WAIT, WHAT?!
Canada considers financing for Polish nuclear power plant
Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe announced it has received a letter of intent from Export Development Canada, for up to CAD2.02 billion (USD1.45 billion) to potentially support Poland's first nuclear power plant project.
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The letter of intent with Export Development Canada (EDC) - a Canadian Crown corporation - is in support of the sale of goods and services by Canadian suppliers. EDC support is subject to the successful completion of its detailed due diligence process and credit approval.
Westinghouse - jointly owned by Canadian firms Brookfield and Cameco - welcomed the signing of the letter of intent, which it said it helped facilitate.
"Not only does this financing agreement underscore the important role Canada will play in helping Europe secure and diversify its energy future, but it will also help prepare the nation's nuclear supply chain to support the next AP1000 plant in North America," said Westinghouse Energy Systems President Dan Lipman. "We appreciate the close cooperation of the EDC in helping Westinghouse make AP1000 projects a reality for its customers while bringing home economic benefits to Canada."
Westinghouse said the announcement demonstrates its "deep commitment to Canada's economy by securing work for Canadian firms and trade unions supporting Westinghouse's global fleet of advanced reactors". For each AP1000 unit that is built outside of Canada, Westinghouse says it could generate almost CAD1 billion in gross domestic product through local suppliers.
Last month, the US International Development Finance Corporation - the USA's development bank - signed a letter of interest with Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) to provide more than USD980 million in financing for Poland's first nuclear power plant. A similar declaration, for the equivalent of about PLN70 billion (USD17.3 billion), was made earlier by the US Export-Import Bank. Westinghouse and Bechtel jointly form a consortium that implements the PEJ investment project in Pomerania.
"We are pleased to see strong interest in our investment project from leading players in the global financial market, with whom we are in constant contact. The letter of intent from Export Development Canada is another confirmation of this fact, and at the same time our next step towards implementation of the strategy for obtaining financing for the entire project," said PEJ Vice President Piotr Piela.
PEJ said: "Cooperation with export credit agencies is an important part of the strategy for securing financing for the nuclear power plant in Pomerania – it involves continuing discussions with, among others, entities from countries with extensive nuclear supply chains, in order to maximise and optimise financing opportunities for this key investment project for Poland."
In November 2022, the then Polish government selected the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor technology for construction at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in the Choczewo municipality in Pomerania in northern Poland. An agreement setting a plan for the delivery of the plant was signed in May last year by Westinghouse, Bechtel and PEJ - a special-purpose vehicle 100% owned by Poland's State Treasury. The Ministry of Climate and Environment in July issued a decision-in-principle for PEJ to construct the plant. The aim is for Poland's first AP1000 reactor to enter commercial operation in 2033.
Under an engineering services signed in September last year, in cooperation with PEJ, Westinghouse and Bechtel will finalise a site-specific design for a plant featuring three AP1000 reactors. The design/engineering documentation includes the main components of the power plant: the nuclear island, the turbine island and the associated installations and auxiliary equipment, as well as administrative buildings and infrastructure related to the safety of the facility. The contract also involves supporting the investment process and bringing it in line with current legal regulations in cooperation with the National Atomic Energy Agency and the Office of Technical Inspection.
In September, the Polish government announced its intention to allocate PLN60 billion to fund the country's first nuclear power plant.
Has Nuclear Energy Finally Overcome the Chernobyl Disaster?
- Accidents like Chornobyl and Fukushima have damaged the public perception of nuclear power, leading to decreased investment and development.
- Nuclear power is a low-carbon energy source with a proven track record of safety and reliability.
- Despite past challenges, there is a growing global interest in nuclear power as a key component of a sustainable energy future.
Three major nuclear events throughout the history of nuclear power production have tainted the image of the clean energy source, according to recent reports and years of public opinion polls. The events at Chornobyl, Fukushima, and Three Mile Island swayed public opinion against nuclear power in many areas of the world for several decades, encouraging governments worldwide to move away from the clean energy source in favor of continued fossil fuel use. Today’s energy mix could look extremely different if these events had not occurred, or greater efforts had been taken to raise public awareness over nuclear safety.
According to a recent report published by a think tank from the ex-U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair – Tony Blair Institute (TBI), the nuclear power industry could have had a significant impact on global carbon emissions had it continued to grow at the same pace as before the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster. It predicted that carbon emissions would be around 6 percent lower today if a different narrative of nuclear energy had been established following the Chornobyl disaster, rather than one that spurred “unfounded public concern”.
The Chornobyl nuclear power station was located in Pryp’yat, 10 miles northwest of the city of Chornobyl and 65 miles north of Kyiv. It consisted of four reactors, each with a 1 GW capacity. The disaster happened on April 25–26, 1986, when workers shut down the reactor’s power-regulating system and its emergency safety systems and withdrew most of the control rods from its core while it ran at 7 percent power. A combination of human errors led to several explosions triggering a large fireball that blew off the heavy steel and concrete lid of the reactor, which resulted in a partial meltdown of the core. This led large quantities of radioactive material to go into the atmosphere and spread for miles around.
Around 30,000 inhabitants were evacuated from Pryp’yat and a cover-up took place by the Soviet Union. However, Swedish monitoring stations reported abnormally high levels of wind-transported radioactivity, which led authorities to admit there had been an accident. The attempted cover-up and delayed information about the event led to an international outcry over the dangers of radioactive waste. The heat and the radioactivity leaking from the reactor core started to be contained in May, and the highly radioactive reactor core was later enclosed in a concrete-and-steel sarcophagus. Reports on the number of deaths associated with both the disaster and the lingering radioactivity in the region vary widely.
The TBI report found that over 400 reactors commenced operations in the three decades before Chornobyl, but fewer than 200 had been commissioned in the almost three decades since. The report stated, “The result is that nuclear energy has never become the ubiquitous power source many had projected, with countries instead turning towards alternatives such as coal and gas.” It suggests that two other major nuclear incidents – Fukushima and Three Mile Island – also harmed the public perception of nuclear power
Nevertheless, the TBI predicts the world will see a “new nuclear age” in the coming years, as environmentalists and governments worldwide double down on their commitment to nuclear power as part of a green energy transition. Nuclear energy has been providing abundant clean power to countries worldwide for around 70 years. Unlike most renewable energy sources, nuclear energy can be produced 24 hours a day, rain or shine, providing a stable flow of clean power to the grid. Some new-generation power plants are now capable of operating for up to 80 years, which is far longer than gas- or coal-fired power stations, as well as many renewable installations.
In addition, a multitude of studies over several decades show that fossil fuels are overwhelmingly more harmful to health and the environment than nuclear power. Experts think that air pollution from fossil fuels is responsible for around 7 million deaths a year, while nuclear energy carries a similar level of risk to wind power, which is around 350 times safer than coal. Per terawatt-hour of energy production, coal is thought to cause 24.6 deaths, oil 18.4 deaths, natural gas 2.8 deaths and nuclear energy 0.07 deaths.
The International Atomic Energy Agency says that nuclear power plants are among “the safest and most secure facilities in the world.” They must adhere to strict international safety standards and both training and best practices have become stricter and more internationally standardized in recent decades. Further, nuclear waste storage facilities are highly protected against earthquakes, tornadoes, and other potential disasters.
The lead author of the report Tone Langengen stated, “A new nuclear age is beginning. But whether it continues will depend entirely on whether leaders are willing to move past false alarm and ideology, making judgment based upon fact-based assessment of risk.”
By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com
NANO announces flurry of microreactor MoUs
Recent memorandums of understanding signed by microreactor developer NANO Nuclear Energy will see it work with the US Department of Energy on evaluating the feasibility of siting its experimental microreactors at the Idaho National Laboratory; with the Togolese government on the potential deployment of its microreactors in West Africa; and with a Canadian startup company on integrating its technology with an innovative farming technique.
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An MoU with US Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office will see NANO Nuclear work with the department and operator of the national lab Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC to progress the development, siting, and eventual testing of the ZEUS and ODIN microreactors. The agreement outlines core activities, such as site evaluations, support of Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing activities, and the development of operational and security plans, including hazardous material management, with the parties collaborating to assess the suitability of INL's infrastructure and secure appropriate land-use agreements for supporting the experimental reactors.
The agreement, which will remain in place for five years with a renewal option, also includes provisions for regulatory coordination, communication strategies, and efforts to ensure environmental compliance under the National Environmental Policy Act.
"This partnership with DOE's Idaho Operations Office allows us to take multiple critical steps toward demonstrating the economic viability and real-world applications of NANO Nuclear's microreactor technology,” NANO Nuclear CEO and Head of Reactor Development James Walker said.
The ZEUS microreactor features a sealed, solid reactor core and a power conversion system that fit inside a single standard shipping container. ODIN is a low-pressure coolant reactor.
Togo agreement
Separately, the government of the Togolese Republic is to support NANO Nuclear's licensing and implementation efforts in the West African country under an MoU announced on 5 December. NANO Nuclear will be responsible for evaluating the specific regional needs for energy systems that can support remote mines, industries, data centres, towns, hospitals, and desalination plants throughout the country, without the need to connect to the national grid.
This is NANO Nuclear’s second such MoU in Africa, following an agreement with the Rwanda Atomic Energy Board (RAEB) signed in August. To help support a sustainable nuclear energy industry in Africa, NANO Nuclear said it will look to expand its collaboration with the RAEB and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences' Next Einstein initiative to further expand the educational and vocational opportunities for young professionals throughout Africa. The company also said it plans to set up a training course for nuclear physicists and engineers in collaboration with Cambridge University and the Togo Ministry of Education.
Vertical farming
A non-binding MoU between NANO Nuclear and Vert2Grow Energy Solutions Inc - a start-up partnership between Food Security Structures Canada and Marina Point Capital Inc - will see the parties explore the integration of NANO Nuclear's portable microreactor technology Vert2Grow's innovative vertical farming solutions to deliver sustainable power and food production capabilities to remote communities.
The MoU seeks to address the challenges faced by remote and underserved areas, where access to reliable energy and food supply is limited, leveraging NANO Nuclear’s advanced reactor systems in development and FSSC’s proprietary controlled-environment agriculture technology, developing a comprehensive framework to deliver innovative solutions that NANO said "may eventuate in the execution of one or more definitive agreements".
FSSC is pioneering vertical farming systems that enable year-round, high-yield food production in challenging environments, by using advanced automation, energy-efficient lighting, and climate control technologies.
The collaboration's initial scope of work will include feasibility studies to evaluate the integration of microreactor and vertical farming technologies; identifying and shortlisting optimal locations for pilot projects, focusing on remote communities, disaster-prone areas, and industrial camps across sub-Saharan Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, and Northern Canada; the design and launch of a potential pilot programme by 2027, integrating a prototype microreactor system with a demonstration vertical farm; and developing outreach programmes to train local personnel in operating and maintaining the integrated systems. The collaboration is targeting a deployment timeline beginning in the early 2030s.
"This collaboration embodies NANO Nuclear Energy’s vision to deliver not just power, but transformative solutions for communities that need them most," Walker said. "By combining our plans for clean, portable nuclear power with state-of-the-art vertical farming systems, we are seeking to address two of the most critical needs in remote regions: reliable energy and food security."
Agreements represent step forward for nuclear in Uzbekistan, says Uzatom
Strategic agreements signed by Uzbek interests during a conference held in Samarkand include cooperation agreements with international organisations, business interests and academia.
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Each of the documents represents an important step forward in establishing productive cooperation and sharing experience in the use of atomic energy, Uzbekistan's Uzatom atomic energy agency said.
The following documents were signed during the one-day Prospects for the Use of Nuclear Energy for Peaceful Purposes in Sustainable Development of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States conference on 5 December in Samarkand:
1. Additions to the Framework Country Program between the Atomic Energy Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzatom) and the International Atomic Energy Agency;
2. Memorandum of Understanding between Uzatom and World Nuclear Association;
3. Memorandum of Cooperation between Nuclear Power Plant Construction Directorate and China National Nuclear Corporation Overseas;
4. Memorandum of Cooperation between the Uzatom and the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
5. Agreement between the Uzatom and Assystem Engineering & Operation Services;
6. Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation between the Branch of the Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education "National Research Nuclear University MEPhI" in Tashkent and the Research Institute for the Development of Digital Technologies and Artificial Intelligence.
Uzbekistan is the world’s fifth-ranking uranium supplier and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev told the conference in his keynote address that ensuring reliable, safe, cost-effective and ecologically friendly energy sources is a top priority in the large-scale reforms carried out in "New Uzbekistan". The country's generation is a top priority for the country: its generation is currently dominated by natural gas, and it also imports electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, but demand is expected to double by 2030.
Infrastructure work began earlier this year for the construction of a six-unit small modular reactor nuclear power plant to be built in the Jizzakh region, based on the 55 MW RITM-200N pressurised water reactor - the first export order for the Russian design.
Shimane 2 restarts after 13 years being offline
Unit 2 of the Shimane nuclear power plant in Japan's Shimane Prefecture was restarted on 7 December, Chugoku Electric Power Company announced. It becomes the fourteenth Japanese reactor - and the second boiling water reactor - to resume operation.
The 789 MWe boiling water reactor (BWR) had been offline since January 2012.
In June 2021, Shimane 2 became the 17th Japanese reactor to pass the regulator's safety screenings and the fifth BWR - the same type as those at the Fukushima Daiichi plant - to receive regulatory approval to restart.
Following approvals by the cities of Matsue, Izumo, Yasugi and Unnan, in June 2022 the governor of Shimane prefecture approved the restart of Shimane 2. His approval marked the completion of the process to gain the consent of local communities for the unit to resume operation.
In early October, Chugoku released a revised schedule for the restart of the unit. It said the reactor was expected to restart in early December, with power generation scheduled to begin in late December. The reactor will resume commercial operation in early January 2025.
Chugoku began loading fuel into the core of Shimane 2 on 28 October. The process of loading the 560 fuel assemblies was completed on 3 November.
The company has now announced that the reactor was restarted at 3pm local time on 7 December, reaching criticality at 4.50pm.
Chugoku President and CEO Kengo Nakagawa said: "We believe that we have reached an important milestone in the restart process. We will continue to put safety first and work with even greater intensity as we steadily proceed with inspections and checks of equipment in preparation for paralleling (restarting) generators and resuming commercial operations one by one. We will do our best to ensure the restart process.
"Furthermore, we aim to be a power plant that provides peace of mind to the local community by striving to appropriately disclose information regarding the status and initiatives of the power plant, and providing detailed explanations at various opportunities."
The restart of Shimane 2 was welcomed by Kingo Hayashi, chairman of the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan. "We believe this is the result of the various efforts that Chugoku Electric Power and its partner companies have made to make safety their number one priority, as well as the careful explanation of those efforts to the local community. We would like to express our gratitude and respect to Chugoku Electric Power, the local government where the plant is located, and all those involved in the project.
"We recognise that this reactor startup marks an important milestone toward the restart of Shimane nuclear power plant unit 2. It is expected that the plant will be restarted under safe operations in the future, and in addition to this being from the perspectives of improving energy self-sufficiency, ensuring a stable supply of electricity, and achieving carbon neutrality, we believe this is extremely significant in that it will be the second restart of a BWR, which has not made as much progress in restarting as pressurised water reactors (PWRs), following the recent restart of Tohoku Electric Power's Onagawa nuclear power plant unit 2."
Onagawa 2 was restarted on 29 October, becoming the first BWR in Japan to be restarted.
Framatome to share fast reactor experience with Japan
France's Framatome has signed a Design Cooperation Implementation Arrangement for the development of sodium-cooled fast reactors with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi FBR Systems.
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The General Arrangement - which summarises the details of cooperation between Japan and France regarding the development of fast reactors - has been updated between the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission.
Following the update of this agreement, the implementing agencies of the fast reactor development collaboration - Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Mitsubishi FBR Systems (MFBR) - signed an Arrangement for R&D Cooperation for research, development and design review of fast reactors with the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), EDF and Framatome. Under the Arrangement for R&D Cooperation, Japan's experience from the Joyo and Monju fast reactors and France's experience from the Phenix and Superphenix reactors will be used to advance research and development of severe accidents, structural materials, core materials, fuel technology, numerical simulation tools, design review, and design requirements for the Japanese demonstration fast reactor.
In addition, JAEA, MHI and MFBR signed a Design Cooperation Implementation Arrangement with Framatome on design cooperation for the fast reactor. The Design Cooperation Implementation Arrangement calls for cooperation taking lessons from France's experience to develop the design and design evaluation of equipment and systems that the Japanese side considers necessary for the Japanese project.
The agreement was signed on Friday in Tokyo by Framatome Executive Vice President François Billot, JAEA President Masanori Koguchi, MHI Senior Vice President Hidehito Mimaki and MFBR President Makoto Yamagishi.
Framatome noted the agreement marks the beginning of its contribution to the new Japanese programme for the development of a demonstration sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR).
"With the conclusion of these implementing arrangements, the development track record and operating experience in France will be reflected in the conceptual design of the Japanese demonstration fast reactor and associated research and development in Japan, promoting the development of fast reactors in Japan and in France," the Japanese partners said in a joint statement.
Japan's demonstration sodium-cooled fast reactor (with a capacity of about 600 MWe) is based on an integrated SFR architecture (pool-type reactor) already developed and implemented in France. At the request of the Japanese partners, Framatome will provide feedback and design evaluation both on the technology and the architecture of this type of reactor.
"Framatome is proud to be able to share its experience in developing this technology with our Japanese partners," said François Billot, executive vice president of Framatome Offers & Projects. "This cooperation will contribute to reinforcing and maintaining the skills acquired by Framatome in the field of sodium-cooled fast reactors. This new agreement strengthens the cooperation that began 10 years ago."
In December 2019, MHI and MFBR, together with JAEA, signed an agreement to cooperate on the development of fast neutron reactors with Framatome and the CEA.
MHI was selected in July 2023 by the Japanese government to lead the conceptual design of the demonstration SFR, which is to enter operation in the 2040s. MHI will oversee both the conceptual design as well as research and development for the reactor in partnership with MFBR, which was established in 2007 as an engineering company responsible for the development of FBRs in Japan based on the Mitsubishi Group's accumulated experience in nuclear-related business.
Fast neutron reactors offer the prospect of vastly more efficient use of uranium resources than in conventional power reactors, as well as the ability to burn actinides. Fast reactors have operated in various countries since the 1950s, with some producing electricity commercially.
JAEA has a history of operating sodium-cooled fast reactors, such as Monju in Fukui Prefecture and the Joyo experimental fast reactor in Ibaraki Prefecture. However, the development of fast reactors in Japan was halted when the government decided to decommission Monju in 2016, following a series of problems, including leakage of sodium coolant in 1995.
France itself has operated three such reactors since the 1960s, including Phenix, which operated from 1973 to 2009. The CEA was commissioned by the government to develop two fourth generation fast reactors including Astrid in 2006, and it was decided in 2009 to make Astrid a high R&D priority because of its potential as an actinide burner.
LANL researchers complete HALEU criticality experiment
The Deimos experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory is the first criticality experiment using high assay low-enriched uranium fuel to be carried out in the USA in more than 20 years, and will help to develop public data and criticality benchmarks for the material.
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Criticality benchmarks are essential to nuclear design and safety evaluations required by the industry and regulatory bodies, but there are very few benchmarks that use high assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). The US Department of Energy (DOE) and Nuclear Regulatory Commission are collaborating on the development of criticality data for HALEU: in August, the DOE awarded USD17 million of funding to 16 projects to help develop public data and criticality benchmarks related to the use, storage, and transportation of HALEU fuels.
The Deimos criticality demonstration, funded by Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development programme, took place at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center at the Nevada National Security Site. The centre has four critical experiment machines and is the only general-purpose critical experiments facility in the USA equipped to conduct experiments on fissionable material at or near criticality.
One of the critical assembly machines at the centre was modified to accommodate a new graphite core and 'cups' to hold HALEU-based fuel pellets containing TRISO (tri-structural isotropic) fuel particles. After demonstrating criticality of the system, the experiment was then measured at room temperature and heated to more than 200° Fahrenheit (93.3° Celsius) to generate new criticality safety data on HALEU fuel.
Assembling the Deimos experiment (Image: Department of Energy (DOE))
"The Deimos experiment is an important step towards deploying HALEU-fuelled nuclear reactors," said Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Programme Manager for Nuclear Energy Chris Stanek said. "We are excited and proud to make use of unique LANL capabilities to advance the nation's advanced reactor goals, and we look forward to future experiments that Deimos enables."
Many advanced reactors will require HALEU to achieve smaller designs, longer operating cycles, and increased efficiencies over existing nuclear technologies. Data developed from the projects funded through the DOE and Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Criticality Benchmarking solicitation will be made publicly available to enable efficient future design and safety reviews and help the nuclear industry develop new and novel solutions to address data gaps.
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