Elon Musk: Shutting down nuclear plants is “total madness”

March 31, 2022, 12:00PMANS Nuclear Cafe

Musk

In a wide-ranging interview published by Business Insider on March 26, Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla and SpaceX, repeatedly referred to efforts to shut down nuclear power plants as “crazy” and “madness.” Musk spoke with Mathias Döpfner, chief executive officer of Insider’s parent company, Axel Springer. Musk also discussed his views on the war in Ukraine, climate change, space travel, self-driving cars, humanoid robots, artificial intelligence, religion, and philanthropy.

Germany's mistakes: In discussing the Ukraine conflict and Western Europe’s dependence on Russian energy supplies, Döpfner referred to “strategic mistakes that Europe, particularly Germany, has made [such as] the dropout of nuclear energy in 2011.”

Musk responded, “It is very important that Germany will not shut down its nuclear power stations. I think this is extremely crazy.”

EnergySolutions and RSCS team up to decommission NS Savannah

March 31, 2022, 9:30AMRadwaste Solutions
NS Savannah at Pier 13 in Baltimore, Md., in 2012.

Utah-based EnergySolutions is joining Radiation Safety and Control Services (RSCS) in the decommissioning of NS Savannah, the world’s first nuclear-powered merchant ship, currently berthed at the Port of Baltimore in Maryland. EnergySolutions announced on March 29 that a joint venture of the two companies, Nuclear Ship Support Services, is conducting the final phases of decommissioning the ship’s reactor, which was defueled in 1975 but remains in place.

New report focuses on ESG frameworks and nuclear financial investments

March 31, 2022, 7:12AMANS Nuclear Cafe

The Nuclear Innovation Alliance released a report on March 25 titled “ESG Frameworks and Advanced Nuclear Energy,” discussing how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) frameworks affect advanced nuclear energy technologies. The report, as described in an NIA press release, “includes potential actions the nuclear industry and financial community should consider to promote consistent analytical treatment of nuclear energy within ESG frameworks and efficient access to capital for nuclear investments.”

Need for consistent frameworks: Judi Greenwald, the NIA executive director, explained the need for consistent ESG frameworks, noting that “[n]uclear energy technologies are particularly affected by the inconsistent treatment of some frameworks regarding the ESG attributes of energy technologies. . . . As frameworks are standardized and embedded in policy, if their flaws are not addressed, advanced nuclear energy could be left at a disadvantage in terms of access to capital.”

Holtec and Hyundai to cooperate on D&D projects

March 30, 2022, 3:07PMRadwaste Solutions
Holtec president and chief executive officer Kris Singh (left) and Hyundai E&C president and CEO Yoon Young-Joon at the teaming agreement signing ceremony. (Photo: Holtec)

Holtec International and Hyundai Engineering & Construction have signed an agreement to cooperate in the area of nuclear plant decontamination and decommissioning.

Under the teaming agreement, Hyundai E&C will participate in D&D activities at Holtec-owned decommissioning sites in the United States to build its capabilities and experience in preparation for decommissioning projects in South Korea, which will be undertaken by the two companies. The agreement also provides for the two companies to further expand their cooperation internationally.

Wars are dangerous, reactors much less so

March 30, 2022, 11:55AMANS Nuclear CafeJacopo Buongiorno, Steven Nesbit, Malcolm Grimston, Lake Barrett, Matthew L. Wald, and Andrew Whittaker
The six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine.

On March 4, Russian forces set fire to an office building at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, raising fears about reactors being damaged. The attack stirred up memories of the Chernobyl accident in 1986, a reaction that longtime nuclear opponents are taking advantage of to rekindle their cause. However, the reactors operating in Ukraine today are profoundly different from the design used at Chernobyl, and are, by nature, difficult to damage.

Let’s set the record straight and explain the risks of nuclear power plants in war zones.

Plutonium transported from IAEA laboratory to Oak Ridge

March 30, 2022, 9:46AMNuclear News

Truck loaded with nuclear cargo before departing the IAEA’s Nuclear Material Laboratory. (Photo: NNSA).

Plutonium from an International Atomic Energy Agency laboratory in Austria has been removed to the United States, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration announced on March 29.

The plutonium was shipped from the IAEA’s Nuclear Material Laboratory in Seibersdorf, Austria, to Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, where it will be used in sealed sources for nonproliferation research and development.

Safeguards: The plutonium included in the shipment represents approximately 15 years of accumulated residue from inspection samples collected in support of the IAEA’s safeguards mission, according to the NNSA. Technical experts from ORNL and Savannah River National Laboratory worked with a team from the IAEA for several years to complete all activities required for the safe and secure transportation of the material to Oak Ridge.

Sen. Manchin tours ITER facility

March 30, 2022, 7:00AMNuclear News
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (center) tours the ITER site with ITER chief scientist Tim Luce. (Photo: ITER)

We cannot eliminate our way to net zero,” said Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) during a visit to the ITER site in Cadarache, France, on March 25. “We have to innovate, not eliminate, our way to carbon neutrality."

Manchin was joined by Ali Nouri, assistant secretary for congressional and intergovernmental affairs at the Department of Energy; Kathy McCarthy, director of the U.S. ITER Project Office; and other U.S. officials for a tour of the ITER Assembly Hall led by ITER chief scientist Tim Luce, head of the ITER Science and Operations Domain. The visit was described in an ITER Newsline article published on March 28.

FY 2023 budget request released; DOE funding hiked 7 percent

March 29, 2022, 3:00PMNuclear News

The White House yesterday released its $5.8 trillion fiscal year 2023 budget proposal, just two weeks after President Biden signed into law H.R. 2471, the FY 2022 omnibus bill that funds the federal government through September 30.

China’s second Hualong One reactor starts commercial operation

March 29, 2022, 12:00PMNuclear News
The Fuqing nuclear power plant. (Image: CNNC)

The Fuqing nuclear plant’s Unit 6, one of two Chinese-designed and -developed Hualong One reactors at the site, has entered commercial operation, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced on March 25. The milestone was reached some 14 months after the reactor’s twin, Fuqing-5, became the first Hualong One in the world to enter commercial operation.

Also known as the HPR1000, the Hualong One is a 1,000-MWe Generation III pressurized water reactor that incorporates design elements of CNNC’s ACP1000 and China General Nuclear Power Group’s ACPR1000+.

More big-tech billionaires backing next-gen nuclear startups

March 29, 2022, 9:29AMANS Nuclear Cafe
Data from research firm PitchBook show a spike in nuclear investment. (Graph: Bloomberg)

The trend of big-tech billionaires of Silicon Valley investing in next-generation nuclear energy startup companies continues. In a March 22 article on the Bloomberg website, Lizette Chapman, of the site’s venture capital group, writes that these investors view nuclear power as “a solution to both cutting carbon emissions and weaning the world off now-controversial Russian gas.”

Remediation of two Kyrgyz uranium legacy sites completed

March 29, 2022, 7:02AMRadwaste Solutions
A view of the village of Min Kush in central Kyrgyzstan. (Photo: EBRD)

The remediation of two former Soviet-era uranium mining sites in Kyrgyzstan has been completed on schedule and below budget, despite difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced on March 28.

Second UAE reactor starts commercial operation

March 28, 2022, 2:46PMNuclear News
Unit 2 at the UAE’s Barakah nuclear plant. (Photo: ENEC)

Unit 2 at the United Arab Emirates’ Barakah nuclear power plant has entered commercial operation, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) announced on March 24. Unit 2 adds an additional 1,400 MW of zero-carbon emission electricity to the UAE’s national grid, bringing the total amount of electricity produced at Barakah to 2,800 MW.

U.S., Philippines agree to boost nuclear cooperation

March 28, 2022, 12:07PMNuclear News
U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security Bonnie Jenkins (left) and Philippine energy undersecretary Gerardo D. Erguiza Jr. (center) sign a memorandum of understanding on nuclear cooperation at the State Department. Looking on (right) is Philippine ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez. (Photo: Philippine Embassy, Washington, D.C.)

The United States and the Philippines recently signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic civil nuclear cooperation to help boost the development of the latter’s nuclear energy program.

Opinion: Governors must stop “superstitious opposition to nuclear energy” to achieve climate goals

March 28, 2022, 9:12AMANS Nuclear Cafe
The Palisades plant near Covert, Mich. (Photo: Entergy)

“Many states have made carbon dioxide–reduction plans with no hope of success. But if they want to meet even a portion of those goals, they must put nuclear power back on the table.” So opined Tim Cavanaugh, senior editor at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, in an essay published by The Hill on March 23.

Researchers studying seismo-acoustic data application for nuclear nonproliferation

March 28, 2022, 7:09AMANS Nuclear Cafe
Aerial view of the High Flux Isotope Reactor. (Photo: ORNL)

The nonproliferation-related monitoring of nuclear reactor operations received a boost from a new study focusing on the use of seismic and acoustic data for such purposes, ScienceDaily reported last week. The study, conducted by investigators at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was published March 9 in the journal Seismological Research Letters.

BATS Part III: Carrying out phase 3 of the WIPP brine availability test in salt

March 25, 2022, 4:02PMRadwaste SolutionsMollie Rappe
Sandia National Laboratories researchers Melissa Mills, left, and Kristopher Kuhlman peer through a WIPP salt sample.

Last fall, scientists from Sandia, Los Alamos, and Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories began the third phase of a years-long experiment to understand how salt and very salty water behave near hot nuclear waste containers in a salt-bed repository. Initiated in 2017, the Brine Availability Test in Salt (BATS) project is part of a spent nuclear fuel research campaign within the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE).

ČEZ launches tender for Czech nuclear new build

March 25, 2022, 11:59AMNuclear News
Czech prime minister Petr Fiala and ČEZ CEO Daniel Beneš (foreground, third and fourth from left, respectively). (Photo: ČEZ)

In keeping with the ringing endorsement of nuclear energy it gave in January, the Czech Republic continues moving forward with plans for new reactor construction.

Corrosion resistance found for two fusion reactor structural materials

March 25, 2022, 9:24AMANS Nuclear Cafe

Findings regarding the corrosion resistance of two promising structural materials for fusion reactors were recently reported by ScienceDaily. The research, published in the April 1 issue of Corrosion Science, was conducted by a team led by Masatoshi Kondo of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The researchers describe details of the high-temperature compatibility of the two materials with the liquid breeding blanket (BB) surrounding the reactor core.

Update on Ukraine

March 25, 2022, 7:10AMNuclear News

International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Wednesday that he remains “gravely concerned” about Ukraine’s nuclear sites amid the ongoing Russian invasion and stressed the urgency of reaching an agreement on a framework that would enable his agency to provide technical assistance to ensure the safe and secure operation of those facilities.

60 years of headlines from the Advanced Test Reactor

March 24, 2022, 3:01PMANS Nuclear Cafe
Cover of the April 1962 issue of Nuclear News (left), ATR core diagram appearing in October 1969 issue of Nuclear News (center), and cover of the October 1969 issue of Nuclear News (right).

The Department of Energy and Idaho National Laboratory announced this week that the sixth major core overhaul of the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) is complete, after an 11-month outage that began in April 2021. The ATR was built as a key piece of mission support for U.S. Navy programs and first reached full power in 1969. Today it remains “the world’s largest, most powerful and flexible materials test reactor,” in the words of INL—quite a feat for a reactor that was planned over 60 years ago.