 2016 in response to a "persistently weak" uranium market, but has remained operationally ready to increase production to pre‐2016 levels, or higher, once market conditions warranted the further development of the Lost Creel's fully‐permitted Mine Unit 2.

The company now has all major permits and authorisations to begin construction at Shirley Basin - its second ISL uranium facility in Wyoming - and is in the process of obtaining remaining amendments to Lost Creek authorisations for expansion of Lost Creek.

According to information from the US Energy Information Administration, Lost Creek was one of only two uranium ISL plants operating in the USA at the end of 2022, along with Smith Ranch-Highland, also in Wyoming.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

LIKE USING DYNAMITE TO BOIL TEA 

NuScale touts potential use of SMRs for steam production

01 June 2023

NuScale Power says its small modular reactor (SMR) could be used to support the hard-to-decarbonise industrial sector using superheated steam. The company said new research demonstrates the advanced capabilities of its SMRs for reducing emissions in industrial sectors, which is critical to meeting global climate goals.

A NuScale Power Module (Image: NuScale)

Led by NuScale co-founder and Chief Technology Officer José Reyes, the benchmarked research found that NuScale SMRs have the potential for use in a wide variety of high-temperature industrial processes not previously envisioned using light water reactor (LWR) technology. These include heavy to light oil conversion, bulk plastic waste recycling, dissolving heavy oil to produce gasoline additives, and light plastics for the regeneration of products like synthesis gas.

"This capability will provide oil refiners and chemical companies with new options to decarbonise their operations and products using carbon-free nuclear energy," NuScale said.

The company's research shows that the steam generated by a single NuScale Power Module can be compressed and heated to produce process steam at commercial scale, temperatures and pressures. The lower steam temperatures and pressures from a LWR typically requires conditioning prior to injection into a high temperature/high pressure process.

Reyes and his team have found that a single Power Module, generating 250 MWt, can produce more than 500,000 lb/hr of steam at 1500 psia and 500ºC, with the potential to extend production to 2400 psia and over 650ºC.

The NuScale Power Module on which its 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 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.

"In a 12-module, VOYGR-12 plant, 3 GW of thermal power is produced, offering both electrical power and large volumes of superheated steam from a plant that can be safely located near major industrial processes," it said.

"The compression heating systems we have proposed through this new research are an ideal application for NuScale's VOYGR plants and could also broaden the role of LWRs in global decarbonisation efforts," Reyes said. "These new findings strengthen the use case for NuScale's advanced SMR technology."

NuScale said it will "continue to explore the enhanced flexibility, reliability, and economics of multi-module steam generation that is augmented by cost-effective and high-efficiency steam compression and heating". It is collaborating with end-users of steam, electric power and hydrogen to "assess and optimise integrated energy systems, with plans to support industry clean energy goals at a commercial scale".

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

EU seeks critical minerals deals with more African countries
Reuters | May 31, 2023 | 

The Mutanda copper-cobalt mine, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Source: YouTube

The European Union is in negotiations with Democratic Republic of Congo, a leading source of battery minerals, and aims for talks with other African countries to shore up its supplies of critical raw materials, an EU official said on Wednesday.


As part of efforts to reduce dependency on China, which dominates supplies of minerals needed for a transition to a lower carbon economy, the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act, which has yet to enter force, established targets to develop alternative sources.

So far the EU has signed partnerships with countries such as Canada, Kazakhstan, Namibia and Ukraine, and said deals with Argentina and Chile are imminent.

Elisabetta Sartorel, the EU’s policy officer on critical raw materials, said in a virtual presentation to the Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines annual general meeting, a delegation from the bloc would be in the Democratic Republic of Congo for discussions in June.

“We expect, in the near future, to launch negotiations with other countries in the Great Lakes region, particularly Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and perhaps Tanzania as well,” she added.

The EU’s critical materials partnerships offer investment, collaboration on research and innovation, infrastructure development and skills development.

Sartorel said that once a critical materials agreement is signed, a roadmap of concrete action to be jointly implemented by the EU and the partner country is drawn up.

The EU however, faces an uphill struggle to catch up with China.

Its critical raw materials plan notes 63% of the world’s cobalt, used in batteries for electric vehicles, is extracted in Democratic Republic of Congo, and 60% is refined in China.

(By Nelson Banya; Editing by Barbara Lewis)

Portugal gives environmental green light for Savannah’s lithium mine

Reuters | May 31, 2023 | 

The Mina do Barroso mine could become the first European supplier of spodumene, a lithium-bearing mineral. (Image courtesy of Savannah Resources.)

Mining company Savannah Resources said on Wednesday Portuguese authorities had approved its environmental impact assessment (EIA) for what could become Western Europe’s largest lithium mine, calling the step a “major milestone” for the project.


London-based Savannah received preliminary approval for the EIA for its Barroso open-pit mine from Portugal’s APA environment regulator in 2021, but had to make changes demanded by the authority and resubmitted it earlier this year.

APA had 50 business days to review it and issue a decision, known as a DIA.

In a statement, APA said it had given the company a “favourable” DIA but there were a wide range of measures Savannah had to comply with, such as limiting the removal of vegetation from the project area, not taking water from a nearby river and carrying out landscaping once extraction has ended.

APA said the project must also include a “socio-economic compensation package”, such as royalties to the municipality where the mine is set to be located.

“This represents a major milestone for the project,” Savannah said in a statement, adding it had agreed with the conditions associated with the DIA.

Portugal is Europe’s biggest lithium producer, but its miners sell almost exclusively to the ceramics industry and are only now preparing to produce the higher-grade lithium that is used in electric cars and to power electronic appliances.

Savannah has said its mine could be at the centre of Europe’s lithium value chain.

However, lithium projects in Portugal face strong opposition from environmentalists and local communities, who are demanding stronger regulation and more transparency.

Barroso, a world heritage site for agriculture, is one of many lithium-rich areas in northern Portugal and Savannah already mines feldspar, quartz and pegmatites in the mountainous region.

A positive DIA allows the company to progress to the next stages of the process, including the publication of a new scoping study and a social impact assessment, Savannah said.

The company expects the remaining steps of the environmental licensing process to take nine-12 months to complete. It hopes to receive its final environmental licence in 2024.

(By Catarina Demony; Editing by Helen Popper and Mark Potter)