[Tanada]

Republican congressman releases proposal for US Nuclear power expansion and development.

https://jeffduncan.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/jeffduncan.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/rep.-jeff-duncan-sc-03-nuclear-competitiveness-and-innovation-blueprint.pdf

[Tanada]

Nuclear Power Is Finally Poised to Ramp Up Again in Japan

Competition for a new unit of up to 1.2 GW at the Czech Republic’s Dukovany nuclear power plant site has stepped up, with France’s EDF, South Korea’s Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), and a Westinghouse-Bechtel team submitting initial bids, Czech utility ČEZ, said on Nov. 30.

Elektrárna Dukovany II, a. s. (EDU II), a ČEZ wholly owned subsidiary, will now analyze the bids and negotiate with the bidders Bidders will then submit final bids by the end of September 2023. EDU II will then submit an evaluation report to the state for approval. “We expect the contracts to be finalized in 2024,” said Tomáš Pleskač, a member of the Board of Directors and Director of the ČEZ New Energy Division, on Wednesday.

Initial bids “are the basis for clarifying technical and commercial parameters, but not for the actual selection or exclusion of contractors,” ČEZ clarified on Wednesday. “In the tender itself, the aim is to select the best contractor and a high-quality contract. The signing of the contract will be followed by a thorough preparation of the project documentation in order to adhere to a deadline of 2036 for the start of the new unit test operation.”

The new Dukovany plant, Dukovany II, will be built next to the 1987-completed Dukovany nuclear plant, the first nuclear plant built on Czech territory. Dukovany is located 30 kilometers southeast of the UNESCO town Třebíč. Comprising four Russian-designed VVER 440 (model V 213) pressurized water reactors (PWRs), the 2,040-MW Dukovany plant produces around 15 TWh of electricity annually, which covers about 20% of total electricity consumption in the Czech Republic.

The Dukovany nuclear power plant in Třebíč, the Czech Republic, has four 510-MW VVER 440 units. “The individual units were put into operation between 1985 and 1987. The original total installed electrical capacity was 1,760 MW. Attainable power output has been gradually increasing thanks to turbine upgrades, efficiency programs and technical improvements. Today, the power plant has an installed capacity of 2,040 MW. The thermal output of each of the four reactors is 1,444 MWth,” says Czech utility ČEZ.

Part of a Nuclear Strategy

Efforts to develop Dukovany II began in 2015, with the establishment of EDU II as a specialized entity to implement the new nuclear plant. According to ČEZ, the Dukovany site is suited for a plant sized up to 1.2 GW rather than larger units, owing to technical and natural limitations. ČEZ envisions only one unit “so as not to exceed the total net electrical power in Dukovany Site of 3250 MWe,” it said.

Dukovany II’s development is part of ČEZ’s nuclear strategy. The utility says construction and start-up of the new nuclear unit is “of crucial importance in order to ensure continuity of the nuclear power plant operation and human resources at the site by 2037, when termination of the gradual decommissioning of the existing power plant is conservatively foreseen by the National Action Plan.” The strategy also foresees opportunities to expand its only other nuclear plant, the 2,160-MWe Temelin nuclear station, which is located close to the South Bohemian capital České Budějovice. Temelin features two VVER 1000 Type V 320 PWRs.

On Wednesday, ČEZ said public support for the nuclear new build is a record highs, owing to the current energy crisis. “The most important advantages of nuclear energy include energy security—independence from third countries, low operating costs, i.e. stable price in the long run, reliability of power supply and operational safety of nuclear power plants. The environmental aspects are crucial, with emission-free electricity making a major contribution to the fight against global warming,” the utility said.
Westinghouse-Bechtel Eyeing Opportunities for AP1000 at Temelin

While details aren’t immediately available about bids submitted by EDF and KHNP, Bechtel, in a statement sent to POWER, said its bid, submitted as part of a partnership with Westinghouse, proposes the construction of a single AP1000 reactor. However, the proposal contains “the potential for another unit there and two additional units at the Temelin site,” it said. “Westinghouse and Bechtel will partner with the Czech nuclear industry to fulfill key roles in procurement of equipment and construction of the reactors.”

Bechtel is a key contractor for the two AP1000 units that are nearing start-up at the Vogtle expansion in Georgia. “Nuclear fuel was loaded into the Unit 3 core in October, and commercial operation is expected in the first quarter of 2023,” Bechtel noted.

Westinghouse, in November, ultimately won a fierce contest to build an AP1000 reactor for Poland’s first nuclear plant in Pomerania. Westinghouse vied with EDF, which offered to build 1.7-GW EPR units, and KHNP, which offered to build six 1.3-GW APR1400 units for Poland. The Polish government and two Polish energy firms later also signed a letter of intent with KHNP to “push ahead” with the development of a second nuclear plant based on APR1400 technology in Pątnów, central Poland.

Bechtel on Wednesday noted the AP1000 plant “is the only operating Generation III+ reactor with fully passive safety systems, modular construction design and has the smallest footprint per MWe on the market.” In addition to Vogtle 3 and 4, four AP1000 units “are currently setting operational performance records in China with four additional reactors under construction, and two more are planned,” it said. In addition, nine units have been announced for Ukraine, and “the technology is under consideration at multiple other sites in Central and Eastern Europe, the UK, and in the U.S.,” it said.

EDF is meanwhile spearheading the construction of six EPRs around the world: One in France (Flamanville 3), one in Finland (Olkiluoto 3), two in China (at Taishan), and two in the UK (at Hinkley Point). This week, the UK government said it would bolster a proposal to build Sizewell C with a £679 million ($815 million) investment, giving the twin EPR nuclear power plant project—a combined 3.2 GW—new flexibility to proceed. EDF, notably, is also in “exclusive negotiations” with India’s Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd (NCPIL) for the construction of six EPRs in Jaitapur. 

KHNP has so far built two APR-1400s in South Korea (Shin Kori 3 and 4) and has two others under construction (Shin Hanul 1 & 2). It has also completed two of four APR-1400 units (Units 1 and 2) under construction at the Barakah nuclear plant in the United Arab Emirates. Barakah 3 was connected to the grid on Oct. 10. Along with prospects in Poland and the Czech Republic, KHNP is looking to export reactors to Saudi Arabia.

—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior associate editor

POWERMAGdotCOM

[Newfie]

Tanada,

How do you see the Ukraine war shaping nuclear power development?

On the one hand I can see it fostering nuclear as a substitute for risky international sources.

On the other it may make folks afraid of these plants becoming all too easy targets and thus virtual hostage taking. You need only to threaten the plant.

Your thoughts?

[Tanada]

Tanada,

How do you see the Ukraine war shaping nuclear power development?

On the one hand I can see it fostering nuclear as a substitute for risky international sources.

On the other it may make folks afraid of these plants becoming all too easy targets and thus virtual hostage taking. You need only to threaten the plant.

Your thoughts?

IMO for whatever that is worth Germany and most other western European nations are held hostage to the fossil fuel funded "Green" parties that are staunchly against nuclear power so I see slow or little change in their future actions for now.

That being said the EU is actually only a small piece of the global community and in East and South Asia, Russia, Africa and South America Nuclear energy as a substitute for fossil fuels is showing growth and increased popularity as they face global warming in full knowledge that they need energy to offset the changing climate effects and using fossil fuels will just make the changes faster and have a greater impact.

IOW I see a mixed bag with western Europe and North America remaining hostage to fossil fuel interests for the foreseeable future but much of the remainder of the world starting to shift their focus to carbon free energy on a massive scale.

But as I said at the beginning this is just my opinion.

[Newfie]

Thanks, it will be interesting to watch. Complicated.

[Tanada]

I don't consider it a crisis that three plants out of 40 need more work than originally planned for but news people always go for the scariest headlines they can think up.

Welders wanted: France steps up recruitment drive as nuclear crisis deepens

PARIS, Nov 29 (Reuters) - French power giant EDF (EDF.PA) is looking to recruit a new generation of welders, pipe-fitters and boiler makers to fix its ageing nuclear reactors and build more of them, as Europe's energy crisis rekindles the allure of atomic power.

The problem is that in France such skilled workers are in short supply. So much so that EDF, which has a reputation for delays and cost overruns in building nuclear plants, has had to fly in around 100 of them from the United States and Canada, it said this month.

The utility, which is in the process of being fully nationalised, is racing against time to ensure its nuclear fleet can run at full capacity for the depths of winter. It has already seen its electricity output this year drop to a 30-year low due to a record number of outages.

It's not just a matter of keeping households in France and other European countries warm in the coldest months: lower output this year is projected to wipe 32 billion euros ($33 billion) off the company's core 2022 earnings, jeopardizing its financial stability.

With EDF on the hook to build at least six new generation reactors over the next 25 years, at a total investment of some 52 billion euros, the group is hurriedly ramping up a recruitment drive across France.

EDF co-financed the opening of a training centre for welders in Normandy - the Haute Ecole de formation en soudage (Hefais) - last month, with an intake of around 40 students this year, expected to rise to 200 from 2023.

That, however, is a drop in the ocean. EDF estimates that France's nuclear industry needs to recruit between 10,000 and 15,000 workers a year over the next seven years.

EDF alone must find 3,000 new workers a year over that time - or 15% of the workforce currently deployed at its nuclear plants - up from 2,500 in the 2019-2022 period.

It wants to hire 1,000 welders by 2030, double the number it employs today.

"These are pretty ambitious targets," said Clement Bouilloux, manager for France at energy consultancy EnAppSys, noting that the scale of the country's plans for new reactors could make it challenging to recruit the right workforce.

"We have not had a construction drive like that in nuclear since the 1970s."

France, like other Western countries, has long suffered a skills mismatch. Despite relatively high unemployment, France's manufacturing, construction, engineering and IT industries complain they can't get the workers they need.

The causes range from an education system less focused on practical skills to a perception of industry as "dirty" and a dead-end for careers.

In Penly, the Normandy site chosen for the first two new reactors, EDF is seeking to lure workers ahead of the scheduled start of construction in 2024. The project is expected to take 12 years.

A framework agreement was signed with unions on Nov. 8 to entice an initial batch of 70 skilled workers to move to Penly next year, before construction begins in earnest.

The agreement, seen by Reuters, includes a disturbance allowance equal to two months of salary to change residence, a "discovery pack" to help workers familiarise themselves with the town and its surroundings, a "mobility pack" of 9,000 to 11,250 euros per worker - to help find accommodation and a job for spouses - and other benefits to cover childcare and schooling.

Industry sources said the terms were quite generous by EDF's standards.

"On a building site like that one, we want to attract but also retain employees for a long period as the project will last for a while," Patrice Risch, EDF's head of employment, told Reuters.

France's industrial sector provides only 18% of private sector jobs, down from 26% two decades ago. Meanwhile, employment in services - from hotels to finance - has been growing steadily.

In construction, plans for the new nuclear plants will have to compete for workers building other big infrastructure projects ranging from new trainlines around Paris to a tunnel through the Alps to Italy.

Jean-Bernard Lévy, who was replaced on Nov. 23 as EDF chief executive, blamed the lack of specialised staff for much of the company's difficulties in quickly fixing its reactors.
LONG TRAINING, DIFFICULT JOB

Workers repairing plants affected by the corrosion issues - which first emerged a year ago - are required to operate in a part of the reactor where radiation is high, so they can only spend a limited amount of time in it.

Because of the challenges of the job, a standard welder needs up to three years of extra training to work in the nuclear sector, people employed in the industry say.

"To be a very good welder, you have to be born to be one. These people work with molten metal at 1,500 degrees Celsius, and sometimes have to stand upside down," said one welder in the nuclear industry, who asked not to be identified.

"You start with 500 would-be welders, and five years later you may have only five who are up to scratch."

To speed up the repairs, EDF drafted in 600 specialised workers, including around 100 welders and pipe-fitters from Canada and from U.S. nuclear plant maker Westinghouse Electric Company.

Unions and industry officials also blame the French government for what they say was a U-turn on nuclear. Before the war in Ukraine, successive administrations sought to reduce France's reliance on nuclear energy, not build new reactors, they say.

For a long time, France was Europe's nuclear energy champion - and its biggest electricity exporter. A wave of plant constructions between the 1970s and the 1990s gave the country the 56 reactors still standing today, before political and public sentiment began to waver.

Opposition from environmental groups and the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan made investing in nuclear reactors a less popular choice even in a country that still derives 70% of its electricity mix from atomic energy.

President Emmanuel Macron was elected for his first term in 2017 on a pledge to lessen France's dependence on nuclear over the long-term. This year, however, he announced the construction of new reactors, as the war in Ukraine and the push for low carbon energy production make nuclear attractive again.

"We'd been told for years: please, prepare yourselves to shut reactors," Lévy said at a conference in August.

"Clearly, we didn't hire people to build...reactors, we hired people to dismantle them," he said, noting that the government's 2019-2023 energy policy roadmap envisaged the shutdown of 12 reactors by 2035.

Now that the tide has turned in favour of nuclear, Luc Rémont, EDF's new CEO, told parliament last month that having the "sharpest skills across the nuclear supply chain is crucial to increasing production levels."

REUTERS

[Tanada]

UN experts find 'no harmful effects' from Fukushima

Fukushima residents suffered no harmful health effects after the the Fukushima power plant disaster

10 years ago, according to UN report published on Monday. The series of meltdowns and explosions, prompted by a 2011 earthquake and a subsequent tsunami, is considered the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

The nuclear radiation from the Japan accident has not increased the risk for cancer beyond normal, said the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR).

Moreover, since the last report in 2013, "no adverse health effects among Fukushima residents have been documented that could be directly attributed to radiation exposure from the accident", said Gillian Hirth, UNSCEAR's chairwoman.

UN researchers said that a rise in thyroid cancer among children in the last decade was not related to higher levels of radiation, but rather due to more thorough analyses that had led to more cases being reported. In other areas and countries without higher radioactive exposure, better monitoring had also led to increased numbers of thyroid cancer cases, the report said.

"It is a catastrophe, but it is not a radiation catastrophe," radiation biologist Anna Friedl, who represents UNSCEAR in Germany, told the DPA news agency.

Still 'some risk' of cancer

At the same time, the UN warned there might still be some danger of cancer due to the accident.

Among around 170 rescue workers who were exposed to very high levels of radiation, two to three additional cancer cases were expected. The report said that other factors such as stress, heart problems and other illnesses came about as a result of the evacuation.

A magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami triggered the Fukushima disaster, which saw large amounts of radiation released into the environment surrounding the nuclear power plant, 220 kilometers (124 miles) northeast of Tokyo.

The natural disaster claimed around 19,000 lives and forced around 160,000 to flee their homes. It also caused three reactor cores in the nuclear power plant to melt. Compared to Chernobyl, however, fewer radioactive substances were released and largely settled in the sea instead of on land. Following the Chernobyl disaster, medical experts discovere larger numbers of thyroid cancers among local residents.

IAEA

I feel obliged to point out that while the Ukrainian population around Chernobyl had a diet low in iodine making them unacceptable to radioactive iodine damage to their thyroid glands the population of Japan typically eat a diet high in seafood which is rich in natural iodine making them nearly immune to radioactive iodine poisoning. Patients to be given radioactive iodine for scans or radiation treatment of Thyroid issues in Japan are first put on an iodine free diet for at least a couple weeks carefully controlled to deplete their natural Iodine reserves. In Ukraine this is unnecessary. In the USA where nearly all table salt is enriched in Iodine the some kind of controlled diet before testing or treatment is also necessary.

[Newfie]

Did not know that!

[Outcast_Searcher]

Tanada,

How do you see the Ukraine war shaping nuclear power development?

On the one hand I can see it fostering nuclear as a substitute for risky international sources.

On the other it may make folks afraid of these plants becoming all too easy targets and thus virtual hostage taking. You need only to threaten the plant.

Your thoughts?

IMO for whatever that is worth Germany and most other western European nations are held hostage to the fossil fuel funded "Green" parties that are staunchly against nuclear power so I see slow or little change in their future actions for now.

That being said the EU is actually only a small piece of the global community and in East and South Asia, Russia, Africa and South America Nuclear energy as a substitute for fossil fuels is showing growth and increased popularity as they face global warming in full knowledge that they need energy to offset the changing climate effects and using fossil fuels will just make the changes faster and have a greater impact.

IOW I see a mixed bag with western Europe and North America remaining hostage to fossil fuel interests for the foreseeable future but much of the remainder of the world starting to shift their focus to carbon free energy on a massive scale.

But as I said at the beginning this is just my opinion.

In the long haul, surely it's all about economics. For example, if Thorium reactors were really proven completely safe AND cheap, then why not use them if massive battery backup for the grid with green energy is super expensive. From what I've read, though likely safe, Thorium reactors won't be all that cheap over the long run, from what we know.

The key thing society needs, is to have several viable alternatives so if things go wrong in area X, we can ramp up Y and Z. But all too often, with economics, short term thinking rules the day, even when governments are involved.

At least as green energy ramps, much of the "unreliable foreign FF sources" (by pipeline or truck, rail, etc) issue should be massively reduced, so that's a big plus over time.

[Tanada]

Sorry folks it has been a couple challenging months for me health wise and somehow I missed this when it was published six weeks ago.

Grid connection for third Barakah unit

10 October 2022

Barakah unit 3 is now supplying its first electricity to the UAE's grid. Barakah, the country's first nuclear power plant, is a key component of the UAE's Net Zero 2050 Strategy.

The Korean-designed APR-1400 unit, which reached initial criticality in September, will now undergo the process of gradually raising power levels - known as power ascension testing - while being continuously monitored and tested until maximum electricity production is reached. It is "close to commercial operation in the coming months", its owner, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), said.

Barakah 3's connection to the grid - almost exactly a year since unit 2, which was grid-connected in September 2021 - demonstrates the "reliable and efficient progress" made at the plant, ENEC Managing Director and CEO Mohamed Al Hammadi said, adding: "We have taken the lessons from each unit to help us provide strategically significant clean and abundant electricity for the UAE, with units 1 and 2 commercially operational and delivering a sharp decarbonisation of the power sector.

"The swift progress being made at Barakah demonstrates the UAE's extensive megaproject capabilities with clean electricity helping to power homes, businesses, high-tech industries and ensuring the energy security and the resilience of the UAE grid for at least the next 60 years. Nuclear energy is an essential component of the UAE's Net Zero 2050 Strategy, guaranteeing energy security and tackling climate change at the same time."

Work to construct the four-unit Barakah plant began in 2012. The first unit started up and was connected to the grid in 2020, with unit 2 following in 2021. Both those units are now in full commercial operation. Unit 4 is in the final stages of commissioning prior to construction completion. Once all four units of the Barakah Plant are commercially operational, they will contribute up to 25% of the UAE's National Determined Contributions to Net Zero and be the largest source of dispatchable clean electricity.

ENEC's current and future success in delivering zero-carbon emission electricity is underpinned by the Emirati-led teams that have developed a high-tech nuclear industry and supply chain in the UAE, Al Hammadi said. "We are proud to continue increasing our efforts towards tackling climate change with the UAE taking a realistic, long-term approach to energy planning, using proven sources. We look forward to showcasing our success at COP27 and when the UAE hosts COP28, to continue exchanging best practices and knowledge with the international community,” he added.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

WNN.com

[Newfie]

That UAE is investing heavily in nuclear power probably means something interesting.

I may be more cost efficient to switch to nuclear and reduce internal FF usage, and sell the saved fuel to others.

And if/when the tap runs dry they will already have a replacement.

Sounds pretty smart.

[vtsnowedin]

That UAE is investing heavily in nuclear power probably means something interesting.

I may be more cost efficient to switch to nuclear and reduce internal FF usage, and sell the saved fuel to others.

And if/when the tap runs dry they will already have a replacement.

Sounds pretty smart.

I expect long term nuclear powered desalination of sea water has a lower cost per gallon then using their fossil fuels so developing the nuclear power as an asset is a wise investment.

[theluckycountry]

Japan's Government Adopts Nuclear Energy Policy In Major Turnaround Amid Energy Crisis

The new policy marks a major turnaround from Japan’s previous policy of reducing its reliance on nuclear energy and shutting down most of its nuclear reactors in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Under the new policy, the government will set up a final disposal site for the proper disposal of radioactive waste generated during nuclear energy production. It also calls for the development of advanced reactors.

In addition, it will allow extending the lifespans of nuclear reactors beyond the current maximum of 60 years and replacing aging nuclear reactors with new ones to ensure a stable power supply.

The government also aims to issue green transformation bonds to raise 20 trillion yen ($15.789 billion) to procure funds for decarbonization projects, Kyodo News reported.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ ... rgy-crisis



"the government will set up a final disposal site for the proper disposal of radioactive waste "
Well I hope they use some common sense, The site of the Fukushima plant is the obvious choice, it's already covered in fallout.

[ROCKMAN]

Test

[theluckycountry]

French power giant EDF (EDF.PA) is looking to recruit a new generation of welders, pipe-fitters and boiler makers to fix its ageing nuclear reactors and build more of them

Yeah Right lol lol. Take a job fixing corroded old pipes that are highly irradiated. Sign me up, unless I get that job as an underground asbestos miner first.

[theluckycountry]

Test

You have 11000+ posts, what are you testing, a new keyboard?

[vtsnowedin]

The site of the Fukushima plant is the obvious choice, it's already covered in fallout.

Much too close to the ocean but I can't think of a place in Japan with a low earthquake potential so they will have to build a sight that can withstand a lot of shaking now and then.

[theluckycountry]

o they will have to build a sight that can withstand a lot of shaking now and then.

Agreed, but fukushima is a big prefecture and the contamination is way up in the mountains too. There might be a spot there not prone to activity? Either way the point of siting the waste dump up there is that if there is a leak it will hardly matter in the long run. Like Chernobyl, the perfect site for a waste dump.

[vtsnowedin]

o they will have to build a sight that can withstand a lot of shaking now and then.

Agreed, but fukushima is a big prefecture and the contamination is way up in the mountains too. There might be a spot there not prone to activity? Either way the point of siting the waste dump up there is that if there is a leak it will hardly matter in the long run. Like Chernobyl, the perfect site for a waste dump.

Not being even close to an expert on Japan's geology and seismic expectations I will leave it up to the Japanese to decide where to deposit their nuclear waste.

[Tanada]

Lightbridge fuel offers Pu management option : Uranium & Fuel

13 February 2023

Simulations have shown that a fuel rod designed by the company significantly outperforms traditional MOX fuel in consuming plutonium, and would be well-suited for consuming excess weapons-grade material.

A study using a variant of Lightbridge Fuel in which uranium-zirconium alloy was substituted with an equivalent plutonium-zirconium composition found that the Lightbridge plutonium disposition fuel variant consumed some 5.5 times more plutonium per fuel rod than mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel. The research has been published in Nuclear Technology, in a paper titled 'Improved Disposition of Surplus Weapons-Grade Plutonium Using a Metallic Pu-Zr Fuel Design' co-authored by Braden Goddard, of the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Aaron Totemeier, senior nuclear fuel consultant to Lightbridge.

Lightbridge's proprietary next-generation nuclear fuel technology features metallic fuel rods with a helical multi-lobe design that can be used to fuel small modular reactors as well as existing light water reactors and pressurised heavy water reactors. The high burnup of metallic fuel makes it particularly useful for consuming plutonium and reducing the proliferation risk from any residual plutonium: according to a 2018 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Nuclear Engineering and Design, any residual plutonium in the used fuel is "useless" for weapons purposes.

"The findings reported in this study were subject to rigorous review by top scholars, validating the plutonium disposition and proliferation resistance of this variant of Lightbridge Fuel rods," Lightbridge President and CEO Seth Grae, President and CEO of Lightbridge, said. "The findings will help to drive further awareness and support of Lightbridge Fuel within government and the private sector."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Link