| NEW NUCLEAR: Hongyanhe 6 enters commissioning phase |
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Cold functional testing was recently
completed at unit 5 of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in China's Liaoning province,
China General Nuclear (CGN) announced. The ACPR-1000 reactor is scheduled to enter
commercial operation in the first half of 2022.
Cold functional tests are carried
out to confirm whether components and systems important to safety are properly
installed and ready to operate in a cold condition. They are the first comprehensive
tests to check the performance of the entire reactor. The main purpose of these
tests is to verify the leak-tightness of the primary circuit and components -
such as pressure vessels, pipelines and valves of both the nuclear and conventional
islands - and to clean the main circulation pipes.
The cold functional testing
of Hongyanhe 6 began on 19 October. After completing a series of commissioning
tests for the reactor coolant system, chemical and power control system, the primary
circuit reached the 228 bar maximum pressure platform on 25 October for pressure
holding tests. The tests were completed on 27 October. A total of 68 commissioning
tests were completed over this period. CGN said "all the data meet the design
requirements and the primary circuit hydraulic test is qualified."
Construction
of Phase I (units 1-4) of the Hongyanhe plant, comprising four CPR-1000 pressurised
water reactors, began in August 2009. Units 1 and 2 have been in commercial operation
since June 2013 and May 2014, respectively, while unit 3 entered commercial operation
in August 2015 and unit 4 in September 2016.
Phase II of the Hongyanhe plant
- units 5 and 6 - comprises two 1080 MWe CGN-designed ACPR-1000 reactors. Construction
of unit 5 began in March 2015 and that of unit 6 started in July the same year.
Cold functional testing of unit 5 began on 10 October last year, marking the start
of its commissioning phase.
In late December last year, CGN announced a change
in the schedule for starting up units 5 and 6. It said the units are now expected
to start operating in the second half of 2021 and the first half of 2022, which
is, respectively, one year and six months later than previously scheduled.
The
Hongyanhe plant is owned and operated by Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Company,
a joint venture between CGN and State Power Investment Corporation, each holding
a 45% stake, with the Dalian Municipal Construction Investment Company holding
the remaining 10%.
The ACPR-1000 - a three-loop unit with double containment
and core-catcher - was launched by CGN in November 2011. In 2012 central planners
in Beijing directed China National Nuclear Corporation and CGN, to 'rationalise'
their reactor programmes. This meant CNNC's ACP1000 and CGN's ACPR-1000 were 'merged'
into one standardised design - the Hualong One (HPR1000). Yangjiang units 5 and
6 were the first ACPR-1000 units to enter commercial operation, in July 2018 and
July 2019, respectively. The ACPR-1000 is also being built as units 5 and 6 of
the Tianwan plant. Tianwan 5 entered commercial operation in September, while
Tianwan 6 is expected to be put into commercial operation by the end of 2021. |
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| NEW NUCLEAR: Irradiation testing of IMSR moderator graphite begins |
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Terrestrial Energy and Nuclear Research
and Consultancy Group (NRG) have started a graphite irradiation testing programme
at the High Flux Reactor (HFR) in the Netherlands. This work is part of a broader
programme underway for confirmatory testing of components and systems in the Integral
Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR).
NRG, operator of the European Union-owned HFR at
Petten, is providing technical services to support Terrestrial Energy for "in-core"
materials testing and development of the IMSR power plant. The testing programme
at NRG is designed to confirm the predicted performance of selected graphite grades
throughout the seven-year cycle of the IMSR. Its scope simulates IMSR core conditions,
encompassing the full range of IMSR operating temperatures and of the neutron
flux.
The HFR has now reached full power indicating the successful start of
the test programme, Terrestrial said. The test programme involved many months
of preparation, which included test design, characterisation of the as-manufactured
graphites, analysis and development of the loading matrix. This effort utilised
the expert services of Terrestrial Energy's engineering consultant, Frazer-Nash
Consultancy.
The graphite irradiation programme aims to enable Terrestrial
to select the most suitable graphite grade for use in the IMSR reactor, as well
as qualifying graphite for IMSR use. Different graphite grades will be subjected
to neutron irradiation at elevated temperatures and characterised on a range of
material properties. The data set created will cover the lifespan of the graphite
components in the IMSR.
The collaboration between Terrestrial Energy and NRG
is part of a wider partnership between Terrestrial and the European Union's scientific
community, following a March 2018 technical services agreement with the European
Commission's Joint Research Centre in Karlsruhe, Germany to perform confirmatory
studies of the fuel and primary coolant salt mixture for the IMSR.
"Our work
with NRG at its Petten HFR facility is an important element of our overall IMSR
test programme, now well underway," said Terrestrial Energy CEO Simon Irish. "The
start of in-core irradiation tests speaks to our progress and comes after many
months of prior work."
Vinod Ramnandanlal, commercial director of NRG, added,
"We recognise the commercial capabilities of molten salt technologies and the
growing interest in their development and deployment today. We are delighted to
be supporting Terrestrial Energy as it moves forward with in-core irradiation
testing, the first developer to commence such testing."
Molten salt reactors
use fuel dissolved in a molten fluoride or chloride salt, which functions as both
the fuel (producing the heat) and the coolant (transporting the heat away and,
ultimately, to the electricity generating equipment). Terrestrial's IMSR builds
on 50 years of experience at the USA's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and integrates
the primary reactor components, including the graphite moderator, into a sealed
and replaceable reactor core unit. The IMSR uses two molten salt streams - a fuel
salt that contains the uranium and another salt to transfer heat from the reactor
to the electricity generation system.
Earlier this week, Terrestrial announced
the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory had begun detailed testing of the fuel salt for the IMSR. |
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| ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT: DOE publishes strategic framework for hydrogen effort |
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The US Department of Energy (DOE)
yesterday released its Hydrogen Program Plan to provide a strategic framework
for its hydrogen research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities.
The plan, which reinforces DOE's commitment to develop the technologies that can
enable hydrogen expansion in the USA, incorporates the RD&D efforts of multiple
DOE offices to advance the production, transport, storage, and use of hydrogen
across different sectors of the economy.
"Hydrogen is an exciting fuel source
that has the potential to integrate our nation's energy resources, but to fully
recognise its potential across the economy, we need to lower costs and see a significant
increase in hydrogen supply and demand," Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said.
"This administration is excited by the Department-wide efforts and collaborations
outlined in this Plan that will address these issues and help secure hydrogen
as an option in the nation's energy future."
According to DOE, the plan serves
as the overarching document to set the strategic direction of the Hydrogen Program,
and to complement the technical and programmatic multi-year plans from each DOE
office engaging in hydrogen RD&D activities.
Hydrogen is a versatile fuel
that offers a path to sustainable long-term economic growth, Deputy Energy Secretary
Mark Menezes and the heads of the various offices said in a message to stakeholders.
It can add value to multiple sectors of the economy, serve as a sustainable fuel
for transportation and as input to produce electricity and heat for homes and
even be exported. "But realising the true potential for hydrogen requires a commitment
to continued research and development as well as ramping up demonstrations and
deployments with the private sector to achieve scale. Unlike other fuels, hydrogen
requires more integration of the fossil, nuclear, and renewable energy systems,
and it will take an integrated approach from all energy sectors to realise the
full potential and benefits of hydrogen," they said.
The plan's strategic framework
incorporates the research, development, and demonstration efforts of the Offices
of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fossil Energy, Nuclear Energy, Electricity,
Science, and the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to advance
the production, transport, storage, and use of hydrogen.
"For decades, DOE
has supported the development of technologies to complement the production of
hydrogen fuel from our traditional sources," Menezes said. "The RD&D activities
outlined in the Plan will contribute to this important DOE-wide effort to support
our all-of-the-above energy strategy."
A key aspect of the strategy is to enable
hydrogen production from a diverse array of low-carbon domestic energy resources,
including renewables, nuclear energy, and fossil fuels (with carbon capture, utilisation
and storage - CCUS).
Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal said
the programme plan allows DOE to streamline its efforts around hydrogen R&D.
"@GovNuclear [the Office of Nuclear Energy] is currently working to demonstrate
high- and low-temperature electrolysis at US reactors to produce hydrogen at scale,
which could open up new markets for the nuclear industry," she tweeted.
DOE
in October selected two projects to advance flexible operation of light-water
reactors with integrated hydrogen production systems to receive cost-shared funding
through the Office of Nuclear Energy's US Industry Opportunities for Advanced
Nuclear Technology Development funding opportunity announcement, in collaboration
with the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Hydrogen and Fuel
Cell Technologies Office.
Under one of those projects, Minneapolis-based Xcel
Energy will work with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to demonstrate a system
that uses a nuclear plant's steam and electricity to split water. The resulting
hydrogen will initially be used at the power plant, but it could eventually be
sold to other industries. The system is likely to be demonstrated at the Prairie
Island Nuclear Generating Station, INL said this week.
The second proposal
sees FuelCell Energy Inc of Connecticut team with INL to demonstrate and validate
a solid oxide electrolysis cell hydrogen production system for integration into
nuclear power plants.
A two-year project to demonstrate commercial hydrogen
production via low-temperature electrolysis at Energy Harbor's Davis-Besse Nuclear
Plant near Toledo, Ohio, received DOE funding in September 2019. Arizona Public
Service, under the same award, is also evaluating the integration of nuclear energy
with hydrogen production at the Palo Verde nuclear power plant. |
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IN OTHER NEWS:
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Kyushu Electric Power Company plans
to restart unit 1 of its Sendai nuclear power plant in Japan's Kagoshima prefecture
on 17 November, having completed construction of a bunkered back-up control centre
as required under revised safety regulations. The utility expects the 890 MWe
pressurised water reactor to reach criticality the following day, and for power
generation to resume on 19 November. Sendai 1 was the first reactor to be restarted
in August 2015. However, Kyushu took the unit offline on 16 March as it missed
the deadline for completion of the back-up control centre.
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Utah Associated Municipal Power
Systems will evaluate the possibilities of building a four or six-module plant
instead of a 12-module NuScale SMR plant in Idaho, it has told POWER
magazine. This follows NuScale's announcement earlier this week of a power uprate
to its SMR module and the launch of the smaller plant solutions which it said
offers potential customers more options in terms of size, power output, operational
flexibility, and could also reduce construction schedules and costs.
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Orano group subsidiary Orano Med
has increased its capacity for the production of the medical radioisotope lead-212
at its Maurice Tubiana Laboratory at Bessines-sur-Gartempe. The process recovers
the isotope from thorium, allowing thorium nitrate from the group's mining activities to be recycled.
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Australia's National Radioactive
Waste Management Facility is a vital piece of national infrastructure which will
support the ongoing development of the nation's nuclear medicine and research
industries, Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt said
yesterday. Pitt said the site which has been identified for the facility - Napandee,
near Kimba in South Australia - is technically suitable and the facility is broadly
supported by the community. The government will continue to progress the legislation
that will allow the facility to be delivered, he said.
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