US, EU bodies report on nuclear fuel market situation
_13350.jpg)
Owners and operators of US civilian nuclear power reactors purchased a total of 46.9 million pounds U3O8e (18,040 tU) of deliveries from US and foreign suppliers during 2025, 16% less than the 55.9 million pounds purchased in 2024, according to the latest edition of the US Energy Information Administration's Uranium Marketing Annual Report. (The unit used in the report, U3O8e, stands for U3O8 equivalent, representing uranium concentrate (U3O8) and the equivalent uranium component of uranium hexafluoride and enriched uranium).
Canada remained the top source of US deliveries (32%), followed closely by Kazakhstan (28%) and Australia (15%), with material from Uzbekistan accounting for 7% of total deliveries, and Namibia 4% of total deliveries. Uranium was also imported from Malawi and Niger. US material accounted for 7% of total deliveries in 2025, down from 8% in 2024. Although Russian-origin material accounted for 2,301 million pounds U3O8 of 2024 deliveries, data on any deliveries of Russian-origin material in 2025 has been withheld to avoid disclosure of individual company data. Several other countries are also marked as "withheld" in the publication.
The year saw 32 million pounds U3O8e of natural uranium feed delivered on behalf of US nuclear power plant owners and operators to uranium enrichers at home and overseas, of which 37% went to domestic enrichers with the remaining 63% going to enrichment suppliers in France (5.5 million pounds U3O8e) and Russia (2.4 million pounds U3O8e).
The Energy Information Administration is a statistical and analytical agency within the US Department of Energy.
EU continues to diversify supply
Canada and Kazakhstan were also the top suppliers to the EU in 2025, according to the Euratom Supply Agency's 2025 annual report which was released in early July. Four countries provided over 83% of all deliveries to the EU and six countries provided over 98% of all-natural uranium supplied to the bloc. Unlike the US report, however, Russian deliveries played a significant part, with 2,346 tU of Russian-origin deliveries accounting for 15.98% of the total.
All of the EU's demand for fresh uranium is covered by imports from countries outside the bloc, and is therefore subject to geopolitical developments and related trade policy implications, the report notes. The Agency has a central role in ensuring the supply of nuclear materials for all EU users.
"One key area of attention is diversification," the Agency's Director General Michael Hübel said in his foreword to the report. "Addressing the remaining dependencies from Russia - in line with the Commission's Roadmap towards ending Russian energy imports - is a key priority in this respect. But the task is more challenging - as nuclear demand grows in Europe there needs to be emphasis on a safe and secure supply chain, enabling nuclear energy to play its role as homegrown energy to the full."
In May 2025 the European Commission published the REPowerEU roadmap to end EU dependency on Russian energy by stopping the import of Russian gas and oil and phasing out Russian nuclear energy. This includes diversifying the source of supply of nuclear fuel for Russian-designed VVER reactors, which operate in several EU countries.
According to the Agency, "significant progress" was made during the year in this respect. "By the end of 2025, all EU operators of VVER reactors had secured alternative fuel supply contracts from non-Russian suppliers, strengthening long-term security of supply," the report says.
Australian reactor marks 20 years of operations
_83572.jpg)
OPAL - for Open Pool Australian Lightwater reactor - reached first criticality on 12 August 2006. Since then, it has supported the production of more than 10 million lifesaving nuclear medicine doses, irradiated over 900 tonnes of silicon ingots and created neutrons essential for enabling 8,000 cutting-edge scientific experiments, ANSTO said.
The 20 MW reactor officially opened in 2007 - here's how WNN reported it at the time. It replaced the HIFAR research reactor which operated from 1958 to 2007. Construction began in 2002, taking just four years to complete. The reactor was designed, constructed and commissioned by Argentinian nuclear technology company INVAP, alongside Australian alliance partners John Holland Construction and Engineering and Evans Deakin Industries Limited. More than 500 people were employed on site at the peak of construction, making it one of the most complex construction projects ever undertaken at the Lucas Heights campus.
_59e0d738.jpg)
Flashback: OPAL's pool is craned in during the construction phase (2002-2004) (Image: ANSTO)
OPAL does not generate electricity: nuclear power reactors are currently prohibited in Australia under federal and state-level legislation. The unit is a research reactor which produces neutrons for scientific, medical and industrial uses. Beams of neutrons produced by the reactor are guided to a suite of sophisticated scientific instruments at the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering for research in a vast array of scientific disciplines and industry applications including medicine, food, engineering and construction, mining, advanced technologies, energy materials, palaeontology, cultural heritage items, planetary and space studies.
The reactor is also used for irradiation activities, including the production of radioisotopes - including molybdenum-99, the precursor of technetium 99m, one of the most commonly used medical diagnostic radioisotopes. It also carries out the irradiation of silicon to produce specialised material for use in semiconductors.
_a99aec8d.jpg)
A view of OPAL's pool from the bridge: targets for irradiation can be lowered from the bridge into the pool (Image: ANSTO)
ANSTO CEO Shaun Jenkinson said for twenty years, OPAL has arguably been Australia's most significant piece of scientific infrastructure.
"OPAL underpins Australia's enduring nuclear capability, sustaining the expertise, infrastructure and international confidence needed in a changing strategic environment," he said. "It is one of the clearest examples of how nuclear science directly improves lives."
"Every Australian will, on average, require two nuclear medicine procedures in their lifetime. If you or a loved one has undergone a diagnostic imaging scan such as a SPECT scan, it is highly likely the nuclear medicine administered came from Lucas Heights," he added.
"Similarly, if you drive an electric or hybrid vehicle, or have caught a high-speed train overseas, there is a very good chance that a small component of that technology is able to function because of OPAL."
As well as being a major employer in the southern Sydney area, OPAL remains a nationally important asset, supporting sovereign expertise, training the next generation of nuclear specialists, and demonstrating the value of sustained investment in nuclear science and technology, he said. It also has a "crucial role in the training and development of Australia's growing nuclear workforce, including for future national priorities such as AUKUS." AUKUS is the 2021 trilateral partnership between Australia, the UK and the USA under which Australia is set to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
Construction of Bailong 2 conventional island begins
_74242.jpg)
The basement slab of the conventional island - also called the turbine island - of unit 2 adopts an integral raft foundation, which is divided into nine construction zones and constructed using the 'skip-pour' method. Concrete pouring in the area known as Zone 1 started on the evening of 7 August and was completed on the morning of 9 August. A total of 1,732 cubic metres of concrete was poured during the process, which involved 38 hours and 46 minutes of continuous work.
"During the pouring operations, the project team closely monitored process standards, continuously strengthened supervision and control throughout the entire process, and built a solid safety and quality defence line to ensure the safe and high-quality implementation of the conventional island first concrete pouring," SPIC said.
_81c7fe80.jpg)
(Image: CNNC)
"The completion of the conventional island first concrete pouring of unit 2 is a crucial engineering milestone in the construction of the Bailong Nuclear Power Project," the company added. "It lays a solid foundation for the subsequent construction of the turbine foundation and basement sidewalls, and provides strong support for the overall efficient progress of the project."
The construction of Phase I (units 1 and 2) of the Bailong plant was among approvals for 11 new reactors granted by China's State Council in August 2024. SPIC plans to build two CAP1000 pressurised water reactors - the Chinese version of the Westinghouse AP1000 - as the first phase of the plant. An investment of about CNY40 billion (USD5.6 billion) is planned for the two units, which are expected to take 56 months to construct.
_a52443fb.png)
(Image: SPIC)
Excavation work for the foundation pit of the nuclear island for unit 1 began in late December 2024. SPIC subsidiary Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute (SNERDI) - joint general contractor for the project - announced it poured the first concrete on 22 December 2025. The company said a total of 6,662 cubic metres of concrete was poured in a process lasting just over 64 hours.
Located on Jiangshan Peninsula in Fangchenggang City, Guangxi Province, the Bailong plant is planned to have six units, with a total installed capacity of 8.62 GWe and a total investment of approximately CNY120 billion. The first phase of the project adopts the CAP1000 design, with each unit having a capacity of 1.25 GW. Four larger CAP1400 reactors are also proposed to be built at the site - located about 24 kilometres from the border with Vietnam and about 30 kilometres southwest of China General Nuclear's Fangchenggang nuclear power plant - in later phases.
After the first phase of the project is completed and put into operation, it is expected to generate about 20 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which is equivalent to reducing standard coal consumption by about 6 million tonnes and carbon dioxide emissions by about 16 million tonnes per year.
First fuel loaded into Tianwan unit 7
_d99eb848_25133.jpg)
The first of 163 nuclear fuel assemblies was loaded into the reactor on 12 August, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced.
Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom supplied fuel for the initial loading for Tianwan unit 7 in January. The fuel was manufactured at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant and is part of the contract for units 7 and 8 at the plant.
CNNC said the start of fuel loading "lays a solid foundation for the subsequent reactor criticality and commercial operation".
The background
In June 2018, Russia and China signed agreements for the construction of two VVER-1200 reactors as units 7 and 8 of the Tianwan plant. Construction of unit 7 began in May 2021, with that of unit 8 starting in February 2022. The units are scheduled to be put into commercial operation in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
The Tianwan nuclear power plant is owned and operated by Jiangsu Nuclear Power Company, a joint venture between CNNC (50%), China Power Investment Corporation (30%) and Jiangsu Guoxin Group (20%).
The first four units at the Tianwan site - which began commercial operation between June 2007 and December 2018 - are Gidropress VVER units supplied by Russia. Units 5 and 6 both feature Chinese ACPR1000 reactors.
In January, CNNC announced that hot tests - which simulate the temperatures and pressures the reactor systems will be subjected to during normal operation - had been completed at unit 7 on 30 December. Cold tests - which verify the leak-tightness of the primary circuit and components - were completed at unit 8 earlier this month.
According to the project construction plan, Tianwan units 7 and 8 are scheduled to be put into commercial operation in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
Once all units at the Tianwan plant are operational, the total installed capacity will exceed 9 GWe, with an annual power generation of over 70 TWh, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 57.4 million tonnes annually.
Upgrading of Loviisa turbine island begins
_29005.jpg)
Loviisa - comprising two VVER-440 type pressurised water reactors - was the first nuclear power plant in Finland and currently provides more than 10% of the country's electricity. Loviisa unit 1 began commercial operation in 1977, with unit 2 following in 1981. In February 2023, the Finnish government granted Fortum an extension to the operating licence for the two units, allowing the plant to continue generating power until the end of 2050.
The modernisation of the low-pressure turbines is the largest single project in the modernisation of Loviisa's turbine island. It involves renewing the housings and internal parts of the plant's eight low-pressure turbines. The goal of the renewal is to significantly improve the efficiency of the turbine plant, which will enable higher electricity production without increasing the thermal power of the reactor. The project is being delivered by the Czech company Doosan Škoda Power under a contract signed in May 2024.
A turbine automation upgrade will replace the turbine protection and control systems and related actuators of both plant units. Turbine automation plays a key role in the safe, reliable and efficient operation of the turbine plant, as it controls and monitors the operation of the turbines in all operating situations. The upgrade will update the systems to meet current technical requirements, which will improve their reliability, maintainability and availability of spare parts. In addition to the turbine automation, the generator auxiliary systems will be modernised, which will enhance the real-time monitoring and control of the systems from the control room. The turbine automation will be supplied by Finnish company Valmet.
The main seawater pumps are also being modernised as part of the turbine plant's cooling process. The main seawater pumps are responsible for circulating seawater to the condensers, where the steam leaving the turbines is cooled back to water and returned to the power plant process. Both plant units have four main seawater pumps in use. The current pumps and their motors are approaching the end of their technical service life, which is why they are being replaced as part of the power plant's long-term investment programme. The project is being delivered by Andritz from Austria.
_1_2fbe0100.jpg)
Loviisa (Image: Fortum)
The modernisation programme - to be implemented in stages up to 2028 in connection with annual maintenance outages - will result in an increase in the total capacity of about 38 MWe from the plant's current capacity of 1,014 MWe and will raise the expected generation from plant over the course of the new licence period from 170 TWh to 177 TWh.
"The upgrades will ensure the turbines will operate reliably until the end of their service life," Fortum said. "Some of the current components are approaching the end of their technical service life, which will make their maintenance and spare parts availability more difficult in the coming years. At the same time, the operating environment has changed, and geopolitical factors have increased uncertainty regarding the support provided by some original equipment and system suppliers and the availability of spare parts. The modernisation will ensure that the power plant can safely and reliably utilise modern, long-term supported technologies."
Fortum invested about EUR70 million (USD81 million) last year in refurbishing the Loviisa plant. The company estimates that investments related to the continuation of operations and the lifetime extension will amount to about EUR1 billion by 2050.
Containment of first Egyptian unit takes shape
_56890.png)
The Authority said concreting work continued non-stop for 30 hours, using five concrete pump trucks with boom distributors. About 80 specialists participated in the work during the day shift, another 80 during the night shift, and 20 people continued working around the clock to ensure the smooth operation of construction equipment and machinery.
The total volume of concrete poured was 1,608 cubic metres, and this work contributed to increasing the height of the reactor building from a level of 24.4 metres above ground to a level of 34.0 metres.
"The successful completion of the concreting work for the fourth tier of unit 1 is a new strategic step, reflecting the ongoing progress of the project, said Sherif Helmy, chairman of the NPPA board of directors. "This achievement is the result of fruitful cooperation and full coordination between all work teams of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority, the project's customer and operator, and Atomstroyexport JSC, the project's general contractor."
Alexey Zhukov, First Vice President of ASE JSC and President for NPP Construction, added: "The completion of the installation of the fourth tier of the El Dabaa NPP reactor building's internal containment vessel marks a new, important milestone in the construction of unit 1 and reflects the high level of professionalism and dedication of the entire project team. By mid-August, we plan to begin work on installing the fifth tier, which will subsequently serve as a support for the polar crane."
Background
El Dabaa will be Egypt's first nuclear power plant, and the first in Africa since South Africa's Koeberg was built nearly 40 years ago. The Rosatom-led project, about 320 kilometres north-west of Cairo, will comprise four VVER-1200 units, like those already in operation at the Leningrad and Novovoronezh nuclear power plants in Russia, and the Ostrovets plant in Belarus.
VVER-1200 reactors have two containment buildings - an inner one and an outer one - which provide extra safety and protection from external impacts.
Under the 2017 contracts, Rosatom will not only build the plant, but will also supply Russian nuclear fuel for its entire life cycle, including building a storage facility and supplying containers for storing used nuclear fuel. It will also assist Egyptian partners in training personnel and plant maintenance for the first 10 years of its operation. Rosatom has said it is aiming for a future service life of up to 100 years for nuclear power plants.
The four units are being built almost concurrently, with first concrete at unit 1 in July 2022, followed in turn by the others, concluding with first concrete at unit 4 in January 2024. Egypt's aim is for 9% of electricity to be generated by nuclear by 2030, which would be achieved by the commercial operation of the first two units by that time, directly displacing oil and gas.
No comments:
Post a Comment