EVs Twice As Likely To Hit Pedestrians As Gasoline Vehicles

By Alex Kimani - May 23, 2024

• 
  
• The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has found that pedestrians are twice as likely to be hit by an electric or hybrid car than by a gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicle.
• 
  
• The scientists have hypothesized that the relatively quiet operations of an electric vehicle as well as high pedestrian density in noisy urban areas could be major reasons.
• 
  
• The study uncovered a pedestrian casualty rate of 5.16 per 100 million miles driven for electric and hybrid vehicles, more than double the 2.4 per 100 million miles recorded for traditional gasoline-powered cars.
• 
  

For years, the transition from ICE vehicles to EVs has been viewed as a critical element of reducing the more than seven billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (GtCO?) the global transport sector emits each year. The Biden-Harris administration has set an ambitious goal to have up to half of all new vehicle sales in the country electric by the year 2030 as part of the government’s mission to achieve a net-zero emissions economy by 2050. 

This gargantuan effort might be worth it:  A 2021 study conducted by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) comparing lifecycle emissions of ICE vs. EVs concluded that “emissions over the lifetime of average medium-size [BEVs] registered today are already lower than comparable gasoline cars by 66%–69% in Europe, 60-80% in the United States, 37%–45% in China, and 19%–34% in India.’’ 

However, as is usually the case with every technology, EVs have their drawbacks, too. 

Not only does your average EV come with a higher sticker price than a comparable gasoline car but also an EV can lose as much as 12% of its range when temperatures drop to 20 degrees, a figure that shoots up to 40% if you turn on the cabin heater.

And now researchers have come up with yet another reason why you might want to rethink trading in your gas-guzzler for a shiny new EV: electric vehicles are more accident-prone. To wit, a study conducted by lead researcher Dr. Phil J. Edwards at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has found that pedestrians are twice as likely to be hit by an electric or hybrid car than by a gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicle.

e study uncovered a pedestrian casualty rate of 5.16 per 100 million miles driven for electric and hybrid vehicles, more than double the 2.4 per 100 million miles recorded for traditional gasoline-powered cars. Insisting that the study is not meant to bash EVs, Dr. Edwards notes that "Electric cars are definitely a thing for the future. They are a wonderful way to reduce air pollution. But we must mitigate the danger" to pedestrians. EV drivers need to be extra cautious of pedestrians,’’ he added.

The researchers have conceded that current crash statistics aren't yet robust enough to reach scientific conclusions. However, they have hypothesized that the relatively quiet operations of an electric vehicle as well as high pedestrian density in noisy urban areas could be major reasons, with pedestrians almost three times as likely to be hit by an electric or hybrid car in these areas. Dr. Edwards suspects that demographics could also play a role, noting that “Younger, less experienced drivers are more likely to be involved in a road traffic collision and are also more likely to own an electric car.”

Driverless Cars Safer Than Human Drivers

EVs currently account for less than 1% of vehicles on U.S. roads, implying human casualties associated with the industry are still much lower compared to those attributable to the fossil fuel industry. But with bold predictions that EVs could make up 60-70% of the U.S. fleet by 2050, the significantly higher propensity of electric propulsion to cause accidents could prove highly problematic.

Luckily, there’s a handy solution: driverless cars. For years, autonomous driving buffs and experts claimed that driverless vehicles have the potential to be safer than humans. Unfortunately, those claims have remained unverified for the simple fact that there’s not enough data available. That is, until now. 

Last year, Google’s Waymo analyzed 7.13 million fully driverless miles in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco cities. Waymo touts itself as the world’s first autonomous ride-hailing service, and its cars are fully electric.  Waymo then compared the data to human driving benchmarks, marking the first time the company studied miles from fully driverless operations only, rather than a mix of autonomous and human-monitored driving.

The conclusion is very encouraging. Waymo’s driverless cars were 6.7 times less likely than human drivers to be involved in a crash resulting in an injury, good for a respectable 85% reduction over the human benchmark. These vehicles are also 2.3 times less likely to be in a police-reported crash, or a 57% reduction. Overall, this translates to ~17 fewer injuries and 20 fewer police-reported crashes compared to if a human driver would have driven the same distance in the cities where Waymo operates.

There seems to be little consensus regarding the time when autonomous vehicles will finally become an everyday reality on U.S. roads, with public distrust of autonomous driving technology a major hurdle. A Forbes Advisor report found that as many as 93% of U.S. citizens have concerns about some aspect of self-driving cars. However, the ongoing AI boom might help accelerate this technology and lower adoption timelines from decades to maybe less than a decade. 

According to Micron Technology, “AI is a critical technology required to realize autonomous driving. The extreme compute performance required for an autonomous vehicle based on AI requires an innovative memory and storage system to process and hold the vast amount of data necessary for a computer to make decisions like a human.”

Even baby steps might help make EVs safer, with one McKinsey study showing that the growing adoption of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) in Europe could reduce the number of accidents by about 15% by 2030.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

What’s Really Wrong with Thames Water?

By Leonard Hyman & William Tilles - May 22, 2024

Thames Water again? We’re not in the water business. But this story has a moral, so read on. There are many reasons for the current predicament in the UK’s water utility business. This situation resembles one of those detective stories where almost everyone is a suspect. The victim, of course, is the British public suffering under boil water alerts and facing increasingly polluted beaches, lakes, and rivers. But who is to blame? The question itself is complex and difficult to answer. Each day another news article appears expressing outrage about excessive management compensation, capital misallocation, or regulatory malfeasance while concluding with a somber note about worsening pollution in some local lake or stream. Making these problems seem overly complex and difficult to resolve has a numbing effect on the public and encourages a kind of learned helplessness. This also permits politicians to avoid accountability for the mess that they or their predecessors created.

But let’s get back to Thames Water. Their obvious problem is water pollution. The equally obvious solution is a much higher level of capital spending on sewage treatment and related facilities. And that’s where the easy answers end. Why? First, because no one trusts the existing management and board, who are ultimately responsible for the dire state of corporate affairs, to properly supervise the billions in needed remedial capital expenditures. Second, no one trusts the regulator either. Ofwat has shown a profound indifference to its public responsibilities while permitting a grotesque overleveraging of its utilities. This excessive debt has financially crippled these once solidly investment grade companies. Dealing with this excessive debt is a big part of what has to be resolved. Bankrupting the holding company, Kemble, and all related non operating entities, would be simplest. But there's another problem. Lastly, the public seems to have lost faith in the private sector’s ability to handle this but it’s even less clear how a re-nationalization of this industry would occur. That’s why these water utility issues are difficult. We have simultaneous problems with misguided management still focused on capital extraction, wildly incompetent regulators, and a public increasingly convinced that privatization was a big mistake and that renationalizing these industries is the best outcome. And all of these issues are linked.

Of all the institutional failures here, the apparent abdication of Ofwat from even rudimentary capital structure regulation is to us the most baffling. As we’ve written before, the water industry is one of the safest and least risky types of utility. Everyone needs their product and demand is predictable. But from an analytical perspective, low business risk implies the ability to take on more financial leverage and vice versa. High-risk businesses should have very little leverage, if any. Said differently, business risk and financial risk are inverse correlates. The Thames Water management seems to have taken this idea of a low-risk water utility business and pushed it to its logical, leverage-able limit. And now they, and the British public, are stuck.

Lastly, the problem regulators have is one of public trust, or the lack of it. Why should people in the UK trust them to properly supervise a large remedial capital program for improved water quality when they have basically ignored all semblance of regulatory propriety in the past? To us that’s the true appeal of renationalization. It gets around a dysfunctional British regulatory body.

Here’s the lesson for us. Years of disregard for the public service function, allowed by a permissive regulator, finally reached the point where even politicians took notice and denounced the market-embracing setup they had previously championed. Who loses? Probably the utility’s owners. Now imagine, across the pond, American electricity customers without service for days in sweltering heat, or in severe cold, and it keeps happening, while regulators sit by helplessly. Can the public trust the regulators or the management to correct the situation? Maybe the key lesson from the Thatcher era of utility privatization is simply that private enterprises can’t provide public services. Or at least not without vigilant regulators. These deregulated utilities keep malfunctioning and it keeps happening. When does an enterprising politician turn this into an election issue?  So far not yet.  But the summer has not yet begun.  Maybe Thames Water should be a case study at some Edison Electric Institute management retreat. Learn what not to do.

By Leonard Hyman and William Tilles for Oilprice.com

 

Two of Europe’s Biggest Banks to Stop Underwriting Oil and Gas Bonds

By Tsvetana Paraskova - May 24, 2024

French banks BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole, two of Europe’s top three banks by assets, are no longer underwriting bond issues for oil and gas development in the latest policy shift of financing for the industry in Europe.

The banks made clarifications on the matter in documents for their annual general meetings this month.

BNP Paribas indicated at its AGM last week that it would not participate in bond issues for companies in the oil and gas sector.

Environmental group Reclaim Finance said that it “welcomes this change at a time when the bank is reducing its financing for major companies in the sector, and calls on BNP Paribas to formalize this approach by including this rule in its climate policy and extending it to other financial services likely to contribute to oil and gas expansion.”   

BNP Paribas said in May 2023 that it would no longer provide any financing for developing new oil and gas fields, regardless of the financing methods. The bank also pledged to reduce its oil exploration and production financing by 80% by 2030 as part of its energy transition goals.

Another major French bank, Credit Agricole, also said it had effectively ceased bond issues for oil and gas. At the bank’s AGM on Wednesday, director general Philippe Brassac, said “We no longer participate in [bond] issues that are not clearly green, or at least that do not correspond to our green framework,” as cited by Reclaim Finance. 

In recent years, European banks have been limiting their exposure to oil and gas.

Under pressure from ESG trends and shareholders, major European banks have announced tougher rules on financing fossil fuels over the past two years.

UK’s HSBC said at the end of 2022 that it would stop funding new oil and gas field developments and related infrastructure as part of a policy to support and finance a net-zero transition.

UK-based Barclays announced in February 2024 that it would drop direct funding for new oil and gas projects, joining other major European banks in halting the financing of fossil fuel expansion. 

Barclays is also looking to avoid claims of greenwashing with a new set of guidelines about what ‘transition finance’ is and how its new transition finance team should apply it.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

JPMorgan: Global AI Data Centers Will Consume Huge Amounts of Fresh Water

By ZeroHedge - May 23, 2024

While energy consumption of data centers steal the headlines, the water-intensive nature of their operations are overlooked.

Bluefield research: water consumption by global data centers (including on-site cooling and off-site power generation) has grown 6% annually from 2017 to 2022.

Immense water demand from data centers in areas where water resources are scarce could spark "increased competition can strain water availability, even causing data center closures."



Wall Street banks are in a frenzy over "The Next AI Trade," piling into the 'Powering up America' investment themes, whether that's power grid companies, commodities, such as copper, gold, silver, and uranium, and artificial intelligence chipmakers, to accommodate the explosion of generative artificial intelligence data centers anticipated nationwide through the end of the decade and beyond.

JPMorgan's Asia Pacific Equity Research desk is the latest bank to jump on AI trade in a note titled "Deep Dive into Power, Cooling, Electric Grid and ESG implications."



Focusing on AI data center power consumption is too repetitive at this point, considering we've laid it all out on a silver platter for premium ZH subs in the "The Next AI Trade" and "The Next AI Trade Just Hit An All-Time High."

As well as this real-world example... Goldman Finds Commercial Power Demand In Virginia Explodes Higher As 'Next AI Trade' Soars

Even Blackstone Chief Executive Officer Steve Schwarzman and BlackRock Chairman and Chief Executive Larry Fink have jumped onto the power grid and AI investment theme as there is plenty of upside in the years ahead - unless AI demand doesn't shit the bed.

Back to JPM's note, authored by analyst William Yang and his team, which near the end explained, "While data centers have been scrutinized for heavy electricity use, the water intensive nature of their operations has been comparatively overlooked."

Citing data from Bluefield Research, Yang said total water consumption by global data centers (including on-site cooling and off-site power generation) has grown 6% annually from 2017 to 2022. He said by 2030, water consumption could jump to 450 million gallons per day. To put this in perspective, that's 681 Olympic-sized pools of fresh water that will be needed each day to cool global data centers in about 4.5 years.



"By 2027, the same authors suggest that global AI demand may be accountable for 4.2 – 6.6 billion cubic meters of water withdrawal, more than the total annual water withdrawal of half of the United Kingdom when taking account of the combined scope 1 and scope 2 operational water withdrawal," Yang pointed out.

He said the immense water demand from data centers in areas where water resources are scarce could spark "increased competition can strain water availability, even causing data center closures."

Here are the various ways to cool data centers via water:



Much of the water usage at data centers is "because millions of gallons of water each day are evaporated in cooling systems designed to off-load server heat," the analysts said.

We'd love to know where the critics of crypto miners are now, as AI data centers are set to consume massive amounts of power and water.

Are any NGOs or Greta going to protest AI data centers? We doubt.

By Zerohedge.com

• • Could Thailand Become the Next Electric Vehicle Powerhouse?
    
    
    By Felicity Bradstock - May 25, 2024
  • Thailand, with its established auto industry and low-cost production, is becoming a leader in EV manufacturing in Southeast Asia.
  • Government incentives, green funding from the ADB, and favorable policies are attracting major EV companies like Toyota, BYD, and potentially Tesla.
  • As the US reduces tax credits for Chinese EVs, Thailand is positioning itself as a viable alternative manufacturing hub for global automakers.

  Several countries are rapidly developing their burgeoning electric vehicle (EV) industries to meet the growing demand for EVs and compete with China when it comes to manufacturing. Asia has come out on top in recent years for producing the cheapest EVs and batteries, even though some of the highest EV demand in the coming years is expected to come from Europe and North America. With the U.S. looking to decrease its dependency on China for renewable energy products, including EVs, automakers are looking to other Asian countries to develop their cars and batteries, with Thailand appearing increasingly attractive to investors. 

  Thailand is rapidly becoming the EV capital of Southeast Asia, building on its already strong automobile manufacturing industry. It has been referred to as the “Detroit of Asia”, gaining the title of the world’s 12th largest automaker in 2018. Several foreign companies have launched operations in the Southeast Asian country, such as Japan’s Toyota and Mitsubishi, as well as GM, Ford, Mercedes, and BMW. It provides a prime location for low-cost manufacturing, with a history of expertise in the sector. It is also ideal for companies looking to develop their export market beyond Europe and North America to Asia and Oceania.

  Owing to its strong automaking reputation, Thailand has rapidly developed its EV manufacturing industry, supported by green funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Last year, the Thai government launched a five-year investment promotion strategy to support the development of a green economy, focused on five strategic sectors including the EV supply chain. To spur investment, the government introduced a policy for “up to 13 years corporate income tax exemption without a cap”, as we as other financial incentives. Toyota, BYD, Great Wall Motor, SAIC Motor, and Mercedes-Benz are just some of the companies looking to develop their EV segments in Thailand. 

  In recent months, Tesla has shown greater interest in the Thai market. Elon Musk is looking for possible locations for his next Gigafactory and Thailand could well provide the answer. The Tesla CEO was expected to visit Thailand recently, before canceling the trip due to issues within the company. A move to Thailand could open a new regional consumer market for Tesla, as well as provide the potential for low-cost manufacturing.Craig Irwin, a senior research analyst at Roth Capital, explained, “Thailand is a possible path to China-like auto parts costs, allowing low-cost production.” Irwin added, “Thailand is an option since it’ll give continuity of access to the supply chain that supports the Shanghai facility, but not regulated by Beijing.” This is key as the Biden administration recently introduced new restrictions on tax credits for foreign-produced EVs and EV components, which will make it more expensive for consumers to purchase Chinese EVs and EVs using Chinese batteries. 

  In addition to American companies looking to alternative Asian markets, China itself is looking to expand its EV operations to other parts of Asia. In April, China’s state-owned automaker Chery Automobile announced plans to develop a 50,000-unit per year battery and hybrid EV plant in Thailand following over two years of discussions. Operations are expected to commence in 2025, with output to be expanded to 80,000 units per year by 2028. 

  The secretary-general of Thailand's Board of Investment (BOI), Narit Therdsteerasukdi, also met with executives from seven Chinese battery manufacturing firms, including Gotion High-tech, China Aviation Lithium Battery, and CATL, to discuss the potential for cell-level battery production in Thailand. The Southeast Asian country is attracting such great attention thanks to its historical ties with the automaking industry, as well as its favorable policies for EV production. Therdsteerasukdi stated, “I believe that in two years Thailand will have a large-scale battery cell factory. This will be another milestone to strengthen the supply chain and the long-term foundation of the electric vehicle industry in Thailand.”

  In terms of the domestic market, EV uptake in Thailand remains low but is expected to grow thanks to greater investments in manufacturing, charging infrastructure, and green public transport. The ADB is investing in renewable energy company Energy Absolute, which produces lithium-ion batteries for transport and power, and EV charging infrastructure for a range of EVs, including e-ferries, e-buses, and e-cars. ADB provided Energy Absolute with a $47.6-million green loan in 2021 to develop a wind energy project and expand Thailand’s EV Charging Network by installing 3,600 charging stations across major cities. It also offered funding for the development of the E Smart Bangkok Mass Rapid Transit Electric Ferries Project – the first electric ferry fleet for mass rapid transport in the region, as well as the purchase of up to 1,200 electric buses. 

  Building on its long-standing reputation as a major automaker, Thailand is rapidly becoming a big EV producer, with a manufacturing industry that is expected to expand further as the demand for EVs increases. Companies from across Asia, Europe, and North America are investing in EV manufacturing operations in Thailand thanks to its low-cost production, access to critical materials, and favorable EV policies. Further, as the U.S. will reduce tax credits for the purchase of Chinese EVs in the coming years, Thailand could become an attractive alternative for automakers.

  By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

• 
  
• 
  

• 
  

• 
  

 Study to assess benefits of Hartlepool SMR plant

23 May 2024

X-energy and Cavendish Nuclear have commissioned Teesside University to undertake a study of the potential regional benefits and economic impacts of a proposed power plant in Hartlepool, UK, based on X-energy's Xe-100 high temperature gas-cooled reactor.

Hartlepool is now due to operate until 2026 (Image: EDF)

The assessment - including jobs, skills, supply chain contracts, and investment - will be led by Matthew Cotton, Professor of Public Policy and will utilise expertise from Teesside University International Business School and its School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Law. It will include a review of available socio-economic data and engagement with local stakeholders including government officials, community leaders and sector experts.

The study will also examine national impacts, including contributions to meeting the UK government's net-zero targets. This assessment - which will begin immediately and be completed later this year - will include the additional benefits from industrial decarbonisation applications and the manufacture of other clean energy products, such as hydrogen and aviation fuel.

According to X-energy and Cavendish, early estimates indicate a 12-reactor X-energy plant at Hartlepool would "directly employ hundreds of people in operations and a peak construction workforce of several thousand in addition to the employment benefits in the wider supply chain". 

The study is part of a GBP6.68 million (USD8.5 million) programme funded by X-energy, and by the UK government which awarded the firms GBP3.34 million in April this year from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero's Future Nuclear Enabling Fund.

The Xe-100 is a Generation IV advanced reactor design which X-energy says is based on decades of HTGR operation, research, and development. Designed to operate as a standard 320 MWe four-pack power plant or scaled in units of 80 MWe, it is engineered to deliver reliable and load-following grid-scale power to electricity systems and to pair seamlessly with renewables. At 200 MWt of 565°C steam, the Xe-100 is also suitable for other power applications including mining and heavy industry.

X-energy and Cavendish - a wholly-owned subsidiary of Babcock International - are proposing to develop a 12-reactor plant at the Hartlepool site on Teesside in the northeast of England, to be operational by the early 2030s. The companies plan to build a fleet of up to 40 Xe-100 reactors in the UK.

Carol Tansley, X-energy's vice president of projects and UK market leader, added: "Our nuclear power station project represents a fantastic economic and employment opportunity in addition to the vital contribution it makes to energy security and decarbonisation. We want to understand from the outset how best to help our potential host community and the surrounding area capitalise on the benefits it will bring.

"Teesside University is ideally placed to help us. The team has huge experience of similar exercises in the past, and excellent links with the local community and business sector."

Cavendish Nuclear Managing Director Mick Gornall added: "A regional economy which hosts a project like this can experience a rise in productivity and growth. Creating supply chains and other infrastructure in local and neighbouring areas can permanently enhance economic capacity. Beyond Hartlepool, we estimate a national fleet roll out of 40 Xe-100s could bring around GBP20 billion of investment into the UK."

Teesside University's Professor Cotton said: “A core principle of our research is to work with communities to address regional disparities and drive social impact for regions across the world. The proposed nuclear power plant at Hartlepool represents a massive capital investment in the Tees Valley and it is vital to understand what that impact will look like.

"By analysing how a project of this scope and scale will manifest itself, we will be able to determine the different socio-economic considerations, issues and risk factors for Hartlepool and surrounding regions.

"In doing so, we will be able to determine the best course of action in order to take full advantage of the benefits and mitigate any impacts for the region."

The Hartlepool nuclear power plant, on Teesside in the northeast of England, is among four of the UK's seven AGR fleet which continue to generate electricity. It has been operating for 40 years and was due to end operations in March this year until a two-year extension was announced in March last year

US, EC bodies call for enhanced security of radioactive sources

24 May 2024

Leaders from the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the European Commission (EC) have highlighted the need to strengthen security of radioactive sources in open civilian facilities such as hospitals, research laboratories, and industrial facilities to prevent the use of these materials in acts of terrorism.

ICONS 2024 is taking place in Vienna (Image: Dean Calma/IAEA)

The two organisations issued a Joint Statement on Enhancing Radioactive Source Security at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Conference on Nuclear Security (ICONS 2024). The statement highlights the importance of the security of radioactive sources and the commitment of the EU and the USA to support states in establishing and maintaining national nuclear security regimes for radioactive materials.

The statement "aligns with principles set forth in the IAEA's Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources and its corresponding Supplementary Guidance on Import and Export of Radioactive Sources and Management of Disused Radioactive Sources, as well as the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism".

The partnership between the EC and NNSA's Office of Radiological Security (ORS), under its mission to enhance global security, "goes hand-in-hand with the EU's counter-terrorism agenda and commitment to radiological security", the statement says.

ORS and the EC Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME) will continue their efforts in co-organising regional radiological security response exercises following on from a first event held in Iasi, Romania, last year, the statement says, with the EC's Joint Research Centre and US experts providing technical support in designing and implementing the exercises.

Open civilian facilities that use radioactive materials can be vulnerable to adversaries seeking to acquire radioactive sources for use in radiological dispersal devices or "dirty bombs". These facilities depend on local law enforcement agencies to respond in the event of an attempted radiological theft, and the Joint Statement also highlights the need to carefully plan response procedures in close coordination and cooperation with such agencies.

"The impacts of a radiological event can have consequences that transcend borders. This is not a problem that any single country can address alone. Together, with the European Commission, NNSA strives to work collaboratively to strengthen radioactive source security," NNSA's Jeffrey Chamberlin said.

ICONS 2024 is the fourth ICONS conference to be held by the IAEA. The conference includes a ministerial segment and a scientific and technical programme of high level policy discussions on the overall themes central to nuclear security, with parallel technical sessions on specialised scientific technical, legal and regulatory issues concerning nuclear security.

The conference is being held in Vienna from 20 to 24 May.

Innovative piping rehabilitation solution to be used at US plant

24 May 2024

Framatome has been awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to carry out its first major mitigation of buried condenser feed pipes using its innovative spray-in-place structural pipe liner solution at a three-unit operating nuclear plant in the USA.

The spray-in-place liner is delivered remotely via in-pipe robotics (Image: Framatome)

The company says it will mitigate more than one mile (1.6 km) of large diameter piping running underground to plant condenser boxes. The project will be carried out during nine outages over eight years, with the first application planned in 2025.

Ageing and degradation of buried pipes and underground piping components is a challenge for nuclear power plant operations, but the location of these components - which can be as small as a few centimetres and as large as three metres in diameter - makes carrying out repairs and inspections costly. Framatome has developed a spray-in-place liner, delivered remotely using in-pipe robotic crawlers to spray a fast-curing liner evenly onto the inside of the pipe. The engineered structural liner system, which was developed with industry partners, can rehabilitate safety-related piping beyond its original 50-year design life and through to the end of plant life, and with no excavation required the quick-installing system minimises safety risks and reduces outage durations and costs.

Catherine Cornand, senior executive vice president for the Installed Base BU at Framatome, said the company had adapted an industrial solution and applied it to the nuclear industry to support long-term operational needs and competitiveness. "Now utility customers have access to an innovative, technically advanced, turnkey rehabilitation solution that includes in-depth engineering, manufacturing, application, project management, technical support and OEM experience," she said.

The system has been validated through a two-year testing programme which was completed last year.

Fuel loading completed at France's Flamanville 3 EPR


24 May 2024

The process of loading fuel assemblies into the core of the Flamanville 3 EPR reactor in France has been completed ahead of its start-up. The 1650 MWe (gross) pressurised water reactor is expected to reach 100% output before the end of the year.

The Flamanville EPR (Image: Alexis Morin and Antoine-Soubigou/EDF)

In a 22 May LinkedIn post, manager of the Flamanville 3 project Alain Morvan said: "Fuel loading into the Flamanville EPR reactor vessel is now complete ... since 8 May, the 241 fuel assemblies, each approximately 5 metres high and weighing nearly 800 kg, were transferred one by one under water, through the transfer channel which makes the link between the fuel storage pool and the reactor pool where the vessel is located.

"The handling of the fuel assemblies was carried out with the greatest rigour by the EDF teams; the Framatome teams ensured the neutron monitoring of the reactor core; and those from REEL ensured the proper functioning of all the machines used for these operations. Loading the reactor concludes the first stage of start-up."

Morvan said the reactor vessel will shortly be closed, after which the temperature and pressure in the primary circuit will then gradually be increased to 303°C and 155 bars, respectively, when it will attain 'hot shutdown' conditions.

The first nuclear reaction - referred to as 'divergence' - will be carried out in the coming weeks, he added. The reactor will then gradually increase power to 25% capacity, at which point the unit will be connected to the electricity grid. The EPR will continue to increase output in stages, reaching 100% capacity before the end of the year. "During these several months of exciting tests, numerous checks will be carried out to test around 1500 safety criteria," Morvan noted.

Construction work began in December 2007 on the third 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.

Estimated cost for JEK2 options put at EUR9.4 billion-15.4 billion

24 May 2024

GEN energija has given its latest update on the development of plans for the JEK2 new nuclear capacity in Slovenia, putting forward likely costs and saying that from the point of view of the power network 1300 MW would be the optimal size.

How JEK2 could look (Image: GEN energija)

GEN energija said that its "best internal assessment" - and not based on binding offers from potential suppliers - was overnight construction costs of EUR9300 per kW of installed power: "This means EUR9.3 billion (USD10.1 billion) for a power plant of 1000 MW and EUR15.4 billion for a power plant of 1650 MW. For all calculations and used assumptions, we intend to obtain an international review by a recognised institution before the referendum is held."

In a report of the briefing, GEN energija said its study of the country's power system considered options from 1000 MWe to 2400 MWe - "the key findings are that from the point of view of safety and stability" of the country's power network "the optimal size of JEK2 is up to 1300 MW of net electric power ... and that new sources of balancing system services are needed, especially resources to ensure the manual reserve for frequency recovery".

GEN Energija says the project is of "exceptional strategic importance" enabling decarbonisation and energy security for 80 years or more. It also estimates there will be an estimated 5640 new jobs in 10 years as well as more than 37% share of domestic suppliers for the project.

Slovenia's plan is to build the new nuclear power plant, with up to 2400 MW capacity, next to its existing nuclear power plant, Krško, a 696 MWe pressurised water reactor which generates about one-third of the country's electricity and which is co-owned by neighbouring Croatia. Prime Minister Robert Golob has committed to holding a referendum on the project before it goes ahead, and has suggested it could be held later in 2024.

The current timetable for the project is for a final investment decision to be taken in 2028, with construction beginning in 2032. In October, GEN Energy CEO Dejan Paravan said there were three technology providers being considered for the project - Westinghouse, EDF and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power - who all had strengths and "the decision will not be easy".

There was a further boost for the project on Thursday when Slovenia's National Assembly passed a resolution on the long-term peaceful use of nuclear energy, including the JEK2 project and the proposal for a referendum.

DOE unveils process for Russian LEU import waivers

23 May 2024

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has issued details of the process for obtaining waivers to allow the import of limited quantities of Russian-origin low-enriched uranium (LEU) to ensure US nuclear plants do not experience supply disruptions when the recently signed prohibition law comes into force.

(Image: US Nuclear Regulatory Commission)

The Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act was signed into law by President Joe Biden earlier this month and will go into effect on 11 August. The ban runs until the end of 2040, but the DOE may waive the ban, under certain conditions, to allow the import of limited amounts of material up until 1 January 2028.

The process released by the DOE allows the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Commerce, to grant a waiver to an importer for specified quantities of Russian LEU if it is determined that no alternative viable source of LEU is available to sustain the continued operation of a nuclear reactor or a US nuclear energy company; or the importation of Russian LEU is in the national interest.

According to the DOE, an import could be in the national interest if it meets one of the following criteria:  

• The import is necessary to maintain the viability of a US nuclear energy company that is critical to the US nuclear energy fuel supply chain.
• The import is intended to support an existing arrangement to provide fuel for a nuclear power plant in another country and thus minimise the likelihood of that country seeking a non-US fuel supplier.

Waivers will only be granted for a limited amount of material: 476,536 kg in calendar year 2024; falling to 470,376 kg in 2025; 464,183 kg in 2026 and 459,083 in 2027.

Bloomberg reported earlier this week that Russian state-owned uranium supplier Tenex had sent a notice of force majeure to its US customers giving them 60 days to obtain a waiver. According to that report, Tenex - part of Rosatom - has said it intends to honour its contractual commitments, although delivery schedules could need to be renegotiated for utilities that do not have waivers in place within 60 days.

The full waiver procedure and requirements are available on the DOE website.

US collaboration fortifies nuclear-grade graphite supply chain

23 May 2024

Microreactor startup Radiant Industries and Amsted Graphite Materials have agreed to work together to reduce reliance on foreign sources of nuclear-grade graphite, with Radiant placing a "significant" purchase order for nuclear-grade graphite to support development of its Kaleidos microreactor.

Envisioning the future: a rendering of the Kaleidos microreactor arriving at the DOME facility (Image: Ryan Seper/Radiant)

California-based Radiant is developing the 1MW Kaleidos high-temperature gas-cooled portable microreactor, which will use a graphite core and TRISO (tri-structural isotropic) fuel. It was one of three microreactor developers selected last year to receive a share of USD3.9 million US Department of Energy funding to develop and test their designs in the new Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) test bed facility at Idaho National Laboratory. Testing is scheduled to begin in 2026, and Radiant says it is aiming for commercial production units in 2028.

However, the company says the success of the Kaleidos demonstration project and the viability of subsequent commercial projects "will depend in critical part on supply certainty and affordability of nuclear-grade, medium and fine grain graphite required for application in a nuclear environment".

Formalising its strategic relationship with Amsted Graphite Materials, which is the largest US-owned synthetic graphite producer, will secure a reliable supply of these materials, Radiant Chief Operating Officer Tori Shivanandan said: "By joining forces to secure a reliable supply of critical graphite materials, we are investing in the success of our Kaleidos Demonstration Project and laying a solid foundation for the future of clean energy in the United States."

Key objectives outlined in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two companies include collaborative efforts in policy advocacy at federal, state and local levels, strategic discussions with third parties, exploration of public-private partnerships with the US government, and participation in testing and R&D programs with universities and government laboratories. The companies say the MoU "underscores the mutual commitment of Radiant and Amsted Graphite Materials to reduce reliance on foreign sources of nuclear-grade graphite, enhance US advanced manufacturing capabilities and bolster the security of US nuclear energy supply chains".

Graphite has been used in nuclear reactor cores as a moderator, slowing down the neutrons released from nuclear fission so that the nuclear chain reaction can be maintained. Most of the power reactors currently in commercial operation - with the exception of the UK's advanced gas-cooled reactor fleet and the Soviet-designed graphite moderated, water cooled RBMK - use light or heavy water as the moderator, but advanced reactor designs, including high-temperature gas-cooled reactors and molten salt reactors, use graphite moderators.

Amsted Graphite Materials signed a partnership agreement to establish an integrated domestic supply chain for nuclear-grade graphite with small modular reactor developer X-energy in 2022. X-energy’s Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactor is designed to use synthetic graphite as a moderator.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News