Published since 1959, Nuclear News is recognized worldwide as the flagship trade publication for the nuclear community. News reports cover plant operations, maintenance and security; policy and legislation; international developments; waste management and fuel; and business and contract award news.
A message from Electrical Builders, Ind.
America’s Top Performing Nuclear Plants Rely on Electrical Builders, Industries to Expand and Extend the Life of Their Critical Electrical Assets
A group of six organizations have issued a statement to world leaders currently gathered at the G7 summit in Germany that highlights nuclear energy’s strengths in addressing the current global challenges of environmental sustainability and energy security and urges additional support.
On the road to achieving net-zero by midcentury, low- or no-carbon energy sources that slash carbon dioxide emissions are critical weapons. Nevertheless, the role of nuclear energy—the single largest source of carbon-free electricity—remains uncertain.
Nuclear energy, which provides 20 percent of the electricity in the United States, has been a constant, reliable, carbon-free source for nearly 50 years. But our fleet of nuclear reactors is aging, with more than half of the 92 operating reactors across 29 states at or over 40 years old—the length of the original operating licenses issued to the power plants. While some reactors have been retired prematurely, there are two options for those that remain: retire them or renew their license.
An international collaboration between Bruce Power, Isogen (a joint venture of Kinectrics and Framatome), and ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE, announced a milestone marking the first time that lutetium-177, a short-lived medical radioisotope, has been produced in a commercial nuclear power reactor.
Both Oglethorpe Power Corporation and the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG), two co-owners of the Vogtle nuclear plant, have filed lawsuits against Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power, the facility’s primary owner.
Oglethorpe and MEAG are 30 percent and 22.7 percent owners, respectively, of Vogtle. Georgia Power holds a 45.7 percent share. (Dalton Utilities, which owns 1.6 percent of the plant, is not involved in the suits.)
Florida Power & Light (FPL) has submitted a supplemental environmental report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in support of the subsequent renewed licenses for Turkey Point Units 3 and 4. According to a June 22 NRC press release, FPL’s report was submitted on June 10 to satisfy a “deficiency” in subsequent license renewal applications (SLRA) that rely on the generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) on license renewal and is being reviewed prior to docketing. William D. Maher, director of nuclear licensing projects at FPL, submitted the report, noting that “FPL’s review did not identify any information materially changing the impact assessments” in the NRC’s supplemental GEIS for the Turkey Point licenses.
The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) awarded vouchers to Orano Federal Services and TerraPower on June 22, giving them access to specialized facilities and expertise at Department of Energy national laboratories. Orano is partnering with Oak Ridge National Laboratory on a new technical study that updates the physical chemistry limits for the safe transport of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas enriched up to 10 percent in existing shipping containers, and TerraPower is turning to Los Alamos National Laboratory’s neutron testing capabilities to measure the properties of chlorine isotopes and determine how they will behave in the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE).
Future fusion energy facilities will continue to be regulated by the Environment Agency (EA) and Health & Safety Executive (HSE), the U.K. government announced June 20, and existing law on nuclear regulations will be amended to exclude fusion energy facilities from nuclear fission regulatory and licensing requirements. The move was announced by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) with the expectation it would provide “clarity to developers of prototype/demonstration fusion facilities currently being planned to support rapid commercialization.”
A draft fiscal year 2023 Energy and Water Development bill, released Monday by the House Appropriations Committee, received the imprimatur of the Energy and Water Development (EWD) Subcommittee yesterday and now moves to the full committee for consideration.
The measure, totaling $56.275 billion—$3.4 billion more than the FY 2022 enacted level—includes funding for the Department of Energy, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and a number of independent agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
NuScale Power, the Portland, Ore.–based small modular reactor developer, will make a strategic shift from product development to product delivery with the establishment of a new VOYGR Services and Delivery business unit, the company announced this week.
Three teams have been picked to design a fission surface power system that NASA could deploy on the moon by the end of the decade, NASA and Idaho National Laboratory announced today. A fission surface power project sponsored by NASA in collaboration with the Department of Energy and INL is targeting the demonstration of a 40-kWe reactor built to operate for at least 10 years on the moon, enabling lunar exploration under NASA’s Artemis program. Twelve-month contracts valued at $5 million each are going to Lockheed Martin (partnered with BWX Technologies and Creare), Westinghouse (partnered with Aerojet Rocketdyne), and IX (a joint venture of Intuitive Machines and X-energy, partnered with Maxar and Boeing).
The United Arab Emirates’ Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) has issued the operating license for the Barakah nuclear plant’s Unit 3 reactor, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation announced yesterday. In addition, following receipt of the license, ENEC subsidiary Nawah Energy Company began the process of loading fuel assemblies into the unit, according to the announcement.
The Department of Energy has issued a proposed guidance amendment for its $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) Program in response to a letter last month from California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration suggesting “a few minor adjustments” to the program’s guidance to address “the unique circumstances” of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. (Previously a supporter of the premature 2025 closure of the Avila Beach, Calif., facility, Newsom told the Los Angeles Times in late April that his office would look into using the CNC Program to keep the plant in operation beyond its scheduled closure date, citing climate change and the threat of power shortages in the state.)
The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory will soon be irradiating fuel pellets containing thorium and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) developed by Clean Core Thorium Energy for use in pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs). Clean Core announced on June 14 that it will proceed with irradiation testing and qualification under an agreement with the Department of Energy; the plans have been in the works since at least 2020, when the DOE filed a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) disclosure for the work.
Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO), owner and operator of Finland’s Olkiluoto nuclear power plant, has announced a further delay to the start of regular electricity generation at Unit 3. Commercial operation is now projected to begin this December, rather than the previously announced September. A report from Reuters puts the date at December 10.
According to TVO, material that had detached from the steam guide plates was found in the turbine’s steam reheater last month, requiring inspection and repair work.
Advanced reactor coolants, consent-based siting, and offshore nuclear production of hydrogen are just a few of the topics included among the 74 nuclear science and technology projects awarded more than $61 million by the Department of Energy on June 17. The Nuclear Energy University Program awards, Integrated Research Projects, Nuclear Science User Facilities awards, and Infrastructure awards will support nuclear technology development, infrastructure improvements, and career opportunities at more than 40 U.S. universities in 29 states.
General Atomics’ Magnet Technologies Center in Poway, Calif., played host last week to French ambassador Philippe Étienne, the company announced June 16. During the visit, which was hosted by Vivek Lall, chief executive of the General Atomics Global Corporation, Étienne viewed ITER central solenoid modules—all destined for shipment to France—in several stages of the fabrication process.
“General Atomics and French organizations have a strong relationship in both the defense and energy sectors, as well as in the unmanned field, that meet both France’s and the United States’ important interests,” Étienne remarked during his visit.
President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) into law in November 2021. Commonly known as the “bipartisan infrastructure bill,” this legislation included significant investments in civilian nuclear energy in the U.S. along with a range of other spending initiatives. The law directs funding to preserve the operation of nuclear plants facing the prospect of early closure, demonstrate new advanced reactors, and explore the ability of nuclear energy to produce hydrogen for other energy applications. Additional incentives to retain and expand the use of nuclear energy are still being considered in Congress, but the IIJA is law, and the Department of Energy is beginning the process of implementing its key provisions.
The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) has awarded grants to Rockville, Md.–based X-energy—developer of the Xe-100 small modular reactor—and Frostburg State University for a collaborative study to determine the potential for siting an SMR at a state coal site. A joint analysis of the study’s findings is to be delivered to MEA later this year.
ANS and the Breakthrough Institute yesterday submitted a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regarding the agency’s ongoing efforts to create a regulatory infrastructure for the development and commercialization of advanced reactors, a mandate of the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act, signed into law in January 2019.
 |  |
June 15, 2022
Commissioners
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555
Subject: Joint NGO Concerns Regarding the NRC’s Regulatory Engagement in Developing a “Risk- Informed, Technology-Inclusive Regulatory Framework for Advanced Reactors” [Regulation Identifier Number RIN-3150-AK31; Docket ID NRC-2019-0062]
Dear Chairman Hanson and Commissioners Baran and Wright,
The vision for 10 CFR Part 53 began in 1999 after the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) established foundational policy for developing risk-informed, performance-based regulations.1 Twenty years later, the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA) of 2019 mandated these early aspirations be codified into a rule “to allow innovation and the commercialization of advanced nuclear reactors”2 as defined in the Act.3
We write in the interest of ensuring that Part 53 provides an efficient and effective regulatory framework for licensing safe, advanced reactors. Specifically, we urgently request the Commission to direct the NRC staff to engage stakeholders in an open and collaborative approach to developing a riskinformed, technology-inclusive framework for advanced reactors4 (the Part 53 rule) by sponsoring a multi-day workshop or series of workshops, beginning as soon as practicable. This urgency of an open, collaborative development process is growing as a window of opportunity to shape Framework B into a useful pathway for new and advanced reactor licensing will close in September 2022.
We note that the NRC staff requested (and the Commission approved) a nine-month extension “to address… significant areas of disagreement… identified by… stakeholders who are investing time and money to develop new reactor designs.”5 The NRC staff proposed a “novel, iterative process” to resolve those disagreements.6 The Congress supported this extension to achieve alignment, writing “We agree that reaching alignment with external stakeholders on the scope and details of the proposed rule is essential to ensure a better product.”7 However, a recent survey of industry stakeholders revealed a perception of limited utility of the NRC staff’s initial proposal for 10 CFR Part 53 (now Framework A).8 We believe a different, more collaborative approach is needed for Framework B.
The NRC staff is currently developing Framework B in a similar manner to Framework A. It appears to offer only an opportunity for stakeholders to comment, and not to participate substantively in comment resolution. We are concerned that simply commenting on iterative NRC staff proposals will not afford sufficient opportunity to “meaningfully engage with stakeholders [and] achieve the shared goal to establish a useable rule” or allow “industry stakeholders [to] constructively contribute to the process”9 of implementing NEIMA.
Stakeholders and the NRC staff have several months to work together on a regulation that offers a viable pathway for licensing diverse reactor technologies. A substantive workshop or workshops on Framework B can be accommodated during this time if the Commission acts swiftly to make room at the table for all stakeholders to explore and formulate approaches in a collectively informed fashion with the goal of enabling deployment of safe advanced nuclear reactors in this decade. Successful workshops will require appropriate preparatory work and a willingness among all parties to consider and discuss alternative approaches and proposals. We note that industry and the NRC held three workshops during the month of May 2021 on the Technology Inclusive Content of Application Project, and those workshops were successful in developing mutual understanding in areas of disagreement and achieving alignment on many of them.
We greatly appreciate your consideration of this earnest request for collaborative participation in the development of Framework B through NRC-sponsored workshops. This level of involvement at the front end of the rule development process is vital to establishing clear licensing pathways for new reactor developers as envisioned by Congress in enacting NEIMA. We look forward to working together with the NRC staff, the nuclear industry, and other stakeholders to achieve NEIMA’s important goals.
Sincerely,
|  |
Rani L. Franovich | Steven P. Nesbit |
