Further Bruce I&C work for Framatome
Framatome has been contracted by Bruce Power to upgrade the instrumentation and control systems at units 5, 7 and 8 of the Bruce nuclear power plant in Ontario.
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As part of the contract, Framatome will provide an enhanced digital upgrade to the existing analogue primary heat transport, feed bleed and relief system. The upgraded system will provide stable reactor pressure control during normal steady state and transient conditions.
For this important system, Bruce selected Framatome to provide the proven commercial Tricon programmable logic controller technology. This platform has more than a billion hours of operation without failure on demand providing enhanced safety and high plant availability.
Framatome said this latest contract builds on successful digital system upgrade projects implemented at Bruce units 1, 2 and 6, and that are currently in progress at units 3 and 4. These digital system upgrades are part of the larger Bruce Power major component replacement (MCR) programme underway to extend the life of its nuclear fleet.
"Framatome is excited to continue the successful implementations of digital system upgrades to support Bruce Power's MCR programme and their investment in the future of clean energy for Ontario," said Frédéric Lelièvre, Senior Executive Vice President, Sales, Regional Platforms and Instrumentation and Control Business Unit at Framatome. "Our local experts in Kincardine, Pickering, and Montreal have deep roots in Canada and will continue to provide the best solutions and expertise to support the Bruce fleet now and well into the future."
Bruce Power Vice-President of Supply Chain David Furr added: "Bruce Power is pleased to continue its strong partnership with Framatome and the upgrades to our digital systems will allow our units to continue to provide clean and reliable energy to the people of Ontario for decades to come."
As plants undergo licence renewals to extend their operation, the instrumentation and control (I&C) systems are among those that plant owners will be upgrading to operate an additional 20-30 years. The I&C system is part of the plant's central nervous system, providing operators with critical information on plant operation, allowing them to control various plant safety systems during routine operations, and automatically protects the reactor if needed.
Units 5, 7 and 8 will be the last three Candu units at the Bruce site to undergo MCR - a refurbishment process that involves removing and replacing key reactor components including steam generators, pressure tubes, calandria tubes and feeder tubes and adding 30-35 years to the reactor's operating life. In total, six units at the site are being refurbished to extend the life of the site to 2064.
Final German nuclear power plant enters dismantling phase
Dismantling work at the shut down Brokdorf nuclear power plant has officially begun, PreussenElektra announced. The plant was the last nuclear power plant in Germany that was not yet being dismantled.
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PreussenElektra - a subsidiary of EOn Group - applied for approval to decommission and dismantle the 1410 MWe pressurised water reactor in December 2017. The plant was shut down on 31 December 2021.
On 23 October this year, the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry for Energy Transition, Climate Protection, Environment and Nature issued the first decommissioning and dismantling permit to PreussenElektra for the Brokdorf plant. Phase 1 of the plant's decommissioning and dismantling includes the decommissioning and dismantling of the plant components that are no longer required and subject to nuclear regulatory supervision, with the exception of the reactor pressure vessel and the biological shield.
On 13 December, all the requirements for using the permit were met when the last documents requiring approval came into force. On the same day, PreussenElektra notified the authorities that it was using the permit, meaning the plant's post-operation phase had ended and it had entered the dismantling phase.
"We expect that we will now be able to quickly implement the first shutdown of a system in the power plant and thus be able to physically begin dismantling this year," said Brokdorf plant manager and dismantling programme manager Tammo Kammrath.
PreussenElektra said the first measure will be to shut down components of the nuclear intermediate cooling system. During power operation, the system served to supply heat exchangers of nuclear auxiliary and secondary systems and acted as a barrier against the release of radioactivity into the environment.
A second dismantling permit is required to dismantle the reactor pressure vessel and the biological shield. This requires the removal of all fuel elements and special fuel rods, which are expected to be transported to the interim storage facility at the site in 2025. PreussenElektra submitted the application for the second dismantling permit on 30 August this year. This is currently being examined by independent experts.
Once all dismantling work has been completed, the site will be released for reuse.
In December last year, PreussenElektra, together with EOn group companies, announced plans for the construction at the Brokdorf site of the largest battery storage facility in the EU to date. The facility - to store electricity from renewable sources - is to be expanded in two stages to up to 800 MW of power and a storage capacity of up to 1600 MWh. Commissioning could begin as early as 2026.
Wyoming uranium project returns to production
Production operations at the Lance project have officially commenced after a five-year hiatus, with the first dry yellowcake product expected in March.
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Operations restarted within selected areas of Mine Unit 1 at the in-situ leach - also known as in-situ recovery - project on 18 December. The project is owned by Australia-based owner Peninsula Energy Ltd. Strata Energy Inc is the company's 100%-owned US subsidiary.
Since Lance last produced uranium commercially in 2019, it has transitioned to low-pH operations. In September last year, Peninsula decided to bring forward plans for a central resin processing plant at Lance after a toll-milling agreement to process loaded resins from the operation at Uranium Energy Corp's Irigaray central processing plant fell through. When complete, the process plant will be able to produce up to 2 million pounds U3O8 (76,929 tU) of dry yellowcake product per year.
The production stream from Mine Unit 1 is being routed to the rebuilt Phase 1 satellite plant ion exchange system for uranium capture, and the captured uranium will be stored on the ion exchange resin until the second phase of the new on-site recovery plant is completed in early 2025, the company said. It expects the resin elution and precipitation circuits in the Phase 2 plant area to be completed by mid-January, when first elutions and yellowcake precipitation can begin. The completed construction of the yellowcake filtration and drying circuits are currently scheduled for February, which would lead to production of the first dry yellowcake product by early March.
The processing plant interior (Image: Peninsula Energy)
"This is a very exciting moment for the team and our shareholders to have finally pressed the button on starting production," Peninsula Managing Director and CEO Yayne Heili said, adding that the milestone had been "years in the making, a lot of hard work, and with a fair share of challenges".
"Importantly, Peninsula is now North America's newest fully independent uranium producer. We have restarted Lance at an opportune time, with the long-term fundamentals and demand for uranium incredibly strong, as nuclear energy grows into the leading and most reliable clean energy solution," he said.
Orano seeks arbitration over Niger mining licence
The French company has opened international arbitration proceedings against the State of Niger following the withdrawal of its mining licence for the Imouraren project in June.
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"This move comes after several months of unsuccessful attempts at mediation and conciliation," the company said.
The Imouraren project is about 80km south of Arlit and about 160km north of Agadez and, with mineral reserves of over 200,000 tU, is one of the largest known uranium reserves in the world. Operating company Imouraren SA - owned 66.65% by Orano Expansion and 33.35% by Niger state interests - was awarded an operating permit to mine the deposit in 2009, but development work was suspended in 2015 due to market conditions at the time.
Earlier this year, the company announced it had restarted preparatory work for the project, but within days the Nigerien authorities withdrew the Orano subsidiary's operating permit.
"The announcement of the withdrawal of the licence took place when Orano presented the State of Niger with a concrete, technical proposal, which would have allowed the IMOURAREN deposit to be exploited as quickly as possible, and after works had resumed since June 2024," Orano said today. It has engaged law firm Clay Arbitration as its representative.
In July, the Nigerien authorities also withdrew Canadian company GoviEx Uranium's mining rights for the Madouela uranium project. Earlier this month, the company and its fully owned subsidiary GoviEx Niger Holdings Ltd started proceedings against Niger under the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States, on the basis the state had breached its legal obligations in withdrawing the permit.
Regulator warns against delays in work on Chernobyl's shelter
The head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, Oleg Korikov, has urged against any further delays in the project to dismantle the unstable shelter facility, which was built at speed in 1986 to cover Chernobyl's damaged unit 4.
He was speaking during a meeting of backers of the International Cooperation Account for Chernobyl, which was established in November 2020 by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) at the Ukrainian government's request to support a comprehensive plan for Chernobyl. The EBRD had already led the project to fund and construct the New Safe Confinement building which is now in place covering the whole of the reactor involved in the accident, including the initial shelter built around it in a matter of months.
Korikov said that equipping the New Safe Confinement with the necessary equipment and the dismantling of the unstable structures of the original shelter had already been postponed because of funding issues. This work was an integral part of the three-stage international Shelter Implementation Plan, which was firstly to stabilise it - the 2008 work gave it a design life to 2023 - and secondly to build a larger secure construction to enclose it - the New Safe Confinement (NSC) which was completed in 2017 - which would then pave the way for the dismantling and decommissioning stage.
"Further delays in the implementation of the project to dismantle the unstable structures of the Shelter under the NSC shell increase the risk of their collapse, which could lead to extremely negative consequences. This state of affairs causes serious concern for the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine,” he said.
The Shelter Object - also known as the 'sarcophagus' - still contains the molten core of the reactor and an estimated 200 tonnes of highly radioactive material. The stability of the structure has developed into one of the major risk factors at the site.
The licence for the storage of radioactive waste within the shelter was extended last year from 2023 to 2029, with a 2025 deadline for the development of a new design for the dismantling of "unstable structures with an unacceptably high probability of collapse", and a 31 October 2029 deadline for completion of the dismantling.
In October it was announced that a new study was being funded by the International Chernobyl Cooperation Account which aims to determine the scope of deconstruction work for unstable Shelter structures and provide an initial cost estimate and enable the beginning of design work for the dismantling of the unstable Shelter structures. The consultants are also tasked with "revising the criteria and requirements for the NSC infrastructure to support the dismantling of unstable structures in the Shelter. This also involves developing all necessary technical specifications, including for lifting equipment, systems for processing contaminated dismantled structures, their further transportation, engineering and control systems for" the second stage of the project and "additional radiation monitoring equipment, radiation-protected personnel transfer boxes, and other related documentation".
In June this year members of Ukraine's parliament approved a law approving the framework agreement between Ukraine and the EBRD which allows for the creation of a mechanism for managing the activities of the International Chernobyl Cooperation Account.
The State Agency of Ukraine for [the Chernobyl] Exclusion Zone Management also took part in the meeting and said the meeting had seen contributing countries announcing EUR7 million (USD7.3 million) of support for development of the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
It also quoted the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Svitlana Hrynchuk, as saying that the meeting "approved important decisions, namely the creation of a Project Management Group for more effective implementation of grant agreements, and agreed on the direction of work on dismantling unstable structures of the Shelter Facility. Today, we have a wide range of opportunities for partnership and achievements in the direction of nuclear and radiation safety".
She said there had been previous contributions amounting to EUR26 million with funds being "directed to the restoration of equipment destroyed and damaged during the Russian occupation, system projects of nuclear and radiation safety at the Chernobyl NPP ... I am grateful to all partner countries for their unwavering position towards Ukraine and your investments in our common future".
According to World Nuclear Association, the hermetically-sealed New Safe Confinement allows "engineers to remotely dismantle the 1986 structure that has shielded the remains of the reactor from the weather since the weeks after the accident. It will enable the eventual removal of the fuel-containing materials in the bottom of the reactor building and accommodate their characterisation, compaction, and packing for disposal. This task represents the most important step in eliminating nuclear hazard at the site - and the real start of dismantling".
The New Safe Confinement is the largest moveable land-based structure built - with a span of 257 metres, a length of 162 metres, a height of 108 metres and a total weight of 36,000 tonnes equipped - and with a lifetime of 100 years, it has been designed to allow for the eventual dismantling of the ageing makeshift shelter from 1986 and the management of radioactive waste. It has also been designed to withstand temperatures ranging from -43°C to +45°C, a class-three tornado, and an earthquake with a magnitude of 6 on the Richter scale.
Kazatomprom announces joint venture changes
The Kazakh national atomic company's Russian partner Uranium One Group JSC has sold its share in the Zarechnoye joint venture to a subsidiary of China's State Nuclear Uranium Resources Development Co. Kazatomprom also expects Chinese beneficiaries to assume interests from Uranium One in two other joint ventures.
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"Uranium One Group JSC, part of the Rosatom State Corporation, has sold its 49.979% share in JV Zarechnoye JSC to SNURDC Astana Mining Company Limited, the ultimate beneficiary of which is State Nuclear Uranium Resources Development Co, Ltd (China). Kazatomprom's share in this joint venture remains unchanged amounting 49.979%," the Kazakh company said on 17 December.
"It is expected that Uranium One Group JSC will also alienate 30% participation interest in the charter capital of JV Khorasan-U LLP and 30% participation interest in the charter capital of Kyzylkum LLP to China Uranium Development Company Limited, the ultimate beneficiary of which is China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN, China), subject to the completion of closing procedures of the transaction by its parties. Kazatomprom’s share in these assets remains unchanged and the Company continues to hold 50% in JV Khorasan-U LLP and 50% (indirect) in Kyzylkum LLP."
JV Zarechnoye JSC operates at the Zarechnoye deposit in the Turkestan region of Kazakhstan, where uranium reserves stood at about 3,500 tU at the beginning of 2024, Kaztomprom said. Mining operations at Zarechnoye are expected to be completed in 2028.
JV Khorasan-U LLP operates at the Kharasan-1 block of the Severny Kharasan deposit in the Kyzylorda region, with uranium reserves of around 33,000 tU at the beginning of 2024, and an expected completion of mining in 2038. Kyzylkum LLP provides uranium processing services - uranium mined at Khorasan is processed at Kyzylkum's facilities - and does not hold any subsoil use licences (the permits required to extract uranium).
Suppliers chosen for key components of Natrium demo plant
TerraPower has awarded the major manufacturing contracts for the first Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactor enclosure system. The company says the contracts "represent a significant milestone in the deployment and commercialisation of America's first advanced reactor".
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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 is constructing the Natrium demonstration plant near a retiring coal facility at Kemmerer in Wyoming.
A ground-breaking ceremony held in June this year marked the start of non-nuclear construction at the site, and came weeks after the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted for docketing TerraPower's application for a construction permit, submitted earlier this year. Nuclear construction will begin after the application is approved: the company is eyeing the start of work on the nuclear island in 2026.
TerraPower has now awarded contracts for the reactor's enclosure system. Spanish engineering firm Equipos Nucleares SA will produce the reactor head, while South Korea's Doosan Corporation will supply the core barrel, guard vessel and internal supports for the Natrium reactor. The reactor vessel is to be manufactured by Korea's HD Hyundai and French machinery and equipment manufacturer Marmen will build the rotating plug.
"These awards are the latest in a suite of procurements and investments that TerraPower has made to ensure the successful deployment of the project," the company said.
"The Natrium design is a game-changing technology, and assembling the right team of vendors to construct the first reactor speaks to TerraPower's commitment to commercialising this technology and ensuring advanced nuclear fulfills its role in addressing surging global energy demand," said TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque. "Our team continues to lead the way on successfully executing the many elements of building America's next nuclear reactor."
In August 2023, TerraPower - a company largely funded by Microsoft founder Bill Gates - selected four suppliers to support the Natrium demonstration project. Western Service Corporation was contracted to provide the software platform and engineering services for the Natrium engineering simulator. James Fisher Technologies will design and build an injection casting furnace system to demonstrate the basic functionality of the injection casting process. Meanwhile, BWXT Canada Ltd will design the intermediate heat exchanger for the Natrium reactor demonstration project, while Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Service LLC was contracted to develop the reactor protection system for the demonstration project.
In October, TerraPower signed a term sheet with ASP Isotopes Inc for the construction of a high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) production facility in South Africa and a supply agreement for fuel delivery for the Natrium small modular reactor.
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