NRC approves proposed decommissioning rulemaking

November 4, 2021, 12:00PMRadwaste Solutions
Wisconsin’s Kewaunee nuclear power plant, which shut down in 2013, is being transitioned to decommissioning. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday approved a proposed rule to amend its regulations for nuclear power plants that are transitioning from operations to decommissioning. After changes requested by the NRC commissioners are made by agency staff, the proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register, initiating a 75-day comment period.

Preliminary design of TRISO-X fuel facility completed

November 4, 2021, 9:30AMNuclear News

X-energy and Centrus Energy Corporation yesterday announced the completion of the preliminary design for X-energy’s TRISO-X Fuel Fabrication Facility, plus the signing of a contract for Centrus to continue its work as the project enters its next phase.

Exelon to Congress: Pass infrastructure and Build Back Better bills

November 4, 2021, 7:00AMNuclear News

Crane

Exelon, owner and operator of the nation’s largest nuclear reactor fleet, has made clear its position on the massive infrastructure and social spending bills that federal lawmakers, at this writing, continue to haggle over.

“As world leaders convene in Glasgow for COP26 to address the climate crisis, the need for America to take action has never been more urgent,” said Chris Crane, Exelon’s president and chief executive officer, on Monday. “The bipartisan infrastructure agreement and the policy framework for Build Back Better legislation will make us more competitive globally, spur innovation and support good-paying jobs, protect current and future generations from the worst impacts of climate change, and cement America’s leadership on one of the most pressing challenges—and opportunities—of our time. The time to act is now, and we encourage lawmakers to pass these critical policies into law.”

COP26 and southern Scotland receive cleanest power in the U.K.

November 3, 2021, 3:00PMANS Nuclear Cafe

Nuclear power provided about 70 percent of the electricity for the COP26 meeting in Glasgow on Tuesday, according to data from National Grid’s Carbon Intensity API.

Nuclear output from the Torness and Hunterston B power plants, supported by wind power, gave the southern Scotland region, which includes Glasgow, the lowest carbon electricity in the United Kingdom. Other parts of the country, which lack nuclear and renewable capacity, had to burn coal and gas to meet most of their electricity demand.

U.S., Romania team up to build SMR plant

November 3, 2021, 12:05PMNuclear News
Artist rendering of a NuScale SMR plant.

On the sidelines of the COP26 Conference in Glasgow yesterday, John Kerry, the Biden’s administration’s special presidential envoy for climate, joined Romanian president Klaus Iohannis to announce plans to build a first-of-a-kind small modular reactor plant in Romania. The SMR technology is to be provided by NuScale Power, based in Portland, Ore.

The Economist on nuclear: “France says it is green. Germany says it isn’t. France will win.”

November 3, 2021, 9:30AMANS Nuclear Cafe
(Source: Peter Schrank/The Economist)

“Where nuclear power was once a source of unity for Europe, today it is a source of discord.” So states The Economist’s October 30 “Charlemagne” column—a regular source of commentary on European politics in the weekly publication—before deftly dissecting nuclear power’s continental divide and picking a winner.

The big nuclear world

November 3, 2021, 7:01AMANS NewsSteven P. Nesbit

Steven P. Nesbit

As I write this column, it’s late September, and I’m sitting in Dulles Airport waiting for my connecting flight back to Charlotte from Vienna, Austria, where I attended the 65th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency. It was quite an experience, and I want to share a few observations with you. But first, let me provide some background on the IAEA, which is perhaps not as well-­known to Americans as to those in other countries.

The IAEA was established in 1957 within the United Nations family and as an outgrowth of President Dwight Eisenhower’s famous 1953 “Atoms for Peace” speech. It is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field. The objectives of the IAEA’s dual mission—to promote and control the use of the atom—are defined in Article II of the IAEA Statute.

The man held responsible for the Chernobyl accident has died

November 2, 2021, 3:41PMANS Nuclear Cafe

Bryukhanov

Viktor Bryukhanov, the man blamed for the Chernobyl disaster, has died at age 85.

Bryukhanov was in charge of the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine when the devastating accident occurred in 1986. Afterward, he was held responsible and was imprisoned.

Bryukhanov's death, on October 13 in Kiev, Ukraine, was announced by a representative of the now-closed nuclear plant, according to a report in the New York Times. He had suffered from Parkinson’s disease, in addition to having had several strokes following his retirement in 2015.

The sentencing: In 1987, Bryukhanov was found guilty of gross violation of safety regulations, creating conditions that led to the steam explosion that released a radioactive dust cloud into the atmosphere. Reports also mentioned that he failed to ensure correct and firm leadership in the difficult conditions of the accident and displayed irresponsibility and inability to organize. He was sentenced to 10 years in a labor camp along with a five-year sentence for abuse of power, which ran concurrently.

ANS urges COP26 to recognize nuclear energy’s climate role

November 2, 2021, 12:00PMANS NewsCraig Piercy

On behalf of over 10,000 nuclear engineers, scientists, and technologists, the American Nuclear Society urges COP 26 delegates to insist that any agreement arising from COP26 include a strong role for nuclear technology in achieving carbon reduction targets.

Deep decarbonization and electrification of the global economy will require the increased availability of firm, “dispatchable” zero-carbon energy technologies. Nuclear energy is the only energy source with a proven track record of producing firm, zero-carbon energy at the scale needed to meet global goals. Indeed, it’s increasingly clear that achieving net-zero worldwide carbon emissions is simply not feasible without a significant expansion of carbon-free nuclear energy worldwide.

Study finds major roles for Westinghouse microreactor in Canada

November 2, 2021, 9:30AMANS Nuclear Cafe
eVinci micro reactor core, (Illustration: Westinghouse)

A recently completed feasibility study by Westinghouse Electric Company and Bruce Power concludes that the eVinci microreactor is capable of providing cost-competitive clean energy to decentralized, off-grid markets in Canada.

How is technology changing the field of environmental remediation?

November 2, 2021, 7:00AMNuclear News

For U.S. nuclear plants now undergoing decommissioning and those about to begin the process, environmental remediation has remained relatively consistent on the nuclear side with respect to contaminated soil and groundwater cleanup. However, non-­radiological chemical remediation has been shifting as new and emerging compounds are getting attention from the public and from the Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies.

From the pages of Nuclear News : Industry update

November 1, 2021, 3:01PMNuclear News

Here is a recap of industry happenings over the course of the past month:

ADVANCED REACTORS MARKETPLACE

Terrestrial Energy and Cameco examine partnership for deploying IMSR Generation IV nuclear power plants

  • Terrestrial Energy and Cameco Corporation have signed a non-binding and non-exclusive memorandum of understanding to examine potential partnership opportunities to deploy Terrestrial Energy’s Integrated Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) Generation IV nuclear power plants in North America and worldwide. The partnership would also evaluate possible opportunities for the supply of uranium, fuel, and other services. As part of these activities, the companies are investigating the potential of Cameco’s Port Hope uranium conversion facility in Ontario, Canada, for IMSR fuel salt supply.

EnergySolutions Models Success in D&D

November 1, 2021, 12:03PMSponsored ContentJeremy Kartchner, freelance energy writer
EnergySolutions announced the stock transfer of Kewaunee from Dominion Energy in May 2021 and is in the process of approval by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.

Contrary to what some believe, the nuclear industry, far from fading into the past, is experiencing an ongoing evolution. New generations of nuclear power technologies move closer to reality, while traditional nuclear generators are reaching retirement and entering decommissioning. As research on Small Modular Reactors (SMR) advances, prototype production is in full swing with the potential for SMRs to eventually replace the current fleet. And while technology advances, so do markets seeking to deal with the challenge of climate change in the face of the retirement of the currently operating nuclear power plants in the U.S. In an exceptional recent win for nuclear power, the Illinois legislature approved $700 million in subsidies for the Byron and Dresden nuclear stations over the next five years. It remains to be seen if this will be an isolated move in today’s nuclear plant lifecycle.

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Holtec touts advances in welding, NDE technologies

November 1, 2021, 9:30AMANS Nuclear Cafe

Holtec International said its manufacturing specialists continue to bring forth new welding and weld examination technologies. The company recently highlighted three “landmark achievements” that are transforming its manufacturing program.

In addition to manufacturing spent nuclear fuel storage and transportation casks, Holtec provides products and services to the nuclear industry, including nondestructive examination of in-service reactor components. The company is also developing its own small modular reactor, the SMR-160.

ANS publishes revised position statement on nuclear power safety

November 1, 2021, 7:00AMANS News

Commercial nuclear power has accumulated nearly 75 years and 19,000 reactor-years of operating experience around the globe. In that time, nuclear professionals “have developed a proven and effective state-of-the art approach to safety that is a model in any industrial setting, including in the development of next-generation nuclear technology,” states the American Nuclear Society’s Position Statement #51: Safety of Nuclear Power. The Board of Directors approved the revised position statement in October 2021, and it has just been published on the ANS website, replacing a position statement published in 2007.

STP’s Mobile Work Management platform offers innovation for efficiency

October 29, 2021, 3:59PMNuclear NewsAmanda Sitka

The STP Nuclear Operating Company operates the South Texas Project Electric Generating Station, located eight miles west of Wadsworth, Texas. One of STP’s core values is innovation—a value that is evident in the organization’s 2021 Nuclear Energy Institute Top Innovative Practice (TIP) award–winning mobile work management (MWM) platform, which strives to utilize technology to bring efficiency to the field for nuclear professionals.

DOE awards contracts for Oak Ridge, SRS work

October 29, 2021, 12:00PMRadwaste Solutions
The Defense Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. (Photo: DOE)

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) has awarded Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC), of Lynchburg, Va., the Integrated Mission Completion Contract at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. The single-award, master indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract has an estimated contract ceiling of approximately $21 billion over a 10-year ordering period, with cost-reimbursement and fixed-price task orders to define the contract performance.

ANS member Hart featured in Argonne Voices post

October 29, 2021, 9:30AMANS News

Hart

A recent podcast style conversation on YouTube spotlights the journey of J’Tia Hart, an ANS member with an uncommon and inspiring story. The video is part of the Argonne Voices series, an oral history project recording the stories of the people behind the science at the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. This year is Argonne’s 75th anniversary.

Background: Hart, who recently moved from Argonne to the DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory, is a nuclear engineer and was the program initiator for Argonne’s Women in Science and Technology–also known as WIST–one of the lab’s employee resource groups.

Hart’s friend Amanda Joyce interviewed Hart in the YouTube post. Joyce is a cybersecurity expert who runs the DOE’s annual CyberForce Competition.

Radioisotopes: The unseen infrastructure

October 29, 2021, 7:00AMANS Nuclear CafeMatt Reiter

What is one thing that bridges, oil wells, and cancer treatment therapies have in common? Reliance on radioisotopes. Radioisotopes have played an important role in our society for decades, yet their benefits often go unrecognized. As Congress makes progress on new bipartisan infrastructure legislation, radioisotopes are essential to bringing new infrastructure projects to life.

UCOR awarded $8.3 billion Oak Ridge cleanup contract

October 28, 2021, 3:01PMRadwaste Solutions
EM crews demolish Building 9207 in the former Y-12 Biology Complex at Oak Ridge earlier this year. (Photo: DOE)

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) has awarded a 10-year, $8.3 billion contract to United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), of Germantown, Md., for the cleanup of the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, including the Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP).