NUKE NEWZ 

IAEA confirms nuclear security improvements at Japanese plant

02 April 2024

Physical protection measures at Japan's seven-unit Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant have been significantly strengthened over recent years, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The finding came as Tokyo Electric Power Company submitted a plan to the nuclear regulator to begin loading fuel into unit 7 of the plant later this month.

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa (Image: Tepco)

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts has completed a nuclear security mission at the plant in Japan's Niigata Prefecture, which was carried out at the request of Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco). The nine-day mission - conducted from 25 March to 2 April - aimed to assess the enhancement of the physical protection measures at the plant and to provide further advice as necessary to the facility's operator.

The five-person team assessed and observed physical protection measures against the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material as amended, and relevant IAEA Nuclear Security Guidance documents. They visited the plant and met with Tepco staff. The team included experts from Finland, the UK and the USA, as well as one IAEA staff member.

The team observed the facility management's commitment to improving nuclear security and identified continuous improvements in several areas of the plant's physical protection system since 2018, when the IAEA conducted an International Physical Protection Advisory Service Follow-up Mission in Japan, including a site visit at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. It noted most of the improvements have been completed, and some requiring significant resources and time to complete are either under implementation or planned to be implemented. The team provided Tepco recommendations and suggestions for further improvements.

"Critical infrastructure, such as nuclear facilities, requires robust physical protection measures, as part of a national nuclear security regime supported by a legislative and regulatory framework and nuclear security culture," said Elena Buglova, director of the IAEA's Division of Nuclear Security. "The IAEA expert missions are intended to assist the requesting States in establishing and further strengthening their national nuclear security regimes, including the physical protection against theft, sabotage or unauthorised use of nuclear and other radioactive material."

"The findings provided by the experts of the expert mission team are very important and will be used further to enhance nuclear security of our plant in line with the IAEA international standards," said Takeyuki Inagaki, superintendent of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. "Based on the advice given by the IAEA experts, Tepco is committed to continuously improve our security measures by establishing a strong security culture to sustain this current security enhancement effort and prevent it from declining again in the future.

"Also, we will further strengthen the prevention measures against internal threat and continue our improvement aiming towards a better physical protection system, including intrusion detection. This expert mission has also provided us a great opportunity to learn about international good practices. We will continue to improve towards a plant, which our local region can trust and feel safe about."

Approval sought for fuel loading

Tepco applied for Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) approval of its design and construction plan for Kashiwazaki-Kariwa units 6 and 7 in September 2013. It submitted information on safety upgrades across the site and at those two units. These 1356 MWe Advanced Boiling Water Reactors began commercial operation in 1996 and 1997 and were the first Japanese boiling water reactors to be put forward for restart.

In 2017, Tepco received permission from the NRA to restart units 6 and 7. Local government consents are still required before the reactors can be restarted.

However, in April 2021 the NRA issued an administrative order to Tepco prohibiting it from moving nuclear fuel at the plant until improvements in security measures there had been confirmed by additional inspections. The order followed the disclosure by Tepco of faulty intruder detection equipment at the site as well as the unauthorised use of an ID card.

This administrative order was lifted in December.

On 28 March, Tepco submitted a plan to the NRA to begin loading fuel into Kashiwazaki-Kariwa unit 7 on 15 April. The company noted, "At this time, there is no forecast for the subsequent steps, so the specific [restart] scheduled date is listed as undetermined."

The Kyodo news agency reported that after loading fuel into unit 7, Tepco hopes to bring it to criticality and ascertain whether any irregularities are present before gradually increasing its output.

However, the unit can only attain criticality once local approval has been received.

Although it has completed work at the other idled units at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, Tepco is concentrating its resources on units 6 and 7 while it deals with the clean-up at Fukushima Daiichi. Restarting those two units - which have been offline for periodic inspections since March 2012 and August 2011, respectively - would increase the company's earnings by an estimated JPY100 billion (USD659 million) per year.

Grossi's fresh appeal about nuclear safety in Ukraine

28 March 2024

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has said "we cannot afford to let our guard down" after military action over the past week near to nuclear facilities in Ukraine.

IAEA staff have been at Zaporizhzhia since 2022 (Image: IAEA)

He said that IAEA staff at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have heard explosions every day over the past week at varying distances from the plant, several times sounding near the site "presumably from outgoing artillery fire", according to the team at the site. An air raid warning was also heard on Wednesday.

The agency's experts have continued to carry out walkdowns of the site and "did not observe any concerns related to nuclear safety", although they did not have access to all areas, including some parts of the turbine halls. In the director general's update on the situation he added "the IAEA is aware of social media reports and images related to the presence of troops and vehicles inside one of the turbine halls at the ZNPP. The presence of such vehicles in ZNPP turbine halls has been reported in previous updates by the Director General".

Maintenance on parts of the safety system of the first unit at the plant - which has six units and has been under Russian military control since early March 2022 - has not yet resumed after it was postponed last week, the update added.

"For more than two years now, nuclear safety and security in Ukraine has been in constant jeopardy. We remain determined to do everything we can to help minimise the risk of a nuclear accident that could harm people and the environment, not only in Ukraine," Grossi said.

"So far, we have managed to stabilise the situation but, as we have seen again this past week, nuclear safety and security in Ukraine remains extremely vulnerable. We cannot afford to let our guard down at any time."

Elsewhere in Ukraine the subcritical Neutron Source installation, located in the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, lost its external power as a result of shelling and is now relying on emergency diesel generators. Radiation levels remain normal, the IAEA said it had been informed. The facility, which produced radioisotopes for medical and industrial applications up until the start of the war, was transferred to a deep sub-critical state at the start of the conflict, when it also suffered damage from shelling.

"Due to the nature of this facility, which has been shutdown since the start of the armed conflict, we do not currently anticipate a situation that could have any implications to public safety. But, clearly, leaving a nuclear installation without off-site power is not normal and once again demonstrates the risks from this war to nuclear safety," Grossi added.

At Ukraine's other nuclear facilities the IAEA teams have reported that nuclear safety and security continues to be maintained, although there have been regular air raid alarms.

Axpo considers extended operation of Beznau plant

03 April 2024

Swiss utility Axpo said it is assessing the technical feasibility of operating the two-unit Beznau nuclear power plant beyond the 60 years currently planned.

The Beznau plant (Image: ENSI)

The two 365 MWe Westinghouse pressurised water reactors at the Beznau plant are the oldest power reactors in Switzerland. Unit 1 began operating in 1969, while unit 2 entered operation in 1972. In addition to providing power, both units also produce district heating.

Axpo noted that there are no service life restrictions for nuclear power plants in Switzerland – they may continue to operate as long as it remains safe to do so. The company said it is still planning to operate the Beznau plant for 60 years, but is now assessing the fundamental feasibility of operating it beyond this scope. "The aspect of safety is the top priority and non-negotiable," it added.

Since their commissioning, Axpo has invested more than CHF2.5 billion (USD2.8 billion) into retrofitting and modernising the two units.

"Whether operation beyond the previously intended 60 years is fundamentally feasible depends on several factors, which are currently being assessed by Axpo in a preliminary project," it said. "These include the integrity of central components (such as reactor pressure vessels) and the availability of personnel, suppliers and fuel. Axpo has begun the necessary comprehensive investigation. The work for this preliminary project is expected to take roughly one year."

The Beznau plant produces about 6 TWh of electricity annually, meeting the needs of 1.3 million four-person households.

"Nuclear power is particularly important for security of supply as it can be produced in winter, during which time almost half of the electricity produced in Switzerland comes from nuclear power," Axpo said.

Restarted Namibian mine transitions to commercial operation

02 April 2024

Paladin Energy has announced the first commercial production from the Langer Heinrich uranium mine since operations were suspended at the Namibian project in 2018.

The first drummed uranium from the restarted Langer Heinrich (Image: X/Paladin Energy)

Paladin launched the project to return the mine to production in 2022, and the first ore was fed to the processing plant on 20 January this yea. The company has now announced that "uranium concentrate production and drumming" were achieved on 30 March. The focus will now shift to production ramp-up and building a finished product inventory, ahead of shipments to customers, it said.

"Achieving first production at the Langer Heinrich Mine is an important milestone for Paladin," said CEO Ian Purdy. "I would like to thank all our staff and contractors for their hard work and dedication in returning this globally significant uranium mine to production. I would also like to thank the Namibian Government and our local communities in the Erongo region for their continued support."

As part of the transition to production, Paladin Chief Operating Officer Paul Hemburrow will assume responsibility for all of the mine's activities.

Langer Heinrich is in central western Namibia, about 80 km east of Swakopmund. According to Paladin, which acquired the project in 2002, it produced over 43 million pounds U3O8 (16,540 tU) over 10 years of operations, and is projected to produce over 77 million pounds U3O8 over a future mine life of 17 years. The project is 75%-owned by Western Australia-based Paladin, with China National Nuclear Corporation subsidiary CNNC Overseas Uranium Holding Limited owning a 25% interest.

Paladin said it will provide guidance for key FY2025 operational parameters for the mine in July.

TerraPower submits application to build Natrium reactor

02 April 2024

The company says its application to build the Natrium reactor demonstration project is the first construction permit application for a commercial advanced reactor to be submitted to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Non-nuclear construction will begin this summer.

TerraPower submitted the construction permit application on 29 March (Image: TerraPower)

Natrium technology features a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor using high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel, with a molten salt-based energy storage system that can boost the system’s output to 500 MWe for more than five and a half hours when needed. TerraPower plans to build the Natrium demonstration plant near a retiring coal facility at Kemmerer in Wyoming.

The company said it has been working closely with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in pre-application meetings and is confident in its application. The demonstration plant's design means that non-nuclear construction will begin this summer, while nuclear construction will begin after the application has been approved, the company said. The completed demonstration project will be a fully functioning commercial power plant.

"This submission marks another step toward bringing the Natrium reactor to market and revolutionising how a nuclear reactor functions on the grid," TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque said. "We will continue working closely with local stakeholders, elected officials and regulatory partners as we begin non-nuclear construction this year while working through this application process with the NRC."

The company is working to strengthen the advanced nuclear supply chain in North America, and in February announced a second round of contracts for long-lead suppliers to support the development of the Natrium reactor. The selected contractors were: GERB Vibration Control Systems Inc to provide design and testing services, and supply seismic isolation equipment for the Natrium reactor support structure; Thermal Engineering International (USA) Inc to design and fabricate the sodium-salt heat exchanger; Hayward Tyler, Inc to provide design, fabrication, testing and qualification for the primary and intermediate sodium pumps; Framatome US Government Solutions LLC to design the ex-vessel fuel handling machine and bottom loading transfer cask; and Teledyne Brown Engineering to provide the design, fabrication, and testing for the in-vessel transfer machine which will manipulate core components from within the reactor vessel during refuelling operations.

The NRC is currently engaged in review activities related to three other non-light water reactor advanced reactor designs: construction permit applications for Kairos Power LLC's Hermes and Hermes 2 advanced test reactors; and an application for a construction permit for a molten salt research reactor from Abilene Christian University. None of these will be commercial plants, although the two 35 MW (thermal) reactors making up the Hermes 2 project are expected to generate electricity. The NRC decided in December to approve construction of the non-power Hermes sodium-cooled test reactor.

Loan guarantee for Palisades restart

28 March 2024

The US Department of Energy Loan Programs Office has conditionally committed up to USD1.52 billion for a loan guarantee to Holtec Palisades for its project to bring the Palisades plant, which ceased operations in May 2022, back online. If the project proceeds, it will be the first nuclear power plant in the USA to return to commercial operations after being closed down.

Palisades (Image: Holtec)

Holtec agreed to purchase the 800 MWe pressurised water reactor from then-owner and operator Entergy in 2018, ahead of the scheduled closure, for decommissioning. The acquisition was completed in June 2022, within weeks of the reactor's closure, and at that time Holtec planned to complete the dismantling, decontamination, and remediation of the plant by 2041. But the company then announced plans to apply for federal funding to enable it to reopen the plant, with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer amongst those pledging support for the move. The State of Michigan's Fiscal Year 2024 budget, signed by Whitmer in mid-2023, provides USD150 million in funding towards the plant's restart.

Responding to the loan guarantee announcement, Whitmer said reopening Palisades would protect 600 "good-paying, high-skill jobs" as well as "clean, reliable power" for 800,000 homes. "Once open, Palisades will be the first successfully restarted nuclear power plant in American history, driving USD363 million of regional economic impact and helping Michigan lead the future of clean energy," she said.

In October 2023, Holtec formally began the process of seeking reauthorisation from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to restart Palisades, having already signed a long-term power purchase agreement with the non-profit Wolverine Power Cooperative for the sale of the output from the restarted plant.

Subject to NRC approvals, the project aims to bring the plant back online and upgrade it to produce baseload clean power until at least 2051, the Department of Energy (DOE) said. Restarting the plant will avoid some 4.47 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, for a total of 111 million tonnes over the next 25 years.

"Nuclear power is our single largest source of carbon-free electricity, directly supporting 100,000 jobs across the country and hundreds of thousands more indirectly," said US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. "President Biden's Investing in America agenda is supporting and expanding this vibrant clean energy workforce here in Michigan with significant funding for the Holtec Palisades nuclear power plant."

Holtec Palisades is the first project to be offered a conditional commitment through the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) programme under the US Inflation Reduction Act, a wide-ranging bill including clean energy, climate mitigation and resilience, agriculture, and conservation-related investment programmes which was signed into law in August 2022. The EIR programme can finance projects to repower existing energy infrastructure that has been non-operational, or enable operating infrastructure, to combat greenhouse gas emissions.

Holtec has also said it intends to locate its first two small modular reactor units at Palisades. Although this will not be financed under the conditional commitment, the DOE said the SMR units "would potentially add an additional 800 MW of capacity at the site, take advantage of existing infrastructure, and spur the domestic development of new reactor technologies, which is critical to combatting the climate crisis".

Resuming operations

Palisades began commercial operation in 1971. The plant had a "distinguished record of safe and reliable operation", according to Holtec, with Entergy's decision to close it driven by economic, rather than operational, considerations and coincided with the expiration of a 15-year power purchase agreement with Consumers Energy.

The unit was defuelled following its shutdown, but since the plant's infrastructure already exists, the project to restart it does not involve traditional major construction activities, DOE said. It will, however, require inspections, testing, refurbishment, rebuilding, and replacement of existing equipment.

Holtec will be required to satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions before the DOE enters into definitive financing documents and funds the loan.

HTR-PM heating project commissioned

02 April 2024

The nuclear heating project of the demonstration High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor-Pebble-bed Module (HTR-PM) at the Shidaowan site in China's Shandong province has been connected to the heating grid and put into operation, China Huaneng announced.

The HTR-PM demonstration project at Shidaowan (Image: China Huaneng)

The project uses high-temperature steam extracted from the HTR-PM's steam system to heat water in a heat exchanger. This high-temperature water flows to the heat exchange station in the municipal and power station energy areas and undergoes secondary heat exchange to become residential heating.

The heating pipeline was completed on 22 March and the project was connected to the heating grid on 27 March.

China Huaneng noted the project will add an additional 190,000 square metres of heating area, which can meet the clean heating needs of 1850 households. It can replace 3700 tonnes of coal every heating season and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 6700 tonnes.

The company said the milestone marks "the first time that a fourth-generation nuclear energy heating system has realised heating for urban residents, and a breakthrough in the comprehensive utilisation of fourth-generation nuclear energy."

The HTR-PM - the world's first pebble bed modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactor - features two small reactors (each of 250 MWt) that drive a single 210 MWe steam turbine. It uses helium as coolant and graphite moderator. Each reactor is loaded with more than 245,000 spherical fuel elements ('pebbles'), each 60 mm in diameter and containing 7 g of fuel enriched to 8.5%. Each pebble has an outer layer of graphite and contains some 12,000 four-layer ceramic-coated fuel particles dispersed in a matrix of graphite powder. The fuel has high inherent safety characteristics, and has been shown to remain intact and to continue to contain radioactivity at temperatures up to 1620°C - far higher than the temperatures that would be encountered even in extreme accident situations, according to the China Nuclear Energy Association.

First concrete for the demonstration project was poured on December 2012, with the operating permit granted in August 2021 and the plant connected to the grid in December 2021. It reached its initial full power in December the following year and was declared to be in commercial operation in December last year.

The project is a collaborative effort involving Tsinghua University as a technical leader, responsible for research and development and main components and systems design, with China Huaneng Group as the owner and operator of the plant, and China National Nuclear Corporation as the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor and fuel manufacturer.

The HTR-PM follows on from China's HTR-10, a 10 MWt high-temperature gas-cooled experimental reactor at Tsinghua University's Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, which started up in 2000 and reached full power in 2003. Beyond the HTR-PM, China proposes a scaled-up version - HTR-PM600 - with one turbine rated at 650 MWe driven by six reactor modules.

Bangladesh considering two more nuclear units at Rooppur

03 April 2024

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said the country is keen to build two more units at the Rooppur nuclear power plant which is currently under construction.

The prime minister, right, with Rosatom's director general, left (Image: ASE/Rosatom)

She made the comments during a meeting with Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev, saying "we are interested in building" more nuclear power units at Rooppur, "if there is any scope to do so" and added: "I would request you to utilise Bangladeshi expertise in other nuclear power plant construction projects."

Likhachev confirmed they were "starting the discussion of new projects" including the construction of two more power units at the Rooppur NPP site, but also the "possibility of construction of a multi-purpose high power research reactor is being reviewed".

He added that the "Rooppur NPP construction project is approaching one of the most important milestones - the physical start-up of unit 1, which is to take place before the end of the year".

According to a Dhaka Tribune report on the meeting, based on a briefing from the prime minister's team, Hasina stressed the need for technical surveys to be carried out as the initial stage for planning new units "but her government seeks to build another nuclear power plant in Rooppur on completion of the ongoing project".

It also reported on the inter-state agreement regarding the return of used nuclear fuel from Rooppur to Russia and said Likhachev had reported that the country's first nuclear power plant was now 85% completed, with the aim being to start supplying electricity to the national grid in 2025. Regarding the potential expansion of the plant, he suggested that construction of third and fourth units should begin as soon as possible after the completion of the first two to make the most of the trained and experienced workforce.

He also said Rosatom was offering the option of floating nuclear power plants and small modular reactors, according to a report by the Russian Tass news agency of an interview on Russian television.

The Rooppur plant, 160 kilometres from the capital Dhaka, features two Russian VVER-1200 reactors. Rosatom in February 2011 signed an agreement for two reactors to be built at Rooppur for the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission. The initial contract for the project, worth USD12.65 billion, was signed in December 2015. The Bangladesh Atomic Regulatory Authority issued the first site licence for the Rooppur plant in June 2016, allowing preliminary site works, including geological surveys, to begin. Construction of the first unit began in November 2017. Construction of the second unit began in July 2018. They have an initial life-cycle of 60 years, with a further 20-year extension possible.

Flamanville EPR aiming for summer 2024 grid connection

28 March 2024

France's nuclear regulator has launched a three-week public consultation on its draft decision to authorise the commissioning of the Flamanville EPR reactor, which has a summer 2024 target for connection to the grid.

(Image: EDF video screengrab)

The regulator, the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN), said the consultation will run from 27 March until 17 April and said it completes the consultation process relating to authorising commissioning of the reactor, following ones held in summer 2023 and from January 15 to February this year.

ASN said it would take into account comments made during the new consultation in finalising its decision, noting that the authorisation is required for fuel to be loaded into the reactor.

In response to the ASN consultation announcement EDF said that thanks to the work of its teams carrying out "final tests and technical instructions to ensure that the installation is fully operational and compliant with the highest safety standards, the Flamanville 3 EPR is technically ready to engage its commissioning".

The company added that following the consultation "the ASN will be in a position to authorise the commissioning of the plant, enabling the first nuclear fuel loading, followed by start-up operations. Connection to the national grid is scheduled for summer 2024".

The ASN said that it would be specifying the methods for taking into account feedback from the operation of other EPR-type reactors in the world. The first EPR units came online at Taishan in China, where unit 1 became the first EPR to enter commercial operation in 2018 followed by Taishan 2 in September 2019. In Europe, Olkiluoto 3 in Finland entered commercial operation in 2023 and two units are under construction at Hinkley Point C in the UK.

Construction work began in December 2007 on the 1650 MWe unit at the Flamanville site in Normandy - where two reactors have been operating since 1986 and 1987. The dome of the reactor building was put in place in July 2013 and the reactor vessel was installed in January 2014. The reactor was originally expected to start commercial operation in 2013.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News