Milestones for Rajasthan reactors old and new

05 August 2024

Days after unit 3 at the Rajasthan nuclear power plant returned to service after the completion of major refurbishment, fuel loading has begun at the first of two Indian-designed and built 700 MW pressurised heavy water reactors under construction at the site in Rawatbhata. Rajasthan unit 7 is expected to begin commercial operation before the end of the year.

A fuel bundle is placed on a guide plate for loading into RAPP 7 (Image: NPCIL)

Fuel loading began at the Rajasthan Nuclear Power Project unit 7 (also known as RAPP-7) on 1 August after permission was granted by India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board following stringent safety and security reviews, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) said.  A total of 4704 fuel bundles will be loaded in the reactor's 392 coolant channels.

"Initial Fuel Loading will be followed by First Approach to Criticality (start of fission chain reaction) and subsequent start of power generation. The unit is expected to commence commercial operation in the current year," the company said. A second unit under construction at the same site, RAPP-8, is expected to come online next year, it added.

The unit is the third in a series of 16 pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) which India has said it plans to build: the first two units - at Kakrapar, in Gujurat, began commercial operation in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Site works are also under way for the construction of two 700 MW units at Gorakhpur in Haryana, and ten further 700 MW PHWRs have received administrative approval and financial sanction: Kaiga units 5 and 6 in Karnataka; Gorakhpur units 3 and 4 in Haryana; Chutka units 1 and 2 in Madhya Pradesh; and Mahi Banswara units 1 and 2 and units 3 and 4 in Rajasthan.

NPCIL's announcement of the start of fuel loading came the day after Minister of State Jitendra Singh told the Indian parliament, in separate written answers, that India's nuclear share is currently 2.8% and its installed nuclear capacity is expected to expand from its present 8180 MWe to 22480 MW by 2031-2032.

Over the period to 2030, capacity is set to increase to 14,080 MWe, Singh told the Lok Sabha, as units that are already under construction or undergoing commissioning come online. As well as the two Rajasthan units, these include four Russian-designed and supplied VVER-1000 reactors currently under construction at Kudankulam and the 500 MWe Indian-designed Kalpakkam prototype fast breeder, which is preparing for first criticality.

Singh said the government has accorded in-principle approval for thirty further units: six 1650 MWe reactors, in cooperation with France, at Jaitapur in Maharashtra; six 1208 MWe reactors in at Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh and six 1000 MWe reactors at Mithi Virdi in Gujarat, in cooperation with the USA; six 1000 MWe reactors in cooperation with Russia at Haripur in West Bengal; and four 700 MWe indigenous PHWR units at Bhimpur in Madhya Pradesh

RAPP 3 returns to service

NPCIL announced the return to service of RAPP 3 on 29 July, five days after the 220 MWe PHWR was reconnected to the grid after "major renovation and modernisation" to enable the plant to continue operating for the next 30 years.

The unit had completed over 22 years of operation when it was taken offline for the renovation work in October 2022. The work - which included replacement of coolant channels and feeders, as well as other upgrades - was completed using indigenously developed technologies "in the shortest time among Indian reactors where similar activities were taken up," NPCIL said. The work was completed "within budget" and at a cost "much lower than incurred internationally in PHWRs," it added.

San'ao 2 reactor vessel delivered

06 August 2024

The reactor pressure vessel for unit 2 of the San'ao nuclear power plant has arrived at the construction site in China's Zhejiang province, CGN Cangnan Nuclear Power announced.

Part of the reactor pressure vessel being unloaded at the San'ao site (Image: CGN)

The vessel - manufactured by Shanghai Electric Nuclear Power Equipment Company Limited - departed from Shanghai on 30 July and arrived at the San'ao site on 2 August after four days of sea transportation. Following two days of channel clearing and other preparatory work, unloading and hoisting work was carried out at the quay on 4 August.

"The smooth arrival of the reactor pressure vessel provides strong support and guarantee for the subsequent installation of the main equipment in the nuclear island and the welding of the main pipelines of unit 2 of the San'ao nuclear power project," CGN Cangnan Nuclear Power said.

San'ao 2 is the second of six Chinese-designed HPR1000 (Hualong One) pressurised water reactors planned at the site.

In May 2015, the National Energy Administration approved the project to carry out site protection and related demonstration work at San'ao. On 2 September 2020, the executive meeting of the State Council approved the construction of units 1 and 2 as the first phase of the plant. China's National Nuclear Safety Administration issued a construction permit for the two units on 30 December that year and first concrete for unit 1 was poured the following day. The first concrete for San'ao 2 was poured on 30 December 2021.

San'ao 1 and 2 are scheduled to begin supplying electricity in 2026 and 2027, respectively.

The San'ao plant is the first nuclear power project in China's Yangtze River Delta region to adopt the Hualong One reactor design.

The San'ao project marks the first Chinese nuclear power project involving private capital, with Geely Technology Group taking a 2% stake in the plant. China General Nuclear (CGN) holds 46% of the shares of the project company Cangnan Nuclear Power, with other state-owned enterprises holding the remainder.

Lithuania narrows search for repository site

05 August 2024

Lithuania has identified 77 potential locations for its planned geological repository for used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. A final decision on the facility's location is not expected until 2047.

The concept of Lithuania's repository (Image: Ignalina NPP)

Lithuania's Development Programme for the Management of Nuclear Facilities and Radioactive Waste 2021-2030, proposes that long-lived radioactive waste in the country will be stored in interim storage facilities until the end of their operational period when there will be final disposal in a geological disposal facility (GDF). The repository - a specially engineered structure several hundred metres underground - is expected to be constructed and commissioned in 2068. Lithuania's radioactive waste and used fuel comes from the Ignalina plant, which stopped operating in 2009, as well as from medicine, industry and research.

Currently, used nuclear fuel and long-lived radioactive waste are stored in temporary above-ground repositories, which are designed to last at least 50 years. At the end of the term of operation of the storage facilities, the finally processed long-lived radioactive waste will have to be transferred to a deep repository.

The initial phase of the project is currently underway - research for the selection of a deep disposal site.

To select a site for a deep repository, all potential areas are evaluated according to the three criteria of general requirements established by the International Atomic Energy Agency: long-term safety; technical suitability and operational safety; socio-economic, political and environmental circumstances.

An original 110 possible locations for the facility were identified. However, after the evaluation of the results of independent studies, it was found that according to the set of unsuitability (rejection) criteria 33 sites should be rejected. It was determined that 31 locations do not meet the criteria for the presence of groundwater, mineral deposits, and helium anomalies that determine GDF stability. Two sites were also rejected based on socio-economic criteria (based on territorial planning and environmental criteria). To date, 77 potential locations have been identified in 29 Lithuanian municipalities.

In March of this year, a public consultation was held in Vilnius, during which the project, the potential locations of the deep landfill and the installation stages were presented to the representatives of the municipalities, and the questions raised by the participants were answered.

"Only after comprehensive and detailed studies, assessing geological, geophysical and seismic data from deep boreholes, and public consultation, is it envisaged that a final site for the deep repository will be selected," said Ignalina NPP, which is responsible for developing the facility.

The research programme for the site selection of the deep landfill is expected to be completed by 2047. It is tentatively planned that the repository will be built in 2058-2067, operated in 2068-2074, and closed in 2075-2079.

The concept for the Lithuanian GDF was developed by Posiva Solutions Oy, a subsidiary of Finnish waste management company Posiva, under a contract signed in early 2022. Posiva is jointly owned by Finnish nuclear power companies and has developed that country's geological disposal facility at Olkiluoto. The repository is expected to begin operations in the mid-2020s, becoming the first of its kind in the world.

A GDF comprises a network of highly-engineered underground vaults and tunnels built to permanently dispose of higher activity radioactive waste so that no harmful levels of radiation ever reach the surface environment. Countries such as Finland, Sweden, France, Canada, the UK and the USA are also pursuing this option.

Two large RBMK reactors at the Ignalina nuclear power plant provided 70% of Lithuania's electricity until their closure in 2004 and 2009 as a condition of the country joining the European Union. The power plant is being decommissioned by Ignalina NPP, which has removed fuel from the reactors and placed it into dry casks for interim storage at the site. The decommissioning process is due to last until 2038.

Contract for BN-1200 design work

05 August 2024

JSC Atomenergoproekt and Rosenergoatom - Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom's engineering and power plant operating divisions, respectively - have signed a contract to develop design documentation for the construction of the BN-1200 fast sodium reactor.

(Image: Beloyarsk NPP)

The contract includes a full cycle of design and survey work necessary for the development of design documentation and materials to justify the construction licence for the reactor, which will be built as unit 5 of the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant in Russia's Sverdlovsk region.

Currently, comprehensive engineering surveys have begun, which is one of the first stages of design. The aim of these surveys is to study natural conditions and man-made impact factors to develop design documentation for the construction of the power unit and to assess the impact of the designed facility on the environment. Engineering surveys will be carried out on a site with an area of ​​620,000 square metres.

By the end of 2024, the general designer will have developed design documentation for the first stage of construction, the preparatory period works, which will allow the general contractor, JSC Atomstroyexport, to begin the preparatory period of construction as early as 2025.

The design documentation for the main stage of construction of the power unit will be submitted by the end of 2025 to the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant for approval.

In 2026, it is planned to conduct a state examination of the design documentation and submit an application to Russian nuclear regulator to obtain a licence for the construction for Beloyarsk unit 5.

Rosenergoatom has scheduled the pouring of the first concrete for the reactor in June 2027.

The sodium-cooled BN-series fast reactor plans are part of Rosatom's project to develop fast reactors with a closed fuel cycle whose mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel will be reprocessed and recycled. In addition to the BN-600 reactor at Beloyarsk unit 3, which began operation in 1980, the 789 MWe BN-800 fast at Beloyarsk unit 4 entered commercial operation in October 2016. This is essentially a demonstration unit for fuel and design features for the larger BN-1200, which will be unit 5 at Beloyarsk.

Rosatom said the service life of the BN-1200 power unit will be at least 60 years. Its design uses technical solutions that have proven themselves in the operation of the BN-600 and BN-800 reactors. The justification of structural materials and fuel for the BN-1200 is carried out using the operation of the BN-600.

Rosatom noted the BN-1200 also features innovations. For example, the BN-1200 will have four instead of three loops for the circulation of liquid sodium, like its predecessors; the volume of the in-reactor storage facility will be increased to allow the unloading of fuel assemblies from the reactor directly into the used fuel pool, eliminating the intermediate drum for used assemblies; and the turbine condensers will be cooled using a chimney-type evaporative cooling tower.

"As part of the work in the Generation IV direction, the Rosatom State Corporation is creating a new technological platform for the deployment of nuclear energy of the future, based on fast reactors operating in a closed nuclear fuel cycle," said Beloyarsk NPP Director Ivan Sidorov. "The lead model of such a serial power unit, BN-1200, will be located at the Beloyarsk NPP. Rosatom has moved from individual unique projects, such as BN-600 and BN-800, to serial, conveyor production at BN-1200. New technological solutions allow for the full use of the energy potential of uranium raw materials, and also have a new level of safety."

Alexander Yashkin, director for the Design of Advanced NPPs and Special Facilities - Head of the Breakthrough Responsibility Center of JSC Atomenergoproekt, added: "Rosatom is the world leader in fast reactor NPP technology. Many years of experience in the development, construction and subsequent support of BN-600 and BN-800 reactors led us to the creation of Generation IV projects - the BN-1200 power unit and the project to close the nuclear fuel cycle."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News