Nuclear Energy Insider

Small Modular Reactors: What’s on the Horizon for 2012?

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:52:18 +0000

Précis:

Young bright things and seasoned reactor designers will unite with the development of small modular reactors. One of those bright young things, Edward Levy, offers his insights into what's in store for SMR development this year.

By Edward Levy, MSc.

Several companies aim to submit design certification applications to the NRC and other regulatory bodies by year’s end or soon after, which is showing that 2012 is shaping up to be an important year for Small Modular Reactor (SMR) development.

Babcock and Wilcox (B&W) recently announced the separation of its SMR and other nuclear energy divisions, with the intention of enabling each to better pursue strategic growth opportunities.

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Nuclear reactors in a post-Fukushima world: moving the safety envelope to the edge

Elisabeth Jeffries — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:38:54 +0000

Précis:

With every design investigation, comes improvements, which is making nuclear reactor designers and the respective human resource experts think outside the box.

Agreements on the design of new nuclear reactors for the UK drew a step closer when the Office of Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency awarded interim design acceptance certificates (IDACs) in December. The two government organisations have been carrying out a generic design assessment (GDA) for two types of reactors in the UK: EDF and AREVA’s UK EPR and Westinghouse's AP1000. But they have also identified a number of issues that need to be sorted out.

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Communities core to US repository plans

Jason Deign — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:02:52 +0000

Précis:

With US plans for a deep geological repository now on hold, maybe the US could learn from the experience of European countries, and their communities-led approach, that are leading the way in waste disposal.

The barren Yucca Mountain in Nevada, USA, was once described by a Senate Committee white paper as ‘the most studied real estate on the planet.’

And one thing that is pretty clear, after more than US$8bn in research over a quarter of a century, is this: the mountain does not contain a deep geological nuclear waste repository, and probably never will.

Yucca Mountain’s history as a potential waste disposal site provides a salutary lesson into the pitfalls of steamrollering over public opinion when it comes to matters of nuclear power policy.

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Final repositories: deep knowledge in the Nordics

Jason Deign — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:31:25 +0000

Précis:

For all the concern worldwide about what to do with spent nuclear fuel, so far only Sweden and Finland have got around to working out where to bury it. What have they learned to date?

Some of the radionuclides in spent nuclear fuel will stay radioactive for 100,000 years. But on current rates of progress you might be forgiven for thinking that is how long policy makers reckon they have got before they have to make a decision on what to do with the waste.

More than half a century after the onset of the Atomic Age, there is still not a single country on earth that has a geological repository for high-level nuclear waste disposal. Only two nations, Finland and Sweden, are likely to have one any time soon.

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Nuclear decommissioning and new build: can the UK do both?

Jason Deign — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:02:43 +0000

Précis:

The UK government needs to take nuclear disposal seriously as the country’s decommissioning supply chain competes for talent with a build-out programme and the oil and gas industries.

Engineering students Daniel Hagan, Domanic Hodgson, Ashley Chamley and Alex Miller this month donned their hard hats for an unusual assignment: posing for cameras.

The foursome, of Lakes College, Lillyhall, UK, joined their principal Cath Richardson for a photo shoot to commemorate the appointment of contractor to build a new construction skills centre for the nuclear industry.

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Political delay to support nuclear damaging UK economy

Jason Deign — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:57:02 +0000

Précis:

A report by the UK Centre for Policy Studies claims British Government measures to support new nuclear could have the opposite effect. Could a dash to set a Carbon Price Floor actually discourage plant construction?

It is full steam ahead for nuclear in the UK. Operators are gearing up for an ambitious new-build programme following government moves to support low-carbon energy technologies. Within the next 12 years or so a whole slew of new plants will be up and running.

At least, that is the official position. But a report just out from the UK Centre for Policy Studies paints a very different picture.

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Japan’s Monju reactor budget uncertain

Paul French — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:28:25 +0000

Précis:

Tokyo's government is in a state of uncertainty over its policy on fast-breeder reactors. At present, the messages coming out of Tokyo, the central government and the various ministries involved range from retaining 2011 levels of funding to scrapping fast-breeders in Japan.

The budget planners at the Japanese Ministry of Finance appear to be in favour of maintaining the status quo while other, and potentially equally as powerful voices, are arguing for a more radical move away from the current strategy of developing fast-breeder reactors.

This is borne out by the forward fiscal planning for Monju, a prototype fast-breeder reactor with a troubled past.

The budget appears to be set at 21.5bn yen (approximately US$29m), the exact amount the budget allocated for the project in fiscal 2011.

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Nuclear waste: UK launches hunt for new MOX plant design

Gail Rajgor — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:49:55 +0000

Précis:

The UK is now “vigorously” pursuing the reuse of plutonium as mixed oxide fuel (MOX) as the right solution to dealing with its mammoth plutonium stockpile – the largest in the world.

A ten-month consultation, which kicked off back in February, has persuaded the Government that its preliminary policy view to pursue the reuse of plutonium as mixed oxide fuel (MOX) is the right choice.

This means converting the vast majority of UK civil separated plutonium into fuel for use in civil nuclear reactors requiring a new £3 billion MOX plant to be built in the coming years. Any remaining plutonium that cannot be converted into MOX will be immobilised and treated as a waste for disposal.

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Primary Event:

Nuclear Long-Term Operations and Aging Management Conference

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Russia: on track to build 20 % of world’s nuclear plants

etully — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:22:00 +0000

Précis:

Rosatom is spearheading Russia’s burgeoning influence in the nuclear energy world, and is openly ambitious with its plan for the future to construct 20% of nuclear power plants world-wide. But will old school politically led deal making work in a commercially driven marketplace?

By Peter Taberner

By the end of this year, Russia’s state nuclear corporation will have deals to build 21 nuclear plants in bilateral agreements with nine countries. There are to be four plants constructed in Turkey and India, two will be built in China, Vietnam, Belarus, Bulgaria, the Ukraine and Bangladesh, with a single plant to be developed in Armenia.

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Is a single contractor the only way for D&D projects?

Peter Taberner — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:16:55 +0000

Précis:

The US Department of Energy believes the best way to manage a decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) project is with just one contractor. We look at one the recent clean-up projects in action in the US and the growing magnitude of the resources required.

Having a single contractor to perform the clean-up duties is a deliberate policy in the belief that a sole owner of the contract can only increase the efficiency of a decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) project.

This is the thought process behind current projects including the D&D plans for the Piketon plant in south-central Ohio, where Fluor-B&W Portsmouth has now taken full responsibility for the clean-up operation.

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Nathan Ives, E&Y: Responding to Black Swan Events at a nuclear power facility

ksdicks — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:17:19 +0000

Précis:

Nathan Ives, a Senior Manager in Ernst & Young’s Advisory Services practice, highlights processes that can be put in place to best respond to a black swan event, much like the one experienced this year in Japan.

Audio File:

FINAL EDITrec_nathan_ives_26_Sep_2011_17_00_24.mp3

Nathan Ives has eight years of experience managing and supervising both military and commercial nuclear plant operations. We chat with him on several issues, notably which processes can be put in place to best respond to a black swan event, much like the one experienced in Fukushima. But we are learning that black swan events come in all shapes and sizes, such as the recent earthquakes and severe weather storms impacting the East Coast of the US and some of its nuclear energy plants.

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Grid investment: could future smart grid policy hurt nuclear's new build agenda?

Elisabeth Jeffries — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:28:37 +0000

Précis:

Some experts argue that countries investing in both renewables and nuclear could be pursuing an energy policy of limited use. Could smart grid policy inadvertently kick nuclear power ambitions out of the equation? New reactor technology and O&M could give us the answer.

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Primary Event:

Nuclear Long-Term Operations and Aging Management Conference

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Belgian nuclear phase out: energy security now in peril

admin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 11:59:44 +0000

Précis:

Since 2003, the Belgian government has had plans to legally phase out nuclear power, but has only made a proper gesture to make those plans a reality this week.

By Elisabeth Jeffries

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Clay Ramsey, MOX Facility: “Substantial shortage of experienced nuclear project design and construction personnel in US"

ksdicks — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:13:40 +0000

Précis:

Since 2006, Clay Ramsey has served as the Federal Project Director of DOE’s $4.8bn Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication (MOX) Facility, currently under construction at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, SC. The MOX facility will turn weapons grade plutonium into fuel for commercial nuclear reactors.

Interview by Nuclear Energy Insider Research Staff

Nuclear Energy Insider: What are your aims for the next 12 months?

CR: As I work on the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project , which will continue with its construction, our major goal over the next 12 months is to complete the main processing building's structure.

Nuclear Energy Insider: Who has come up with the most exciting construction innovation or creative idea that you’ve seen recently and why?

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EDF to increase nuclear fleet re-investment to €3.6bn by 2015

ksdicks — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:05:27 +0000

Précis:

Despite current black swan events in Japan, EDF is still honouring its future investment in nuclear power. But where will money be best spent with such a massive fleet?

By Elizabeth Jeffries

Tucked away in EDF’s half-year results for 2011 was a surprising statement: the company is to significantly increase its investment in ten year inspections, its large component replacement programme and other operating investments for its 58 nuclear power stations.

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A nuclear phase out for France: Is it really on the cards?

ksdicks — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 13:55:03 +0000

Précis:

Looming elections and upcoming energy reviews have thrown the prospect of a possible French nuclear retreat firmly into the spotlight, with recent progress on the country’s offshore wind plans only fueling speculation further. So what’s going on and is the French industry eventually in danger?

By Gail Rajgor

The French government still believes nuclear power will remain “a pillar of France’s energy policy” long into the future. No surprise for a country that gets over 75% of its electricity from nuclear and is the world’s largest net exporter of electricity too, gaining over €3bn a year in the process.

Yet media speculation is mounting that a major withdrawal could be on the cards and it’s been sparked by a flurry of recent events.

Fukushima’s looming influence

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Decommissioning Nuclear: Management improvements rather than technology could be the biggest cost savers

ksdicks — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:30:44 +0000

Précis:

In an era of budgetary constraints and industry changes, the decommissioning of nuclear plants will be a much debated issue, as the Obama administration is adamant that nuclear power is still the way forward post-Fukushima.

By Peter Taberner

Taking a long-term view, there are reasons to be optimistic for the nuclear decommissioning process, especially as the US and other established nuclear power markets start to build the next generation of reactors and plants. The silver lining in this otherwise minefield topic is the fact that it is receiving the benefits of significant improvements in plant technology, and increased efficiency in neutralizing plants that have come to the end of their life expectancy.

Lessons learned

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Nuclear D&D Supply Chain Conference

Dean Murphy — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:57:49 +0000

Event Date:

Thu, 2011-11-17

Event URL:

http://www.nuclearenergyinsider.com/usdecom/index.shtml

Event Location:

Charlotte, North Carolina

Number of attendees:

150

Programme URL:

http://www.nuclearenergyinsider.com/usdecom/agenda.shtml

Brochure URL:

http://www.nuclearenergyinsider.com/usdecom/download-brochure.shtml

Speakers URL:

http://www.nuclearenergyinsider.com/usdecom/speakers.shtml

Event Organiser:

Emma Banymandhub

Event Organiser E-mail:

emmab@fcbusinessintelligence.com

Précis:

tbc

Nuclear plays role in energy security in MENA and other regions

ksdicks — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:32:03 +0000

Précis:

As Germany, Italy and Switzerland back away from nuclear power, a number of other countries are moving towards it as a way to secure their energy futures.

By Jason Deign in Barcelona

Fukushima does not phase Dr Kamal Araj. As vice chairman and commissioner for international cooperation at the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC), he is sensitive to the safety issues raised by the disaster, but confident the nuclear industry will take them on board.

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US Commercial Service/Nicobar: China reactor designs likely to be indigenous

ksdicks — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:49:08 +0000

Précis:

Nowhere today is the global Nuclear Renaissance stronger than in China. Over the past five years, China has developed the world’s most ambitious nuclear new-build program.

By Nicobar Group and the US Commercial Service

Future reactor designs in China will be dominated by the indigenous CPR-1000 and the Westinghouse AP1000, the world’s first of which are currently under construction in China.

China’s nuclear new build is subject to government-imposed local content quotas, which influence Chinese customers’ procurement decisions. Consequently, a strategic localization plan is crucial to US companies’ success in the Chinese market.

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