Power & Operations


Record low uranium production noted as Congress debates reserve funding

July 21, 2020, 3:03PMNuclear News

Uranium producers around the world have suffered through years of record low uranium prices. In 2019 the United States recorded its lowest total uranium production—174,000 lb U3O8—since the U.S. Energy Information Administration began collecting data in 1949, according to the agency’s Today in Energy analysis of July 17.

U.S. uranium producers asked the federal government to come to their aid in January 2018, and President Donald Trump created the U.S. Nuclear Fuel Working Group (NFWG) in July 2019. While the NFWG issued a report in April 2020 recommending support for the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle, uranium producers are in a waiting game once again as the U.S. House of Representatives works on Fiscal Year 2021 appropriations legislation.

Fuel loading begins at Leningrad II-2

July 21, 2020, 11:57AMNuclear News

Technicians at the Leningrad II-2 plant, where fuel loading recently took place. Photo: Rosenergoatom

The first of 163 nuclear fuel assemblies has been loaded into Leningrad II-2, marking the beginning of the Generation III+ unit’s physical startup, Rosenergoatom announced on July 19.

The electric power division of Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned atomic energy corporation, Rosenergoatom is the operator of all of Russia’s nuclear power plants. The fuel for Leningrad II-2, a 1,085-MWe VVER-1200 pressurized water reactor, was manufactured at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant, part of Rosatom subsidiary TVEL.

New design center supports construction of Hinkley Point C

July 21, 2020, 9:38AMNuclear News

UK EPR Design Centre, Bristol, England. Image: EDF Energy

EDF Energy has opened a new engineering design facility in Bristol, England, to support the next phase of construction at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, the company announced on July 14. The UK EPR Design Centre at Aztec West brings together nuclear designers and engineers from EDF and British engineering partners and suppliers, including Framatome UK, Atkins, Jacobs, Assystem, Anotech, and Vulcain, the announcement said.

Thought leaders on capacity factors and nuclear power

July 21, 2020, 7:13AMNuclear NewsSherry Bernhoft, Joel Eves, Margaret Harding, Jessica Lovering, Peter Lyons, Lisa Marshall, Craig Piercy, Edward (Ted) Quinn, Kelly Rae, Randy T. Simmons, Samuel Thernstrom, Doug True, Dan Yurman

This article first appeared in the May 2020 issue of Nuclear News.

Nuclear News reached out to leaders in the nuclear community to ask them for their views on the capacity benefits that come from nuclear. We received wide-ranging responses, from how capacity factors provide examples of the excellence of nuclear professionals, to the work being done at universities to continually improve capacity factors, to the importance of adding the word “inherent” to the conversation because forms of energy are different from one another and so inherent capacity factor is a critical piece of understanding.

If you have your own thoughts about capacity factor, please let Nuclear News know. If we collect enough comments, it may result in a Part 2 of this article in the future.

Construction of UAE’s Barakah-2 completed

July 20, 2020, 10:25AMNuclear News

The UAE’s Barakah nuclear power plant. Photo: ENEC

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) has completed construction of Unit 2 at the Barakah nuclear plant, the company announced on July 14. The plant, the Arab world’s first such facility, is located in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates’ capital city.

Hot functional testing of the unit had been completed in August 2018, followed by structural integrity testing and integrated leak rate testing in March last year.

With construction complete, the unit has now been officially turned over to Nawah Energy Company, ENEC’s operating and maintenance subsidiary. According to the announcement, the focus at Barakah-2 now shifts to completing the operational readiness preparations, regulatory inspections, and international assessments required for obtaining an operating license from the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation, the UAE’s nuclear regulator.

Palo Verde takes home 2020’s top TIP

July 20, 2020, 7:01AMNuclear News

A team from Arizona Public Service’s (APS) Palo Verde nuclear plant, in Wintersburg, Ariz., has won the Nuclear Energy Institute’s “Best of the Best” Top Innovative Practice (TIP) Award for developing in-house software applications that use machine learning to automate such time-consuming tasks as screening reports or searching maintenance logs. The award was announced July 9 during NEI’s first-ever virtual TIP Awards presentation.

Remote fuel cleaning from across the globe

July 17, 2020, 3:43PMNuclear NewsRick Michal

Around the world in the mid-March time frame, conditions were changing rapidly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as was everyone’s understanding of it. For nuclear power plants, the pandemic meant dealing with new government regulations and restrictions that were put in place. “U.S.-based support of international clients was especially challenging,” said Mike Little, president and principal officer of Reston, Va.–based Dominion Engineering Inc. (DEI). “With border closures going into effect, we were not only focusing on the health and safety of our workers abroad, but also making sure they would be able to return home. Providing remote subject matter expertise from the U.S. through our international service partners was critical to successful job execution during this time.”

Record-setting run for Darlington-1

July 17, 2020, 7:32AMNuclear News

Unit 1 of Canada’s four-unit Darlington nuclear power plant, located in Clarington, Ontario, set a North American record on July 9 with 895 consecutive days of operation, according to Ontario Power Generation (OPG), the plant’s owner and operator.

The previous record of 894 days was held by Pickering-7, also part of OPG’s nuclear fleet. The reactors at the Darlington and Pickering plants are CANDU pressurized heavy-water reactors. Darlington-1, an 878-MWe PHWR, has been on line since January 26, 2018.

Vogtle site makes progress with critical testing of new units

July 16, 2020, 3:15PMNuclear News

Closed vessel testing has been completed at Vogtle-3 at the Georgia Power site near Waynesboro, Ga., the company announced on July 14. The completion of the milestone prepares Unit 3 for cold hydro testing, which is required ahead of initial fuel load.

Vogtle-3 and -4 are the first new nuclear power reactors built in the United States in the past three decades. The new units will be powered by AP1000 reactors.

White House appointee sees advanced nuclear option for Puerto Rico

July 16, 2020, 12:43PMNuclear News

All energy sources, including small modular reactors, are being considered to meet Puerto Rico’s energy needs, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Peter J. Brown said on July 15 during the second day of PR-Grid Virtual, a three-day online conference on Puerto Rico’s energy grid. Brown’s comments were quickly circulated on Twitter by people who are already working to make nuclear power a reality for Puerto Rico, including members of the Nuclear Alternative Project (NAP), a non-profit organization of Puerto Rican engineers in the nuclear industry.

Dems divided on DFC plan to lift nuclear financing ban

July 15, 2020, 12:27PMNuclear News

The nuclear community’s reaction to last month’s proposal from the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to eliminate its legacy prohibition on financing international nuclear energy projects was unsurprisingly positive (see here and here). On the negative side of things, however, was the reaction from Sens. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt) and Edward Markey (D., Mass.), expressed in a July 10 letter to the DFC.

Southern CEO tests positive for COVID-19

July 14, 2020, 7:51AMNuclear News

Fanning

Tom Fanning, president and chief executive officer of Southern Company, on July 10 announced via Twitter that he has tested positive for COVID-19. One of the largest U.S. utilities, Southern is the parent company of the owners and operators of the Farley, Hatch, and Vogtle nuclear power plants.

Also on July 10, the state of Georgia obliterated its record for the number of COVID-19 cases in a single day, reporting 4,484 new cases, topping the previous record by more than 1,000. Fanning lives in Atlanta.

French auditor puts damper on plans for new EPR projects

July 13, 2020, 3:46PMNuclear News

Citing the history of cost overruns and delays with the EPR projects at Flamanville and Olkiluoto, France’s public auditor told Électricité de France via a July 9 report that it needs to ensure financing and profitability for projects involving its proposed EPR2 reactor before moving those plans forward. The EPR2 is being designed by EDF’s Framatome unit in a bid to make a less costly version of the EPR and one that is easier to build.

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Prescription for pandemic recovery: Invest in nuclear

July 10, 2020, 7:36AMNuclear News

The World Nuclear Association (WNA) released a white paper yesterday, Building a stronger tomorrow: Nuclear power in the post-pandemic world, outlining why nuclear projects should be part of the world’s economic and employment recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the paper, recovery plans that include investment in nuclear energy could not only boost economic growth and jobs, but also fulfill climate change commitments and build a clean and resilient energy system.

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IAEA launches competition for nuclear plant innovations

July 8, 2020, 12:01PMNuclear News

The International Atomic Energy Agency has initiated a crowdsourcing competition for innovative ideas to boost the competitiveness of nuclear power plants, the agency announced on July 3. The deadline is August 15 for the submission of abstracts, which should be based on practices already in place at plants. Chosen participants will be invited to present their ideas at the annual Nuclear Operators’ Forum, to be held during the IAEA’s 64th IAEA General Conference, scheduled for September 21–25 in Vienna.

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VVER units planned for Leningrad and Smolensk

July 8, 2020, 9:50AMNuclear News

Leningrad nuclear plant. Photo: Rosenergoatom

Preparations have begun for the construction of four nuclear reactors in Russia—two VVER-1200 units at the Leningrad plant and two VVER-TOI units near the Smolensk plant, according to Rosenergoatom, a division of Russia’s state-owned atomic energy corporation Rosatom.

Rosenergoatom operates all of Russia’s nuclear power facilities. Authorization to move forward with the new-build projects was signed by Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom’s director general.

Draft appropriations bill hikes nuclear energy funding

July 7, 2020, 8:35AMNuclear News

The House Appropriations Committee yesterday released a draft of the fiscal year 2021 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies appropriations bill, calling for higher levels of funding for nuclear energy. The legislation would fund activities at the Departments of Energy and Interior, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and a number of related agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.

UK office receives site license application for Sizewell C

July 6, 2020, 2:52PMNuclear News

Artist’s rendering of the Sizewell site, with Sizewell C at right. Image: EDF Energy

The United Kingdom’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) on June 30 received a nuclear site license application from EDF Energy subsidiary NNB Generation Company (SZC) Limited to construct and operate two reactors at the Sizewell site in the county of Suffolk, northeast of London.

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