Archive 2012
NORTH AMERICA
USA
US approval for
new nuclear plant
US safety regulators
have approved the construction of two new-generation reactors at Vogtle by
Georgia Power. The vote by the five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
concludes a four-year process that confirmed the safety of building a pair of
Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. It is the first combined construction and
operating licence (COL) from the NRC under new procedures. Parent company
Southern Nuclear applied to build Vogtle 3 & 4 in April 2008, then signed an
engineering, procurement and construction contract with Westinghouse and Shaw.
Work at the site is well advanced, and ready for first concrete. The company has
a federal loan guarantee for its 45.7% of the $14 billion project; its main
partners are Oglethorpe Power (30%) and Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia
(22.7%). The 1200 MWe (gross) reactors are expected to start-up in 2016 and
2017.
WNN 9/2/12. US nuclear power
Two more US
reactor construction licences approved
The
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the issue of two further
construction and operating licences for a pair of 1200 MWe AP1000 reactors at
the V.C.Summer plant in South Carolina. SCE&G (Scana) and Santee Cooper
applied for the licences four years ago, and expect to start formal construction
in May, to bring the units on line in April 2017 and in 2018. Work is already
well under way at the site, on containment vessel and cooling towers.
WNN 2/4/12. US nuclear power
USA pauses new
reactor licensing
The US Nuclear
Regulatory Commission has suspended issuing licences for new nuclear plants and
also licence renewals until the requirements of a recent court decision on
wastes are “appropriately addressed”. However, no licensing decisions for new
plants were expected before mid 2013 anyway, and all licensing reviews and
related proceedings are unaffected.
In June the US Court of Appeals in DC found that the
NRC's rules related to the temporary storage and permanent disposal of nuclear
waste stood in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. This requires
that either an environmental assessment be prepared for all major government
agency actions. The court found that the NRC's 2010 update to the Waste
Confidence Decision - which allows for the temporary storage of used nuclear
fuel on-site at nuclear power plants even after licence expiry - could not
provide sufficient guarantee that a final waste repository would be ready "when
necessary", or indeed ever built at all (following the Administration’s 2009
order to stop work on the Yucca Mountain repository, contrary to 1987
legislation). It further found that the NRC had failed "to properly examine the
future dangers and key consequences" of storing fuel on nuclear sites for up to
60 years after operating licence expiry. The NRC has yet to determine whether it
will appeal the decision or how it will respond. However, some response from NRC
is required in order to validate current policy.
WNN 8/12/12. US nuclear policy
French plans for
US nuclear bridgehead rebuffed
Capping off
a succession of setbacks, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has confirmed
that plans by Areva and Electricite de France (EdF) to build a fleet of European
reactors in the USA have run their course and are on the verge of defeat. The
last active proposal, to build a single US-EPR reactor at Calvert Cliffs
alongside Constellation Nuclear Energy’s two units there, has effectively been
rejected due to foreign ownership.
The proponent, Unistar Nuclear Energy was originally a
50-50 joint venture of EdF and Constellation, but in 2010 Constellation Energy
(now merged with Exelon) backed out of the arrangement and EdF took over 100% of
Unistar. It also owns 49.9% of Constellation Nuclear Energy. Under the 1954
Atomic Energy Act no nuclear power plant can be “owned, dominated and controlled
by foreign interests,” and the NRC’s licensing board has now ruled that this
applies regardless of various creative efforts to get around it, and a two-year
search for US equity partners. If there are no developments in 60 days the NRC
will cease its work on licensing the Maryland project. Almost one billion
dollars has been invested in the project so far. A second Unistar proposal, for
a US-EPR at Nine Mile Point in New York, has licensing suspended.WNN 11/10/10, 31/8/12. US nuclear power
US industry ready
to act on reactor safety enhancements
US
utilities are preparing to act on three US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
orders to meet immediate post-Fukushima safety enhancements, likely to cost
about $100 million across the whole fleet. The first order will require the
addition of equipment at all plants to help respond to the loss of all
electrical power and the loss of the ultimate heat sink for cooling, as well as
maintaining containment integrity. Another requires improved water level and
temperature instrumentation on used fuel ponds. The third order applies only to
the 33 BWRs with early containment designs, and will require 'reliable hardened
containment vents' which work under any circumstances. The measures are
supported by the industry association, which has also proposed setting up about
six regional emergency response centres under NRC oversight with additional
portable equipment.
Meanwhile the NRC has reported that 90 of 104 US
nuclear reactors "fully met all safety performance objectives" for licensing,
nine needed to resolve one or two items, and five needed greater attention.
WNN 27/2/12. Russia NP
US high-level
Commission reports on used fuel
The Blue
Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future set up early in 2010 following
President Obama's political decision to abort work on a repository at Yucca
Mountain in Nevada has issued its final report, highlighting shortcomings in
national policy. "Put simply, this nation's failure to come to grips with the
nuclear waste issue has already proved damaging and costly. It will be even more
damaging and more costly the longer it continues." Congress expects the
Department of Energy (DoE) to develop a new strategy for managing used nuclear
fuel and other nuclear waste within six months in response to the report. The US
industry has welcomed the report.
The Commission recommended a consent-based approach to
siting future nuclear waste storage and disposal facilities. Secondly,
responsibility for the USA's radioactive waste management program should be
transferred to a new organisation, independent of the DoE. Thirdly, the way in
which the funds already paid into the Nuclear Waste Fund are treated in the
federal budget should be changed to ensure they are used for their intended
purpose. (These funds were estimated to be some $24 billion as of early 2010.)
The report calls for "immediate efforts to commence development of at least one
geologic disposal facility and at least one consolidated storage facility, as
well as efforts to prepare for the eventual large-scale transport of spent
nuclear fuel and high-level waste from current storage sites to those
facilities." The report also supported long‐term recycling and advanced
fuel‐cycle technologies, which would reduce the amount of used fuel needing
disposal while recovering valuable unused materials for re‐use in new fuel, but
noted that these measures would not change the fundamental waste management
challenge.
There are
currently over 65,000 tonnes of used nuclear fuel stored at about 75 operating
and shut-down reactor sites across the USA, with an additional 2000 tonnes
arising annually. The DoE is also storing a further 2500 tonnes of used fuel and
considerable high-level waste from military programs at a few government-owned
sites.
WNN 27/1/12 US policy, US fuel cycle
Legal basis for US
waste management upset by court challenge
Due to the failure of the US Administration to proceed
with developing the Yucca Mountain waste repository the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission had set up arrangements reflecting its confidence that used fuel
could be stored safely at reactor sites for at least 60 years after a plant
closes, and that a repository would become available “when necessary”. The US
Court of Appeals in Washington has upheld a challenge to this waste confidence
measure, saying that the NRC “rulemaking at issue here constitutes a major
federal action necessitating either an environmental impact statement or a
finding of no significant environmental impact." It also rejected the rule
because the NRC did not examine individual storage sites in its initial
environmental assessment, but simply conducted a generic analysis of
environmental risks across the board at
nuclear plants, which was less than the
National Environmental Policy Act required. This will now need to be rectified
so as to validate current policy and allow the licensing of new reactors and
life extensions to existing ones.
WNN 11/6/12. US
Policy
Government deal rescues American
Centrifuge
USEC and the US Department of
Energy (DoE) have signed a raft of new agreements to completely reorganise the
American Centrifuge program and rescue it from financial limbo. The DoE is to
provide a total of $280 million towards a research, development and
demonstration (RD&D) program, while USEC will provide $70 million. This
infusion will support building and operating a 120-machine cascade that would be
incorporated in the full commercial American Centrifuge Plant (ACP) in Piketon,
Ohio, which is planned to operate 96 such cascades. The DoE interest is secured
by various provisions including a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence in
centrifuge intellectual property for government purposes, and title to much of
the plant. USEC expects that “by the end of next year, this RD&D program
will fully demonstrate that the American Centrifuge technology is ready for
commercial deployment."
WNN 14/6/12. US nuclear
fuel cycle
US laser enrichment plant moves towards
licence
The US Nuclear Regulatory
Commission NRC has published a favourable environmental review of the Global
Laser Enrichment project, and its safety evaluation found that its programs for
the physical protection of special nuclear material and classified matter,
material control and accounting provided an adequate basis for both safety and
safeguards of facility operations. Following a July review by the NRC Atomic
Safety and Licensing Board, a full licence is expected in August. The company,
bringing together GE, Hitachi and Cameco, will then decide on proceeding with a
full-scale commercial enrichment facility at Wilmington, North Carolina. The
project, using the third-generation Australian SILEX process enriching up to 8%
U-235, could be operational from 2014, and ramp up to annual capacity of 6
million separative work units (SWU) in 2020.
WNN
1/3/12, U Enrichment, US Fuel Cycle
Laser enrichment
plant licensed in USA
The Nuclear
Regulatory Commission has licensed General Electric-Hitachi’s Global Laser
Enrichment LLC (GLE) to construct and operate a uranium enrichment plant using
Australian SILEX laser technology in Wilmington, NC. The application was lodged
in mid 2009, and the licence allows enrichment to 8% U-235 in a plant up to 6
million SWU/yr capacity. GLE will now decide in the light of commercial
considerations on whether to proceed.
WNN 26/9/12.
Uranium enrichment
Urenco USA applies for increased
capacity
Further to last week’s item on
Urenco USA and South Korea (see Korea below), the company has applied for a
licence to increase its capacity from 3.7 to 10 million SWU per year, though
announced plans are for only 5.7 million SWU/yr at this stage. Current capacity
is about 2 million SWU, as construction continues.
WNN 28/11/12. US fuel cycle
US reactor gets
reprieve as court affirms national role over local politics
A US federal court in Vermont has ruled that Vermont
Yankee nuclear power plant may continue to operate beyond the end of its
original 40-year licence in March, as approved by the national regulator. This
grants Entergy a long-awaited victory over its host state of Vermont which
contrived to close it down. The case involved claims made by Entergy which
challenged a state's right to make rules about the perceived safety and economic
performance of a plant.
The first claim related to several state enactments
that would have forced the plant to shut down at the end if its original
licence, in two months time. Entergy argued that these were rooted in concerns
over safety, and therefore pre-empted by the Atomic Energy Act which places sole
control over US nuclear and radiation safety matters in the hands of a national
regulator. In March 2011 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a 20-year
license extension for the plant. A second claim related to plans from the state
that would have forced the plant to sell electricity to state utilities at below
market rates or risk being forced to shut down. Entergy claimed that Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission has exclusive jurisdiction to regulate the sale and
transmission of wholesale power, and that no state institutions should be
permitted to interfere with this. Vermont Yankee is a merchant plant, not owned
by the state, and therefore should be free to sell electricity on to the market
both inside and outside of the state at whatever price it can. This determines
its profitability and ultimately its ability to survive. The single 620 MWe
reactor is currently responsible for about 70% of the electricity produced in
Vermont.
The
three-day court hearing took place in September last year and a decision was
originally expected within weeks. In July, the company had sought a preliminary
injunction to allow it to keep operating while the court case played out,
claiming this was necessary for them to make important decisions – such as
whether to buy fuel. However the judge rejected these claims. The court finally
ruled in Entergy's favour – acknowledging the pre-eminence of the Atomic Energy
Act in governing safety matters, and effectively preventing the state from
interfering with the plant's electricity sales contracts.
WNN 20/1/12. US nuclear power
US to support small reactor development
The US Department of Energy (DoE) has allocated $452
million over five years to help the design and licensing of one or two small
modular nuclear reactor (SMR) designs through new cost-sharing arrangements with
industry. This will support first-of-a-kind engineering, design certification
and licensing. To that end, it has issued a draft Funding Opportunity
Announcement to solicit inputs from industry, aiming at a deployment date for
the reactors of 2022. Small, compact reactors of up to 300 MWe in capacity have
a number of potential advantages in terms of safety, construction and siting, as
well as potential economic benefits. Smaller ones can be made in factories and
transported by rail and road to generation sites, being added progressively as
modules of a large plant, reducing both capital costs and construction times.
Westinghouse intends to apply for its own 225 MWe SMR, while Babcock &
Wilcox's 125 MWe mPower and NuScale Power's 45 MWe design are also in
contention. The NRC is currently involved in pre-application discussion on both
latter types in anticipation of a design certification application for the
NuScale reactor soon, followed by one for the mPower design in 2013.
WNN 23/1/12. Small nuclear power reactors
US companies bid
for small reactor support
In January the
US Department of Energy (DOE) called for applications from industry to support
the development of US light-water small modular reactor (SMR) designs,
allocating $452 million over five years for one or two projects. Four
applications have now been made, from Westinghouse, Babcock & Wilcox, Holtec
and NuScale Power, for 225 MWe, 180 MWe, 160 MWe and 45 MWe units respectively.
These must be capable of construction and operation within ten years. For each
design supported, DOE will pay up to half of the cost of engineering and
licensing. DOE is expected to announce its decision in September. Plans for
building two of the designs are already well advanced, with Westinghouse lining
up to build a lead unit at Ameren Missouri’s Callaway site, and B&W working
with Tennessee Valley Authority to deploy up to four units of its mPower design
at Clinch River. In addition Holtec and NuScale (with Fluor) have agreements
with DOE to build demonstration SMR-160 and NuScale SMR units respectively at
Savannah River. Other SMR designs will have modest support through DOE’s Reactor
Concepts RD&D program.
WNN 22/5/12. US Nuclear
policy
USA chooses small reactor design for
support
The US Department of Energy has
announced that it has chosen to support the Babcock & Wilcox mPower design,
to be developed with Bechtel and TVA. Through a five-year cost-share agreement,
the DOE will invest up to half of the total project cost, with the project’s
industry partners at least matching this. The amount will be negotiated between
DOE and B&W, out of a total $452 million available for one or two
light-water reactor designs. The DOE is to offer second-round funding to other
applicants. The three that missed out – Westinghouse (225 MWe SMR), Holtec
(SMR-160) and NuScale (45 MWe PWR) all expressed strong interest in that
possibility.
The
B&W mPower reactor is a 180 MWe integral PWR designed to be factory-made and
railed to site where it would be installed below ground level, have an
air-cooled condenser giving 31% thermal efficiency, and passive safety systems.
The integral steam generator is derived from naval designs. A 60-year service
life is envisaged. B&W draws upon over 50 years experience in manufacturing
nuclear propulsion systems for the US Navy, involving compact reactors with long
core life. The mPower is modular in the sense that each unit is a factory-made
module and several units would be combined into a power station of any size, but
most likely 500-750 MWe, constructed in three years.
WNN 21/11/12. Small reactors
New US licence extension and uprates
After a 28-month review, the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission has renewed the operating licence for Energy Northwest’s Columbia
1173 MWe nuclear power plant in Washington state for 20 years, to 2043. This is
the 72nd licence renewal among the 104 US reactors. Also, the company has
confirmed that last year an increase of 22 MWe resulted from replacement of the
plant’s main generator rotor and condenser, with cooling tower upgrading.
Energy NW 18 & 23/5/12, WNN 25/5/12. US NP
The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission has approved a 20-year licence extension for Entergy’s 688 MWe
Pilgrim nuclear power plant at Plymouth, Massachusetts, after the longest
licence review of any of the 73 applications now processed - NRC staff devoted
over 20,000 hours to it. Pilgrim’s licence was due to expire in June, but it can
now operate to 2032. It was bought by Entergy in 1999.
WNN 28/5/12, Entergy 25/5/12. US NP
Progress Energy has uprated its
Shearon Harris reactor in North Carolina by 1.66% to 915 MWe net, and
replacement of the high-pressure turbine will give it another 14-18 MWe later,
towards eventual 970 MWe in 2015. In 2010 the company installed the little-used
generator from the Three Mile Island-2 plant to upgrade Shearon Harris.
Florida Power &
Light is uprating its two St Lucie reactors. Unit 1 has had a 129 MWe uprate
from 839 MWe net, by replacing pumps, the main transformer, high- and
low-pressure turbines and other components. Unit 2 had 31 MWe added last year,
and about 70 MWe is pending this year.
WNN 1/5/12,
Progress 7/6/12. US NP
Uprates of 123 MWe have been approved by the Nuclear
Regulator Commission for Florida Light & Power’s 693 MWe Turkey Point 3
& 4 reactors. The first will be implemented shortly, and that for unit 4
later in the year. The company spent $1.3 billion to the end of 2011 on uprate
projects at the two Turkey Point reactors and two at St. Lucie to gain a total
of 490 MWe net capacity. In addition to the Turkey Point increases, about 90 MWe
are expected to be added at the St Lucie units in 2012, and a final 123 MWe of
capacity will be gained across the four in 2013.
WNN IT, Nucleonics Week 26/4/12. US NP
The US Nuclear Regulatory
Commission has approved a 17% uprate for Florida Light & Power’s St Lucie 2
reactor, from about 882 to 1002 MWe gross. The second and larger part of this is
now being implemented. Earlier this year the company uprated unit 1 similarly,
by 129 MWe.
WNN 25/9/12. US NP
Industry Alliance keeps US high-temperature reactor
hopes stoked
As momentum from the 2005 US
Energy Policy Act has dissipated, and the Department of Energy has quietly
backed away from earlier commitments to build a demonstration next-generation
nuclear plant (NGNP) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) by 2021, others are
keeping the dream alive. The NGNP Industry Alliance was set up in 2009 to
include major reactor vendors, utilities and potential end users of high
temperature heat. It has now announced the selection of a preferred technology -
Areva's Antares, which is based on General Atomics' Gas-Turbine Modular Helium
Reactor, with prismatic fuel - ie the fuel particles less than a millimetre in
diameter are embedded in hexagonal graphite blocks (in contrast to the pebble
bed design). Both INL and the Alliance concluded that both fuel designs would
work, but the reactor design chosen as modules (4) for a 1000 MWe plant would
make it 30% cheaper to build. The Alliance is targeting 2015 for a construction
permit application, with Entergy now the lead applicant. The gas-cooled reactor
would initially be operated with secondary steam cycle.
WNN 15/2/12. Small reactors, US Nuclear Policy
USA investigates reactor life extension beyond 60
years
The US Department of Energy (DOE)
Office of Nuclear Energy has released plan for its Light Water Reactor
Sustainability Program to identify and research issues related to extension of
the operating life of US power reactors beyond 60 years. The DOE-sponsored
R&D program based at Idaho National Laboratory is to be "performed in close
collaboration with industry R&D programs, to provide the technical
foundations for licensing and managing the long-term, safe and economical
operation of current nuclear power plants." In particular it will "inform major
component refurbishment and replacement strategies, performance enhancements,
plant license extensions, and age-related regulatory oversight decisions."
WNN 3/2/12 US nuclear policy
US nuclear
alliance formed
Seven US utilities with 13
Westinghouse pressurized water reactors totaling 16 GWe within the same Nuclear
Regulatory Commission region have set up the Stars Alliance LLC as a legal
entity, to rationalize their management. Stars Alliance members and their plants
are in Arizona, Texas, California, Missouri and Kansas.
WNN 1/8/12. US NP
California nuclear
plant woes
Southern California Edison’s
San Onofre 2 & 3 nuclear power reactors have been shut down since the end of
January because of faults in their relatively new steam generators supplied by
Mitsubishi. A Nuclear Regulatory Commission investigation team has now pointed
at "faulty computer modelling" and "manufacturing issues" as contributing to the
rapid deterioration of the steam generator tubing. In total some 386 tubes had
thinned by more than 35% from their original state - a level that required
mandatory plugging - while hundreds more were plugged as a precaution. Each
steam generator contains 9727 tubes and is designed to cope with the loss of
some of these throughout its 30-40 year life, however the speed of degradation
since 2010 was surprising and presented a possible safety issue if a large
failure were to suddenly occur. Both units remain shut down with no clear
timetable for their return to service, taking 2150 MWe net offline.
WNN 20/7/12. US Nuclear Power, California
US reactors weather cyclone in good order
Some 34 nuclear plants along the east coast of the USA were in the path of hurricane Sandy, but none was seriously affected by it. While seven were already shut down for maintenance, 24 plants continued to operate safely, and two were shut down due to transmission grid damage: Indian Point 3 and Nine Mile Point 1, and Salem 1 was shut down due to storm conditions affecting the non-nuclear side of the plant. Exleon declared an alert for two days at its shut-down Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey due to high water levels affecting cooling water intakes.
As the major storm approached, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) had increased oversight at nine nuclear plants in the states of Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut. More than 8 million people lost power from the storm and utilities are facing a recovery effort larger than for any other storm including last year's Hurricane Irene which led to major reforms in storm planning and storm response. Restoration of full service in many cases is not expected for weeks.
WNN 30/10/12. US NP
Outrage over
mining ban near Grand Canyon
US senators,
congressmen, mining companies and nuclear industry representatives have
criticised a final decision by the Department of Interior to ban new uranium
mining on over 4000 square kilometres of federal lands near the Grand Canyon.
This withdrawal for 20 years followed over two years of evaluations. It does not
prohibit previously-approved uranium mining, but it does rule out new projects
on claims and sites with valid existing exploration rights. Other natural
resource development will still be allowed, and hardrock mining including
uranium near the Grand Canyon can continue. Bureau of Land Management
projections suggest that up to 11 uranium mines, four of which are currently
approved, could still be developed in the withdrawal area over the next 20 years
based on valid pre-existing rights. Without the withdrawal, the studies
projected that the area could have seen as many as 30 uranium mines in the same
period.
A group of
US senators and congressmen has denounced the decision, saying that it
disregards the 1984 Arizona Wilderness Act, agreed through negotiation with
environmental groups, which permanently locked away from mining over 2600 sq km
outside the Grand Canyon designated as wilderness, while affirming the
compatibility of mining with conservation interests in other areas. They also
noted that the Interior Department's own studies had found "no conclusive
evidence" that mining operations in the area were harmful to the Grand Canyon
watershed, so the announcement was "a needless overreaction to a fictitious
problem." The Nuclear Energy Institute condemned the ban, citing the lack of any
scientific justification and the lack of any suggestion in the studies that
uranium mining near the Grand Canyon would compromise the excellent
environmental record of today's mining operations.
WNN 10/1/12 US uranium mining
Areva pioneers integrated fuel supply in
USA
The Monticello nuclear power plant
will have a decade of front-end nuclear fuel services provided by Areva after a
$500 million deal. From 2015, Areva will provide Xcel Energy with six fuel
reloads for the Monticello reactor, over a decade. This integrated arrangement
contrasts with the normal routine of the utility buying uranium from a mine in a
fluctuating market, then having it converted, enriched, and fabricated on a toll
basis. The Areva contract also covers engineering work to enable the 600 MWe
(gross) GE-designed boiling water reactor to use Areva's Atrium 10XM fuel
design. These changes are part of an uprate plan to increase Monticello's output
to 829 MWe gross. The reactor started operation in 1971 and is licensed to 2030.
Westinghouse-Toshiba as well as Areva provide similar integrated fuel supply
deals in emerging markets.
WNN 5/1/12 US nuclear
fuel cycle
New technology to
revive uranium from phosphates
A new plant
is being commissioned in the USA to demonstrate uranium recovery as a by-product
of phosphate production for fertiliser. Historically some 20,000 tU has been
recovered thus, but old processes became uneconomic. A transportable
demonstration plant in two large shipping containers was built in Australia and
is now being commissioned in Florida. The PhosEnergy process is being
commercialised by Australian company Uranium Equities (UEQ, 27%) and Canadian
uranium producer Cameco (up to 73%), under a strategic alliance agreement.
Subject to evaluating performance to the end of 2012, Cameco and UEQ are seeking
to enter commercial arrangements with phosphate producers where the process
would provide a technical solution for the recovery of uranium from phosphates.
The capital required to install the process would be in exchange for off-take
from the facility. In the USA alone, some 2300 tU/yr is potentially recoverable
from phosphates as by-product, and worldwide more than three times this from the
140 million tonnes of phosphate processed annually. Morocco has by far the
largest known resources of uranium in phosphate rock.
WNN 13/4/12. U from phosphates
US plans to ban
new coal-fired power plants
The US
Environment Protection Agency has published rules to limit carbon dioxide
emissions from new power plants to 454 g/kWh, achievable by gas-fired plants but
not coal-fired ones without carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS, if practical,
would greatly increase the cost. Existing coal-fired plants, which supply almost
half of US electricity, and those under construction are exempt. The rules need
to be finalised before coming into effect, and considerable opposition is
expected leading up to the November elections.
US drought
highlights biofuel impact on food production
In the year that the first mass-produced electric
vehicles are being sold in the USA, giving electromobility from base-load
electricity sources such as coal and nuclear, the US drought has provoked the UN
Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to call for the USA to suspend its
biofuel production from corn. Under the US Energy Independence & Security
Act 2007, 49,270 megalitres of ethanol from corn and biodiesel from soybeans
must be blended into gasoline in 2012 (the quantity is escalating towards 136 GL
in 2022). This Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requirement will account for more
than the usual 40% of the reduced US corn crop, which is then not available for
food, especially export. Also, corn prices have tripled since the RFS was
introduced in 2005, and further nearly doubled this year. Along with US
livestock producers, 156 House members and 25 senators have appealed to the US
Environment Protection Agency to waive the ethanol standard on fuels. Also the
energy return on investment (EROI) for ethanol from corn is very low – 1.1 to
1.5, and much of the input is oil.
http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/UN_Calls_on_US_to_Halt_Biofuel_Production_as_Drought_Devastates_Corn_Crop_120812
AllGov 12/8/12. Renewables
Canada
Canada-China
bilateral safeguards agreement
A number of
agreements have been signed to expedite Canadian trade with China, including now
a bilateral safeguards agreement to supplement the standard international
safeguards. This will enable Canadian uranium to supply utilities in China. In
particular Cameco will be able to proceed with two 2010 contracts to supply
20,000 tU worth about US$ 3 billion.
WNN 10/2/12.
Safeguards
Canadian reactor restarted after 17-year
outage
Bruce Power has restarted its 750
MWe Bruce A2 Candu reactor after rebuilding it. First power was in 1976, but the
reactor was laid up in 1995 due to a maintenance accident when lead contaminated
the core. Unit 1 was then laid up in 1997 to allow operational focus on newer
plants at that time. In 2005 it was decided to refurbish all four Bruce A units,
and the cost for units 1 & 2 came to C$ 4.8 billion. Both are now being
returned to service.
WNN 19/3/12. Canada NP
Canadian reactors
returning to service
Three Canadian Candu
reactors are returning to service after extended lay-offs. The latest is Point
Lepreau in New Brunswick, where the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has
authorised restart of the 635 MWe Candu 6 unit after 16 months of refurbishment
blew out to more than four years and went well over budget, reportedly to C$ 2.4
billion.
In Ontario, Bruce A2 received restart permission in March but problems with the
generation side of the plant have delayed its return to service. More recently
Bruce A1 has been given permission to restart. Both have been laid up since the
mid 1990s, and their refurbishment has cost about C$ 4.8 billion.
WNN 24/7/12. Canada NP
The 750 MWe Bruce A1 reactor has been grid-connected
after 15 years being laid up then refurbished. Unit 2 is due back on line by
year end. The project to rebuild the two Candu units cost almost C$ 5
billion.
Quebec
Hydro's 635 MWe Gentilly 2 reactor had been earmarked for a similar
refurbishment, and a five-year licence extension was approved last year, but the
provincial government has decided to close it instead at the end of the year.
WNN 21/9/12. Canada NP
The 750 MWe Bruce A2 reactor has been reconnected to
the Ontario grid after 17 years being laid up then refurbished. Its twin, unit
1, was grid-connected in September. The project to rebuild the two CANDU units
cost almost C$ 5 billion.
WNN 18/10/12. Canada
NP
Canadian reactor
returns to service after four years
The
635 MWe Point Lepreau Candu-6 reactor in New Brunswick has been grid-connected
after a 54-month refurbishment which ran about $1 billion over budget and took
three times as long as originally planned. Its operation will be extended by 25
years. The provincial government is attempting to get the federal government to
cover the cost overruns. For the first time in 17 years all 20 of Canada’s
reactors are now operating, with 14,169 MWe net on line.
WNN 25/10/12. Canada NP
Site licence for
new reactors in Ontario
After six years
study and deliberation, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has issued a
licence to Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to prepare a new site adjacent to its
4-unit Darlington nuclear power plant for two new reactors. A further licence
will be needed to actually build the plant. This is the first such licence in 25
years. In June, OPG signed agreements with Westinghouse and SNC-Lavalin/ Candu
Energy Inc. to prepare detailed construction plans, schedules and cost estimates
for two potential nuclear reactors – EC6 and AP1000 types respectively - at
Darlington. The Ontario government, which owns OPG, will then decide on whether
to proceed and with which design. OPG is paying the two companies up to C$ 26
million for the estimates over 14 months.
WNN
20/8/12. Canada NP
Environmental
approval for new Canadian mine
Canada’s
Minister of Environment has given approval for a deep open pit mine at Midwest,
near McClean Lake in Saskatchewan. The partners, principally Areva Resources and
Denison Mines, are also evaluating other potential mining methods, including
conventional underground and surface jet bore drilling, using the Surface Access
Borehole Resource Extraction (SABRE) mining technology. The deposit has
indicated resources of 16,500 tonnes of uranium at 4.66%U. Milling will be at
McClean Lake, 15 km away. There are no present plans to commence mining.
Denison 16/8/12, WNN 20/8/12. Canada uranium
EUROPE
European “stress
tests” on course
The 147 nuclear reactors
in the EU's 27 member states, plus 15 reactors in Ukraine and five in
Switzerland, are being assessed against aspects of nuclear plant safety
highlighted by the Fukushima accident. Operators reported to their national
regulators who then reported progress to the European Commission by the end of
2011. Information was shared among regulators throughout this process before the
17 final reports went to peer-review by teams comprising 80 experts appointed by
the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) and the European
Commission. The EC and ENSREG identified four main areas for improving EU
nuclear plant safety:
- assessing natural hazards
and margins beyond the original design basis;
-
giving more importance to periodic safety reviews and evaluation of natural
hazards;
- undertaking urgent measures to protect
containment integrity; and
- measures to prevent
and mitigate accidents resulting from extreme natural hazards.
They reported that "all countries have taken
significant steps to improve the safety of their plants, with varying degrees of
practical implementation." The EC and ENSREG are producing an action plan to
implement the main recommendations of their report and to participate fully in
the International Atomic Energy Agency's post-Fukushima action plan.
WNN 27/4/12. Safety of nuclear plants
Balkans
electricity supply crisis
Due to a second
year of drought conditions impacting hydro power generation, there is a major
electricity shortage in southeastern Europe, notably the Balkan states, Albania
and Romania. Romania’s Hidroelectrica, with 6400 MWe of hydro capacity, has
declared force majeure on all its 29 supply contracts. Despite low water levels
in the Danube, there is enough water there to cool power plants, and nuclear
plants in Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania are maintaining output.
Imports from Hungary and Slovenia are alleviating the Balkan situation, and as
prices rise, more of the region’s gas-fired capacity is being utilised.
EIEE 10/8/12. Hungary
UK
UK issues first new nuclear site licence, publishes Energy Bill
The UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has granted a site licence for EDF Energy's planned Hinkley Point C power station in Somerset. It is the first new site licence to be awarded for a UK nuclear power station in 25 years, although further consent will be needed before construction of the two Areva EPR units can begin. The licensee is NNB Generation Co (EDF Energy 80%, Centrica 20%). ONR took 16 months to assess the company's "suitability, capability and competence to install, operate and decommission a nuclear facility." Local government has also given permission to prepare the site. Prior to the ONR process, parliament had confirmed selection of this plus seven other UK sites for new nuclear plants and introduced planning reforms to allow plant construction to be expedited. EDF Energy expects to make its final investment decision on Hinkley Point C by the end of the year, depending critically on energy market reforms which will determine whether the company can be assured of selling a continuous supply of power profitably in a market that is increasingly affected by subsidised and preferential intermittent input from renewables.
The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change has published its long-awaited Energy Bill, designed to support low-carbon generating sources including nuclear power. In a statement released jointly with the Carbon Capture and Storage Association and RenewableUK, the UK Nuclear Industry Association says that the bill “provides much needed investment certainty.” The Institution of Mechanical Engineers said that it brought the UK a step closer to building the major infrastructure projects needed, and that “With a looming energy gap for 2015, creating a stable regulatory framework for the energy sector is absolutely crucial for investor confidence and we look forward to the announcement next year on the details of the incentives, without further delays.”
WNN 26/11/12. UK
UK completes design assessment of Areva EPR
The UK Environment Agency and Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) have completed a five-year design assessment of Areva’s EPR reactor design and issued a Statement of Design Acceptability and Design Acceptance Confirmation respectively. The approvals will enable EdF Energy to proceed with site licensing for the EPR, initially at Hinkley point in Somerset. ONR estimates that the GDA process for EPR has involved 27,000 days of assessment time and thousands of technical documents. The cost of around £35 million ($56 million) per reactor design is charged back to the proponent companies.
WNN 13/12/12. UK
UK's Horizon Nuclear sold to Hitachi
The UK project company Horizon Nuclear Energy has been bought by Hitachi Ltd for £696 million (USD 1.12 billion). It is set to build two or three nuclear reactors at Wylfa in NW Wales and at Oldbury in Gloucestershire near Bristol, both government-approved brownfield sites. Up to 8000 MWe of capacity is involved. With Hitachi ownership, the technology choice will now be the GE-Hitachi Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR), well-proven in Japan, being built there and in Taiwan, licensed in the USA, and planned for Lithuania. The company will seek UK approval through the Generic Design Assessment process, which will take four to five years. Construction time for the four operating Japanese ABWRs was 37 to 43 months. Hitachi will be supported by UK-based Rolls Royce and Babcock International and Canada's SNC-Lavalin. By the time construction begins it will seek an operating power utility as partner and perhaps other investors to take a half share in Horizon.
Horizon attracted substantial international interest after RWE and E.ON announced in March their intention to sell the joint venture following Germany's decision to phase out nuclear power. The UK Government has placed new nuclear capacity at the heart of its energy strategy to cut carbon, boost energy security, and stabilise power prices for households, since it is the cheapest low-carbon option.
Underlining the importance of nuclear energy to Britain, the government has announced the creation of a Nuclear Industry Council, intended to help UK nuclear exporters compete internationally on the basis of "a strong industrial strategy." Chairing the council will be shared by government ministers and Nuclear Industry Association chairman Lord Hutton. An early priority will be publishing a Nuclear Supply Chain Action Plan, which is already under development.
WNN 30/10/12. UK
Russia confirms
commercial nuclear interest in UK
Russia's
state atomic energy corporation Rosatom is interested in entering the UK nuclear
market and is beginning preliminary work to do so. This includes discussion with
the UK Office for Nuclear Regulation regarding generic design assessment for the
latest version of the VVER-1200 reactor, the VVER-TOI, designed for
international markets and certification. Rosatom sees more opportunity in the UK
than elsewhere in Europe, and can provide both technology and funds. Once the
design certification is sorted, a 4-5 year process, Rosatom would probably use
the same build-own-operate (BOO) project model as in Turkey, and could finance
up to 85% of the project, though other European utilities would be minor
shareholders. There is apparently no intention to buy into Horizon Nuclear
Power, which has secured sites at Oldbury and Wylfa but now lacks major backers
since RWE and E.On pulled out. Other approved UK sites are available. China’s
State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC), with Toshiba, maintains
interest in taking over Horizon, probably to build Westinghouse AP1000 reactors,
as in China.
WNN 6/6/12, Nucleonics Week 7/6/12.
UK
Russia and China
probe UK nuclear plant opportunity
Following the withdrawal of German-based RWE and EOn
from the project company Horizon Nuclear Energy, both Rosatom directly, and
China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) with Toshiba, have
indicated strong interest in taking their place to build several new nuclear
plants in the UK. Horizon has two approved brownfield sites: Oldbury and Wylfa,
for some 6000 MWe of new nuclear capacity. SNPTC brokered the acceptance of the
Westinghouse AP1000 reactor in China, and this is now most of the way through
generic design assessment in UK. Westinghouse, once owned by the UK government,
is owned by Toshiba. The major US nuclear utility Exelon is reported to be
involved in the proposal as potential operator, but it could neither confirm nor
deny this to WNN.
WNN 4/5/12. UK
Conditional £2
billion contract for new UK plants
EdF
Energy has selected the consortium of Bouygues and Laing O’Rourke for £2 billion
of works in building the Hinkley Point 3 nuclear plant in Somerset. The work is
subject to planning consent and EdF Energy making a final investment decision by
the end of the year.
WNN 19/6/12. UK
UK reactor life extensions for 4 units
EdF Energy has announced it will extend the operating life of its Hunterston (Scotland) and Hinkley Point B (Somerset) nuclear power stations by seven years, to 2023. Each has a pair of Advanced Gas Cooled reactors running at 70% of original design capacity - about 430 MWe. The company is planning similar life extensions for all its AGR units. It will seek a 20-year life extension for its only UK PWR, Sizewell B, taking it to 60 years, as for similar US plants. The UK Office for Nuclear Regulation undertakes periodic checks of all reactors, and the next safety review for both plants is in 2015.
WNN 4/12/12. UK
UK closes oldest
reactor
Unit 1 at the UK's Oldbury plant -
the world's oldest operating nuclear power reactor - has been closed after 44
years of power generation. The 217 MWe Magnox unit started operation in 1968 but
is no longer economic to run. Its twin was shut down last year. The reactors
will be defuelled over the next year, but final demolition will not be until
late in the century. Construction of a new plant by Horizon Nuclear Power - a
50-50 joint venture of RWE and E.On - is planned at the site. Two larger Magnox
units remain in service - the last of the first-generation plants.
WNN 29/2/12. UK
UK shuts down
second-last Magnox reactor
Wylfa-2, one of
the reactors at Britain’s last Magnox nuclear power station, has been closed
down a few days ahead of scheduled permanent closure. It started up in 1971. Its
twin is expected to operate until its fuel runs out in 2014. The UK built 26
Magnox reactors, and the 490 MWe Wylfa units were the last and biggest. Two
others were built in Italy and Japan, and France’s first six reactors were very
similar. Wylfa is a site for planned new reactors.
WNN 26/4/12. UK
RWE and EOn pull
plug on UK nuclear project
The two major
German-based utilities RWE and EOn have announced that they will not proceed
with building nuclear power plants in the UK, and will seek new investors for
their 50-50 UK joint venture Horizon Nuclear Power, set up in 2009. Horizon was
planning to build a 3500 MWe nuclear plant at Oldbury in Gloucestershire and
about 5000 MWe at Wylfa in Wales. The companies cited the cost of losing 5517
MWe of their German nuclear capacity with EUR 2.8 billion writedown as
contributing to their change of plan, though they will continue with smaller
energy investments in UK. EdF Energy is proceeding with plans to build four 1670
MWe EPR reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk.
WNN 29/3/12. UK
UK electricity
market reform sketched out
Draft
legislation has been published to reform the UK's electricity market and thus
secure the necessary investment for a low-carbon energy mix including new
nuclear. The government estimates that £110 billion of new investment needs to
be attracted to develop the low-carbon generating capacity required ion the next
ten years while meeting the country's climate change goals. New nuclear, along
with renewables and fossil fuels abated by carbon capture and storage (CCS) are
recognised in the document as the three families of low-carbon generation with
roles to play. All have high capital cost, so investors must have some assurance
of commercial returns.
At the heart of the bill are measures to support
low-carbon generation through feed-in tariffs (FIT) with contracts for
difference (CfD). CfDs are long-term contracts which provide revenue certainty
to generators with returns stabilised at a fixed level known as a strike price.
This system of revenue support is to be complemented by a capacity market, to
ensure the availability of sufficient reliable capacity to meet demand. The
capacity market and CfD incentives will be supported by an emissions performance
standard, effectively preventing the construction of new coal plants emitting
more than 450g of carbon per kilowatt hour, and a carbon price floor (announced
in 2011), to increase the price paid for emissions. The UK National Grid is the
independent system operator that will administer the two systems of the
long-term low carbon incentives (CfDs) and the capacity market.
WNN 22/5/12. UK
Brits remain
positive re nuclear power
A YouGov survey
has found that 40% of the 1734 people polled feel that the UK government should
use more nuclear power than at present, up from 35% in November 2011.
Maintaining current levels was preferred by 21%, while 20% felt that there
should be less nuclear power than at present (down from 27% in 2011). 54% of
men, and only 26% of women, felt that there should be more nuclear. Of women,
23% supported the status quo, 25% called for a reduction in nuclear, and 25%
were unsure. Apart from nuclear, 72% were in favour of increasing solar
provision, 55% in favour of more wind farms, and 45% wanted less coal-fired
power.
WNN 23/10/12. UK
France
France looks to
reactor life extension more than new build
France's Court of Audit has released a report on the
costs of nuclear power in the country. It concludes that investing in new
nuclear or other generating capacity would be too expensive and too slow to meet
demand. Extending the operating lives of existing nuclear power reactors would
be the most cost-effective option.
According to the report, France has so far spent €188
billion on nuclear energy. The total cost of building all the facilities needed
for nuclear electricity generation in France (excluding Superphenix commercial
prototype fast breeder reactor) is put at €121 billion. Of this, the cost of
constructing the country's 58 second-generation power reactors - with a combined
generating capacity of 62,510 MWe - is estimated to be €96 billion (average
€1536 per kW, rising from €1070 in 1978 to €2060/kW in 2000). The projected cost
for new EPR units is €3700/kW. The development of fuel cycle facilities -
particularly reprocessing plants - cost France some €19 billion. A further €55
billion has so far been spent on research, while the construction, operation and
decommissioning of Superphenix cost €12 billion.
French power reactors
were originally licensed to operate for 30 years, and they are then subject to
ten-year reviews to allow for life extension. So far, just two reactors - at
Tricastin and Fessenheim - have received authorization to continue operating up
to 40 years. In 2010 EdF invested €1.7 billion in maintenance, and plans to more
than double this annually to 2025, including post-Fukushima upgrades. EdF
expects that extending the life of its present reactor fleet will cost up to
€860 million each, compared with some €6.6 billion for a new (though larger)
EPR, making this the cheapest option for providing power to 2035-40. Operating
costs in 2010 were 4.95 cents/kWh.
WNN 31/1/12.
France
French safety approval for new reactor
design
The French nuclear safety regulator
ASN has approved the general design of the mid-sized Atmea1 nuclear reactor,
following an 18-month review. The Atmea joint venture was established in 2007 by
Areva NP and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to produce an evolutionary 1100 MWe
reactor using the same steam generators as the EPR. It will be marketed
primarily to countries embarking upon new nuclear programs, and has been
short-listed for Jordan.
WNN 7/2/12. Advanced
reactors
French regulator
imposes major upgrade requirements
The
French nuclear safety authority ASN has announced a set of requirements for the
country’s nuclear plants as a result of last year’s Fukushima accident. Though
all 58 French reactors were checked against EU ‘stress tests’ in the months
following the accident, and none failed these, the new requirements call for a
substantial addition to mitigation provisions, so that there is a robust hard
core of systems at each plant. In particular, EDF must install large diesel
generators capable of resisting earthquakes, floods and other external events at
all 19 of its nuclear power plant sites by 2018, and smaller units by the end of
2013. The 900 specified requirements apply to EDF, Areva and CEA (fuel and
research facilities), and are to be completed progressively by 2018.
WNN 29/6/12. France
France to
reinforce its reactor fleet
Following the
post-Fukushima "stress tests", the French safety regulator ASN said that while
all the reactors "have a sufficient level of safety" to continue operation, this
"requires increasing as quickly as possible their robustness in the face of
extreme situations beyond safety margins they already have." EdF has started
work to meet the new requirements though the final list will not be published
until midyear. It expects the costs of the post-Fukushima modifications at its
58 nuclear power reactors to cost less than EUR 10 billion over ten years,
bringing the utility’s total planned investment in its operating fleet over the
next 30 years close to EUR 50 billion.
While the focus of additional safety in response to
previous accidents was to develop universal excellence in nuclear operation,
first across the USA through the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO)
and then globally through the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), the
Fukushima accident could not have been prevented by better operation, but rather
by better appreciation of external risks and their on-site consequences. For
this reason the fundamental drives in ASN's requirements are improvements in
earthquake and flood protection, together with taking into account risk from
nearby industrial activity, including major and potentially dangerous industries
such as chemical processing, liquid natural gas storage, and hydroelectric dams.
EdF will now have to prepare itself and its sites for potentially enormous
failures at nearby facilities like these.
WNN
4/1/12 France
ENEL bails out of nuclear partnership with EdF
Under a 2007 agreement with EdF, the Italian utility ENEL was to have a 12.5% share in the Flamanville-3 nuclear power plant, taking rights to 200 MWe of its capacity and being involved in design, construction and operation of it. The agreement also gave EdF an option to participate in construction and operation of future ENEL nuclear power plants in Italy or elsewhere in Europe and the Mediterranean. After the cost estimate for Flamanville blew out to EUR 8.5 billion, ENEL has now pulled out of that project and the partnership with EdF. It will be reimbursed EUR 613 million that it has contributed, plus accrued interest. ENEL said it would pursue it commercial business in France by other means.
WNN 5/12/12. France, Italy
End of an era for
old enrichment technology
After 33 years
of continuous operation, Areva has closed down Eurodif’s Georges Besse
enrichment plant. Apart from USEC’s Paducah plant in USA, which recently got a
brief life extension to enrich depleted uranium tails, this is the world’s last
mainstream diffusion enrichment plant. The 10.8 million SWU plant has been the
largest single electricity consumer in France, using 50 times as much energy per
unit output as newer centrifuge plants. The new EUR 3 billion Georges Besse II
plant nearby is ramping up to full capacity of 7.5 million SWU in 2016.
WNN 8/6/12 France, U Enrichment
Areva tightens board procedures after big
write-down
In 2007, when uranium prices
were high, Areva paid $2.5 billion for a junior uranium company, UraMin,
claiming large resource figures in Africa. Last year Areva wrote down the value
of the acquisition by $2.05 billion, and almost halved the published resource
figures at the main mine involved - Trekkopje in Namibia. Following an inquiry
by Areva's Supervisory Board, procedures for such acquisitions have been
tightened. While the UraMin purchase was "well within Areva's strategy" at the
time and long-term, some due diligence and geological scepticism at top level
was evidently lacking, and "the Supervisory Board did not sufficiently highlight
the uncertainties expressed internally by the technical teams."
WNN 15/2/12. Namibia
Germany
German utility highlights cost of political indulgence
E.On, one of Germany's major electric utilities, has briefed shareholders on its dilemma in power production. Much of its power generation is impacted by government policies favouring renewable energy over the most economical options, and by closing down some nuclear capacity as well as taxing the rest. Because any feed from solar or wind plants has priority when it happens to be available, other generating plant is run at sub-economic capacity levels. In particular, through summer gas-fired generation is sidelined during peak hours, making it "barely profitable to operate". "In most European markets, the gross margin for gas-fired units is approaching zero or is indeed already negative."
E.On's CEO pointed out that "Paradoxically, this benefits carbon-intensive lignite-fired assets which are more harmful to the earth's climate, whereas flexible, climate-friendlier assets are barely profitable". Despite considerable subsidies, E.On's renewables made a loss, and produced only 1% of the company's power. The company's reduced nuclear fleet gave the most income per unit of generation, making up 21% of power generation and bringing €599 million (34%) of the pre-tax earnings. This figure, however, will be slashed by Germany's extraordinary tax on nuclear fuel that EOn continues to contest in court.
The company summarised its position on the matter: "EOn is implementing the political majority's decision on an earlier phase-out of nuclear energy. At the same time, however, EOn believes that the nuclear phase-out, under current legislation, is irreconcilable with our constitutionally protected right to property and right to operate a business. In any case, such an intervention is unconstitutional unless compensation is granted for the rights so deprived. Consequently we expect appropriate compensation for the billions of euros in stranded assets created by this deprivation."
A day or two later Munich experienced its biggest power failure in two decades, reflecting the precarious situation arising from the country's abrupt policy U-turn in 2011, causing the loss of about 5 GWe of nuclear capacity in the south, with insufficient transmission capacity to compensate.
All of the country's four nuclear power utilities are pressing claims for compensation and in particular are suing the government over continuing with the nuclear tax introduced in relation to the 8- and 14-year licence extensions agreed in September 2010. Claims for compensation are also on the basis of write-down of plants, cancelled upgrades which were in train following the positive September 2010 policy change, and decommissioning costs brought forward.
WNN 14/11/12. Germany
German utilities
report effect of policy change
Germany's
abrupt change in nuclear policy cost €1.3 billion in RWE's results for FY2011.
It also boosted power prices and raised CO2 emissions, the company said in its
annual report to shareholders. Overall, RWE's electricity generation was 9%
lower than the previous year, due in part to the overnight loss of freedom to
operate its Biblis A and B nuclear power reactors, total 2407 MWe. Its overall
CO2 emissions rose 8.2% from 0.732 to 0.787 kilograms per kWh due to Biblis
closure. However, the price of EU CO2 emission allowances collapsed through 2011
and so reduced the financial impact of this setback. For the future, RWE is
focusing research and development efforts on carbon capture and storage
techniques because, "by the end of 2022, all German nuclear power stations will
be offline and the gap they leave cannot be closed by renewable energy and
increased electricity imports alone." Coal will feature prominently in Germany's
electricity future, notwithstanding earlier CO2 reduction goals.
A week later EOn
reported some of the financial and environmental implications on its operations.
It recorded a €1.5 billion one-off cost for the overnight closure of its
Unterweser, Isar 1, Krummel, and Brunsbuttel nuclear power reactors, which also
directly resulted in it producing almost 12 billion kWh less than in 2010.
Adding in the total costs of the ongoing nuclear fuel tax as well as accelerated
decommissioning plans for the closed units, the total financial impact on EOn
has been €2.5 billion over the last 12 months. The company turned its attention
to the challenges of a "new operating environment" in August 2011, announcing
the likely loss of 9000-11,000 jobs. EOn noted a setback in achieving its target
to reduce specific emissions from power generation to half of 1990 baseline
levels by 2020, with its carbon intensity in Europe rising due to nuclear
shutdowns.
EnBW posted a loss of €867 million primarily because
of the required permanent shutdown of two of its four power reactors and
payments of nuclear fuel tax.
Vattenfall was also affected by the German decision,
and took a $1.57 billion impairment charge after the German decision. It is
trying to reach a compensation settlement with the German government, and will
otherwise sue.
WNN 6 & 14/3/12, Nucleonics Week
15/3/12. Germany
Germany to recover
renewables costs from consumers
Four major
German utilities and the Federal Network Agency and grid authority have
announced that they are raising the surcharge that customers pay on their
utility bills to fund renewable energy by a steep 47% next year, from € 3.592
c/kWh now to 5.277 c/kWh. This to cover the increasing proportion from
renewables and the fact that the utilities are obliged to pay for each renewable
kWh much more than they can sell it for. Utilities charge most customers the
renewable energy sources (EEG) surcharge or "Umlage" to cover the difference.
Some energy-intensive industries are exempt from this. Overall, the 2013
forecast EEG feed-in tariffs amount to about €18.5 billion, compared with
projected revenues on the electricity market of about €2.6 billion. The
difference between projected feed-in tariffs and marketing revenues forms the
essential part of the EEG surcharge.
The government is reacting to the steady increase in
renewables costs to consumers by capping the subsidies. Solar subsidies are
capped at 52 GWe (compared with 30 GWe currently), and wind and biomass are set
to follow. Last year, Germany raised the 2020 target from 35% to 40% of supply
from renewables while raising payments for biomass, geothermal, & offshore
wind. It maintained solar PV and onshore wind incentives, but has cut solar
since.
Sustainable Business 15/10/12. Germany,
Energy subsidies
Belgium
Belgium cancels
licence extensions for two reactors
Belgium's Council of Ministers has announced that Doel
1 and 2 – both 433 MWe pressurized water reactors (PWRs) that have been in
operation since the mid 1970s - are to close in 2015 after 40 years of
operation. Tihange 1, a 962 MWe PWR that will also celebrate its 40th
anniversary in 2015, is to be permitted to operate to 2025 to avoid the risk of
blackouts. Four other Belgian reactors are not immediately affected by the
decisions, though they will reach 40 years in 2022 and 2025. In 2009 the
government had decided to allow these three oldest units to extend their
operating lives by ten years - while demanding in return that nuclear power
producers pay an annual 'contribution' to the Belgian budget. The latest
announcement reneges on "firm commitments" made between the Belgian state and
GDF-Suez in a 2009 memorandum of understanding, and comes immediately after the
Belgian nuclear regulator FANC ruled favourably on a technical report from GDF
Suez subsidiary Electrabel on its preparation for the ten-year extensions. All
Belgian reactors are operated by Electrabel.
WNN
5/7/12. Belgium
Belgian reactor
closed to check pressure vessel flaws
Belgium’s 30-year old Doel 3 reactor will remain shut
down while regulators and others consider the significance of numerous flaws in
the 20 cm thick steel reactor pressure vessel. These are parallel to the surface
and evidently caused in the forging process rather than being due to ageing or
embrittlement. They were revealed by new ultrasound inspection techniques. The
shells of the Doel pressure vessel, along with about 20 others in several
countries, were made in the 1970s by Rotterdam Dry Dock (RDM), now defunct. Ten
of the RDM pressure vessels are in service in the USA. Plant owner Electrabel
needs to demonstrate that the flaws are benign before the reactor can
restart.
WNN 8/8/12. Belgium
Czech Republic
Areva bid for
Czech reactor ruled out
Czech utility CEZ
has told Areva that its bid for the contract to construct two more units at the
Temelin nuclear power plant has been disqualified as it "failed to meet
statutory requirements." Areva said it will appeal the decision, which leaves
Westinghouse and a consortium led by Russia’s AtomStroyExport vying for the
contract. The Temelin site is already home to two Russian VVER-1000 reactors, in
operation since 2000 and 2003 respectively.
Areva had put forward its EPR design, as licensed in
Finland and France, and undergoing licensing in the USA and UK. Two units are
being built in China. The AtomStroyExport bid involves Gidropress' MIR-1200 VVER
model based on those now under construction at Leningrad and Novovoronezh power
plants. Westinghouse's AP1000 is under construction in China and the USA, having
design certification in the USA and interim approval in the UK. All three
contenders submitted documentation late in June 2012, each with a commercial
proposal, a technical proposal and a proposal for the supply of nuclear fuel.
WNN 8/10/12. Czech Rep
Switzerland
Spain
Spanish standoff
on plant licence renewal
Spain’s Nuclenor
has declined to meet a government deadline for applying to renew its operating
licence for the Garona nuclear power plant until the government declares what
the new electricity sector rules and taxes will be. The original plans for
electricity reform called for heavy taxes on all generation, but especially
nuclear. Protests have caused a rethink. While Garona meets all requirements set
by national regulators, some EUR 120 million investment will be required to take
it to the proposed July 2019 retirement. Nuclenor says that if its "doubts
surrounding the economic feasibility … are cleared up, it would be in a position
to request the license renewal" and make the investment. Otherwise it shuts down
next year.
Platts 6/9/12. Spain
Scandinavia
New Swedish
reactors on horizon
Swedish utility
Vattenfall has submitted an application to the country's nuclear regulator for
approval to replace one or two of its existing reactors at Ringhals and Forsmark
with new ones. However, a decision on whether to proceed with the new units is
several years away.
WNN 1/8/12. Sweden
Baltic states
Estonia and
Latvia support Lithuania nuclear plant
Despite construction starting on Russia's Baltic
nuclear power plant in next-door Kaliningrad, plans are proceeding for
Lithuania's Visaginas nuclear plant which will replace the capacity lost by
closure of its Ignalina nuclear plant due to requirements of EU accession. In
July 2011 the government selected Hitachi as strategic investor, and GE Hitachi
is to build a single 1350 MWe Advanced Boiling Water Reactor, several of which
are operating and under construction in Japan and Taiwan. This is expected to
operate from 2020. Last October the government formally notified the
European
Commission of plans for the new nuclear power plant at Visaginas to be built in
collaboration with Estonia, Latvia and Poland. However, in December Poland
withdrew from the project, saying that Visaginas Nuclear Energy's conditions
were unacceptable to Poland, and it had other plans anyway. In March 2012 the
prime ministers of Estonia and Latvia reiterated their support for the project
and promised to work together to make sure progress is maintained. The
Lithuanian parliament is due to approve a concession agreement in mid year.
WNN 9/3/12. Lithuania
Lithuania signs
up with Hitachi for new plant
The
Lithuanian government has approved plans for its new nuclear plant, an LNG
terminal and power grid connections to western Europe to greatly reduce its
dependence on Russia’s gas and power supply. It has signed a concession
agreement with Hitachi as strategic investor in its planned Visaginas nuclear
power plant, providing a contractual framework for the project and giving
Hitachi a 20% stake in it. Latvia is to take 20% of the project company and
Estonia 22% for about EUR 1 billion each. Lithuania will retain 38%. A combined
construction and operating licence is to be issued by July 2015, and a final
investment decision then made. Poland was originally a participant but withdrew
in December, saying that conditions were unacceptable and it had other nuclear
power plans anyway. GE Hitachi expects to build a single 1350 MWe Advanced
Boiling Water Reactor, several of which are operational and under construction
in Japan and Taiwan.
WNN 10/4/12. Lithuania
Lithuania
uncertain about new reactor
A non-binding
referendum held in conjunction with Lithuania’s national election has raised
uncertainties for the Visaginas project to build a new nuclear power plant with
Estonia and Latvia to replace the Soviet-era Ignalina plant, closed due to
Lithuania’s accession to the European Union. The referendum question asked if
voters wanted new nuclear power capacity built, and 63% said ‘no’ as they also
voted against the incumbent government. The Social Democrats had forced the
referendum in order to make Visaginas an election issue. It appears the former
Homeland Union-Christian Democrat Party will be replaced, since Labor and Social
Democratic parties did better electorally and may form a coalition. While both
Labor and Social Democrats have opposed the project so far, they have not ruled
out proceeding with it, and the matter will be decided by the incoming
government. Without Visaginas, both Lithuania and its two Baltic neighbours will
remain largely dependent on Russia for electricity, and the economic prospects
of the 2400 MWe Baltic nuclear plant now under construction in Russia’s
Kaliningrad exclave, 50 km from Vilnius, will be boosted.
WNN 17/10/12. Lithuania
Bulgaria
Bulgaria abandons
Belene plans
After several years of rising
uncertainty and failure to secure any Western investment, the Bulgarian
government has aborted plans for a new 2000 MWe nuclear plant at Belene on the
Danube Rive, and will instead add a third 1000 MWe reactor to its Kozloduy
plant. Germany's RWE Power was to have been a 49% strategic investor in the
project, but withdrew in 2009. The new Bulgarian government then decided that it
could not afford its full 51% stake. Atomstroyexport has the manufactured
components of the first Belene reactor ready to supply, pursuant to a 2008
contract, and these will now be built as Kozloduy 7. A smaller gas-fired plant
will be built at Belene. An earlier set of VVER-1000 components destined for
Belene was returned to Russia in 2007 and was installed as Kalinin 4, now
operating.
WNN 29/3/12. Bulgaria
Bulgaria widens
scope for new nuclear plant
Following the
cancellation of plans for a new nuclear power plant at Belene due to lack of
finance, Bulgaria was left with a reactor pressure vessel, steam generators and
related equipment supplied by OMZ Izhorskiye Zavody for a late-model
Russian-design VVER-1000 reactor, and it initially proposed installing this kit
at Kozloduy alongside two similar units. However, in April the Minister for
Finance announced that the government had decided “to open up for investment the
project for a new reactor 7 at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. It will be
built on market principles, that is, without government money or state
guarantees.” (An earlier set of hardware for Belene was built in Russia as
Kalinin-4, now operating.)
A request for proposals in June elicited responses
from Areva, Areva/Mitsubishi, Bulgaria's Risk Engineering, Westinghouse and
WorleyParsons. Now the project company KNPP-New Build plc has awarded a contract
to Westinghouse to assess the feasibility of two options: a VVER unit using that
Russian equipment already procured, but with instrumentation and control systems
and fuel from Westinghouse, and a turbine-generator from Toshiba; and
construction and operation of a western 1000-1200 MWe PWR, essentially
Westinghouse's AP1000. The study will evaluate the site, radioactive waste and
used fuel management, use of existing infrastructure, licensing, local economic
aspects, and the economics of the alternative reactor options by March 2013.
WNN 28/8/12. Bulgaria
Poland
Poland spreads
nuclear power project over four companies
Four majority state-owned companies have signed a
letter of intent for participation in the construction and operation of Poland's
first nuclear power plant. A formal agreement could be signed by the end of the
year, spreading the load from the main proponent Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE)
to include utilities Tauron Polska Energia and Enea, together with copper miner
KGHM Polska Miedz SA. These will acquire up to 49% of the shares in the project
company PGE EJ1, which will be future operator and licensee. The utilities will
thus broaden their generation base from coal, and KGHM will acquire its own
power supply in a similar fashion to the Finnish model through TVO and
Fennovoima.
WNN 6/9/12. Poland
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus
Construction
starts on new Russian reactor to supply EU
First concrete has been poured for the Baltic nuclear
power plant at Neman in Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave west of the Baltic
states. It is a novel project for Russia in several ways: the first to be opened
to investment by EU utilities (up to 49%), the first intended to export most of
its output, and the first to use Western components such as an
Alstom-Atomenergomash turbine generator. Rosenergoatom has said that the plant
is deliberately placed "essentially within the EU" and is designed to be
integrated with the EU grid. Most of the power is intended for Germany, Poland
and Baltic states. Construction manager for the twin-unit AES-2006 plant using
VVER-1200 reactors is Nizhny Novgorod Atomenergoproekt. Unit 1 is expected to
start up in 2016 after 55 months construction.
WNN
27/2/12. Russia NP
Local government
confirmation of Russian fast reactor plan
The Sverdlovsk government has confirmed its approval
of plans to build the latest and largest Russian fast neutron reactor at
Beloyarsk, as unit 5. The BN-1200 design (of about 1220 MWe) is expected to be
complete next year, partly funded by federal nuclear technology program, and
construction is due to start in 2015. At present a BN-600 fast reactor has
operated there for 22 years, and a BN-800 unit is under construction - two of
which have been sold to China. Rosatom's Science and Technology Council in 2011
approved the BN-1200 reactor for Beloyarsk, and in May this year Rosenergoatom
started environmental assessment for it. Its designer, OKBM Afrikantov,
envisages about ten such plants by 2030, possibly including South Urals NPP. The
Chelyabinsk regional government has apparently approved three BN-1200s to be
built at South Urals plant, coming on line from 2021, but this is
unconfirmed.
WNN 27/6/12. Russia NP
Russia starts
preparation for first large fast reactor
Rosenergoatom has started environmental assessment for
the first BN-1200 fast neutron reactor as unit 5 at Beloyarsk nuclear power
plant in Zarechny municipality of Sverdlovsk Region. OKBM Afrikantov expects to
complete the design in 2014, and construction is due to start about a year
later. It will be a development of the BN-800, now under construction there (and
with two sold to China). Beloyarsk-3 is a 600 MWe fast reactor which has been
operating successfully for 31 years. Several more BN-1200 units are proposed -
the Chelyabinsk regional government wants three to be built at South Urals
plant.
Nuclear.Ru 14/5/12. Russia NP
Russia pressing
ahead with small fast reactor
As well as
continuing its development of large sodium-cooled fast reactors (and selling two
to China), Russia is pushing ahead with a small modular fast reactor cooled by
lead-bismuth eutectic, the SVBR-100. Seven Alfa-class submarines have been
powered by smaller versions of the same concept, giving 70 reactor-years
experience of it, with another 10 on land. In 2009 AKME-Engineering was set up
by Rosatom with 50% private equity from En+ Group to develop and build the SVBR.
The plan is to
complete the design development and put on line a 100 MWe demonstration plant by
the end of 2017, with total investment of RUR16 billion ($585 million). The site
is to be the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (RIAR or NIIAR) at
Dimitrovgrad - Russia's largest nuclear research centre. The SVBR-100 could be
the first reactor cooled by heavy metal to generate electricity. It is described
as a multi-function reactor, for power, heat or desalination. A power station
with 16 such modules is expected to supply electricity at lower cost than any
other new Russian technology, as well as achieving inherent safety and high
proliferation resistance. Development also continues on BREST, a 300 MWe
lead-cooled reactor design, and a more innovative small MBIR, all three under
the January 2010 federal target program for advanced nuclear technologies.
AKME-E. Russia NP, Small nuclear reactors
Russia announces
plans for new fast reactor
Rosatom has
announced that a pilot demonstration BREST-300 fast reactor with associated fuel
cycle facilities is to be built at the Siberian Chemical Combine in Seversk. RUR
25 billion ($809 million) has been budgeted for development and construction of
the reactor and RUR 17 billion ($550 million) for the fuel cycle facilities.
NIKIET expects to finish the BREST design in 2014, to allow construction over
2016-20. If it is successful as a 300 MWe unit, a 1200 MWe version will follow.
BREST is a lead-cooled design, one of four projects in the RUR 110 billion ($3.6
billion) 2010 federal target program for new-generation nuclear technologies to
2020, designed to bring a new technology platform for the nuclear power industry
based on fast neutron reactors. Rosatom's long-term strategy to 2050 involves
moving to inherently-safe nuclear plants using fast reactors with a closed fuel
cycle and MOX fuel.
WNN 4/10/12. Russia NP
New Russian reactor starts commercial
operation
Kalinin 4, a 950 MWe VVER unit,
has been handed over to Rosenergoatom for full commercial operation. It was
grid-connected in December. Final cost was RUR 7 billion ($220 million) under
budget - about 10% of total.
WNN 26/9/12. Russia
NP
Chernobyl shelter
construction starts
Construction of
Chernobyl’s New Safe Confinement structure has commenced and is due to be
completed in 2016. The 20,000 tonne arch 108 metres high, 150 metres long and
spanning 257 metres is being built adjacent to the destroyed unit 4 and will be
moved into place on rails. It will cover both the reactor and the hastily-built
structure over it. The arch frame is a lattice construction of tubular steel
members, equipped with internal cranes. The design and construction contract for
this was signed in 2007 with the French Novarka consortium and preparatory work
on site was completed in 2010.
The hermetically sealed building, estimated by the
Ukraine government to cost €935 million, will allow engineers remotely to
dismantle the structure which has shielded the remains of the reactor from the
weather since shortly after the 1986 accident. It will enable the eventual
removal of materials containing nuclear fuel and accommodate their
characterisation, compaction and packing for disposal, all with remote handling.
This task represents the most important step in eliminating nuclear hazard at
the site - and the real start of decommissioning.
The Chernobyl Shelter
Fund, set up in 1997, had received €864 million from international donors by
early 2011 towards this project and previous work there. It is managed by the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
WNN 26/4/12. Chernobyl accident
Belarus approves contract for new nuclear
plant
The Belarus government has approved
a draft contract for the country's first nuclear power plant to be supplied by
Russia's AtomStroyExport (ASE). The general contract defines the organization of
construction, commissioning of the two units, and other conditions. Belarus
earlier invited bids from Rosatom’s ASE, Areva and Westinghouse-Toshiba. ASE was
reportedly the only bidder prepared to proceed and provide $10 billion financing
to cover 90% of the overnight cost. The 1200 MWe AES-2006 model VVER pressurized
water reactor design, developed by St Petersburg AtomEnergoProekt, has been
selected for use at the twin-unit plant, to be built at Ostrovetsk in the Grodno
region.
Belarus said
that the cost of building the plant should not exceed the cost of building the
similar Baltic nuclear power plant in Kaliningrad "under comparable conditions."
Site works are under way with first concrete expected at the end of 2013 and
operation of the first unit from 2018. Russia's policy for building nuclear
power plants in such countries is to deliver on a turnkey basis, including
supply of all fuel and repatriation of used fuel for the life of the plant.
Following an Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review mission in June, the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported favourably on Belarus’
progress in establishing legal and regulatory infrastructure.
WNN 11/7/12. Belarus
CENTRAL ASIA
Kazakhstan
Kazakh uranium
production hits new high
In line with
expectations, Kazakhstan's uranium production reached 19,450 tU (22,940 t U3O8)
in 2011, about 35% of world production. Stage 2 of the northern Semizbai mine
(49% CGNPC) was commissioned and the Budenovskoye-2 uranium recovery plant
serving Akbastau and Karatau ISL mines (both 50% Uranium One) reached 3000 tU/yr
capacity.
WNN 3/2/12. Kazakhstan
EAST ASIA
China
Nuclear power reactor construction resumes in China
After an 18-month hiatus to investigate and reconsider safety, construction has started on three new reactors in China. Two are the mainstream CPR-1000 units of 1080 MWe, in each case the fourth unit at a site - Fuqing and Yangjiang - where work has been ongoing on another three reactors since 2008. The third start is a small innovative high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, or actually a pair of them designed to drive a single 210 MWe turbine generator. This is the Shandong Shidaowan HTR-PM project, with fuel as large 'pebbles', based on German technology from the 1980s, but now a world-leading technology. This HTR-PM is a demonstration plant to pave the way for a 3780 MWe power station there comprising 18 such units. The new construction starts bring the total under construction in China to 29 units and 30,000 MWe.
Following the Fukushima accident in March 2011, the State Council suspended approvals for new nuclear power stations and ordered comprehensive safety checks of all nuclear projects, including those under. It also suspended work on four approved units due to start construction in 2011, including the two above. In May 2012 a new safety plan for nuclear power was approved in principle. The State Council considered a report on civil nuclear facilities including changes made since the Fukushima accident, and affirmed that the fundamental principle of China's nuclear safety and radioactive pollution prevention is to put safety and quality first. It is now explicit that Chinese regulations are to fully incorporate the safety standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In an unprecedented move to improve the transparency of nuclear regulation the government then formally solicited public comments on its nuclear safety plan which must ensure that no 'serious incident' (INES Level 3) or greater occurs at any reactor. The plan was approved in October.
WNN 13/12/12. China NP
China grid connection and construction start
In China, the first unit of the Ningde nuclear power station in Fujian province has started supplying power to the grid, 58 months after construction start. This is a largely-indigenous CPR-1000 unit of 1037 MWe net. It brings to 16 the number of operating nuclear power reactors in China, with almost 13 GWe net on line. Ningde will eventually have six reactors, four of these in phase 1, costing some $7.2 billion and coming on line to 2015.
Further north in Jiangsu province, construction has started on the third Tianwan unit. This is a Russian AES-91 VVER type, of 1060 MWe gross, very similar to the two operating there since 2006-07. Unit 4 construction will follow in 2013. Atomstroyexport is providing the main nuclear reactor components comprising 30% of the $3.8 billion project, Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation is responsible for the balance including civil work, turbine island with equipment, and related infrastructure on the site. It has contracted much of this to China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Group (CNEC) companies. The turbine generator sets will probably be sourced from Dongfang Electric, using Alstom Arabelle low-speed technology.
WNN 29/12/12. China NP
China flags
return to new nuclear plant approvals
China’s premier has outlined a modified approach to
nuclear power construction at a State Council meeting. In March 2011 new
approvals and licensing were halted, though construction of 25 reactors
continued, and two of these are now on line. It seems that the pace of approvals
will be reduced, that only plants at coastal sites will be approved up to 2015,
and that new reactors will have to comply with new-generation safety standards.
A recent report from the Ministry of Environment suggested that China will need
to spend RMB 80 billion ($13 billion) on improving nuclear safety at 41
operating and under-construction reactors over the next three years. Details are
expected following the 18th National Congress.
Reuters 16/10/12, WNN 24/10/12. China NP
China approves
revised safety goals
China’s State Council
has approved in principle a new safety plan for nuclear power. This will clear
the way for resumption of approvals for new power plant construction, suspended
in March 2011 until there was assurance that existing plants were adequately
designed, sited, protected and managed. The 14-month safety assessment process
encompassed research reactors and fuel cycle facilities as well as nuclear power
plants. The main issues remaining are for some nuclear power plants to meet new
standards on flood protection and for some research reactors to meet new
earthquake requirements. Over this period work on most of the reactors under
construction has continued, and two of those have been connected to the grid,
leaving 26 currently ‘under construction’.
The State Council on 31 May considered a report on
civil nuclear facilities including changes made since the Fukushima accident,
and affirmed that the fundamental principle of China’s nuclear safety and
radioactive pollution prevention is to put safety and quality first. It said
that it is now satisfied that 'safety from external risks such as floods and
earthquakes has been fully demonstrated' while on other issues 'the relevant
departments and enterprises quickly organized rectification and have achieved
initial results.' It is now explicit that Chinese regulations are to fully
incorporate the safety standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA).
WNN 1/6/12. China NP
China invites
public comment on nuclear safety plan
The
Chinese government is formally soliciting public comments on its nuclear safety plan, which was approved in
principle by the State Council at the end of May. The government is testing
public sentiment on nuclear power by releasing the safety plan for public
comments, before moving to lift the March 2011 moratorium on approving new
nuclear projects. The plan involves expenditure of CNY 79.8 billion ($12.6
billion) by 2015 across all of the country’s facilities, and must ensure that no
‘serious incident’ (INES Level 3) or greater occurs at any reactor. Feedback to
the Ministry of Environmental Protection is due by the end of June.
Meanwhile the National
Energy Administration has announced that it has ordered three nuclear power
plants to tighten up emergency planning procedures – Qinshan, Ling Ao and
Tianwan.
WNN 1/6/12, China Daily 20/6/12. China
NP
China launches
safety projects
A series of research and
development (R&D) projects has been launched by China's National Energy
Administration (NEA) to improve safety-related technology and the country’s
emergency response capabilities at indigenous nuclear power plants in the event
of an extreme disaster beyond design basis. The 13 R&D projects are to be
conducted by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), China Guangdong Nuclear
Power Corporation (CGNPC) and the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology
(INET) at Tsinghua University. They will include the development of passive
emergency power supply and cooling water systems, development of passive
containment heat removal systems, developing hydrogen control devices, measures
for the prevention and mitigation of used fuel accidents, and analysing the
impact of multiple simultaneous external events and response measures. Other
projects will study the monitoring and treatment of contaminated ground and
water. All are expected to be completed in 2013. Referring particularly to the
CPR-1000 reactors being widely built in China, the NEA said that "Implementing
the measures will comprehensively enhance safety of Generation II+ nuclear power
technology in our country, and significantly reduce the core damage frequency
and large early release frequency" to "internationally recognized levels"
required for Generation III reactors.
WNN 21/2/12.
China NP
New Chinese
reactor enters commercial operation
Unit 4
of the second phase of Qinshan nuclear power plant has started commercial
operation, two months ahead of schedule. The 650 MWe CNP-600 unit is China’s
15th operational nuclear power reactor and was connected to the grid in
November. Seven reactors are now operating at Qinshan in Zhejiang province 100
km south of Shanghai, and two more are under construction at Fangjiashan nearby.
Also in the province, two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors are well advanced on a
similar construction schedule at Sanmen.
WNN
10/4/12. China NP
Major Chinese
nuclear power company to list with IPO
China National Nuclear Power Co Ltd is planning an
initial public offering (IPO) on the Shanghai stock exchange to provide funds
for building new nuclear power plants. The company is the major subsidiary of
China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), and runs nine reactors with total
6,049 MWe net and is building ten more. It is seeking CNY 174 billion ($27.4
billion) for construction of five further nuclear power projects in the Jiangsu,
Zhejiang, Fujian and Hainan provinces. Approval from the Ministry of
Environmental Protection (MEP) has been obtained.
WNN 7/6/12. China NP
China gains confidence in uranium resources
China now claims to be "a uranium-rich country" on the basis of some two million tonnes of uranium being inferred or possible, though published known uranium resources two years ago were less than one tenth of this. New discoveries in the north and northwest in sandstones, and deep hydrothermal ones in southeast China, have changed the picture, according to the President of CNNC's Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology at the WNA China International Nuclear Symposium this week. In northern China, the exploration is focused on mineralisation spanning the sedimentary basins of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, ranging eastwards to those of Inner Mongolia. This has now become the prime uranium region of China. Significant deposits have been discovered in the Yili basin of Xinjiang, and in the Ordos, Erlian and Songliao basins of Inner Mongolia.
China fuel cycle
Huge boost for
China power transmission
China’s State
Grid Corporation (SGCC) has started construction of what it says is the largest
capacity power line in the world, a 2200-km 800 kV DC link to Zhengzhou capable
of carrying about 8 GWe and costing $3.7 billion. It is also spending CNY 300
billion ($47 billion) this year on other ultra high voltage (UHV) lines across
the country - four AC and three DC - to link the energy sources in China’s west
to the central and eastern regions. By 2015 SGCC is investing CNY 500 billion
($75.5 billion) to extend the UHV grid to 40,000 km. By 2020, the capacity of
China’s UHV network is expected to be some 300-400 GWe, which will function as
the backbone of the whole system.
RTT News 14/5/12.
China NP
Japan
Japanese election improves nuclear prospects
After a decisive victory in Japan's elections, with 294 out of 480 seats, the Liberal Democratic Party is likely to take a more positive view of restarting idled nuclear power plants than its predecessor (which won only 57 seats, down from 267, and had toyed with a nuclear phase-out policy). At present 48 of the country's operable nuclear power reactors are offline, resulting in electricity shortages and massive LNG and other fossil fuel import costs. All the nuclear plants have been subject to detailed safety appraisal following the Fukushima accident, but restarts are subject to permission from the new regulatory authority, which needs to establish its public credibility.
WNN 17/12/12. Japan
Japan modifies
populist energy plan as new regulator starts
Four days after announcing a nuclear phase-out by
2040, the cabinet backed away from its earlier support for a policy document
from the Energy & Environment Council and the prime minister explained that
flexibility was important in considering energy policy. The timeline was
dropped. Reprocessing used nuclear fuel will continue and there is no impediment
to continuing construction of two nuclear plants – Shimane 3 and Ohma 1. A new
basic energy plan will be decided after further deliberation and consultation,
especially with municipalities hosting nuclear plants.
The new Nuclear
Regulatory Authority (NRA) has now taken over the role of the Nuclear &
Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), with greater independence and modelled on the
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It is under the Environment Ministry rather
than the Ministry of Economy Trade & Industry. The new Nuclear Safety
Investigation Committee (NSIC) which will review the effectiveness of the NRA
and be responsible for the investigation of nuclear accidents is also under the
Environment Ministry. The first task of the NRA is decide on reactor
restarts.
WNN 19/9/12, JAIF 24/9/12. Japan
Japan announces
populist energy plan
Bowing to public
nervousness, the Japanese government has announced an “Innovative Energy and
Environment Strategy”, effectively a non-binding policy goal ahead of elections
later this year. This aims for zero nuclear contribution to electricity by 2040,
without any analysis of how this might be achieved. In the short term, reactors
currently operable but shut down would be allowed to restart once they gain
permission from the incoming Nuclear Regulatory Authority, due to be launched on
19 September, but a 40-year operating limit would be imposed. A “green energy
policy framework” is promised by the end of the year, focused on burning
imported gas (LNG) and coal, along with expanded use of intermittent renewables.
In the past year Japan has been securing increased supplies of LNG, and
increased fossil fuel imports were a major contributor to Japan’s record trade
deficit of JPY 2.5 trillion ($31.78 billion) in the first half of this year. If
implemented, the new strategy would largely wipe out Japan’s progress in meeting
carbon emission reduction targets. However along with related policy questions
around Japan’s nuclear fuel cycle, there is much scope for reconsidering what
happens in almost three decades.
Japanese industry has pointed out that reducing
reliance on nuclear power is unrealistic. "There is no way we can accept this -
I cannot think this is technologically possible," chairman of the Keidanren, or
Japan Business Federation, said of the new policy. The Japan Electrical
Manufacturers' Association (JEMA) earlier said that it is essential to maintain
an energy mix with a nuclear percentage of at least 20% to 25%. The Federation
of Electric Power Companies (FEPC) said "it is important to continue the use of
nuclear energy at a certain rate together with the nuclear fuel cycle, looking
simultaneously at the issue of co-prosperity with siting areas." It asserted the
need to rely on nuclear power for at least 20% to 25% of the country's total
energy production, and that "each of the (low-nuclear) options poses quite
serious issues as far as the burden on the Japanese public, the impact on the
economy and practicability are concerned."
Leading UK environmentalist and author Mark Lynas said
that the Japanese policy was "nothing short of insane." He complained that
"politicians around the world - under pressure from populations subjected to
decades of anti-nuclear fearmongering by people who call themselves greens - are
raising the risks of catastrophic climate change in order to eliminate the
safest power source ever invented."
WNN 14/9/12,
France24 14/9/12, Reuters 8/8/12, JAIF 27/8/12. Japan
Japan reviews
both energy and nuclear fuel cycle options
The Japanese government is in the process of reviewing
its Basic Energy Policy, which may recommend that nuclear power's contribution
to electricity be targeted at anything from zero to 36% for the medium term.
In addition, and within
this, it has now announced a full review of nuclear fuel cycle back-end options,
considering both economic and other criteria. The review committee will start by
considering technical options: one scenario involves direct disposal of used
reactor fuel, two scenarios involve this being reprocessed and with fuel
materials recycled as mixed-oxide fuel. Two more scenarios look at the use of
fast reactors and fast breeder reactors. A review of policy options is then to
follow which will look at direct disposal of the used fuel, reprocessing of the
country's entire stock, and a combination of the two. The last step will be to
combine the two reviews, at the same time adding a time axis of mid-to-long term
scenarios. This will quantify the amount of plutonium and used fuel generated by
each option as well as looking at broader impacts such as energy security, the
international perspective, and the impacts of the changes resulting from each of
the potential policies.
In 2002, a new Energy Policy Law set out the basic
principles of energy security and stable supply, giving greater authority to the
government in establishing the energy infrastructure for economic growth. It
also promoted greater efficiency in consumption, a further move away from
dependence on fossil fuels, and market liberalisation. Then in 2004 the Atomic
Energy Commission endorsed proceeding with the final commissioning and
commercial operation of JNFL's 800 t/yr Rokkasho-mura reprocessing plant,
costing some JPY 2.4 trillion (US$ 20 billion). The Commission rejected the
alternative of moving to direct disposal of spent fuel, as in the USA. This was
then seen as a major confirmation of the joint industry-government formulation
of nuclear policy for the next several decades, but is now questioned.
Meanwhile a subcommittee
of the Atomic Energy Commission has updated cost estimates for different used
fuel options considering both 20% and 35% nuclear contributions to electricity
in 2030. In each case reprocessing and recycle of used fuel is economically much
better than direct disposal.
WNN 18/4/12. Japan
Japanese
shareholders stand firm on nuclear role
Annual general meetings of nine Japanese utilities
with nuclear interests have all rejected proposals for cutting back on nuclear
power generation. At Tepco’s AGM, shareholders voted to sell the Japanese
government 50.11% of Tepco's voting shares and an additional 25.73% with no
voting rights, for JPY 1 trillion (about $12.5 billion), paid through the
Nuclear Damage Compensation Fund. Tepco's losses have been put at ¥781.6 billion
($9.8 billion) for financial year 2012. About half of this stems from the cost
of compensation and clean-up, the other half is from the higher cost of
generation in Japan's precarious power market. Assuming that substantial
electricity price hikes and reactor restarts are approved, Tepco anticipates
returning to profitability in financial year 2013-14. The first of the reactors
which have been shut down – Kansai’s Ohi 3 - is due back on line on Sunday.
Asahi Shimbun 27/4/12. Japan
Japan commissions
new enrichment technology
After 15 months
re-equipping the plant, Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd (JNFL) has returned its Rokkasho
enrichment plant to service, using new Shingata design centrifuges. The plant
began operation in 1992 using older technology, and has restarted with 37,500
SWU/yr. A further 37,500/yr SWU is due on line at the end of 2012, and its
design capacity of 1.5 million SWU/yr is expected to be reached about 2022. JNFL
is owned by the power utilities.
JAIF 26/3/12.
Japan
Japan restarts
first of shut-down reactors
Japan's Kansai
Electric Power has restarted the Unit 3 reactor at its Ohi nuclear plant, and it
is now at full power. This is the first to restart since all of Japan's reactors
progressively came offline for refueling and safety checks. Ohi unit 4 is
expected back on line later in the month.
WNN 2
& 5/7/12. Japan
Japan restarts
second idled reactor
Japan's Kansai
Electric Power has restarted the Unit 4 reactor at its Ohi nuclear plant, the
second to come back on line following the progressive shutdowns. Recent major
public demonstrations against nuclear power however may slow down government
approvals for further restarts.
Japan
Japan parliamentary commission reports on
Fukushima
The faults of every player in
last year's Fukushima crisis have been laid out by a parliamentary commission.
No organisation was singled out as responsible - but rather Japanese culture
itself. The report comes from Japanese Diet's Fukushima Nuclear Accident
Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC), one of three bodies investigating
the circumstances of the accident. The 88-page executive summary elaborated in
detail the organisational, cultural and technical failings that allowed the
accident to occur as a result of the large tsunami, as well as the issues that
stymied the country's response.
The NAIIC Chairman wrote: "What must be admitted –
very painfully – is that this was a disaster 'Made in Japan.' Its fundamental
causes are to be found in the ingrained conventions of Japanese culture: our
reflexive obedience; our reluctance to question authority; our devotion to
'sticking with the program'; our groupism; and our insularity.” The mindset of
government and industry led the country to avoid learning the lessons of the
previous major nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. "The
consequences of negligence at Fukushima stand out as catastrophic, but the
mindset that supported it can be found across Japan. In recognizing that fact,
each of us (every Japanese citizen) should reflect on our responsibility as
individuals in a democratic society."
Tepco had been aware since 2006 that Fukushuima
Daiichi could face a station blackout if flooded, as well as the potential loss
of ultimate heat sink in the event of a major tsunami. However, the regulator,
NISA, gave no instruction to the company to prepare for severe flooding, and
even told all nuclear operators that it was not necessary to plan for station
blackout. During the initial response to the tsunami, this lack of readiness for
station blackout was compounded by a lack of planning and training for severe
accident mitigation. Plans and procedures for venting and manual operation of
emergency cooling were incomplete and their implementation in emergency
circumstances proved very difficult as a result. NISA was also criticised for
its "negligence and failure over the years" to prepare for a nuclear accident in
terms of public information and evacuation, with previous governments equally
culpable. Then Tepco’s difficulty in mitigation was compounded by government
interference which undermined NISA.
WNN 5/7/12.
Fukushima accident
Approval to
restart first Japanese reactors
Following
much deliberation and consultation, especially with local government, the
Japanese prime minister has approved the restart of the first two of 50
shut-down nuclear power reactors. Kansai Electric Power is making preparations
to restart the 1180 MWe Ohi-3 and 4 units early in July. The prime minister
pointed out that the decision was to protect the livelihood of the Japanese
people. The country faces a 12% shortage of electricity this summer while
additional fossil fuel imports are costing it about $40 billion, or $333 per
person, per year.
WNN 18/6/12. Japan
After a series of high-level meetings, the Japanese
government has approved the restart of Kansai Electric’s Ohi 3 & 4 reactors,
and will urge the Fukui governor and the Ohi mayor to endorse this decision.
Without the twin 1180 MWe units, significant electricity shortages are likely in
summer peak periods. Only one Japanese reactor is now operating and that will
shut down for a scheduled outage in three weeks. Many utilities are relying on
reserve fossil-fuel fired plants to keep the lights on, at considerable cost.
Platts 13/4/12. Japan
Fukushima
evacuation zone restrictions relaxed
Restrictions on several areas within the 20 km radius
evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and its
northwesterly extension have been relaxed. These show dose rates caused by
ambient radioactivity to be below 20 mSv/yr with continuous occupation - the
government's benchmark for return. In these areas residents may now return to
homes and businesses without the use of protective gear. This means that major
repairs can be made to homes damaged by the earthquake of 11 March 2011, and
businesses that do not draw custom from local people may now go back to work.
Farming is allowed again in line with general restrictions on the wider area. In
parallel, authorities will be working to restore infrastructure needed for
normal life to resume. The only restriction is that people are not yet allowed
to stay overnight. Areas with ambient levels between 20 and 50 mSv/yr northwest
of the plant are still designated ‘restricted’, and residents can enter only
briefly to conduct specific jobs without being monitored or using protective
equipment. Japan's Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI) said that local
governments have been strongly demanding early returns, to begin the restoration
of the infrastructure that will support the return to normality.
WNN 2/4/12. Fukushima accident
Further parts of
Fukushima evacuation area opened up
The
earlier revised zoning of evacuated areas has been extended to Iitate Village, a
large area 28-45 km northwest of the Daiichi plant and contiguous with the
northern part of Minami Soma city which was subject to re-categorisation in
April. Most of Iitate’s residents can now return without protective equipment
but not stay overnight, since annual exposure on a continuous basis would be no
more than 50 mSv. However, one area (about 10 sq km) remains fully evacuated, as
does two thirds of the area within the 20-km radius of the Fukushima Daiichi
plant. Such areas add to those devastated by the tsunami, where rebuilding is
very uncertain.
WNN 17/7/12. Fukushima accident
UN reports on
Fukushima radiation doses and effects
The
UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) has
reported that despite skin contamination of several workers, no
clinically-observable effects have been reported and there is no evidence of
acute radiation injury in any of the 20,115 workers who participated in Tepco’s
efforts to mitigate the accident at the plant. Eighteen UNSCEAR member states
provided 72 experts for the assessment. UNSCEAR is also surveying Fukushima
prefecture and will compare its data with Japanese measurements of exposures of
some 2 million people living there at the time of the accident. A final report
of radiation effects will be presented to the UN late in 2013.
A preliminary report
from the World Health Organisation (WHO) has made an estimate of the radiation
doses that residents of Japan outside the evacuated areas have received in the
year following the accident. The report's headline conclusion is that most
people in Fukushima prefecture would have received a radiation dose of between 1
and 10 mSv during the first year. This compares with levels of about 2.4 mSv
they would have received from unavoidable natural sources, and the regulatory
limit of 1 mSv from nuclear plants in normal operation. In two places the doses
were higher - between 10 and 50 mSv, still below any harmful level. Almost all
were “below the internationally-agreed reference level for the public exposure
due to radon in dwellings” (about 10 mSv/yr).
UNIS
23/5/12, WNN 24/5/12. Fukushima accident
Fukushima health
effects reviewed
Japan's Reconstruction
Agency has reviewed the human toll of the evacuation caused by the Fukushima
nuclear accident in March last year. The stresses of personal involvement in the
evacuation, management and clean-up have emerged as the biggest factors in ill
health for the people affected. The mental or physical burden of the forced move
from their homes was the cause of 34 early deaths, almost all elderly. This
figure compares with 1916 people from Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures
that died during evacuation from areas hit only by the tsunami and the
earthquake. (The figure is additional to the 19,000 that died in the actual
tsunami.) The leading causes of most of those early deaths were disruption to
the smooth operation of hospitals, the exacerbation of pre-existing health
problems, and the general 'mental fatigue' from dramatic changes in life
situation.
The
Reconstruction Agency report also considered workers at Fukushima power plant.
Of almost 1500 surveyed, many were stressed, due to evacuating their homes
(70%), believing they had come close to death (53%), the loss of homes in the
tsunami (32%), deaths of colleagues (20%) and of family members (6%) mostly in
the tsunami. The death toll directly due to the nuclear accident or radiation
exposure remains zero, but stress and disruption due to the continuing
evacuation remains high.
WNN 28/8/12. Fukushima
accident
Tepco posts big
losses
Tepco's losses have been put at
¥781.6 billion ($9.8 billion) for the financial year to the end of March 2012.
About half of this stems from the cost of compensation and cleanup, the other
half is from the higher cost of generation in Japan's precarious power market.
Decreased electricity sales due to stringent conservation measures and reduced
industrial production were compounded by much increased production costs from
imported fossil fuels, not nearly offset by higher electricity prices – the
first sought by Tepco in 32 years. Tepco supplies around one-third of Japan's
electricity, and prior to March 2011 nuclear accounted for nearly 27% of the
company's installed capacity, and a higher proportion of sales. Its new
chairman-designate has pointed out that despite the government bailout of ¥1
trillion, without restarting its nuclear plants it will not recover
economically.
Japan’s
National Federation of Small Business Associations has asked the government to
restart the nation's nuclear reactors to stabilize the power supply. It said
that any large increase in electricity rates such as would be required without
nuclear would devastate small businesses. A survey by The Yomiuri Shimbun says
six of 34 heads of local government prefectures and municipalities that host
Japanese nuclear energy facilities favor restarting the reactors, while five say
they are against bringing them back online. The other 23 say they will base
their decision on local leaders’ and residents’ approval of the restart of
Kansai Electric’s Ohi plant. Ohi local government leaders have approved the
restart, but a local mayor has yet to agree. The central government has already
approved the restart.
WNN 14/5/12, NEI 14/5/2.
Japan
Official report
on Fukushima identifies failures
Both
government and Tepco came in for serious criticism in the 507-page interim
report from the investigation committee on the crises at the Fukushima Daiichi
and Daiini nuclear power plants after the 11 March earthquake and tsunami. A
provisional English translation of the executive summary explained how
government agencies were meant to have interacted and cases in which this broke
down. It also explained some operational mistakes made by Tokyo Electric Power
Company (Tepco) during the accident sequence.
Japanese law requires the quick establishment of a
local nuclear emergency headquarters in the vicinity of the affected site. For
Fukushima this meant the assembly of key staff at a facility about five
kilometres away, but two factors prevented this from working properly: One was
the devastation of the natural disasters that took out communications links
while also preventing timely travel and the provision of food and water. The
other was the lack of radioactivity filters at the building, which actually made
it useless for a serious emergency of the kind that developed at Fukushima
Daiichi. The report noted gravely that the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency
(NISA) had been told in February 2009 to install proper filters at the facility
but "did not take concrete steps" to do so.
Another mismatch between the management of nuclear
emergencies and natural disasters emerged at the prime minister's office, where
the main emergency headquarters were situated. There was insufficient
communication between the nuclear and the natural disaster sides, and also NISA
and the Ministry of Economics Trade and Industry (METI) did not set up adequate
information flow from Tepco. Government communications to the public were
accordingly delayed and ambiguous.
Tepco was criticised for two potential operating
mistakes during the accident sequence. The first was misjudgement of the status
of the unit 1 emergency cooling, which operators thought was working normally,
but was not. By the time this was noticed and acted upon, major damage had
occurred. At unit 3 a wrong decision by shift operators without advice from
managers left it without cooling for over six critical hours. More broadly,
Tepco had inadequate measures to cope with station blackouts, and had no plans
for the seawater injection technique on which it came to rely.
An overall failing of
Tepco, NISA, METI and its predecessors was to fail to plan for very large
tsunamis. The site was licensed in the 1960s and 1970s on the basis of a 3.1
metre tsunami height, and although later studies indicated that 15-metre tsunami
inundation was possible, no concrete steps were taken by any of the bodies to do
anything about it.
Japan had established the System for Prediction of
Environmental Emergency Dose Information (SPEEDI) for exactly the kind of
nuclear emergency presented by the Fukushima accident. Although the earthquake
disrupted SPEEDI's operation so that it could not give full results on radiation
doses at various places near the accident site, it was still accurately
predicting the path of the radioactivity. However, this excellent data was not
communicated, and hence not used in planning evacuations.
WNN 30/12/11 Fukushima accident
US Nuclear
Regulatory Commission transcripts released
Some 3000 pages of transcripts of communications
within the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission following the Fukushima accident
have been released. They show that while the NRC correctly predicted fuel
melting, it mistook the first hydrogen explosion for a containment rupture, and
overestimated the seriousness of the problems arising in the fuel ponds. The NRC
was clearly very frustrated by a lack of reliable information in the first few
days.
Fukushima
Last Japanese
reactor shut down, restarts are pending local government approval
Hokkaido Electric Power Co.’s Tomari 3, Japan’s last
operating nuclear power reactor, has shut down for routine inspections, marking
the first time in 42 years that Japan has not had a reactor generating
electricity. Japan has 50 operable commercial units, all now idle. While the
government has cleared some reactors for restarting, local governments continue
to exercise a veto on this.
WNN 4/5/12. Japan
Japan local
government open to reactor restarts
A survey by Mainichi
Shimbun, a respected Japanese news bureau, has found that most leaders of
local governments close to the country's nuclear power plants are in favour of
restarting them if certain basic conditions are met. The February survey asked
the governors of 20 prefectures and the mayors of 122 municipalities located
within a 30 km radius of a nuclear power plant whether they approve or
disapprove of the restart of the suspended reactors. A total of 137 local
governments responded, and 57% conditionally approved restart, while only 17%
opposed.
The
conditions included: "an indication of safety measures and conditions of plants'
restart by the government" (80%), "completion of stress tests" (62%), "approval
by the local assembly," (46%), and "a clear explanation of the cause of the
Fukushima Daiichi disaster" (44%). Reasons behind municipalities' approval of
the restart varied from "to stabilize Japan's energy supply" (77%), to "because
plants' safety will be secured through stress tests and other means," (53%).
Apart from their answers to the multiple-choice questions in the survey, a total
of 21% of all municipalities submitted additional comments on the topic, with
most of them being critical of the central government. Among the 54 operational
reactors in Japan, only two are now running, with most of the rest having been
shut down for routine checks and maintenance but not yet allowed to restart.
Mainichi Daily News 1/3/12. Japan
Japanese reactors
await approval to restart
While reviews of initial stress test results for
Japanese reactors are progressing, it could still be some time before the first
restart approval comes. The shutdown of unit 2 of the Ikata nuclear power plant
for a mandatory periodic inspection means that only five of the country's 54
operational power reactors are now in fact operating. Another will shut down for
inspection on 27 January. The others are mostly awaiting federal and local
government approval to restart - 32 units are not operating as they have been
shut for periodic inspection and have not yet been allowed to restart. A further
17 units, representing 15,990 MWe of capacity, have been shut down due to the
tsunami or at the government's request. (Four units were written off due to the
accident at Fukushima.) Continued delay in restarting is expected to boost gas
prices significantly.
Following the
accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March 2011, the Japanese government
said that all reactors would be subjected to stress tests to be conducted in two
phases before approval for restart could be given. Step one is being applied to
those reactors which have been taken offline for periodic inspections to
determine whether they could withstand large earthquakes and tsunamis. Under
this step, utilities are required to examine the safety margin in accordance
with guidelines set by the country's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA)
and Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC). This week Tepco submitted to NISA its first
stress test results on two nuclear reactors, showing that Kashiwazaki-Kariwa
units 1 and 7 would withstand an earthquake 1.3 times stronger than its design
basis and survive a 15-metre tsunami. So far, seven Japanese nuclear utilities
have submitted stress test results for 14 reactors, nearly one-third of the
total number awaiting restart permission from NISA and local authorities.
Based on the results of
these initial tests, the government is to decide whether a reactor shut for
inspections can or cannot resume operation. Step two of the tests will involve a
comprehensive safety assessment of all reactors and will be conducted to enhance
the reliability of regular safety checks. These tests will be similar to the
stress tests co-ordinated by the European Commission. Next week an IAEA team is
to visit Japan to asses the stress tests and their evaluation by NISA.
WNN 16/1/12, Nucleonics Week19/1/12. Japan
Tepco gets
further cash injection for Fukushima
The
Japanese government has approved amendments to Tokyo Electric Power Company's
(Tepco's) ten-year special business plan which effectively puts it, at least
temporarily, under state control. The government will provide Tepco with ¥1
trillion ($12.5 billion) in state funds in return for a majority stake in the
company which will enable it to push through reforms of it. The transaction will
bring the total amount of public funds provided to Tepco to some ¥3.5 trillion
($43.8 billion), subject to approval by Tepco’s shareholders, who have little
alternative. Tepco is struggling to meet massive compensation and clean-up costs
following the tsunami-caused Fukushima accident last year. Under the special
business plan - submitted by Tepco and the Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation
Fund in April - the company will receive the additional funds from major
creditors, as well as aid of ¥850 billion ($10.6 billion) from a
government-backed body for use in compensation payouts. As part of this, Tepco
will be required to increase its electricity prices by 10 to 17%, make
management changes, sell some of its assets, and undertake cost-cutting measures
of ¥3.3 trillion ($48.1 billion) over the next ten years. The company is relying
on restarting its large Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear plant to maintain some cash
flow.
WNN 10/5/12. Fukushima accident
Japan trade figures show up nuclear loss
Huge energy imports last year caused Japan to record a
rare trade deficit. Manufacturing was hit by the tsunami, but the use of fossil
fuels to replace shut-down nuclear plants as nuclear share dropped from 30% to
5% of electricity generation was a bigger factor. Even with constraints on
electricity use, fossil fuel imports rose 25%. In total, during 2011 Japan spent
¥21.7 trillion ($277 billion) on fossil fuel imports, the increase of ¥4.3
trillion ($55 billion) evidently being a major factor in the country's overall
trade deficit of ¥2.5 trillion ($32 billion), the first posted by Japan since
1980. Among power generation fuels, it was liquified natural gas (LNG) from the
Middle East and SE Asia that contributed the main increase to imports.
Figures reported by
seven of Japan's utilities, excluding Tepco, show a total financial loss of ¥464
billion ($6 billion) in the nine months to end of December due to the increased
cost of fossil fuels to replace idled nuclear generation. The largest losses are
Tohoku (¥168 billion) and Kansai (¥118 billion).
WNN 25/1/12, Bloomberg 31/1/12. Japan
South Korea
Two new South
Korean reactors on line
Shin Kori 2 and
Shin Wolsong 1 nuclear reactors have been connected to the South Korean grid.
The OP-1000 units started construction in June and December 2007 respectively,
and are both due to enter commercial operation in June. They bring the number of
operating reactors in South Korea to 23. One further OPR-1000 reactor is under
construction and likely to start up later in the year, following that will be
eight APR-1400 reactors - the same type as the four sold to UAE.
WNN 23/2/12. South Korea
New Korean
reactor enters commercial operation
Shin
Kori 2, which was grid connected in January, has now entered commercial
operation. Shin Wolsong 1 is also expected in commercial operation this month,
and unit 2 is about six months behind. All these are OPR-1000 units, the last to
be built. New construction is of APR-1400 types, both in South Korea and UAE.
WNN 20/7/12. South Korea
Construction
start on new Korean reactor
First
structural concrete has been poured for Shin Ulchin 1, the third AP-1400 reactor
under construction in South Korea. Its completion is expected in April 2017.
Unit 2 is a year behind it. The two units will be the first that are virtually
free of Westinghouse IP content and are expected to cost US$ 4.7 billion each.
Another AP-1400 is under construction in UAE. Also, Shin Wolsong 1 has commenced
commercial operation, closely following Shin Kori 2 last week.
WNN 31/7/12. South Korea
South Korea considers stake in US enrichment
plant
Urenco, which operates the newest US
uranium enrichment capacity, is reported to have approached Korea Electric Power
Corporation (Kepco) to invest in phase 2 of its New Mexico centrifuge plant,
according to Korea’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE). Full phase 1 capacity
is operating, and plans are to build to 5.7 million SWU/year by 2017. Kepco
currently buys 2.9 million SWU/yr of enrichment services from several
international sources. A Kepco share of the plant would have strategic
significance for South Korea as it negotiates renewal of its 1970s nuclear
agreement with USA, which expires in 2014. At present, due to sensitivity
regarding North Korea, it is prevented by obligations to the USA from enriching
uranium and reprocessing used fuel. It is very keen to achieve relief on both
fronts, and following the sale of four of its new-generation reactors to UAE
against international competition it described the US constraints as
“excessive”.
South Korean
safety culture tarnished
The manager of
the Kori 1 nuclear power reactor in South Korea has been sacked for covering up
a safety-related incident at the plant in February. The incident came about
during Kori 1's month-long maintenance outage, when it was in cold shutdown and
power was interrupted for 12 minutes due to a worker's mistake. The Nuclear
Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) was highly critical of the incident, most
of all due to the decision by the manager to cover up the incident rather than
reporting it. The plant owner, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), now faces
prosecution. Kori 1 is a 34-year old PWR licensed to 2017.
WNN 22/3/12. S.Korea
South Korea checks uncertified reactor parts
South Korean regulators are investigating how parts were apparently supplied to a number of the country's nuclear power plants using forged quality control certificates. Though the components concerned have no direct safety significance, two reactors have been shut down while such parts are replaced.
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy announced that state-owned utility Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP), which owns and operates all 23 of Korea's nuclear power reactors, had allegedly been supplied with falsely-certified parts for at least five of them. These come from seven domestic companies and one US company and involve some 60 forged quality control certificates covering 7682 components delivered between 2003 and 2012. The majority of the parts were installed at Yonggwang units 5 and 6, while the rest were used at Yonggwang units 3 and 4 and Ulchin unit 3. Yonggwang 5 and 6 have now been taken offline and will remain so until the parts have been replaced, by the end of this year. Parts at the other three units will be replaced without taking the reactors offline.
The apparently forged certificates come from one particular overseas quality accreditation body. KHNP uses a total of twelve accreditation organizations worldwide. Some 230 types of components - including fuses, cooling fans and power switches - were supplied to KHNP over the ten-year period. All are "non-critical" to the safe operation of the reactors, but reflect a failure of quality assurance auditing. The ministry said that 95% of the components - which have a total value of about 820 million won ($782,500) - were manufactured in Europe and the USA.
WNN 7/11/12. South Korea
South Asia
India
New Indian
uranium mine opened
India’s first uranium
mine outside Jharkhand state, Tummalapalle in Andhra Pradesh, has been opened.
It will produce 220 tU/yr from underground mining, with alkaline leach.
NPCIL 20/4/12. India
Russia agrees to
finance new Indian plant
Russia has signed
an agreement to provide $3.5 billion in export financing for units 3 & 4 of
Kudankulam nuclear power plant, to cover 85% of their cost. A further credit
line of $800 million is available to cover fuel supplies. The credit lines carry
interest at 4% pa and would be repayable over 14 years and 4 years respectively.
The Indian government said it expected to take up the credit offers to the value
of $3.06 billion, about 53% of the $5.78 billion estimated total project cost.
This is in line with the financing of the first two Kudankulam units which are
now more or less complete after numerous delays, and the first is expected to
start up within a few weeks. Russia is supplying all the enriched fuel through
the life of the plant, though India will reprocess it and keep the plutonium. A
total of eight Russian AES-92 units with VVER-1000 reactors is planned for the
site.
WNN 18/7/12. India
India joins
international reactor design group
India’s
Atomic Energy Regulatory Board has joined the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency’s
Multinational Design Evaluation Program (MDEP) as its eleventh member, and first
new member since the program’s inception. MDEP was launched in 2006 by the USA
and France with the aim of coordinating national nuclear regulatory reviews of
new power reactor designs. The MDEP pools the resources of the 11 nuclear
regulatory authorities to co-operate on safety reviews of designs of nuclear
reactors that are under construction and undergoing licensing in several
countries. It is also exploring opportunities and potential for harmonisation of
regulatory requirements and practices.
WNN 5/4/12.
Cooperation in nuclear power
Indian blackouts
affect over 600 million
The northern part
of India suffered two massive grid failures this week leaving first 390 million
people without power, and a day later, over 600 million in 22 states,
highlighting the country’s infrastructure challenges. The Northern grid was the
first affected, then this plus parts of the Eastern and North-eastern grids.
Power to some essential services was restored after a few hours each time, but
others were out for more than a day. All five grids are run by the Power Grid
Corporation, which operates 95,000 km of transmission lines.
WNN 3/8/12. India
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Middle East
UAE starts
construction of new nuclear plant
The
Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) has started full construction of the
first Korean APR-1400 unit of Barakah nuclear power plant 300 km west of Abu
Dhabi. Site works have been underway for more than a year, including excavation
work for the two reactors and installing structural rebar. This week ENEC
received a construction licence for units 1 & 2 following 18 months review
involving more than 60 staff of the Federal Authority of Nuclear Regulation
(FANR) and three international consulting firms, as well as IAEA. Units 3 &
4 will follow. Two APR-1400 units are under construction in South Korea with the
first due to start up next year.
WNN 19/7/12.
UAE
UAE awards fuel
contracts for new nuclear plant
The UAE’s
Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) has awarded six contracts for the
supply and preparation of fuel for its Barakah nuclear power plant under
construction in Abu Dhabi. These relate to the supply of uranium concentrates,
conversion and enrichment services. A spread of suppliers is involved for each
stage. The company estimates the contracts are worth some $3 billion and will
enable the Barakah plant to generate up to 450 billion kilowatt-hours of
electricity over a 15-year period from 2017.
The ENEC contracts involve Canada-based Uranium One,
UK-based Rio Tinto, France's Areva and Russia's Techsnabexport (Tenex) for
supply of uranium concentrates. For conversion services, contracts utilise the
USA's Converdyn, as well as Tenex and Areva. Enrichment will be by Europe-based
Urenco, Areva and Tenex. Areva said that its contract involved supply of
enriched uranium worth some $500 million. ENEC "expects to return to the market
at various times to take advantage of favorable market conditions and to
strengthen its security of supply position." The enriched uranium will be
supplied to Kepco Nuclear Fuels - part of the prime contractor consortium led by
Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) - which will manufacture the fuel
assemblies.
WNN 15/8/12. UAE
International
waste disposal concept expands to Middle East
Over 2006-09 the EC-funded SAPIERR (Strategic Action
Plan for Implementation of European Regional Repositories) project assessed the
feasibility of European regional waste repositories, indicating a recognition in
the EU that implementing 25 national repositories is not optimal economically or
for safety and security. The project was in line with proposals from the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Russia and the USA. The main outcome
of this project was that 14 EU countries resolved to move towards setting up a
European Repository Development Organisation (ERDO), and last year documents
outlining the possible structure, operating methods and financing options for a
formal, multinational, European waste management agency (the ERDO) were
submitted to EU governments.
This triggered interest from other regions, and this
month a meeting took place in Abu Dhabi, hosted by the Federal Authority for
Nuclear Regulation (FANR) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and supported by the
IAEA. Around 35 participants attended, primarily from UAE waste management and
planning organisations, to consider a regional Middle East & North Africa
(MENA) repository plan, in conjunction with the Arab Atomic Energy Agency.
Arius 20/4/12, International nuclear waste
disposal
Australia signs
safeguards agreement with UAE
Australia
and the United Arab Emirates have signed a bilateral safeguards agreement which
supplements and tightens the UAE’s 2003 safeguards agreement with IAEA and 2009
Additional Protocol under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. When ratified it
will enable Australian mining companies to supply uranium to UAE. The
Australia-UAE Agreement on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy is
Australia’s 23rd such bilateral agreement governing uranium supply for peaceful
purposes, and the UAE will be the 40th country covered by them (one is with
Euratom, for EU).
WNN 3/8/12. UAE
UAE passes nuclear civil liability law
Civil liability for damages from any nuclear accident
in the United Arab Emirates will lie solely with the operator of the nuclear
facility concerned, under a new law on nuclear civil liability drafted in line
with international standards. It sets a limit 50% higher than the Vienna
Convention minimum, so that the operator needs to insure to this level – about
$700 million. The UAE’s 5600 MWe Barakah nuclear plant is under construction.
WNN 16/10/12 Liability for nuclear damage
Africa
Chinese takeover
of major Namibian uranium deposit secured
China Guangdong Nuclear Power’s subsidiary Taurus
Minerals Ltd has acquired 98% of the shares in Extract Resources Ltd, owner of
the major Husab project in Namibia. With more than 90%, it will now compulsorily
acquire the balance.
WNN 3/4/12. Namibia
Government buys
share in Namibian uranium development
The
Namibian state-owned mineral exploration company, Epangelo Mining Ltd, has
agreed with Perth-based Bannerman Resources to buy a 5% share of the Etango
project and contribute along with Bannerman to future development costs.
Epangelo also has an option to buy a further 5% based on market value upon
commitment to mine development. Following completion of a definitive feasibility
study, Bannerman, which holds 80% of the Etango project, is seeking a
development partner. Production at 2700 tU/yr is envisaged. Proven and probable
ore reserves are 46,000 tU.
A year ago the government announced that Epangelo
would have a major role in new strategic mineral developments, including
uranium, which caused some concern, though it would not apply to existing
exploration licences. New exploration licences will be granted only to Epangelo,
and others interested will need to negotiate farm-ins with it, to become
joint-venture partners.
WNN 12/4/12. Namibia
Toshiba
underwrites Niger uranium mine development
Toshiba Corporation has completed a convertible
debt-financing agreement with GoviEx Uranium Inc, which is aiming to bring the
Madaouela Uranium Project in northern Niger into production. It will provide
some $40 million to support the company’s operations through to the start of
uranium extraction and processing. Production is expected to begin in 2017 and
Toshiba’s off-take rights to uranium concentrate, for about one quarter of
production, will become effective in 2020, when output is expected to reach its
peak capacity of over 1000 tU/yr. Sales will be handled by a UK-based Toshiba
Group company. The Madaouela deposit is close to the Arlette and Akouta mines in
the Arlit region of the Air Massif, and was discovered by the French CEA in the
early 1960s. The Niger government holds a major share in the project, and in
2008 Cameco bought an 11% share for $28 million. The NI 43-101 compliant
resources of the Project are 20,000 tU indicated resources and 19,600 tU
inferred resources, in sandstone.
WNN 23/4/12.
Niger
Win-win
compromise for Tanzanian uranium mine
The
UNESCO World Heritage Committee has approved a Tanzanian government request to
excise part of the 50,000 square kilometre Selous Game Reserve to allow the
establishment of the Mkuju River uranium mine. Less than 1% of the area is
involved. The project was commenced by Australia's Mantra Resources Ltd, which
was taken over by ARMZ in mid 2011 for $1.16 billion, allowing Uranium One (51%
owned by Russia’s ARMZ) to undertake development of the Mkuju River mine and
other exploration activities. The project involves some 46,000 tonnes of uranium
and a feasibility study is underway. There will be hypothecation of some $5
million per year of mine taxes (ten times the Reserve’s present budget) to
management of the remaining 99.3% of the Game Reserve. (NB: Uranex NL’s Mkuju
Uranium project is separate.)
WNN 5/7/12. Africa
Australia
Ranger prepares
for underground mining
Having enjoyed the
benefits of shallow orebodies since mining began in 1980, Energy Resources of
Australia (ERA) is now preparing to access deeper ore containing 29,000 tU by
underground mining. The Ranger 3 Deeps mineralised zone has a strike length so
far identified of about 1.2 kilometres between 250 and 550 metres from the
surface immediately east of the pit, and remains open to the north. ERA has now
awarded a A$50 million ($52 million) contract for establishing a boxcut and 2.2
km decline tunnel in preparation for its own further drilling program on the
orebody. The decline will reach a depth of 500 metres. Work is due to begin in
May 2012 and the contractor's portion of it is due for completion early in 2014.
ERA has allocated a further A$55 million for evaluation of the likely mine
development. In total the company plans to spend A$120 million on the Deeps
exploration project.
ERA & WNN 30/3/12.
Australian mines
ERA completes open pit mining at Ranger
After more than 30 years, Energy Resources of Australia has finished open pit mining. The first orebody was mined out over 1980-94, then #3 orebody over 1997-2012. The surface stockpile now comprises enough ore to last to 2020 if market conditions are favourable, or at least to 2016 when underground mining is planned to commence. Meanwhile work on the boxcut and decline to access the Ranger Deeps orebody is progressing. The company is spending A$120 million on the Deeps project, leading towards a decision on whether to mine at the end of 2014.
WNN 10/12/12. Australian U mines
BHP-Billiton
pulls back from Olympic Dam commitment
BHP
Billiton has announced that it deferring its commitment to a $28 billion
expansion of its large Olympic Dam copper-uranium mine while it investigates
less-costly alternatives. It will thus not meet a December deadline set by the
government, and without an extension may have to resubmit the whole revised
proposal in due course for government approval. Its 4600-page environmental
impact statement for the project was submitted in 2009, and approval given by
state and federal governments in October 2011. The plan was to develop a large
open pit with associated infrastructure over 11 years and lift copper production
greatly, with uranium production reaching 19,000 tonnes U3O8 per year. The open
pit would mean that up to 98% of the ore is mined rather than 25% of it. Most of
the uranium would be separated at the mine, but up to 2000 t/yr would be
exported in copper concentrates, requiring a smelter for these in China or Japan
which would be subject to safeguards.
WNN 22/8/12.
Australian U
Queensland to
allow uranium mining after 23 years ban
Despite its history of uranium at Mary Kathleen near
Mount Isa 1958-63 and 1975-82, under successive Labor governments uranium mining
has been banned since 1989. The government has now announced that it is open for
business on this front. The major prospect is Valhalla, near Mount Isa, with
21,000 tU measured and indicated resources. Paladin paid more than $1 billion
for a majority share in the project in 2007-08. Westmoreland, on the Northern
Territory border, and Ben Lomond, near Townsville, are other prospective
mines.
WNN 22/10/12 Australia
New uranium mine go-ahead in South
Australia
The Four-Mile uranium mine is to
start up early next year following a unilateral decision by the majority partner
Quasar Resources, which earned a 75% stake in the project by farming in to
Alliance Resources’ two project adjacent to Heathgate’s Beverley mine. Quasar is
a subsidiary of Heathgate. The decision does not affect Federal Court
proceedings by Alliance for misleading and deceptive conduct with Alliance
seeking restitution of its full ownership of the deposit. Quasar proposes
commencing ISL production from the east orebody in Q2 next year, using its
nearby Pannikin satellite plant and trucking the loaded resin to Heathgate’s
main plant about 8 km away for product recovery. The cost estimate is A$ 98
million, and production in the first year about 970 t U3O8.
WNN 25/10/12. Australia’s U deposits
Itochu allies
with Alliance for new uranium mine
Alliance Resources has announced an agreement with
Itochu Corporation to take a 14.9% share in the company and then possibly 25.1%
more. If both options are exercised the company will be able to fund a
stand-alone ISL operation at its Four Mile uranium deposit, independently of
Heathgate Resources and toll treatment at its adjacent Beverley plant. Four Mile
has 27,000 tU indicated and inferred resources so far proven, and a mining lease
was issued in April. Itochu taking up the equity is contingent upon completion
of current litigation to restore Alliance’s full ownership of the deposit.
WNN 23/5/12 Australian U deposits
Environmental
clearance for Toro’s Wiluna mine
The
Western Australian government has given final environmental approval to Toro
Energy’s proposed Wiluna uranium mine, the first such approval since a ban was
lifted in 2008. The project now awaits federal government approval. Discovered
in 1972, Wiluna comprises several shallow calcrete uranium deposits, principally
Centipede, Lake Way and Dawson Hinkler Well, with resources of some 20,000 tU.
Toro plans to produce about 700 tU per year from open-pit mining.
WNN 11/10/12. Australian U deposits
Major expansion
of radioisotope production planned
The
Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation has announced a A$ 168
million expansion of its Sydney facilities, principally for molybdenum-99
production, the source of technetium-99 which is widely used in nuclear medicine
for diagnosis. Current world demand is about 45 million doses (23,000 six-day
TBq/yr) per year, and the new plant will be capable of meeting about one quarter
of this from 2016 at a time when the main plants in Canada and Europe are set to
close. The new plant will more fully utilise ANSTO’s new OPAL reactor, which
irradiates low-enriched uranium targets that are then processed to recover the
Mo-99. The investment also covers building a plant for Synroc waste form.
ANSTO 21/9/12. Radioisotopes in medicine
South America
International
World reactor
changes in 2011
During 2011 six new
nuclear power reactors were connected to grids, and 13 were removed permanently,
only one of these being scheduled. There were at least three construction starts
(first concrete) and six uprates totalling over 400 MWe. The new grid
connections were: China: Lingao II-2 (1037 MWe), Qinshan II-4 (610 MWe), India:
Kaiga 4 (202 MWe), Iran: Bushehr (915 MWe), Pakistan: Chashma 2 (300 MWe),
Russia: Kalinin 4 grid-connected (950 MWe), Total 6 units (4014 MWe net).
The closures were:
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
(217 MWe net), Total 13 units (11,272 MWe net).
New edition of
‘Red Book’ on uranium resources
The
delayed new edition of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency – IAEA biennial report on
the world’s uranium resources has been published, with data to the end of 2010.
Uranium 2011: Resources, production and demand is the 24th edition and shows
known resources of 7 million tonnes U, a 12% increase from the end of 2008.
Assuming up to double today’s uranium demand by 2035, it concludes that:
"Regardless of the role that nuclear energy ultimately plays in meeting future
electricity demand, the uranium resource base... is more than adequate to meet
projected requirements for the foreseeable future. The challenge is to continue
developing environmentally sustainable mining operations to bring increasing
quantities of uranium to the market in a timely fashion."
WNN 26/7/12. Supply of Uranium
IAEA notes
reduced interest in newcomer countries’ plans
Two years ago the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) said that 14 countries “indicate a strong intention to proceed” with
introduction of nuclear power; most had made a decision and were preparing
infrastructure, two had ordered a new nuclear power plant and one had a plant
under construction (apparently Iran’s Bushehr, now operating). However, the
picture is now less positive for those leading newcomer countries, and the IAEA
expects only seven such countries to launch nuclear programs in the near term.
It does not name these, but Lithuania, UAE, Turkey, Belarus, Vietnam, Poland,
and Bangladesh are obvious candidates. Others have stepped back from commitment,
need more time to set up infrastructure, or do not have credible finance.
Meanwhile, for countries
already using nuclear power, IAEA projections remain very positive. The report
recognises the on-going global financial crisis, the low price of natural gas
and reduced electricity demand in some regions, in addition to responses to
Fukushima, as challenges that will serve temporarily to delay the deployment of
some nuclear power plants.
WNN 26/9/12, Nucleonics
Week 20/9/12. Emerging nuclear countries, World energy needs
Westinghouse to
consolidate under Toshiba
Toshiba's stake
in reactor designer and vendor Westinghouse will increase to 87% in January 2013
when it completes the purchase of the Shaw Group's 20% stake in the company for
$1.6 billion. Shaw announced over a year ago that it planned to sell its stake
back to Toshiba, as envisaged in the $5.4 billion purchase arrangement of
Westinghouse from the now-defunct BNFL in UK in 2006. The other shareholders are
Kazatomprom 10% and IHI (Japan) 3%. Toshiba aims to sell down its share while
retaining a majority. Shaw was recently taken over for $3 billion by Chicago
Bridge & Iron Co. to consolidate as a major heavy engineering and
construction contractor.
WNN 10/10/12.
UN General Assembly approves radiation health effects report
The latest report from the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), commissioned by the UN General Assembly in 2007, has been accepted by the UN and will soon be published. UNSCEAR was asked to "to clarify further the assessment of potential harm owing to chronic low-level exposures among large populations and also the attributability of health effects" to radiation exposure. It said that while some effects from high acute doses were clear, others were not, and could not be attributed to exposure, and that this was especially true at low levels. "In general, increases in the incidence of health effects in populations cannot be attributed reliably to chronic exposure to radiation at levels that are typical of the global average background levels of radiation." Furthermore, multiplying very low doses by large numbers of individuals does not give a meaningful result regarding health effects. UNSCEAR also addressed uncertainties in risk estimation relating to cancer.
Current work of UNSCEAR is focused on assessing radiation exposure from the Fukushima accident last year, and its preliminary findings say that no radiation heath effects arising from it had been observed among the public or the workers. Thyroid doses in children were significantly lower than from the Chernobyl accident.
Nuclear Radiation and health effects
American Nuclear
Society publishes radiation compendium
In
connection with its annual conference, the American Nuclear Society has
published a 200-page collection of statements and scientific papers on the
effects of low-level radiation: Low-level Radiation and its Implications for Fukushima
Recovery. It arises from the ANS President’s Special Session and focuses on
the Linear No-Threshold (LNT) model. It questions the validity of assumptions
and discusses the science and policies that created the model. As well as
inviting review of the LNT model, it suggests a more realistic approach to
address the health effects, mitigate the hazards, and set appropriate limits to
avoid the potentially adverse consequences of radiation exposure. It is
dedicated to the residents surrounding the Fukushima site who are still unable
to return to their homes due to the overreaction toward low-level radiation. It
is available on the web, though is 57 MB. Some of the papers are only partially
reproduced, with links to the full versions.
Nuclear Radiation and Health Effects
APEC affirms
nuclear role
Energy ministers from the 21
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries concluded a two-day
meeting in St Petersburg with a declaration detailing the energy security and
strategic challenges faced by the Asia-Pacific region. The APEC ministers
pledged to work towards ensuring the safe and secure use of nuclear energy as
part of concerted action to enhance energy security. Their final statement
recognises the importance of the "safe and secure" use of nuclear energy in the
region and its potential to diversify the regional energy mix while meeting
growing energy demand and reducing greenhouse gas emissions "despite the tragic
accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power station." The statement says that
particular attention should be given to strengthening cooperation between APEC
members and international organisations, particularly the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA).
WNN 26/6/12.
China leaps
forward with wind
Last year China added
about 18 GWe of wind generation capacity and now leads the field with over 62
GWe installed. The USA has 47 GWe, Germany 29 GWe, Spain 21.5 GWe, and India 16
GWe at the end of 2011. World total then was 238 GWe. Global additions in the
last three years have averaged just under 40 GWe.
GWEC 7/2/12. Renewables and electricity
Reassuring
low-level radiation study
A US study
exposing mice to low-dose radiation for an extended period showed up no signs of
DNA damage, though a control group receiving the same dose acutely did show
damage. This test on live animals supports other work and epidemiological
studies suggesting that people exposed to even 1000 mSv/yr at low dose rate will
not suffer adverse health effects. The study is timely as the Japanese
government considers very much lower annual doses as a basis for the return of
evacuees near Fukushima.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/prolonged-radiation-exposure-0515.html
WNN 16/5/12 Radiation health effects
Gas-fired electricity reclassified as low-carbon in
EU
For the first time natural gas has been
classified as a low-carbon fuel, equivalent to renewables, in the budget of
Horizon 2020, an €80 billion European Union R&D programme launched last
year. This makes it eligible for non-nuclear energy funds previously enjoyed by
the renewable energy industry, so that part of the €5782 million over 2014-20
for “secure, clean and efficient energy” could now be used for advancing the
extraction and use of natural gas to supply fast-ramping gas plants to
counterbalance intermittency of renewables. This would back up the increased
penetration of subsidised renewables into EU grid systems.
The move comes in the
context of an International Energy Agency (IEA) report, forecasting a “golden
age for gas” with global production of unconventional sources of gas (notably
shale gas extracted by hydraulic fracturing or 'fracking') tripling by 2035.
Clearly renewable energy can become a victim of the cheap gas prices unless
governments implement policies specifically to support it, along with nuclear
power. The EU reclassification is based on gas having lower greenhouse gas
emissions than coal when burned, but evidently ignores the lifecycle GHG costs
from methane leakage and LNG transport.
Gas to
Power J 30/5/12, EnergyMarketPrice 7/6/12.
New WNA
Director-General
Agneta Rising is to
succeed John Ritch in January as the new Director-General of WNA. She comes from
the position of Vice President Environment at Swedish utility Vattenfall, having
joined the company in a radiological protection role in 1980. A previous role
was Director for Nuclear Business Development at Vattenfall Generation. She was
chairman of the Uranium Institute when it became the WNA in 2001, and during her
career she co-founded Women in Nuclear (WIN) and served as its president; she is
also a former president of both the European Nuclear Society and the Swedish
Nuclear Society. Over the past two decades, she has been appointed by the
Swedish government, the EU Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency
to several significant expert and advisory positions relevant to the future
development of nuclear power. Among these, Agneta Rising served for four years
on the IAEA’s International Nuclear Safety Group. John Ritch will leave WNA
having built it into a substantial global organisation with wide membership and
the World Nuclear University and World Nuclear News as significant ancillary
functions.
WNN 6/9/12.
World Nuclear News
milestone
WNA's main news service, World
Nuclear News (WNN), is marking its fifth anniversary with a new web site and
continued growth in subscriber base. Maintaining its position as the most
professional and comprehensive nuclear news service backed by industry, WNN now
has over 20,000 subscribers worldwide, and a network of news inputs. Output is
mainly via daily and weekly news e-mails linked to web items, as well as
Facebook and Twitter. It is funded by WNA members.