9 November 2020
| NEW NUCLEAR: Belarusian President celebrates start-up of new reactor |
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Belarusian
President Alexander Lukashenko has inaugurated the country's first nuclear power
reactor. Lukashenko visited the site in Ostrovets on 7 November, where he witnessed
the increase in the generating capacity of unit 1 to 400 MW. The unit, which was
connected to the grid five days ago, is the first of the VVER-1200 design to be built outside Russia.
"Is the area of the construction and maintenance
site larger than the plant itself? I had the impression that it is almost twice
as large," Lukashenko said, according to a statement on the president's website.
Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich told him
that 130 different buildings and structures had been constructed and covered an
area of more than 100 hectares. "With the launch of the first unit, 88 facilities
will be commissioned, with the launch of the second one - 42," he added.
At the BelNPP training centre, where the President
was briefed on work to commission the plant and its integration into the country's
economy, he said the plant's start-up was "a historic moment" for the country.
Karankevich said the plant will produce about
18 TWh annually and enable Belarus to replace about 4.5 billion cubic meters of
natural gas per year, save more than USD500 million and reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by more than 7 million tonnes per year.
“The lifespan of the plant is 60 years with the possibility of extension
to 100 years," the minister added. In total, more than 2500 specialists will work
at the Belarusian nuclear power plant, about 60 of them from Russia and Ukraine
with experience in working at nuclear power plants.
Lukashenko discussed the prospects of cooperation with Russia in nuclear
energy with Aleksey Likhachov, the director general of Rosatom, who also attended
the president's visit to the plant. Likhachov proposed the creation of a Rosatom
subsidiary in Belarus. The possible construction of additional units at the plant
and the launch of an energy-intensive manufacturing base in the region were also
touched upon. In addition, Rosatom, together with the Kurchatov Institute, offered
the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences to build a research reactor.
"The launch of the nuclear power plant will
open up new opportunities for the national economy and will allow Belarus to develop
other sectors such as electric transport. However, it is important to create our
own battery," Lukashenko said. "As soon as we design our own battery for electric
vehicles we will fully switch to electric [transport], ahead of other countries,"
he added. Another priority, he said, is converting residential heating to electricity.
Speaking to reporters during the visit, Lukashenko
said opposition to the Belrusian plant by neighbouring countries was "just envy
and competition". He added: "These neighbours are 10 years behind us in NPP construction.
We're ahead of them, and they should admit it."
Construction of the Ostrovets plant has spurred the development of other
sectors, especially the construction industry and the building materials sector,
he said. It will also boost the development of environmentally friendly transport,
and give the country an opportunity to reduce its consumption of natural gas.
"Many large sectors of the economy are moving
forward. We have invested almost USD7 billion in our economy. If we decide to
build the second plant, this will be a good stimulus for the development of the
economy; a locomotive that will create momentum for many sectors of the economy," he said.
In a separate statement, Rosatom said the
unit will enter the trial operation stage in late November-early December. Commercial
operation is scheduled for the first quarter of 2021.
Rosatom subsidiary Atomenergomash is the supplier of key equipment for
the nuclear island for the Belarusian NPP. Its fuel assemblies were manufactured
by TVEL at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant, with enrichment level of between 1.3% and 4.4%. |
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| NEW NUCLEAR: Contract for first two Columbia class submarines for US Navy |
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The
US Navy has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a USD9.5 billion contract modification
option for construction and testing of the first two Columbia class nuclear-powered
submarines, as well as associated design and engineering support. Electric Boat
- a wholly owned subsidiary of aerospace and defence firm General Dynamics - is
the prime contractor on the Columbia programme, which will replace the
aging Ohio class of ballistic missile submarines.
The US Department of Defense said the modification
to the integrated product and process development contract supports the fiscal
2021 construction start of the lead ship (SSBN 826) and advance procurement, advance
construction, coordinated material buys and full construction of the follow hull
(SSBN 827) in fiscal 2024. Work is expected to be completed by April 2030.
Electric Boat will perform about 78% of the
construction of the Columbia class and recently shifted the programme
to full-scale construction at the company's manufacturing complex in Quonset Point,
Rhode Island. Construction of four of the six 'supermodules' will take place at
Electric Boat's Quonset Point facility. The supermodules will then be transported
by barge to the company's Final Test and Assembly facility in Groton, Connecticut,
where the components will be assembled into a complete submarine in a facility
now under construction specifically for the Columbia class.
At 170 metres long, with a displacement of
nearly 21,000 tonnes, the submarines of the Columbia class will be the
largest ever built by the USA. It will be constructed with a life-of-ship reactor
resulting in a shorter mid-life maintenance period. As a result, strategic nuclear
deterrence requirements can be met with a smaller overall force structure of 12 Columbia class
submarines, compared to fourteen Ohio class submarines, saving over
USD40 billion in acquisition and operational costs, the US Navy said.
General Dynamics recently reported that the
design maturity for Columbia was almost 90% complete, nearly twice the
level of design completion of the lead Virginia class submarine
when it started construction. |
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| REGULATION & SAFETY: European project to bolster earthquake protection |
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A
new EU-funded project aims to improve confidence in nuclear safety by advancing
the approach to seismic safety assessments for nuclear power plants. The 'methods
and tools innovations for seismic risk assessment' (METIS) Horizon 2020 project
is being led by France's EDF Group.
The
METIS project was officially launched after a virtual kick off meeting on 29-30
September. The project will run from September 2020 until 2024. It has a total
budget of EUR5 million (USD6 million), of which EUR4 million is funded from the
European Commission under its Safety margins determination for design basis-exceeding external hazards programme.
The METIS project will be delivered by an
international consortium consisting of 13 European partners from France, Germany,
Italy, Greece, Slovenia, the UK and Ukraine, together with three organisations
from Japan and the USA. The consortium brings together universities, research
organisations and industrial companies.
The research will develop methods to improve the ability to define safety
limits for extremely rare events, which go beyond current design analyses. The
refined seismic probabilistic safety assessment is expected to provide meaningful
support in defining regulations for safe design of nuclear power plants, as well
as for assessing plant safety in real-time in case of temporary unavailability
of relevant safety equipment or structures.
EDF said the outcome of the project will allow for "risk-informed decision-making
in the European context and METIS will help to optimise the use of existing and
future reactors and will contribute to competitiveness of the European nuclear industry."
Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and
Innovation programme ever with nearly EUR80 billion of funding available over
seven years (2014 to 2020). It is the financial instrument for Innovation Union,
a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe's global competitiveness. |
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| NEW NUCLEAR: Rolls-Royce and ČEZ to explore SMR deployment |
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British
engineering company Rolls-Royce and Czech utility ČEZ have signed a Memorandum
of Understanding to explore the potential for small modular reactors in the Czech
Republic. Rolls-Royce is leading the UK SMR Consortium, which also includes Assystem,
Atkins, BAM Nuttall, Jacobs, Laing O’Rourke, National Nuclear Laboratory, Nuclear
Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and TWI. ČEZ has already entered into
similar agreements with NuScale and GE Hitachi.
The UK SMR concept is a standard small pressure water reactor, with a
planned operating time of 60 years and installed power of 440 MWe. The construction
period of the entire facility should not exceed five years, ČEZ noted.
Tom
Samson, interim CEO of the UK SMR Consortium, said: “The affordability and speed
with which we can assemble the entire power station will no doubt make it a very
attractive option for ČEZ as it looks to its future reliable low-carbon energy supply."
Daniel Beneš, chairman of ČEZ added: "New
energy solutions and technologies play an important role in our business and we
have been focusing on small modular reactors for quite some time now, especially
in our top research company UJV Řež. In the future, they can be an important
alternative that we cannot ignore."
ČEZ
operates six units at its Dukovany and Temelín nuclear power plants, which produce
more than a third of all electricity in the Czech Republic. ČEZ subsidiary Elektrárna
Dukovany II is currently working on the construction of a new unit at the Dukovany
site. It intends to operate the existing units for 60 years.
Bohdan Zronek, a director of ČEZ's Nuclear Energy
Division, said: "Although we are working intensively on a new reactor unit at
Dukovany, we are involved in these projects with a view to further development
of nuclear energy, whose position in the energy mix of our company will continue to grow." |
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IN OTHER NEWS:
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US president-elect Joe Biden has
published his priorities on climate
change, including investment in the power sector and innovation. His future administration
would "move ambitiously to generate clean, American-made electricity to achieve
a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035" and "drive dramatic cost reductions
in critical clean energy technologies, including battery storage, negative emissions
technologies, the next generation of building materials, renewable hydrogen, and
advanced nuclear - and rapidly commercialise them, ensuring that those new technologies
are made in America".
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China National Nuclear Corporation
on 5 November inaugurated a new business unit - Zhongyuan Operation and Maintenance
Overseas Engineering Company Limited - to provide overseas operation and maintenance
services. Based in Shanghai, Zhongyuan O&M was jointly funded and established
by CNNC subsidiaries China Zhongyuan Engineering Company, China Nuclear Power
Company, China Nuclear Environmental Protection Company and China Nuclear Maintenance
Company. CNNC said this marks an important achievement its integration of its
internal operation and maintenance advantages and building the group's international
brand for overseas operation and maintenance.
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An amendment has been signed to
the Practical Arrangements between the International Atomic Energy Agency and
the Asian Regional Office of the Regional Cooperative Agreement, formally extending
their collaboration by an additional three years until September 2023. Organised
under the auspices of the IAEA, RCARO provides an intergovernmental framework
through which member countries in the region can promote and coordinate research,
development and training projects in nuclear science and technology.
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On behalf of the French Alternative
Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, Orano TN is organising the return of three
isotopic generators containing strontium 90 to the USA. These were used to generate
electricity to supply beacons at sea for research purposes. The three generators
were transported from CEA Saclay to Cherbourg where they were loaded on a vessel
chartered by International Nuclear Services Limited before setting out for Charleston,
South Carolina, in order to reach their final destination in a storage site in Nevada.
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9 November 2020 |
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