Archive 2011

Germany

German nuclear fuel tax in doubt, costs rise
The German government's plans to impose a tax on nuclear fuel have been rejected by the Hamburg Tax Court as dubious in terms of the country's constitution. One utility is to be refunded and nuclear fuel tax collections are to be suspended. The tax was meant to raise about €2.3 billion per year for the German treasury, and came as part of the 2010 reprieve of nuclear power plant phase-out. While the government reneged on this after the Fukushima accident, the fuel tax remained. EOn, EnBW, RWE and Vattenfall were told they would still have to pay €145 for each gram of fissile uranium or plutonium loaded into a reactor after 1 January. At the same time, eight reactors were ordered to close down immediately.

The first lawsuit was from EnBW, which paid the tax when it refuelled a reactor in July and quickly launched legal action, claiming the tax was unconstitutional and contrary to EU law. Now, the Hamburg Tax Court has expressed "serious doubt" that the nuclear fuel tax is compatible with the German constitution. It granted a request from an unnamed utility to return some €96 million, and suspended the collection of any more money. The court's judgement said that the tax does not qualify under the constitution as a consumption tax, and anyway those should not be applied to single-purpose supplies like nuclear fuel. The court took its decision based on these constitutional points and did not consider other areas the utility had contested: whether the tax violated equality laws or EU directives on taxation. Apart from contesting the fuel tax, all the nuclear generators are seeking compensation for the effective confiscation of generating rights from the eight reactors ordered shut after Fukushima, despite safety assurances from the regulator.

Meanwhile, a study from KfW Bankegruppe, which supports domestic developments, says that about €25 billion per year will be required to meet the government's nuclear phase-out goals. It puts the total investment at €239-262 by 2020. This includes up to €10 billion on fossil fuel plant, €144 billion on renewables plant and up to €29 billion on 3600 km of high-voltage transmission lines. The bank noted that large capital-intensive projects have a tendency to go over budget.
WNN 20 & 22/9/11, Germany

Germany comes to terms with cost of nuclear backflip
A study commissioned by the Economy Ministry has reportedly put an EUR 32 billion household and industry price tag on Germany's post-Fukushima nuclear backflip. The main utilities, RWE, EOn, Vattenfall and EnBW, have announced major losses and writedowns totaling EUR 4.3 billion for the current reporting period. It was on 15 March, just four days into the Fukushima accident, that Chancellor Angela Merkel asked the utilities to shut eight nuclear power reactors for a three month period. The government has since decided that none of these may restart, while the remaining reactors will close progressively to 2022. EOn spoke of up to 11,000 jobs being threatened.
WNN 10/8/11, Bloomberg 10/8/11. Germany

 German parliament confirms nuclear U-turn

On 30 June Germany's Bundestag voted 513-79 to revert to the country's earlier phase-out policy for nuclear power. On 8 July the upper house, the Bundesrat, confirmed this. This will leave the eight oldest reactors closed, and result in the remaining nine closing progressively by the end of 2022. Nuclear power provided 28.4% of Germany's electricity in 2010 (133 billion kWh net), and the intention is to replace this substantially from renewable sources - in 2009, wind and solar together contributed 7.4% of supply. Both houses of parliament also approved building new coal and gas-fired plants. France, Poland and Russia (Kaliningrad) are expecting to increase electricity exports to Germany, mostly from nuclear sources, and Russia is set to export more gas. The country's four nuclear power utilities are preparing to press claims for compensation. E.On is preparing to take legal action on the nuclear fuel tax, which the government plans to leave in place despite the massive capital writedowns by nuclear operators.
WNN 30/6/11. Germany

Germany to rely on coal back-up, not nuclear
Germany's Bundesnetzagentur has decided to rely on a 2000 MWe coal-fired plant as reserve capacity rather than one of the closed-down nuclear plants. The government decisions in March and July have left Germany with "only just adequate" power generation capacity, very little in reserve for times of high demand, and a deficit of about 1000 MWe in the south west - as well as strained north-south and also east-west transmission connections. The country is now a substantial net power importer. The agency has identified various "extreme but not so unlikely" scenarios of instability. It said that the loss of low-carbon nuclear power, the consequent move to rely more on fossil fuel and the forced return to central planning is "dubious in terms of energy economics, economically inefficient, and ecologically harmful, but must be accepted for a transitional period and is unavoidable at the moment." One "urgent need" for the near term is a 100 km high-voltage line from Hamburg to Schwerin, presumably detouring around the 470 sq km national park that lies between. Another is the on-schedule start-up of four new fossil-fuel units by the end of 2012 to secure power for national railway operator Deutsche Bahn. Not completing these units on time would mean more stress on overburdened north-south connectors.

The French Prime Minister has reaffirmed his country's commitment to nuclear power as "irreplaceable," but has also said that France will not increase its capacity just to supply Germany. However, since April France has been a net power exporter to Germany.
WNN 31/8/11. Germany

Germany shuts down older nuclear plants
The German government has declared a three-month moratorium on nuclear power, in which eight reactors will stay offline, checks will take place and nuclear policy may be reconsidered. Chancellor Angela Merkel decreed that the country's nuclear power reactors which began operation in 1980 or earlier should be immediately shut down. Those units then closed and were joined by another unit already in long-term shutdown, making a total of 8336 MWe offline under her direction, about 6.4% of the country's generating capacity.

The reactors affected are Biblis-A, Neckarwestheim 1, Brunsbuttel, Biblis-B, Isar 1, Unterweser, Phillipsburg 1. Already in a long-term shutdown is Krummel and this will be included despite starting in 1984. Over the three months the impact on the German government from loss of income via its unique nuclear fuel tax could be around €235 million.
WNN 16/3/11

German government reverts to phase-out view
Having amended the Atomic Energy Act in October to allow lifetime extensions for nuclear power reactors, the Chancellor has now swung to a position of wanting to phase out nuclear power as soon as possible. This follows a meeting with heads of the federal states in mid April. At present there is a 3-month shutdown of the eight oldest reactors, pending safety review following the Fukushima accident. Any formal change in policy will be considered by the Bundestag in mid June. The government is proposing an EUR 5 billion investment in offshore wind power, which will require considerable transmission investment also. The German Energy Agency says that a shutdown of nuclear power between 2020 and 2025 would be possible, but replacement plant would increase electricity prices by 4 to 5 c/kWh.
Nucleonics Week 28/4/11.

 Germany counts cost of nuclear U-turn
Early this week Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a reborn nuclear phase-out based on an "ethics report" that seems to have disregarded practical aspects of power supply and said it was possible for Germany to avoid restarting the seven reactors shut during the recent moratorium and to close the rest by 2022. The Chancellor plans to use renewables to replace nuclear, which she says is politically unacceptable after the "unimaginable disaster" that German citizens think the Fukushima accident represents.

The 2022 end date for nuclear generation is much the same as planned by previous governments, making this a total reversal of the 2010 agreement to allow a further 12 years of nuclear operation, as well as being contrary to legislation effecting that and cutting across capital expenditure programs by major utilities. New legislation being sent to the Federal Council of Germany's 16 states needs to gain a two-thirds majority there to become law, but evidently need not go to parliament. Major generating companies affected by the policy flip are assessing the likely costs of it, with a view to claiming full compensation.
WNN 31/5 & 1/6/11. Germany 

Belgium

Potential Belgian government to double nuclear taxes
A proposed doubling of Belgium's already high tax on nuclear power production threatens the viability of nuclear generator Electrabel. The tax policy has emerged from discussions among six parties intended to result in a coalition cabinet. It follows a record 353-day post-election period during which the country has had no government. Over 2010-14 the Belgian nuclear industry, which provides half the country's electricity, has been required to pay a special tax, but the size of this is set to double from € 0.5 c/kWh (€215-245 million, $290-331 million annually). The company is also paying EUR 500 million to subsidise renewables and demand-side management.

Two years ago the government reversed a previous policy to phase out nuclear power, and gave nuclear plants a 50-year lifespan into the 2020s. On that basis Electrabel had started to invest some € 800 million to upgrade the plants, including new turbines and instrumentation. The new policy now will require three reactors at Doel and Tihange to shut down in 2014-15. Electrabel's parent, GDF Suez, reacted strongly to the moves, asserting that the nuclear agreement negotiated with government in 2009 was binding on both sides. The company said it had kept its side of the bargain and would contest the new coalition's proposals using "all legal means at its disposal."
WNN 16/11/11. Belgium

Italy

Italy decisively rejects return to nuclear power
In a referendum considering four pieces of legislation promoted by Mr Berlusconi, voters strongly rejected the 2009 legislation setting up arrangements to generate 25% of the country's electricity from nuclear power by 2030. Italy is the only G8 country without its own nuclear power plants, having closed its last reactors in 1990 following a 1987 referendum on the question, soon after the Chernobyl accident. The country is the world's largest net importer of electricity, mostly from French nuclear power stations. Most new domestic capacity since 1990 has been combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants, and the referendum decision will mean much more of that. Due to high reliance on oil and gas, as well as imports, Italy's electricity prices are well above the European Union average. In 2008, the price averaged 20.9 Euro cents/kWh for households, over 9 cents more than in France. The Minister of Economic Development in October 2008 put the figure for the "terrible mistake" of the 1980s nuclear phase-out at some €50 billion. Italy's multinational utility Enel had been planning to build 6400 MWe of nuclear capacity in partnership with France's EdF.
WNN 14/6/11. Italy

Switzerland

Swiss cabinet proposes nuclear phase-out
The Swiss Federal Council has recommended to parliament that the country's five nuclear power reactors not be replaced, which if no new plants are built would result in a phase-out by 2034. The units, at four sites, have a total capacity of 3252 MWe and supply 40% of the country's electricity. The proposal will be submitted to parliament and any decision is subject to referendum. The decision came despite a February referendum that supported replacement reactors, and a report this month from Switzerland's Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) that found no immediate danger for Swiss nuclear plants in light of the Fukushima accident. The move would be a total reversal of a 2007 energy policy that not only focused on nuclear, energy efficiency and renewable sources but also called for the operating nuclear units to be replaced in due course with new ones. The country is anticipating an annual energy shortfall of 25-30 billion kWh by 2035 - around half the country's current generation - thanks to rising consumption and the retirement of older power plants. Swiss utilities have been planning in recent years to build replacements for two plants as well as a new one.
WNN 25/5/11. Switzerland 

Swiss senate to consider new reactor designs for country
Following the May Swiss cabinet decision to ban construction of any new nuclear power reactors, a Senate committee has drafted three new texts on nuclear power policy, all of them explicitly keeping the technology available and banning only 'current generation' designs. The three texts originated with the National Council in June, and passed on to the Senate, where a committee modified them to ban only construction of reactors like those currently in use - and not the Generation III reactor designs which have been proposed for Switzerland. These are significantly improved and include more robust safety features than the current Generation II designs that make up the bulk of the global reactor fleet.

The three new wordings will face a Senate vote, expected on 28 September, and then be sent back to the National Council for a new debate and vote there. Whatever policy the two houses eventually decide on for new nuclear power units, the cabinet would then draft enacting legislation that will again have to survive debate and votes in both houses. The overall process may also require a public referendum as a constitutional matter.
WNN 8/9/11. Switzerland

Spain

Spain more positive about nuclear power

The present Socialist government came to power on an anti-nuclear platform, but apart from some equivocation regarding licence renewal for an old plant in 2009, it has been increasingly positive about nuclear power. Recently the responsible minister said that nuclear plants are "essential for the supply of electricity in Spain" and that almost all nuclear power units "will be open, operating and even repowering" until 2021. Also he said that "nuclear energy will be useful as a source of electricity for cars," which the government is promoting, hoping to have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2014. However, the government is still opposed to new nuclear plant construction.
WNN 28/2/11 Spain

Berkeley to develop Spanish uranium project

Australian-based Berkeley Resources has decided to proceed with developing the Salamanca uranium deposits in Spain, having rejected overtures from Kepco and Russia's Severstal. The project will use the Quercus mill, which has been on care and maintenance sine 2003. Berkeley has raised A$ 55 million through a share issue and will pay EUR 20 million to state-owned ENUSA Industrias Avanzadas SA for the mill and its adjacent uranium properties to be transferred into a new joint venture company. This will have 90% Berkeley and 10% ENUSA equity, and will proceed to bring the project into production on the basis of 39,000 tU resources. The deposits were previously mined by ENUSA to 2000, as Mina Fe.    Spain

 Scandinavia

Site decided for new Finnish reactor
Fennovoima Oy has decided upon a northern Finland site for the country's seventh nuclear power reactor. The government's approval in principle was granted in May 2010. Fennovoima has been considering two prospective northern sites and has now selected Pyhäjoki, rather than Simo. Both are government-defined development areas on the west coast. The Environment Ministry has approved land-use plans, and the plant will be built on the Hanhikivi peninsula on the coast of Bothnian Bay. It will be up to 1700 MWe and utilize one of three designs: Areva's EPR, Toshiba's larger version of the 1380 MWe ABWR, or Areva's 1290 MWe Kerena - formerly the SWR-1000, a boiling water reactor. The first two are quoted by Fennovoima as up to 1700 MWe and about 1600 MWe. A technology decision is due in 2012 or 2013. District heating is to be a by-product. After receiving a construction licence, site work could start in 2012, and full operation is envisaged by 2020. Fennovoima is a consortium of 69 industrial and energy companies in a joint venture company, led by E.On.
WNN 5/10/11. Finland

 TVO completes upgrades of Olkiluoto reactors
As it waits for the completion of the new unit 3 EPR at Olkiluoto, TVO has completed a major upgrade of its twin BWR units, replacing low pressure turbines and adding 20 MWe capacity to each. The work on unit 2 has just been completed, that on unit 1 was last year.
WNN 10/6/11. Finland 

Baltic states

 Lithuania chooses investment and technology partner
After inviting both GE Hitachi and Westinghouse to make proposals, the Lithuanian government has selected GE Hitachi as strategic investor in its Visaginas nuclear power project. Lithuania's partners in the project, Estonia, Latvia and Poland participated in the evaluation to determine which of the two proposals was "most economically advantageous." Visaginas will replace the power lost by closure of the next-door Ignalina plant due to EU accession requirements. GE Hitachi expects to build a single 1300 MWe Advanced Boiling Water Reactor, several of which are operating and under construction in Japan and Taiwan. This is expected to operate from 2020, by which time several major new transmission links should be complete, supplementing those east to Russia. The main one is to Poland, another is to Sweden, though both Lithuania and Russia (building its Baltic plant in Kaliningrad) see Germany as the major power market.
WNN 14/7/11. Lithuania

Poland pulls out of Lithuanian nuclear plant project
After being involved with Lithuania's plans to build a new nuclear plant to replace the Ignalina plant which was closed at EU insistence, Poland's PGE has pulled out and left it to the three Baltic states, with Hitachi GE as both supplier of the plant and 51% strategic investor. Poland had sought a larger role than was realistic once the plans shrunk to just a single 1350 MWe reactor, and also its own nuclear power developments warrant PGE's full attention. The new Lithuanian project is envisaged as the cornerstone of the new Baltic Energy Market Interconnector Plan linking Baltic states with Poland, Finland and Sweden, so the withdrawal leaves open the prospect of trading power.

In contrast, PGE told Russia's InterRao that it was not interested in buying power from its new Baltic nuclear power plant in Kaliningrad, which is envisaged as a major supplier to Germany.
WNN 12/12/11   Lithuania

Romania

Chinese utility signs up for Romanian nuclear plant
China Guangdong Nuclear Power (CGNPC) has signed a preliminary agreement to investigate taking a stake in Cernavoda units 3 & 4 in Romania - two new Candu-6 reactors. The confidentiality agreement with Romania's state-owned Nuclearelectrica will allow it to access documentation related to investing in the project. In 2008 a new project company, EnergoNuclear SA, was set up by Nuclearelectrica, with 51% share, and a wide spread of partners: Enel, CEZ, GDF Suez, RWE Power (each 9.15%), Iberdrola (6.2%) and ArcelorMittal Galati (6.2%). However, in 2010 CEZ withdrew, followed by GdF Suez, RWE and Iberdrola - all for commercial reasons. This left Nuclearlectrica with an 84.65% share which it cannot afford to fund, and it is seeking a new investor to take about half that share. Italy's Enel holds 9.15% and steelmaker ArcelorMittal Galati 6.2%. A South Korean consortium has also expressed interest.
WNN 21/10/11. Romania

Czech Republic

Czech utility calls for bids
Czech utility CEZ has formally invited its three short-listed reactor vendors - Areva, a Škoda JS-Atomstroyexport-OKB Gidropress consortium, and Westinghouse – to submit their bids for the project. Areva is putting forward its EPR design, Westinghouse proposes its AP1000. The Atomstroyexport consortium bid involves the MIR-1200 third generation VVER model based on those under construction at Leningrad Phase II and Novovoronezh Phase II. The bids will be for supply of two complete nuclear power plant units on a "full turnkey basis, including nuclear fuel supply for nine years of operation." The designs proposed must be licensed in the vendors' home countries or in an EU member state, and must comply with Czech, EU, IAEA and the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association requiements. Bids are due in July 2012, and the contract is to be signed in 2013. The 6000 pages of tender documentation has taken a 400-strong team over three years to prepare.
WNN 1/11/11. Czech Rep

Russia, Ukraine, Belarus

 Belarus signs construction contract for first nuclear plant
A turnkey construction contract with Atomstroyexport for a 2400 MWe plant (2 x 1200 MWe AES-2006 units) has been signed by Belarus state-owned Directorate for Construction of Nuclear Power Plants. The site is Ostrovets in the Grodno region, close to Lithuania, and the cost with infrastructure is put at $9.4 billion. Russia has pledged financing, but discussions continue on the amount and terms.
Nuclear.Ru 11 & 12/10/11. Belarus

New Russian reactor in operation
Russia's Kalinin 4 has been connected to the state grid. It is expected to enter full commercial operation in April 2012. This brings the Russian total to 33 reactors on line, with a total of over 24 GWe, including a wide range of sizes and technologies. Nine more are under construction, including two small ones in the first floating nuclear power plant.
WNN 13/12/11 Russia NP

New Russian reactor starts up:  Unit 4 at Kalinin nuclear power plant has achieved first criticality on schedule. This is a 1000 MWe (950 MWe net) V-320 unit which has been built by Nizhny-Novgorod Atomenergopoekt. It is expected to be grid-connected in weeks, making it Russia's 33rd power reactor on line. It uses major components originally supplied for the Belene plant in Bulgaria (which will now be built as a later V-466 type).
WNN 9/11/11. Russia NP

Fuel loading at new Russian reactor:  Fuel is being loaded into Russia's newest reactor, Kalinin 4, in the Tver region. Once all 163 VVER fuel assemblies are loaded, first power is expected next month. It is a V-320, 1000 MWe reactor, the same as unit 3, though using components originally supplied for the Belene plant in Bulgaria. Full construction resumed in 2007 after a 16-year pause.
WNN 21/10/11. Russia NP

Russia adopts radioactive waste legislation
After 19 months consideration and many amendments, Russia's new Radioactive Waste Management law is in place. It establishes a legal framework for radioactive waste management, provides for a national radwaste management system meeting the requirements of the Joint Convention on the Safe Management of Spent Nuclear Fuel and on the Safe Management of Radioactive Waste ratified by Russia in 2006. Rosatom and the national operator for management of radwaste - RosRAO - will be responsible for coordination and execution of works associated with radwaste management, notably its disposal. The law establishes time limits for interim radwaste storage and volume limits for waste generators, and defines how they should bring wastes in condition suitable for disposal and transfer it to the national operator along with payment of disposal charges. Import and export of radwaste is prohibited, and the law bans building new facilities for disposal of liquid radioactive waste in geological formations. Russia has used deep-well injection for low- and intermediate-level wastes for many years, Seversk being the main site of such. Further legislation on used fuel and high-level wastes is envisaged.
WNN 15/7/11. Russia fuel cycle

 Floating nuclear plant caught in bankruptcy proceedings
The world's first floating nuclear power plant, currently under construction, has been seized by the Court of Arbitration of Saint Petersburg on behalf of Rosenergoatom (which has largely paid for it), as the Baltiysky Zavod shipyard building the plant faces bankruptcy proceedings. The two turbines were installed recently, and the vessel is due to be delivered next year, then towed to Vilyuchinsk in Kamchatka region and commissioned there early in 2013.
WNN 15/8/11. Russia NP

CENTRAL ASIA

EAST ASIA

 China

 China's electricity demand soars
Over seven months to July, China's electricity demand rose 12.2% above that in the same period last year, to 2687 billion kWh, according to National Energy Bureau figures. New capacity over the seven months totaled 41.2 GWe, mostly coal. Electricity consumption in 2010 was 4190 billion kWh.
Goldman Sachs 15/8/11. China NP

Commercial operation for new Chinese reactor

China Guangdong Nuclear Power has brought its new Lingao phase II nuclear power reactor into commercial operation on schedule. With 1037 MWe net capacity it has the first Chinese-made reactor pressure vessel for a 1000 MWe class reactor. It is the fourth unit at the site (or 6th including Daya Bay adjacent) and was grid connected in May, 60 months after construction start.
WNN 8/8/11 China NP

 

  New Chinese reactors connected to grid:   The Lingao II-2 reactor has been grid connected and is expected in commercial operation in mid June. It is China's 14th power reactor, a largely-indigenous CPR-1000 unit of 1037 MWe net, which started construction in May 2006. China Guangdong Nuclear Power is constructing 12 other such units, and CNNC is building 5 of them.
WNN 9/5/11. China NP 

Qinshan phase II unit 4 has been connected to the grid in Zhejiang province, China, making a total of 15 reactors in service. Construction of CNNC's 610 MWe (net) unit started in January 2007.
WNN 30/11/11 China NP

 

Chinese complete post-Fukushima safety audit
Chinese safety authorities have completed an initial survey of nuclear safety at the country's power plants. Details on the results and proposed improvements are to be made public in the middle of next year, following further research. Teams composed of senior figures from the National Nuclear Safety Administration, the National Energy Board, the China Seismological Bureau and the Academy of Sciences visited each of the plants. They interviewed managers and technical experts, and had full access to the site and documentation. 

Of immediate relevance are the country's five operating nuclear power plants (Daya Bay; Tianwan; Qinshan Phases I, II and III; and Ling Ao Phases I and II), which together host 14 operating reactors. These were designed and sited much more recently than the Fukushima Daiichi units, the oldest having started up in 1994. China also has another 26 large reactors under construction and 52 more firmly planned. For the Chinese nuclear industry as a whole, authorities will focus attention on a handful of key areas: ensuring proper quality control in the construction and operation of nuclear power plants; ensuring that the full scope of external events such as natural disasters has been taken into account; and ensuring that plants can deal with multiple extreme incidents and floods in particular. No further approvals for construction are being given for the time being.
WNN 11/8/11. China NP

China nuclear plant construction proceeding
Construction of the third reactor at China's Ningde nuclear power plant has reached a milestone with the dome of the reactor building being lowered into place. Plant constructor China Nuclear Engineering and Construction Corporation (CNECC) said this was 80 days ahead of schedule, after 19 months construction. Four Chinese-designed CPR-1000 reactors are currently under construction at Ningde, near Fuding city in Fujian province. All four are scheduled to come online between late 2012 and 2015. The CPR-1000, along with Westinghouse's AP1000, is a mainstay of China's planned near-term nuclear capacity expansion, and 18 CPR-1000s are currently under construction.

Following the Fukushima accident, the State Council, announced that it would suspend approvals for new nuclear power stations and conduct comprehensive safety checks of all nuclear projects, including those under construction. About 34 reactors were already approved by the central government of which 26 were being built. After three months the inspections of operating plants had been completed and those on plants under construction will be completed in the next few weeks (though construction has continued on most plants). In May some supplementary safety measures were announced. A new China National Plan for Nuclear Safety is now being formulated, and approval for new plants will remain suspended until it is approved.
WNN 7/9/11. China NP

 China Guangdong $1.2 billion bid for Namibian uranium
While Rio Tinto makes overtures to Extract Resources next door about combining their operations, China Guangdong Nuclear Power has notified a possible $1.22 billion cash offer for the whole of Kalahari Minerals PLC, Extract's major (42.8%) shareholder. Some 22% of Kalahari was bought last year by Itochu Corp and a Hong Kong company for $136.6 million, valuing the company then at $621 million. The focus of interest is Extract's Husab uranium project, with 150,000 tU resources defined so far, and more in prospect.
WNN 8/3/11. Namibia

Construction imminent for Chinese high-temperature reactor?
Platts Nucleonics Week reports that high-level approval has finally been given to start construction of China's demonstration high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, the HTR-PM. In 2006, the State Council announced that this was the second of two high-priority projects for the next 15 years. The situation is complex, because not only will this be the first modern commercial-scale plant of this type, but also the Huaneng Group which is leading the Huaneng Shidaowan Nuclear Power Company Ltd (HSNPC) joint venture has not hitherto been approved to build nuclear plants. It is the largest of the five major electric utilities formed in 2002, but so far only one of these - China Power Investment Corporation - has had nuclear accreditation. China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Group (CNEC) and Tsinghua University's INET, which is the R&D leader, are also part of HSNPC.

The Shidaowan HTR-PM project was initially approved in 2005 and received environmental clearance in 2008 to be built at Shidao Bay in Weihai city, Shandong province. It will be part of the Rongcheng Nuclear Power Industrial Park project. The latest (unconfirmed) reports suggest that National Development & Reform Commission approval has been given for construction start at the end of March. The EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) contract was let in October 2008, a simulator contract was signed in May 2010, and after three years of negotiation, this month a contract was signed with SGL Group in Germany for supply of 500,000 machined graphite spheres for HTR-PM fuel by the end of 2013. In November 2010 the Huaneng Group signed an agreement with US-based Duke Energy to train nuclear plant staff.

Originally the HTR-PM was a 200 MWe reactor similar to South Africa's PBMR, but in order to retain the same core configuration as China's proven and successful 10 MWe prototype, this was changed to twin 105 MWe reactors driving a single steam turbine. The fuel is low-enriched uranium in 'pebbles' about the size of billiard balls. A 50-month construction period is envisaged, with 75% local content. The initial demonstration HTR-PM will pave the way for 18 further 210 MWe units at the same site - total 3800 MWe.
WNN 7/3/11 China NP 

China announces small modular reactor project
CNNC New Energy Corporation, a joint venture of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC, 51%) and China Guodian Corp, is planning to build two small modular integrated PWR-type reactors (SMRs) at Zhangzhou city, at the south of Fujian province, near Xiamen. This will be the CNY 5 billion ($787 million) phase 1 of a multi-unit project. Two large AP1000 reactors have been listed for there, and while the precise SMR technology is not annpounced, CNNC has been developing an ACP100 modular design with passive safety, for multiple applications.
WNN 17/11/11. China NP

China's fast reactor connected to grid
On schedule, the China Experimental Fast Reactor (65 MWt) has been connected to the grid at 40% of power (8 MWe net). It will ramp up to full 20 MWe power in December. It started up at the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) near Beijing in July 2010, having been built by Russia's OKBM Afrikantov in collaboration with other Russian entities.
WNN 21/7/11. China fuel cycle

China launches new reactor design
In mid November China Guangdong Nuclear Power launched with some fanfare an evolutionary development of its main CPR-1000 nuclear reactor which is currently being built in large numbers. The ACPR-1000 has enhanced safety attributes which it says comply with international requirements, and full Chinese intellectual property rights. CGNPC has been working with Dongfang Electric, Shanghai Electric, Harbin Electric, China First Heavy Industries, China Erzhong and other companies since 2009 to develop the ACPR-1000. It expects to make it available for local build and overseas markets on schedule from 2013.
Xinhua 17/11/11 China NP

 China sets up recycling company
China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has set up CNNC Ruineng Technology Co Ltd to industrialise used fuel reprocessing technology and mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel production to close the nuclear fuel cycle in China. It will also be responsible for storage and management of used fuel. At present CNNC presides over various small operations in this area, and a major 2007 agreement with Areva envisages an 800 t/yr reprocessing plant at Jiayuguan in Gansu province, employing advanced French technology and operated by Areva. In November 2010 an industrial agreement was signed, which Areva said was "the final step towards a commercial contract" for the project. In October 2010 the GDF Suez Belgian subsidiary Tractabel, with Belgonucleaire and the nuclear research centre SCK-CEN, signed an agreement with CNNC to build a pilot MOX fuel fabrication plant in China. The China Institute for Atomic Energy expects two 40t/yr MOX plants to be operating by about 2018.
CNNC 18/11/11 China fuel cycle

Reactor pressure vessel arrives at Sanmen in China
The reactor pressure vessel has been delivered for unit 1 of the Sanmen AP1000 nuclear power plant in eastern China, the world's first of the third-generation Westinghouse plants under construction. It was made by Doosan Heavy Industries in South Korea, using some forgings from China First Heavy Industries, which will be making the full pressure vessel for unit 2 under progressive localisation plans. Doosan will also make the first pressure vessel for the Haiyang power plant, while that for unit 2 will be made in China by Shanghai Electric Group Corporation. Doosan will complete the vessel head for Sanmen 1 next month, and that for unit 2 will be made by Shandong Nuclear Power Equipment Manufacturing Co. China's heavy engineering manufacturing capacity is emerging as the largest in the world.
WNN 27/7/11. China NP

 China publishes frank policy document
A report on nuclear power from the State Council Research Office (SCRO), which makes independent policy recommendations to the State Council on strategic matters, has been published. While approving the enormous progress made on many fronts, it cautioned concerning provincial and corporate enthusiasm for new nuclear power plants and said that the 2020 target should be restricted to 100 GWe of new plant operating so as to avoid placing undue demand on quality control issues in the supply chain. It emphasised that the priority needed to be resolutely on Generation-III technology, notably the Westinghouse AP1000 and derivatives, rather than the 54 largely-indigenous CPR-1000 which are being built to accelerate China's nuclear power program. The SCRO calculated that nuclear development would require new investment of some RMB 1 trillion ($151 billion) by 2020, not counting 25 units under construction. These projects rely mainly on debt, funds are tight, and 'investment risks cannot be discounted'.
WNN 11/1/11.     China NP

Japan 

New Japan PM more positive
Japan's new Prime Minister Noda wants Japan's halted nuclear reactors to be restarted and while calling for improved regulation of nuclear plants to "regain public trust in atomic power generation,” he has not backed his predecessor's call for substantial reduction in reliance on nuclear power.
WNN 30/8/11. Japan

 

Tepco meets initial goal in controlling Fukushima reactors

With ongoing nitrogen injection in all three reactors, and cooling by recycled water from the new treatment plant, Tepco by mid July had achieved its initial targets. The treatment plant is operating at 80% of capacity, and steadily reducing the build-up of contaminated water, some of it being the original tsunami inflow. Installing new atmospheric heat exchangers on those cooling circuits is the next goal, which will bring them to 'cold shutdown'. These heat exchangers have already been installed on two of the spent fuel pond circuits.
WNN 13 & 20/7/11. Tepco 19/7  

All four Fukushima reactors now with fuel pond cooling
With the connection of unit 1's spent fuel pond, all four damaged Fukushima reactors now have circulating cooling water for their spent fuel pools, using new external heat exchangers, and temperatures are normal in all. While most of the used fuel on site is held in a central facility, the amount in one of the ponds is much more than usual, due partly to the full core being unloaded to it a couple of months before the accident, creating a large heat load - about 3 MW. Also in three of the buildings the upper service floors with the ponds (level with the tops of the reactors) were severely damaged by hydrogen explosions. The focus is now on getting three reactors to cold shutdown, using treated recycled water.
WNN 11/8/11. Fukushima accident

   IAEA preliminary report on Fukushima accident
Focusing on what was done at the actual power plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported that the handling of the crisis was exemplary. A team of 18 experts from 12 countries spent a week at the plant. However, the report makes it clear that the 1960s decision to site the plant so close to sea level was extremely unwise, making it inevitably vulnerable to tsunamis, and the "hazard for several sites was underestimated." "Defence in depth, physical separation, diversity and redundancy requirements should be applied for extreme external events, particularly those with common mode implications such as extreme floods." The "accident demonstrates the value of hardened on-site emergency response centres with adequate provisions for communications, essential plant parameters, control and resources. They should be provided for all major nuclear facilities with severe accident potential.” The response of Tepco by "dedicated, determined and expert staff under extremely arduous conditions has been exemplary, and resulted in the best approach to securing safety given the exceptional circumstances." While the team was there Tepco managed to access instruments in control rooms which confirmed that the cores of units 1-3 largely melted in the first three days of the accident.

Though the government had not heeded earlier IAEA advice to ensure the independence of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency by separating it from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, the report said that the government's protection of the public "has been impressive and extremely well organised." Future monitoring of the health of the public as well as workers "would be beneficial," although "to date, no health effects have been reported in any person as a result of radiation exposure." The areas near the Fukushima Daiichi plant could return to normal, given "remediation of the areas off site affected by radioactive releases to allow people evacuated to resume their normal lives." The report did not comment on the government's long time scale for this, nor the somewhat arbitrary criteria for maintaining the evacuation zone.
WNN 1/6/11. Japan        http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/fukushima/missionsummary010611.pdf

NB The final IAEA Fukushima mission report was published in June.

 Japanese government report on Fukushima accident
On 7 June the government submitted a 750-page report to IAEA compiled by the nuclear emergency taskforce, acknowledging reactor design inadequacies and systemic shortcomings. The government said that it is "taking very seriously" the fact that the natural disaster of an earthquake and tsunami triggered a severe accident "due to such causes as the losses of power and cooling functions, and that consistent preparation for severe accidents were insufficient. In light of the lessons learned from the accident, Japan has recognized that a fundamental revision of its nuclear safety preparedness and response is inevitable." First, the Nuclear & Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) will be separated from the ministry and made more independent. In addition, government will "review regulatory and administrative frameworks on nuclear safety," and improve "the legal structures on nuclear safety and nuclear emergency preparedness and related criteria and guidelines."

"This nuclear accident has turned to be a major challenge for Japan, and Japan is now responding to the situation, with the relevant domestic organisations working together, and with support from many countries around the world," the report said. "Japan also takes it very seriously and with remorse that this accident has raised concerns around the world about the safety of nuclear power generation. And above all, Japan feels sincere regret for causing anxiety among the people all over the world about the safety of nuclear power facilities and the release of radioactive materials." However, "We are prepared to confront much difficulty towards restoration from the accident, and also confident that we will be able to overcome this accident by uniting the wisdom and efforts of not only Japan, but also the world."

Earlier, the independent panel of ten experts, mostly academics, appointed by the Japanese government began meeting. It has two technological advisers. An initial report is due at the end of 2011 and a final report in mid 2012. Its terms of reference include NISA's status and role. The panel has set up four teams to pursue investigations, but not to pursue the question of responsibility for the accident.
WNN 8/6/11. Japan, Fukushima 

Compensation for Fukushima dislocation
Tepco has promised to start work immediately on providing "compensation with empathy and consideration" under the terms of its special business plan, approved by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Some JPY 900 billion ($11.5 billion) will be released to the company through bonds issued to the Nuclear Damage Compensation Fund to cover compensation payments to March 2012. The plan also involves Tepco reducing its own costs by JPY 2545 billion ($32.6 billion) over the next ten years, including shedding 7400 jobs. This special business plan will be superseded by a more comprehensive business plan early next year.

Meanwhile Tepco has reported losses of JPY 1976 billion ($25.5 billion) for April to September, including costs and losses of JPY 185 billion ($2.4 billion) from restoration costs to properties damaged by the March earthquake, and nuclear damage compensation of JPY 891 billion ($11.4 billion). Operating revenue from the company's 29 million customers was down 7%, and Tepco wanted to include an electricity rate increase of about 15% in the special plan, saying it is necessary to cover about JPY 830 billion ($10.7 billion) in additional annual fuel costs for thermal power generation to make up for lost capacity at nuclear power plants which await permission to restart.
WNN 7/11/11. Fukushima accident

 Japanese nuclear accident ongoing
The magnitude 9.0 Miyagiken-Oki earthquake at 2.46 pm on 11 March did considerable damage, and the tsunami it created caused even more. It was centred 130 km offshore of the city of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture on the eastern cost of Honshu Island. Eleven reactors at four nuclear power plants in the region were operating at the time and all shut down automatically when the quake hit. Power was available to run the cooling pumps at most of the units, and they have since achieved cold shutdown. However, at Tepco's Fukushima Daiichi plant, where three reactors were shut down by the earthquake, the emergency diesel generators started as expected but then shut down an hour later when submerged by the tsunami. This sealed the fate of those reactors and led the authorities to order, and subsequently extend, an evacuation while engineers worked to restore power. About nine hours later mobile power supply units had reached the plant and were being connected. Meanwhile units 1-3 had only battery power, insufficient to drive the cooling pumps.

The operating units which shut down were Tepco's Fukushima Daiichi 1, 2, 3, Fukushima Daini 1, 2, 3, 4, Tohoku's Onagawa 1, 2, 3, and Japco's Tokai. Onogawa 1 briefly suffered a fire in the non-nuclear turbine building, but the main problem centred on Fukushima Daiichi units 1-3. First, pressure inside the containment structures increased steadily and led to this being vented to the atmosphere on an ongoing basis. Vented gases and vapour included hydrogen, produced by the exothermic interaction of the fuel's very hot zirconium cladding with water. Later on 12th, there was a hydrogen explosion in the building above unit 1 reactor containment, and another one two days later in unit 3, from the venting as hydrogen mixed with air. Then on 15th, unit 2 ruptured its pressure suppression chamber under the actual reactor, releasing some radioactivity. Inside, water levels had dropped, exposing fuel, and this was addressed by pumping seawater into the reactor pressure vessels. The heat from the fuel is now about 3 MW thermal in unit 1 and 4.5 MW in units 2 & 3.

Then a separate set of problems arose as the spent fuel ponds in the upper part of the reactor structures were found to be depleted in water. In unit 4, the fuel there got hot enough to form hydrogen, and another hydrogen explosion destroyed the top of the building and damaged unit 3's superstructure further. The focus since has been on replenishing the water in the ponds of units 3 and 4, with some success, through the gaps in the roof and cladding. Unit 4 is undergoing maintenance, and all its 548 fuel assemblies are in that pond, along with other new and used fuel, total 1535 assemblies, giving it a heat load of about 3 MW thermal, according to France's ISRN. Unit 3's pool contains 566 fuel assemblies. (There are also 6375 assemblies in undamaged central pool storage on site and 408 in dry cask storage.)

Japan's Nuclear & Industrial Safety Agency eventually declared the accident as Level 5 on INES scale - an accident with wider consequences, the same level as Three Mile Island in 1979. As of early 18 March, no radiation casualties were reported, and few other injuries, though higher than normal doses were being accumulated by several hundred workers on site.
WNN 11-17/3/11. 

Tepco staff, reinforced by others, continue work towards bringing the three damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactors towards cold shutdown. The fuel pools of two reactors continue to be a concern, though both are now being replenished using built-in plumbing. Radioactive fallout beyond the plant boundary is being assessed, but so far appears to be no immediate threat to anyone. Iodine-131 is the main concern, though three quarters of it will have decayed in two weeks.
WNN to 24/3/11.

Some 400 Tepco staff and contractors continue work to re-establish full cooling to three reactors and four spent fuel ponds at Fukushima Daiichi. They are hindered by radioactively-contaminated water which was originally knee-deep in the buildings - this is being removed and stored for treatment. Meanwhile Tepco has indicated that units 1-4 will be written off and decommissioned. WNA data will now reflect that.
WNN to 31/3/11. 

Summary: All three units have fuel damage and low water levels, units 2 & 3 have lost pressure and are suspected to have pressure vessel or containment damage (only unit 1 is still above atmospheric pressure). While the extent of reactor pressure vessel and containment damage is unknown, all the fuel remains contained except for some volatile fission products vented early on and some soluble ones which are leaking with the water. Cooling still needs to be provided from external sources, using fresh water and pump trucks, while work continues to establish a stable heat removal path to external heat sinks.

Spent fuel ponds in units 3 & 4 still need to be topped up repeatedly, with some use of internal plumbing for units 2 & 3 and by concrete pump with boom for unit 4. Tepco has said that it is inevitable that unit 4, with 1-3, will be written off and decommissioned. The pond heat exchangers for units 1, 3 & 4 are very damaged. Radiation levels from monitoring outside the plant boundary continue their steady decline.
WNN to 8/4/11. 

There is little change since last week, though the INES rating of the accident was lifted to 7 - 'a serious accident' on the basis of re-evaluating radioactive releases, especially those around 15 March. NISA estimated that 130 PBq of iodine-131 was released, and in 32 days since that would have diminished to one sixteenth of its original activity. NISA estimates that the much smaller amount of caesium-137 released is now about one tenth of the iodine activity - it is longer lasting. The occupational exposure of the 250 people working at the plant continues to be limited to safe levels. Radioactive water in the turbine buildings is hampering efforts to restore cooling operations at the plant, its removal is a priority. Consortia led by both Hitachi-GE and Toshiba have submitted proposals to Tepco for decommissioning units 1-4. 

Tepco is preparing compensation options for people affected by the accident, and its president said that: "My biggest responsibility is to resolve the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, fully support people who have been evacuated and make sure we provide electricity by overcoming the supply shortage as soon as possible."
WNN to 14/4/11.

Work continues on the Fukushima Daiichi site towards replacing the makeshift cooling arrangements with proper heat removal circuits.  Outside the buildings, removal of radioactive rubble is proceeding and full-scale spraying of polymer resin binding agent is starting. Remote-control equipment is being used for several functions. Nearly 250 people are working on site and no excessive radiation doses have been recorded.
WNN various. 

In order to regain access to the main reactor buildings ambient air filtration units are being installed to lower the airborne radioactivity to about 5% of existing levels, starting in unit 1. This is to enable a new heat exchanger to be fitted, to treat 100 m3/hr of cooling water and achieve much better heat removal than at present.
WNN to 4/5/11.  Fukushima accident

Now that workers have gained access to the main areas of unit 1 and calibrated gauges it appears that the water level inside is lower than previously thought and that significant fuel melting occurred early in the accident sequence. However, it is evident that the melted material at the bottom of the reactor vessel is under water and being adequately cooled. Work on cleaning up rubble, dealing with contaminated water and developing means to cool the three reactors more effectively is being undertaken by more than 200 Tepco staff at the plant.
WNN to 12/5/11  

 New remediation plan for Fukushima  

Tepco has published a 6- to 9-month plan for dealing with its disabled Fukushima reactors.
Cooling reactors: In units 1 & 3 the containment vessels will be flooded up to the level of the top of the fuel, and nitrogen injection will be continued. In unit 2 the damaged containment will be sealed with grout, before similarly flooding. New heat exchanger circuits will be built for all three units. Cold shutdown target in 6-9 months. The plan does not mention removal of fuel from the reactors.
Cooling and removing spent fuel: For all four units water injection will be improved to the spent fuel ponds in each reactor building and cooling circulation for heat removal restored, with new or repaired heat exchangers. A support structure will be built under unit 4 pond. Fuel will then be removed to central storage on site - a significant task for the three units with damaged superstructure.
Managing contaminated water: Further storage capacity will be installed, along with treatment plant to enable recycling. Reactor 2 is a particular focus. Slightly-contaminated water will be treated. A "full-fledged" treatment plant will follow.
Minimising release of radioactive materials to atmosphere: Dust-suppressing polymer resin will continue to be applied around the site, and debris removed to improve working conditions on site. A light temporary structure will then be built over reactor buildings 1, 3 & 4, followed by a more substantial structure.
Preparing for return of evacuees: Monitoring will be expanded, and the evacuation zone will be decontaminated where required so that evacuees can return as soon as possible.
WNN to 20/4/11. 

Fukushima compensation arrangements
TEPCO has accepted terms established by the Japanese government for state support to compensate those affected by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The scheme includes a new state-backed institution to expedite payments to those affected by the Fukushima accident. The body would receive financial contributions from electric power companies with nuclear power plants in Japan, and from the government through special bonds that can be cashed whenever necessary. The government bonds total JPY 5 trillion ($62 billion). Tepco accepted the conditions imposed on the company as part of the package. That included not setting an upper limit on compensation payments to those affected, a vow to make the maximum efforts to reduce costs, and an agreement to cooperate with an independent panel set up to investigate its management. The new institution will also operate as an insurer and be responsibility to have plans in place for any future nuclear accidents. The government estimates that Tepco will be able to complete its repayments in 10 to 13 years, after which it will revert to a fully private company with no government involvement. Meanwhile it will pay an annual fee for the government support, maintain adequate power supplies and ensure plant safety. Tepco has estimated its extra costs for fossil fuels in 2011-12 (April-March) will be about JPY 1 trillion ($12.4 billion). It currently has 4.912 GWe of nuclear power generation capacity operating, 35% of its total installed nuclear capacity of 14.060 GWe net remaining at three plants after writing off four Fukushima Daiichi units (2.719 GWe).
WNN to 12/5/11 Fukushima

Fukushima flurry of concern
Since a sophisticated gas control system was commissioned in October, the monitoring of gases in unit 2 has been much enhanced. The system extracts and cleans the gas from the containment vessel to avoid leakage of caesium to air. Similar units are envisaged for units 1 and 3 by year end. An initial result of operating this was the detection of traces of xenon, a short-lived fission product, which prompted the suggestion that some criticality might be occurring in the melted fuel. Consequently boron was added to the water, but when this did not diminish the xenon level it was decided that the minute amounts of xenon originated in normal spontaneous fission, probably of Pu-240 or curium, not any chain reaction. The temperature in the reactor vessel has been declining steadily and is now about 76°C.
WNN 3/11/11. Fukushima

Earthquake fear shuts down further Japan nuclear plant
The prime minister has asked Chubu Electric Power to shut down reactors 4 & 5, and not to restart unit 3 of its Hamaoka plant in Shizuoka prefecture. Total capacity is 3473 MWe net, serving manufacturing industries. (Units 1 & 2 have been decommissioned.) Hamaoka is on the Pacific coast of Honshu, half way between Tokyo and Osaka, and in the area serviced by 60 Hz grid. Since 2007, units 3-5 have been upgraded to Japan's new Ss standard of 1000 Gal ground acceleration, nearly twice the maximum experienced at Fukushima.

The Tokai region has experienced very major earthquakes about every 150 years, and it is more than that since the last big one in 1854. The government accepts an 87% probability of a major 'quake within 30 years, coupled with the risk of a major tsunami. The Hamaoka plant sits directly above the likely focus of this. While the reactors are close to sea level - at about the elevation of the 1854 tsunami, they are protected by a 10-15m sand dune and have waterproof doors on the buildings. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) has requested an upgrade the protection measures, including installation of additional air-cooled emergency diesel generators and enhancing the residual heat removal systems. Carrying out this work and satisfying NISA of the plant's fitness to restart will take some months. There is no legal precedent in Japan for a politician to order the closure of a nuclear power plant that complies with NISA's independently-set regulations.
WNN 6 & 9/5/11 Japan

 Japan power shortages threatened
The chairman of Japan's Federation of Electric Power Companies (FEPC) has warned that the supply-demand balance in coming summer months will be very tight in the east coast areas served by Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), Tohoku Electric Power Co (both 50 Hz) and Chubu Electric Power Co (60 Hz). While all the utilities on the west coast will cooperate to transfer electricity to the east coast, he said that it is essential that the government allows those reactors currently shut down for periodic inspections to be able to return to service as soon as possible. He said that the government must help local authorities and residents understand the importance of restarting those reactors currently shut for periodic inspections, which are mandated much more frequently and for longer than in other countries. He emphasised the significant role of nuclear energy in ensuring a stable power supply.

In mid May only 17 out of Japan's 50 remaining nuclear power reactors (apart from Monju and written-off Fukushima Daiichi 1-4) were in operation. This represents 15,493 MWe, or 35% of the total remaining nuclear generating capacity of 44,396 MWe. Twenty units, with a combined capacity of 17,705 MWe (40% of total nuclear capacity) were not operating as they had been shut for periodic inspections, while another two units (1700 MWe) had been shut for unplanned inspections or equipment replacement.
WNN 20/5/11. Japan 

Japan faces prospect of electricity shortages
With government indecision on what safety checks are required on which reactors and when, Japan is facing significant constraints on electricity supplies as reactors shut down for refueling or annual checks are prevented from restarting. Looking ahead to 2012 the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has estimated that power generation costs would rise by over JPY 3 trillion ($37 billion) per year, an equivalent of about 0.7 percent of gross domestic product, if utilities had to replace nuclear energy with thermal power generation. METI's 2010 electricity supply plan showed nuclear capacity growing by 13 GWe by 2019, and the share of supply growing from 2007's depressed 262 TWh (25.4%) to about 455 TWh (41%) in 2019. This is now in some doubt with government equivocation and public fears.
WNN 25/7/11. Japan

 Second UK waste shipment to Japan
From 1970, some 7000 tonnes of Japan's used fuel has been reprocessed in France and UK. All the vitrified high-level wastes from this are being returned to Japan for disposal. Twelve shipments from France over 1995-2007 are being followed by about eleven from UK under the Vitrified Residue Returns program. The second shipment was dispatched this week, comprising three 130-tonne casks holding 76 canisters, each about 500kg, in a special-purpose ship.
WNN 2/8/11. Japanese waste and MOX shipments

Southeast Asia  

 Japanese agreement for second Vietnam nuclear plant
Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) has signed an agreement with the International Nuclear Energy Development of Japan Co. Ltd. (JINED) to progress the design, construction and operation of EVN's second nuclear power plant in Ninh Thuan province, with two reactors coming on line in 2021 and 2022. EVN listed six criteria to apply, including late-model reactors, stable supply of fuel, support for local industry and education of staff, and financial support. JINED is a consortium of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, nine utilities (led by Chubu, Kansai & Tepco) and three manufacturers (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba and Hitachi). The day before, Japan Atomic Power Co. (JAPC) signed a contract with EVN to provide consulting services to help with site selection and an 18-month, $26 million feasibility study including technology selection with economic and financial analysis, funded by the Japanese government. The JINED arrangements will involve financing and insurance of 75% to 85% of the total plant cost.

The first nuclear power plant in Ninh Thuan is to be built by Russia's Atomstroyexport using two VVER-1000 or -1200 reactors. It is to be constructed from 2014 as a turnkey project and come into operation from 2020. Rosatom has confirmed that Russia's Ministry of Finance is prepared to finance at least 85% of this first plant, and it will supply the fuel and take back the used fuel for the life of the plant, as is normal Russian policy for non-nuclear-weapons states.
WNN 28/9/11. Vietnam

South Korea offers to build Vietnam's third nuclear plant
The Vietnam and South Korean presidents have approved a jointly-prepared plan on nuclear power plant construction, and agreed to "use the plan as a basis for future cooperation projects to be undertaken in accordance with agreement between the two countries." "The two sides took a special note of South Korea's proposals on developing a nuclear power plant in Vietnam based on South Korean technologies," according to a joint statement.
Yonhap 8/11/11. Vietnam

South Asia

India
India's 20th power reactor comes on line
Unit 4 of Kaiga nuclear power station has been grid connected, adding 202 MWe net to the supply in Karnataka and other southern states. It brings the Indian total to 20 operating reactors, 4385 MWe net. This is the last of India's small indigenous reactors, future ones of the same general design will be 700 MWe gross. Both it and its twin which started up last year are well behind schedule due to shortage of uranium - no Kaiga units are under UN safeguards, so they cannot use imported uranium.
WNN 19/1/11.    India 

Imported uranium eases Indian generation constraint
The availability of imported uranium has helped India boost the operating performance of its nuclear fleet to a six year high of almost 80%. Over April to October, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) reported a total nuclear capacity factor of 78%. In contrast, India’s total nuclear capacity factor in the 2010-11 fiscal year was 71%, and in 2009-10 it was 61%. In previous years before India was able to obtain imported uranium, its nuclear capacity factor was only around 50%. Uranium has been supplied by AREVA, Russia, and Kazakhstan.
Ux Weekly 28/11/11. India

India starts construction of new reactor
First concrete has been poured for unit 7 at Rajasthan nuclear power plant at Rawatbhata. This will be an indigenous 700 MWe unit, the third of four authorised in 2009.
WNN 18/7/11.  

India opens new reprocessing plant
The Indian prime minister has opened the country's fourth reprocessing plant for used fuel, reminding listeners that "The recycling and optimal utilization of uranium is essential to meet our current and future energy security needs." The new 100 t/yr plant is at Tarapur in Maharashtra state, and like the others there and at Kalpakkam and Trombay, will be run by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Total Indian capacity is understood to be about 330 t/yr now, all related to the indigenous PHWR program and not under international safeguards. Two further plants are envisaged to reprocess the fuel from imported light water reactors, and these will be under safeguards. 
WNN 7/1/11. 

Nuclear regulation bill in Indian parliament
A bill to set up new stronger and more independent national nuclear regulatory authorities to oversee radiation and nuclear safety has been introduced to India's lower house, the Lok Sabha. The Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill was drawn up in response to events at Fukushima and aims to establish several new regulatory bodies. A new senior Council of Nuclear Safety (CNS) chaired by the prime minister will oversee and review policies on radiation safety, nuclear safety and other connected matters. It will include various government ministers, with the cabinet secretary and head of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission, plus government-nominated "eminent experts". The second major body to be established is the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority (NSRA) and will be responsible for ensuring radiation safety and nuclear safety in all civilian sector activities. The NSRA will take over the functions of the existing Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), which is currently responsible for the regulation and licensing of all India's nuclear facilities.
WNN 9/9/11. India

India to establish new nuclear regulator
The Indian government has announced that it will legislate to set up a new independent and autonomous Nuclear Regulatory Authority of India that will subsume the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), which currently comes under the Atomic Energy Commission and has been criticized for lack of independence. It is responsible for the regulation and licensing of all nuclear facilities and their safety, and carries authority conferred by the Atomic Energy Act for radiation safety and by the Factories Act for industrial safety in nuclear plants. However, it is not an independent statutory authority, and its major 1995 report on a safety assessment of DAE's plants and facilities was reportedly shelved by the AEC. The government has now said that that previous safety assessments of Indian plants would be made public. While NPCIL is an active participant in the programs of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), the government has affirmed its desire for IAEA's operational safety review team (OSART) to help with future nuclear industry safety reviews and audits.
WNN 19/4/11.

India caps nuclear liability for plant vendors
Last year India passed a Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act - the aim of which is to provide for prompt payment to victims of any nuclear accident that takes place within the country. The act broadly conforms to the usual principles of nuclear civil liability, although it departed from international norms which vest exclusive liability with nuclear plant operators by allowing operator recourse to plant vendors in certain circumstances. The government has now published Rules which cap that liability to the actual compensation amount paid by the operator "or the value of the contract itself, whichever is the less." They also limit it to the duration of the initial plant licence "or the product liability period, whichever is longer." Russian and western reactor vendors that are in line to supply nuclear plants to India - Atomstroyexport, GE-Hitachi, Westinghouse and Areva - have been seeking changes to the 2010 law regarding vendor liability. Westinghouse says it will await India's ratification of the international (IAEA) Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) before offering to supply equipment.

Meanwhile Australia's prime minister has notified an intention to change Labor party policy to allow uranium sales to India, in line with international arrangements negotiated in 2008 relevant to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
WNN 18/11/11. India

India's Nalco to invest in nuclear plant
The 87% state-owned National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has announced that it will take 49% equity in Kakrapar 3 & 4 (1300 MWe net) under construction in Gujarat for Rs 1700 crore ($384 million). The Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) retains a majority stake. Nalco is also seeking to buy uranium assets in Africa and elsewhere.
The Hindu 8/7/11. India

India extends life of fast reactor
The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) has extended the operating life of the 40 MWt fast breeder test reactor (FBTR) for another 20 years. It has been operating at Kalpakkam since 1985 and has provided the basis for India embarking upon construction of commercial-scale fast reactors. In about 2013 it will be converted to metal fuel, and its major task in future will be to prove this for the next generation of Indian fast neutron reactors.
WNN 15/2/11. 

 India shuts down contentious reactor

On 31 December India finally closed down its 40 MWt CIRUS research reactor, which had operated at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre near Mumbai for 50 years and was the basis of India's nuclear program. The Canada-India-US-Research reactor was built under the Colombo Plan and was the same design as Canada's veteran NRX. Apart from military uses in the 1960s to make weapons-grade plutonium for India's weapons program, it undertook significant research functions. Closure was a condition in the deal in 2008 to bring India into the world civil nuclear trade, and to put most of its reactors under international safeguards. 

Pakistan

Pakistan connects third nuclear power reactor
In mid March Pakistan's 300 MWe Chashma 2 reactor was connected to the grid. This is a small Chinese unit based on Qinshan 1, and a twin of Chashma 1 which started up in 2005. It is covered by a 2006 site-specific safeguards agreement with IAEA. Plans include at least two more of the same reactors at Chashma, largely financed by China.

Construction start on new Pakistan reactor
At the end of May construction officially started on unit 3 of the Chashma nuclear power plant in Pakistan, a 340 MWe Chinese PWR. Its twin is expected to be about a year behind it. The government approved the project in 2009 at a cost of $2.37 billion, with $1.75 billion of this involving "a foreign exchange component". In 2010 Pakistan announced that it had agreed for China to provide 82% of US$ 1.912 billion financing as three 20-year low-interest loans. CNNC's China Zhongyuan Engineering is the general contractor and China Nuclear Industry No.5 Construction Company is installer, as with the similar units 1 & 2 at Chashma. These have operated since 2000 and early 2011 respectively.
WNN 15/6/11. Pakistan

Bangladesh

Bangladesh nuclear plant contracted
Since 1999 the Bangladesh government has had plans to build a nuclear power plant at Rooppur, about 200 km north of Dhaka, on a site acquired for the purpose much earlier, in 1963. Following several previous agreements, a contract has now been signed for Russia's Atomstroyexport to build two 1000 MWe reactors for the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission. Construction of the first is expected to start by 2013 for operation about 2018. The turnkey contract includes fuel supply and return of used fuel to Russia. A further agreement will be for Russian finance.
WNN 2/11/11. Emerging countries

Middle East

Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant connected to grid
After starting up in May, Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant has been connected to the grid at low power and is expected to ramp up to full power by the end of the year. Begun by Siemens KWU in 1975 and then halted, it was completed as a Russian VVER-1000 unit by Atomstroyexport, using a few of the original components and much of the onsite infrastructure. All the fuel is being supplied by Russia, and used fuel will be retuned there.
WNN 5/9/11. Iran

 Iran's first power reactor starts up
Iran's Bushehr nuclear power reactor has started up, after repeated delays. It was built by Atomstroyexport, which is providing all the fuel from Russia. It will be operated by a 50-50 Russian-Iranian joint venture for up to three years before Atomstroyexport gradually withdraws. The anticipated 7 TWh/yr from the new reactor will free up about 1.6 million tonnes of oil (11 million barrels) or 1800 million cubic metres of gas per year, which can be exported for hard currency. Unlike the controversial parts of Iran's nuclear program such as uranium enrichment and a heavy-water reactor, the Bushehr plant has been entirely built and will operate under full International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. It will produce 915 MWe net for the Iranian grid, providing about 3% of the country's power supply.
WNN 10/5/11. Iran

 Iran delays Bushehr commissioning
Iran's new 950 MWe Bushehr nuclear power reactor being built by Atomstroyexport was due to start up in February to "reach first power" in April, and fuel had been loaded by the start of December. However, it has been found that a pump failure has possibly shed metal particles into the primary cooling system, which could damage the fuel elements. The fuel therefore is being unloaded, to be checked and cleaned, and any debris removed from the pressure vessel. The pump concerned was one supplied in the 1970s under the original contract with Siemens KWU, and was part of the old equipment required to be used under the terms of the 1994 Russian contract. A delay of two to three months is expected by Rosatom.
WNN 28/2/11. Iran

Ground breaking for new UAE nuclear power plant
A groundbreaking ceremony has been held for the United Arab Emirates' first nuclear power plant at Braka, up the coast towards Qatar. The ceremony was attended by the South Korean president and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi. Four AP-1400 pressurised water reactors, built by a consortium led by Korea Electric Power Co (Kepco), are planned for the site. Full construction is expected to begin in mid-2012. Unit 1 is scheduled to start up in 2017 and unit 2 in 2018.
WNN 17/3/11 

Application made to build first Turkish reactors
The project company set up to build, own and operate the Akkuyu nuclear power plant on Turkey's eastern Mediterranean coast has applied for licences to construct and operate the plant. This will be Russia's first foreign plant on a build-own-operate basis and will comprise four 1200 MWe AES-2006 units as a US$ 20 billion project. At this stage Atomstroyexport and Inter RAO UES each has 33.33% of the Akkuyu Nukleer Santral Elektrik Uretim project company, Rosenergoatom has 31.34%, and two other Russian entities hold 1% each. The Turkish firm Park Teknik and state generation company Elektrik Uretim AS (EUAS) are expected to take up significant shares, with Russian equity diminishing to 51%. The Turkish Electricity Trade & Contract Corporation (TETAS) will buy about half of the power at a fixed price of US$ 12.35 cents/kWh for 15 years, or to 2030, the remainder being sold on the open market. After 15 years, when the plant is expected to be paid off, the project company will pay 20% of the profits to the Turkish government.
Energy in E Europe 16/12/11 Turkey

Saudi Arabia firms up plans
Saudi Arabia plans to construct 16 nuclear power reactors over the next 20 years at a cost of more than 300 billion riyals ($80 billion), according to the coordinator of scientific collaboration at King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, which was set up in Riyadh last year to advance plans for both electricity and desalination from nuclear power. The first two are planned to be on line in ten years and then two more per year to 2030. These would generate about 20% of Saudi Arabia's electricity. Peak demand is expected to be 60 GWe by 2020. The project will be open for international bidding.
WNN 2/6/11.   Emerging countries

 Jordan receives final reactor proposals
The three reactor suppliers shortlisted last year have submitted technical and financial proposals to the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC). Russia's Atomstroyexport, the Areva-Mitsubishi consortium, and Canada's SNC-Lavalin (nee AECL) are bidding to build a single plant of about 1000 MWe at Majdal, 40 km north of Amman, with cooling from a wastewater treatment plant. Worley Parsons is retained to assist selecting actual reactor design and also "on the financing and organization support that the vendor will be providing for future operation of the plant." JAEC expects to sign an engineering and construction contract early in 2012. The IAEA has conducted an Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) mission to assess Jordan's plans.
WNN 16/8/11. Emerging countries

Africa

Husab project in Namibia targeted for Chinese takeover
Extract Resources' Husab project in Namibia is the target of a takeover offer for its major shareholder - Kalahari Minerals. China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation - Uranium Resources Company (CGNPC-URC) is bidding for Kalahari, and since that company holds 42.74% of Australian-based Extract, a successful bid (for more than 20% of Extract) will trigger a requirement for a the offer to be extended to Extract's shareholders. Meanwhile talks are under way with Rio Tinto which operates the next-door Rossing mine "with a view to capturing the significant potential synergies that could be generated from a joint development of the two projects". Rio holds 14.2% of Extract and 11.5% of Kalahari (19% overall in Husab).
WNN 10/10/11. Namibia

Rio Tinto renews efforts to buy into Husab
Extract Resources has confirmed that it is holding discussions with Rio Tinto about combining its world-class Husab Uranium Project in Namibia with Rio's adjacent Rössing Uranium mine, "with a view to capturing the significant potential synergies that could be generated from a joint development of the two projects". Rio Tinto has 19.8% equity in the project already, and was earlier rebuffed by Extract when proposing joint development. Husab now has resources of 141,000 tU - six times Rössing's, at twice the grade. Rössing has operated since 1976 and anticipated mine life is to 2016.
WNN 21/2/11.         Namibia
 

Namibia's Husab project viability supported
Extract Resources Ltd based in Perth has completed a definitive feasibility study demonstrating the technical and economic viability of its Husab project, potentially one of the world's largest uranium mines. Last year its indicated resource for Zones 1 & 2 of the Rossing South orebody had increased to 99,000 tU and total resources are 141,000 tU averaging about 0.05%U proven so far over 1.7 km of the overall deposit, still open along strike and dip. It is evidently the highest grade granite-hosted uranium deposit in Namibia, and it is an extension of the Rossing stratigraphy. The company envisages producing 5770 tU per year from 2014 after a total investment of around $1.66 billion.
WNN 6/4/11. Namibia

 Namibia asserts control over uranium

The Namibian government has announced that it will introduce legislation later in the year to give its state-owned mineral exploration company, Epangelo Mining Ltd, assured participation in new strategic minerals developments, including uranium, copper, zinc, gold and coal. However, the president's office is reported to have said that this does not apply retrospectively or amount to nationalisation of existing mines or leases. Paladin and Kalahari have both expressed confidence that their assets are not at risk of expropriation. A task force was formed in May last year by Epangelo and Russia's ARMZ, which briefly seemed to threaten developments, but the government gave strong reassurance then.
Nucleonics Week 5/5/11. Namibia

South America

Argentina marks construction completion of new reactor
Argentina's president has launched the final test phase of completing the 745 MWe Atucha 2 nuclear reactor. Construction originally began on it in June 1981, before a lack of funds eventually caused the project to stall in 1994 with the plant 81% complete. It was revived after a 2006 government decision to complete the plant as part of a $3.5 billion strategic plan for the country's nuclear power sector. The Siemens design of the Atucha pressurised heavy-water reactor units is unique to Argentina, and Nucleoeléctrica Argentina SA sought help from Germany, Spain and Brazil to complete unit 2. Atucha 2 is expected to start up early in 2012 and enter commercial operation later in the year, providing 692 MWe net.
WNN 29/9/11. Argentina

Argentina contracts nuclear plant refurbishment
Candu Energy Inc - a subsidiary of Canada's SNC-Lavalin - has signed a series of contracts for the refurbishment of the Embalse nuclear power reactor in Argentina, a Canadian unit which came on line in 1983. The project will extend the plant's life by up to 30 years and increase its 600 MWe capacity by about 35 MWe. Seven contracts worth $444 million were signed by the Argentine government, state-run utility Nucleoelectrica Argentina and Candu Energy (formerly the reactor division of AECL). The contracts call for the transfer of Canadian technology and assistance in developing the local manufacture of reactor components. The main work will commence in November 2013, and the reactor is due to be offline for about 20 months then, though the whole project will take five years. Total cost is put at $1.37 billion, with some $800 million of contracts to Argentinean companies. At about 30 years Candu reactors need major overhaul including replacement of calandria tubes.
WNN 25/8/11. Argentina

Chile seeks French support for nuclear program
A new agreement between the Chilean and French Atomic Energy Commissions (CCHEN and CEA) on "institutional cooperation in nuclear energy" has been signed, and a high-level group has been set up, co-chaired by senior executives of GdF Suez and Chile's Quinenco to promote French nuclear industry collaboration with CCHEN. Last year the Energy Commission of the Professional Association of Engineers of Chile, proposed building four 1100 MWe nuclear reactors for the grid. These could be sited in three sections of the coastline: Angofasta region, 1400 km north of Santiago, with a dense population as well as extensive mining activity; the Coquimbo region, 300 km north of Santiago, serving the north of the capital's metropolitan area; and El Liberatador, 200 km south of Santiago, to serve the city as well as insuring against possible reduction in hydroelectric generation there. With the first unit starting construction in 2015 and operational in 2020, all four could be operating by 2030, providing 26% of the country's 140 billion kWh of electricity demand then. This scheme is broadly in line with government projections and plans in anticipation of Argentina cutting its gas exports. The government intends to create the necessary infrastructure, including developing a regulatory framework, safety and waste management provisions, geological studies and building public consensus. A later application of nuclear power could be desalination.
WNN 1/3/11. Emerging countries

International

New 2011 WNA Market Report
WNA has published its biennial Global Nuclear Fuel Market: Supply and Demand 2011-2030 report. While it is still too early to assess the full impact of the Fukushima accident on the world nuclear fuel market, it appears to be minor apart from in Germany. Most countries have reaffirmed their commitment to nuclear power. One clear message is that more mines will be needed by about 2015.

New study suggests why low-dose radiation is evidently not harmful
A study involving time-lapse photography of irradiated cells repairing themselves may help explain why epidemiological evidence shows no harm from low doses of ionizing radiation. While high radiation doses are known to be harmful - the 28 deaths among clean-up workers at Chernobyl being the most salient example - low doses have not shown evidence of harm statistically, and in fact many people are exposed to natural levels far higher than allowed by today's radiation health regulations, without evident harm. However, decades ago, radiation protection standards were set on the assumption that low doses would have proportionately less effect than high ones, rather than zero effect (let alone being beneficial). Those regulations persist, though time has shown that the assumption (below at least 100 mSv) lacks credible scientific support, and any risk is too low to be detected.

The new study data from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in USA and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed that at lower doses of ionizing radiation, DNA repair mechanisms work much better than at higher doses. The researchers used time-lapse images of cells as they responded to various radiation doses. They were able to see the repair proteins concentrate around parts of DNA that had suffered a double strand break in what are effectively DNA 'repair centres'. At high dose rates the multiple repairs taking place simultaneously appeared to lead to more errors in the repaired DNA, and hence potential cancers. Conversely, at low levels of radiation - up to the higher natural levels humans experienced throughout their evolution - it was unlikely that any cell would have to repair more than one double strand break at once, so repair was routine. The study was the first to use time-lapse imagery, which helped it record more repair centres as well as the clustering effect, which begins even before they are formed. The study has implications for nuclear medicine procedures as well as radiation exposure standards.
WNN 21/11/11 Radiation & Nuclear energy

WANO expands scope of activities
Members of the World Association of Nuclear Operators have unanimously approved a series of recommendations from its post-Fukushima Commission, endorsed by its Board. These include changes to WANO's core peer reviews, establishment of a worldwide integrated event response strategy, and extending the scope of reviews from operational safety to include plant design upgrades. They represent a shift from just accident prevention to prevention and mitigation. Peer reviews will now be every four years, with follow-up visits in between, and sanctions to apply for non-compliance. The extended role for WANO will require a near-tripling of staff for the organization’s four regional centres and the London coordinating centre, from 0.3 person per reactor unit to 0.8 person/unit, and a corresponding funding increase (though WANO fees are still only about 5% of what a typical utility pays for insurance).

A new centre in Shenzen, southern China, would be established as a world centre for pre-startup reviews. These have become an important activity in recent years, since serious accidents before Fukushima had tended to occur at fairly new plants where the transition from a “construction mentality” to an “operations mentality” was incomplete. WANO said that Fukushima “was not a failure of WANO” but that the accident had identified “gaps” in its activities, and that the new measures “will close these gaps.” WANO membership involves all of the world's nuclear power plant operators, as well as reactor vendors and other organisations involved with nuclear safety.
WANO 25/10/11, Platts 27/10/11. Safety

International cooperation on nuclear safety to be boosted
At the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) high-level conference on the Fukushima accident several proposals were put forward for enhanced international cooperation on nuclear plant safety. At present safety is a national responsibility, with operators strongly supported internationally by the activities and peer reviews of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO). One proposal is for the universal government-level application of IAEA safety standards as internationally agreed benchmarks, with those relating to multiple severe hazards like earthquakes and tsunami being reviewed within one year. Attention should be focused also on standards relating to back-up power supplies, cooling water supplies, used fuel cooling and special protection for plants with more than one reactor. WANO has already asked the operators of every nuclear power plant in the world to take "specific actions to verify their ability to deal with a station blackout or a beyond-design-basis event like fire or flood." The responses on that are being analysed at WANO's London coordinating centre. "Procedure revision is needed for about one third of the units, and more than ten per cent need to improve equipment availability," according to WANO. It is also gearing up to ensure more attention on storage of used fuel at reactors.
WNN 21/6/11. Cooperation in the nuclear industry

IAEA conference adopts safety plan
The IAEA General Conference unanimously endorsed the Action Plan on Nuclear Safety that Ministers requested in June. The plan arises from intensive consultations with Member States but not with industry, and is described as both a rallying point and a blueprint for strengthening nuclear safety worldwide. It contains suggestions to make nuclear safety more robust and effective than before, without removing the responsibility from national bodies and governments. It aims to ensure "adequate responses based on scientific knowledge and full transparency". Apart from strengthened and more frequent IAEA peer reviews (including those of regulatory systems), most of the 12 recommended actions are to be undertaken by individual countries and are likely to be well in hand already.

Also the IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre (IEC) has launched a new secure web-based communications platform to unify and simplify information exchange during nuclear or radiological emergencies. The Unified System for Information Exchange on Incidents and Emergencies (USIE) has been under development since 2009 but was actually launched in June during the emergency response to the accident at Fukushima.
WNN 22/9/11. Safety

New code for nuclear reactor vendors
The world's reactor vendors have come together to set up a code of conduct to ensure best practice in the export of nuclear power plants, especially to countries that are embarking on their nuclear power programs. Nine companies, embracing all current exporters of nuclear reactors, have signed up to the Nuclear Power Plant Exporters' Principles of Conduct expressing the expected standards for corporate self-management in that business. The six principles, which incorporate recommended best practices in safety, security, environmental protection and spent fuel management, non-proliferation, business ethics and internationally recognized systems for compensation, are the culmination of a three-year-long drafting process. This has been completed under the leadership of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. While conforming with the guidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the principles have been drawn up as a fully private enterprise initiative, without governmental or IAEA oversight.
WNN 16/9/11. Cooperation

OECD report on carbon pricing highlights nuclear role
A new report from the OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) on Carbon Pricing, Power Markets and the Competitiveness of Nuclear Power says that nuclear and gas will compete to provide future base-load power generation in Europe, as standard coal-fired power plants will no longer be profitable. In arriving at this conclusion the NEA analysed daily data from European power and carbon markets between 2005 and 2010 to find the most profitable base-load power generation technology within liberalized markets. During this period, existing nuclear power plants in Europe proved to be highly profitable, and are likely to be even more so after 2012, when coal and gas electricity generators will no longer be allocated free carbon emission permits under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS).

New nuclear plants will also be competitive, although under some scenarios new nuclear might be less attractive to an investor than gas – but coal continues to be uncompetitive in all likely scenarios. In particular, new nuclear plants will be competitive with natural gas for base-load power generation where their capital costs decrease with the number of plants being built; or prices for coal, gas, and electricity increase; or carbon capture and storage (CCS) deployment falters. Though the report refers to nuclear's large upfront costs as "an inconvenience rather than a decisive competitive handicap," it acknowledges that it is an investment disincentive.
WNN 14/9/11.

Three countries report on Fukushima implications
Safety authorities of three European countries have said that there is no reason to shut down nuclear plants as a response to the Fukushima accident, despite widely different political views on the technology.

The UK nuclear industry and regulatory regime appears in good shape, according to the country's Office for Nuclear Regulation. Analysis of Fukushima "has not revealed any gaps in the scope or depth of the Safety Assessment Principles" on which UK regulation is based, or any weaknesses in the licensing regime. However, one recommendation was for the regulator to undertake a formal review of these Principles, "to determine whether any additional guidance is needed, particularly for 'cliff-edge' effects" after which it may be impossible to prevent an accident situation worsening.

The UK regulator expects industry to take the "prime responsibility" for learning lessons as well as "ultimate responsibility for the safety of its designs and operations." The regulator's role is to "ensure safety provisions are robust and that they minimise any residual risks." As well as re-confirming the design basis for flooding and extreme weather events, industry should review its dependency on off-site infrastructure and enhance self-sufficiency in accident scenarios. The layouts of new and proposed plants may need revision. Operators will also have to ensure they can cope in the face of severe and long-lasting disruption off-site.

In Scandinavia, the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Agency (Stuk) found "no new threat factors or deficiencies that would require immediate safety improvements" at that country's two nuclear power plants. Nevertheless, Finnish firms will have to satisfy the regulator that they have taken proper consideration of potential serious flooding, the need for sustained emergency power provision, and improved self-sufficiency.

Germany has now received a report by chairman of the regulator, covering similar ground to the UK and Finnish reports - but with the notable inclusion of aircraft impact as another category of extraordinary event for which nuclear power plants should be prepared. A statement from the Environment Ministry stressed that there is no indication that nuclear power should be shut down immediately, though it supported "leaving nuclear energy as quickly as possible and replacing it with renewables and energy efficiency." About 14% of the price German citizens pay for power goes to subsidise renewables, while energy-intensive industry largely avoids this tax. Separately an ethics commission is to report on the nuclear issue, and the moral rights and wrongs of operating nuclear plants in Germany as well as importing nuclear power from its neighbours.
WNN 18/5/11. 

Economist comment on nuclear prospects
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) sees a decade of growth for nuclear power with only a marginal impact from the Fukushima accident, according to a new report The Future of Nuclear Energy. Some of the accident's policy effects have been large and far-reaching - such as the radical abandonment of nuclear power in Germany and Italy - but other nations will pursue nuclear technology essentially as before. While Germany's early closure of eight reactors, with the rest likely to follow before 2022, makes a dent in capacity, this is offset by equivalent new build in France and the USA. Furthermore, far larger new build programs are coming from Russia, India and China, which on its own will add almost five times the capacity that Germany plans to shut by 2020. The reasons for this are that "Nuclear energy is a response to long-term trends, and hence not easily abandoned or replaced. The need for new sources of electricity to power economic growth persists, and the promise of nuclear in bolstering energy security and reducing carbon emissions makes it an appealing option."
WNN 15/6/11 

Westinghouse offers emergency fuel pond cooling system
Westinghouse has announced a system "to keep spent fuel cool in emergency situations, including the loss of all plant power." It includes a permanent primary cooling loop inside the reactor building or spent fuel building, and a mobile secondary cooling loop. The secondary loop would be "stored offsite and then located outside the reactor building for either emergency or pre-planned use." The system "includes mobile diesel generators, air compressors, switchgear and other support equipment required to operate this stand-alone system."
Westinghouse 25/5/11, WNN 26/5/11.

2010 a year of accelerated construction starts
During 2010 five reactors were grid connected, and none were permanently shut down except France's Phenix (which WNA reported thus in 2009 when it finished generating power). The newly-operating reactors are Rostov 2 (950 MWe) in Russia, Rajasthan 6 (202 MWe) in India, Lingao II-1 (1000 MWe) and Qinshan II-3 (610 MWe) in China, and Shin Kori -1 (960 MWe) in South Korea, giving total 3722 MWe net and 442 reactors. There were a number of power uprates, which helped take the total operating capacity up to 377,222 MWe, a net 4622 MWe increase on 372,600 MWe a year ago. Also there were 15 construction starts, boosting the construction total to 63 reactors (64,576 MWe), compared with 53 (51,114 MWe) a year earlier. 

World wind power capacity up 22% in 2010
Global wind power capacity increased by 36 GWe (22%) in 2010, to 194 GWe, representing EUR 47 billion investment. Nearly half the additional capacity was in China, which now has 42 GWe installed, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. In the USA and Europe, 2010 additions were down from 2009, prompting a call for more EU financing.
GWEC 2/2/11.

New solar boost project for conventional power station
The Australian government has committed about $35 million to the Kogan Creek Solar Boost Project, which will be the largest solar integration with a coal-fired power station in the world when it is operational in 2013. A 30-hectare field of Areva Solar’s compact linear fresnel reflectors at the existing 750 MWe coal-fired Kogan Creek power station will produce steam to be fed to it, helping to drive the intermediate pressure turbine. The solar boost at 44 MW (peak) will add 44 million kWh annually, about 0.75% of output, for $105 million - equivalent to $19,000/kW of base-load capacity.
CS Energy 13/4/11.

New approach to using electricity from renewables
One approach to mitigate intermittency is to make hydrogen by electrolysis and feed this into the gas grid. E.On is building a pilot plant to produce up to 360 m3/hr of hydrogen at Falkenhagen, Germany, to feed into the Ontras gas grid, which can function with 5% hydrogen. It has been suggested that all electricity from wind might be used thus, greatly simplifying electrical grid management.
E.On 11/11/11. Renewable energy & electricity


Measures to assure supply of medical radioisotopes
Following major supply disruptions in 2009, a 2-year study under OECD Nuclear Energy Agency auspices has made several recommendations to avoid a recurrence of molybdenum-99 shortages. The NEA has formally endorsed a policy approach to restructure aspects of the market for the isotope that are currently functioning unsustainably, and to promote international consistency. Mo-99 produces (by decay) technetium-99, and this is used in over 80% of nuclear medicine procedures. The Mo-99 half-life is less than 3 days, so it cannot be stockpiled. The NEA notes that considerable progress has been made in countering supply shortages, but it warns that the underlying problem of an unsustainable economic structure remains, and unless this is addressed, supply shortages were likely over the next decade.

The suggested policy approach is based on market principles. First, all supply chain participants should implement full cost-recovery, ensuring continued investment in the industry. Secondly, reserve capacity to cope with unexpected supply shortages should be built and paid for by those in the supply chain. Hitherto, the research reactors producing the isotope have been largely funded by governments, effectively subsidising the Mo-99 supply chain. The third principle calls for governments to establish regulatory environments under which the market can operate efficiently without interventions. In the fourth principle, relevant to nuclear non-proliferation concerns, the NEA calls on governments to support the conversion of research reactors to use low-enriched uranium targets for Mo-99 production.
WNN 4/5/11. Research reactors, Radioisotopes in medicine

World reactor changes during 2011(all MWe net unless indicated)

China: Lingao II-2 grid connected May, 1037 MWe
Qinshan II-4 grid connected November 610 MWe
CEFR grid connected 20 MWe (not counted in WNA reactor table)
India: Kaiga 4 grid connected 202 MWe 
Iran: Bushehr grid-connected 915 MWe
Pakistan: Chashma 2 grid connected 300 MWe
Russia: Kalinin 4 grid-connected 950 MWe
Total (apart from CEFR) 6 units, 4014 MWe

Czech: Dukovany 1 & 4 uprated c 38 MWe each
Mexico: Laguna Verde uprated 2 x 138 MWe
Sweden: Olkiluoto 1 & 2, uprated 20 MWe each
USA: Surry 2 uprated 50-56 MWe

USA: Point Beach 1 & 2, uprated 2 x 87 MWe
Total: 619-622 MWe net

Germany: Biblis A & B, Neckarwestheim 1, Brunsbuttel, Isar 1, Unterweser, Phillipsburg 1, Krummel (8) closed by political edict, 8336 MWe net
Japan: Fukushima Daiichi 1-4 written off from accident, 2719 MWe net
UK: Oldbury 2 closed on schedule 30 June, 217 MWe net
Total 13 units, 11,272 MWe net

Canada: Pt Lepreau 635 MWe was moved from operational to under construction in WNA's reactor table, joining Bruce A 1 & 2 there due to major refurbishing.
Construction starts on China's Shidaowan HTR-PM, 210 MWe gross, India's Rajasthan 7, 700 MWe gross, and Pakistan's Chashma 3, 340 MWe gross.