Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire: Nuclear reactor technology

Showing posts with label Nuclear reactor technology. Show all posts

Friday, December 31, 2010

Jordan Moving towards a Nuclear Future

[AMMAN] Jordan is to enter the nuclear age with the announcement on 9 December that construction of its first nuclear research and training reactor will begin by February next year.
The Jordan Centre for Nuclear Research, which will host the reactor, will be built at the Jordan University of Science and Technology, about 70 kilometres north of Amman.
Nedal Xoubi, nuclear fuel cycle commissioner of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC), told SciDev.Net that the Jordan Research and Training Reactor (JRTR) will be built at the centre at an estimated cost of US$130 million. The building's foundation was laid last month (23 November).
"The new reactor is a keystone in the nuclear infrastructure of Jordan, as a new generation of nuclear engineers and scientists will be trained in the facility," he said.
A South Korean consortium is building the five-megawatt reactor, which will be used for radioisotope production and training and is expected to be fully operational by 2015.
A full nuclear plant will follow, in line with plans to lessen Jordan's dependence on fossil fuel.
"[We want] to transform Jordan from a net energy importer to a net electricity exporter by 2030, with the aim of making low-cost power available to sustain the country's continued economic growth, and to desalinate very much-needed water," said Khalid Touqan, chairman of Jordan Atomic Energy Commission.
"The pursuit of nuclear power is of crucial importance to a country like Jordan, which imports 96 per cent of its energy at a cost of 20 per cent of its gross domestic product and which faces severe water shortages," he said, adding that the kingdom has estimated uranium oxide reserves of about 70,000 tonnes.
But Ahmad Al-Malabeh, professor of earth and environmental sciences in the Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment at the Hashemite University, said: "Having such an ambitious nuclear project requires creating a functioning system for radioactive waste management, in order to avoid an environmental disaster".
Al-Malabeh said that the JAEC should have been subject to an economic feasibility study to compare it with solar power.
"They focused on the nuclear option because of the existence of significant quantities of uranium, despite the fact that Jordan is in the solar belt, which is excellent for generating solar power."
Ahmad Alkofahi, the executive director of the Jordan Environment Society, said: "The environmental societies [of Jordan] are not against initiating a nuclear reactor, but solar and wind power should be initiated in the same way, as they are much better environmentally and economically".
By. Hanan Alkiswany
Source: SciDev

lhttp://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Jordan-Moving-towards-a-Nuclear-Future.html

Thursday, December 30, 2010

China Guangdong Nuclear Plans Two Reactors in Lufeng in Southern Province

Guangdong Nuclear to develop 2 reactors in China
China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group will construct two 1,000-megawatt reactors in Lufeng, China, to help cover the increasing demand for power in Guangdong province. The company is also carrying out studies for 25 reactors with more than 28,000 megawatts of capacity. Bloomberg

Monday, December 27, 2010

Time to go nuclear Building new generation of plants is only solution to dependency on oil

Nuclear power can reduce dependence on oil
To reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil, the U.S. needs to begin producing and using more nuclear power, according to this newspaper editorial. China is mass-producing nuclear reactors, and India says it will produce 470,000 megawatts of nuclear energy by 2050. Nuclear power can effectively replace oil better than solar and wind energy, which accounts for only 3% of today's energy use, this editorial argues. The Buffalo News (N.Y.)
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial-page/buffalo-news-editorials/article294027.ece

Friday, December 10, 2010

Assessing the seismic hazard of the central eastern United States

As the U.S. policy makers renew emphasis on the use of nuclear energy in their efforts to reduce the country's oil dependence, other factors come into play. One concern of paramount importance is the seismic hazard at the site where nuclear reactors are located.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-seismic-hazard-central-eastern-states.html

Security of Supply By Richard (Rick) Mills Ahead of the Herd As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information

Below are five examples of production shortfalls looming or already existing:

Uranium

Today, there are some 441 nuclear power reactors operating in 30 countries. These 441 reactors, with combined capacity of over 376 Gigawatts (One GWe equals one billion watts or one thousand megawatts), require 69,000 tonnes of uranium oxide (U3O8).

According to the World Nuclear Association, about 58 power reactors are currently being constructed in 14 countries. In all there are over 148 power reactors planned and 331 more proposed. Each GWe of increased capacity will require about 195 tU per year of extra mine production – three times this for the first fuel load. Let's also consider the fact that no one builds a $4 to $6-billion dollar reactor just to watch it go idle. They will order one or perhaps several year’s worth of fuel supply to guarantee it doesn’t.

In 2008, mines supplied 51,600 tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate containing 43,853 tU, which means mining supplied roughly 75% of nuclear utility power requirements. The remaining supply deficit used to be made up from stockpiled uranium held by nuclear power utilities, but their stockpiles are pretty much depleted. Mine production is now primarily supplemented by ex-military material - the Megatons to Megawatts program which ends in 2013 - the Russians have stated that the agreement will not be renewed.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Mini nuclear reactors Thinking small Nuclear power: Combining several small reactors based on simple, proven designs could be a better approach than building big ones

Dec 9th 2010 | from PRINT EDITION

WHEN the two big nuclear reactors under construction at Flamanville in France and Olkiluoto in Finland come on stream, each will boast enough electricity-generating capacity to light up a city of 1.5m. But despite the best efforts of EDF and Areva, which are building the reactors, both are behind schedule and, at over $5 billion apiece, well over budget. With results like these, it is little wonder that the vaunted “nuclear renaissance” has failed to materialise. In fact, the number of operating reactors is in decline, spurring the nuclear-power industry to look for new approaches. Rather than relying on huge, traditional reactors costing billions, it is turning to small, inexpensive ones, many of which are based on proven designs from nuclear submarines or warships.
A global race is under way to develop small-reactor designs, says Paul Genoa of the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry body in Washington, DC. He estimates that more than 20 countries have expressed serious interest in buying mini-reactors.
At least eight different approaches are being developed, mainly in America and Asia, by an army of 3,000 nuclear engineers, according to Ron Moleschi of SNC-Lavalin Nuclear, an engineering firm based in Montreal. Regulatory and licensing procedures are lengthy, so little will be built until around 2017, he says. But after that the industry is expected to take off. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimates that by 2030 at least 40 (and possibly more than 90) small reactors will be in operation. It reckons that more than half of the countries that will build nuclear plants in coming years will plump for these smaller, simpler designs. More at:

http://www.economist.com/node/17647651?story_id=17647651&fsrc=rss

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

S.Korea to build 14 new nuclear reactors by 2024

Image via Wikipediahttp://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/SKorea_to_build_14_new_nuclear_reactors_by_2024_999.html Seoul (AFP) Dec 7, 2010 South Korea said Tuesday it plans to build 14 new nuclear reactors by 2024 to help meet growing energy needs and cut dependence on fossil fuel. South Korea, which currently has 20 operational nuclear reactors, will build 14 new facilities to make atomic power the biggest source of energy by 2024, state-run Korea Power Exchange said.
As a result, nuclear energy will provide 48.5 percent of the nation's energy consumption by the target year from the current 32 percent, KPE said in a long-term national energy development plan.
Coal is currently the biggest source of energy in South Korea that meets 42 percent of the nation's energy needs.
Renewable energy sources like solar and wind power will also provide 8.9 percent of the nation's energy needs by 2024 compared with the current 1.3 percent, it said.
Asia's fourth-largest economy imports 97 percent of its energy needs from overseas and has moved to cut dependence on fossil fuels and to diversify energy sources.
In October Seoul unveiled a five-year plan to spend 36 billion dollars developing renewable energy as its next economic growth engine, with a goal to become one of the world's five top players in the sector.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Troubling birth of a nuclear plant By MICHAEL RICHARDSON

SINGAPORE — When U.S. nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker was taken to a new uranium- enrichment facility in North Korea's nuclear complex at Yongbyon last month, he was stunned by what he saw.

From an "astonishingly modern" control room at the plant, he looked down on neatly ordered arrays of 2,000 gas centrifuges. These high-speed spinning machines, each nearly two meters high and 20 centimeters in diameter, can be used to produce uranium fuel for nuclear power plants that generate electricity. They can also be adjusted to make the fissile cores of the most powerful thermonuclear weapons.

North Korean technicians showing Hecker and two colleagues the industrial-scale enrichment cascades housed in a building about 100 meters long insisted that the facility was configured to make low-enriched fuel for a small nuclear power reactor being built nearby. More at: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20101205mr.html

India racing to buy an untried reactor?

The EPR is still a reactor in the making, whose design is likely to undergo serious modification before it can be built as a series.

The announcement last week by the Finnish utility TVO of yet another year-long delay in the construction of the new Areva European Pressurised Reactor/Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR) being built at Olkiluoto in southern Finland has re-launched the controversy surrounding the world's biggest, most expensive and as yet untried nuclear reactor.

India is slated to purchase up to six of these reactors, of which the first two alone carry an estimated price tag of €11 billion. A memorandum of understanding for the sale of two EPRs was signed in 2009 and there are chances that a framework agreement will be signed during French President Nicolas Sarkozy's working visit to India which began on December 4. More at:

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article933910.ece?homepage=true

Saturday, December 4, 2010

China spending $511 billion to build up to 245 nuclear reactors

http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/12/china-spending-511-billion-to-build-up.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2Fadvancednano+%28nextbigfuture%29

China spending $511 billion to build up to 245 nuclear reactors

According to Michael Kruse, consultant on nuclear systems for Arthur D. Little, the Chinese are ready to spend $511 billion to build up to 245 reactors.

Money is not an issue, which is different from the rest of the world. The Chinese have the capacity to deliver and they are deadly serious about achieving it,” says Steve Kidd, director of strategy and research at the London-based World Nuclear Association, the industry trade group.

President Hu Jintao wants non-fossil fuels to produce 15 percent of China’s energy by 2020. Although the Chinese have spent plenty on wind turbines and solar panels, only a buildup of nuclear power can make that target reachable.

“Developing clean, low-carbon energy is an international priority,” says Zhao Chengkun, vice-president of the China Nuclear Energy Association. “Nuclear is recognized as the only energy source that can be used on a mass scale to achieve this.”

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Keeping up with China: The Economic Advantage of Molten Salt Nuclear Technology

Last Friday, Brian Wang called attention to a Boomberg's article on Chinese nuclear cost. The Bloomberg's story reported that the French designed EPR would cost 40% less to build in China that in Europe:

Areva SA said the EPR nuclear reactor costs 3 billion euros ($4 billion) to build in China, 40 percent less than the price tag Electricite de France SA has put on building one in Normandy.

Nuclear Townhall, on the 26th, called attention to the competitiveness of both the Chinese and the Russian Nuclear Industries. In addition to Russia and China, Nuclear Green has repeatedly called attention to the cost competitiveness of South Korea, and Indian nuclear technologies. The Indians especially are following a will charted path to an innovative low cost nuclear future.

American and European nuclear development can either proceed by following the cost lowering paths being pioneered in Asia, or begin to develop low cost innovative nuclear plans. Since low labor costs, represent the most significant Chinese and Indian cost advantage, it is unlikely that European and American reactor manufacturers will be able to compete with the Asians on labor costs. Labor costs for conventional reactors can be lowered by factory construction of reactor componant moduels, but the Chinese are clearly ahead of the West in that game. Yet the weakness of the Chinese system is the relatively large amount of field labor that the manufacture of large reactors requires.

The Chines system is to introduce labor saving devices where ever and when ever possible, but clearly shifting labor from the field to a factory still offers cost advantages. The more labor which can be performed in the factory, the more labor cost savings are possible. Other savings advantages are possible by simplifying reactor design, and lowering materials input. Building a reactor with less materials and fewer parts lowers nuclear costs directly and indirectly. Decreasing core size per unit of power output also can contribute a cost advantage. Direct saving relate to the cost of parts and matetials, but fewer parts and less material also means less labor is required to put things together, since there is less to put together. In addition a small reactor core structure, would, all other things being equal, require a smaller housing. Larger cores mean more structural housing expenses. More at:

http://theenergycollective.com/charlesbarton/47933/keeping-china-economic-advantage-molten-salt-nuclear-technology

NRC Grants Cooper Nuclear Station 20-Year License Renewal

NRC Grants Cooper Nuclear Station 20-Year License Renewal

The NRC has granted the 830-MW Nebraska Public Power District-owned Cooper Nuclear Station an extended 20-year operating license, PowerGen Worldwide reported. The NRC said that "after careful review of the plant's safety systems and specifications, the staff concluded that there were no safety concerns that would preclude license renewal and that the applicant had effectively demonstrated the capability to manage the effects of plant aging." The plant went online in 1972, the Associated Press reported.

Associated Press via NTV (Kearney, Neb.), PowerGen Worldwide, Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star, Nov. 30.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

China Builds Nuclear Reactor for 40% Less Than Cost in France, Areva Says

http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/11/china-builds-nuclear-reactor-for-40.html

4Share

Areva SA said the EPR (1700MWe) nuclear reactor costs 3 billion euros ($4 billion) to build in China, 40 percent less than the price tag Electricite de France SA has put on building one in Normandy.

Chinese nuclear builders’ grasp of the technology is “very worrying” for European companies, Areva Chief Executive Officer Anne Lauvergeon told a hearing at the French Senate today in Paris. She also said Chinese companies are more efficient.

I translate "very worrying" by the CEO of the French nuclear company as "Areva will be toast when China starts exporting". China 40% price advantage is for Areva most advance 1700 MWe version. China has even more price advantage for the 1000MWe version of the 900MWe french reactor.

Talks on developing two more of the reactors in China in addition to two already under construction are “near completion,” Lauvergeon said. Areva is also in the final stages of negotiating the sale of two EPRs in India, plus a nuclear fuel contract, she said.

Nuclear Townhall talks about China nuclear advantage and Russian plans.

China and Russia have agreed to drop the U.S. dollar in their bi-lateral trade, and China has revealed ambitious plans to start exporting reactors by 2013 and develop an integral fast breeder program that will complete its nuclear fuel cycle.

All this has extraordinarily implications for America’s economic future. Approximately 40 percent of the dollar’s value comes from its use as the world’s international currency. Yet inflation and U.S. debt have eroded that value and China and Russia are catching on. If the world follows their lead in dropping the dollar, every American will lose 40 percent of his or her net worth overnight.

Chinese technicians have already reversed-engineered Areva 900-MW reactors built at Daya Bay into the CPR-1000 and have 16 under construction, the first scheduled to open next September. Zhang said that once certain intellectual property issues are cleared up with Areva, Guangdong would begin exporting, probably by 2013. Chinese engineers are already doing the same thing with the Westinghouse AP1000 as well.

State-run EDF has a 30 percent stake in Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Co. to develop and operate two 1,700- megawatt EPRs with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group. Areva, also run by the government, is supplying components.

Construction of Taishan 1 began in November 2009 while Taishan 2 started in April. The reactors are expected to start at the end of 2013 and 2014, according to EDF.

The EPR being developed in Finland will take 86 months to complete due to the country’s “very demanding regulator and a complicated” client, Lauvergeon said. The Flamanville reactor in Normandy will take 71 months while Taishan 1 and 2 are targeting 46 months, she said.

Taishan 1 is on schedule and Taishan 2 is ahead, according to Lauvergeon. Progress at Taishan is being kept six months behind Flamanville deliberately in order to benefits from experience

India nuclear plant with French reactors gets green go-ahead

http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/India_nuclear_plant_with_French_reactors_gets_green_go-ahead_999.html

New Delhi (AFP) Nov 28, 2010 India on Sunday gave environmental clearance for a nuclear power plant to be built in collaboration with French firm Areva, days ahead of President Nicolas Sarkozy's scheduled visit to New Delhi. Environment minister Jairam Ramesh said the go-ahead for the Jaitapur plant in Maharashtra state, which will use nuclear reactors supplied by Areva, was granted with 35 conditions and safeguards.
"From an environmental point of view, nuclear energy is a cleaner option than coal," Ramesh said in a press release, adding that he has called for further studies into the power station's potential environmental impact.
A 34-year-old embargo on civilian nuclear exchanges with India, imposed in 1974 following a series of Indian nuclear tests, was lifted in 2008 after years of negotiations between India and the United States.
France has since signed an agreement with India covering nuclear energy cooperation, while Russia has also signed a similar accord.
The power station will be situated in the coastal region of Maharashtra, home to India's financial capital of Mumbai, and has faced protests from locals and anti-nuclear activists.
Ramesh said nuclear energy accounted for about 2.9 percent of India's energy generation, and the government wanted to increase the figure to six percent by 2020 and possibly 13 percent by 2030.
Some local media reported that Areva and the Indian state-run Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) would sign the agreement during Sarkozy's trip to Delhi.
The French president's itinerary has yet to be confirmed but he is expected to arrive in India at the end of next week.
The NPC predicts the first reactor, costing an estimated four to six billion euros (5.3-7.9 billion dollars) will be commissioned in 2017-18.
The proposed project will eventually have six reactors generating 1,650 megawatts each. It has several more government regulatory hurdles to overcome before being given the final go-ahead.
India is dependent on oil imports for 70 percent of its fast-expanding energy needs, and is on the hunt for new sources to fuel its rapid growth.

Iran: Bushehr Nuclear Reactor Fully Loaded -- Voice of America

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Iran-Bushehr-Nuclear-Reactor-Fully-Loaded-110905769.html
Iran's nuclear chief says the country's first nuclear reactor is fully loaded and could be operational within months.

Ali Akbar Salehi told state-run television Saturday workers had finished loading fuel rods into the core of the Bushehr nuclear plant, and that it could start generating electricity by February.

Salehi said officials are just waiting for the water in the reactor to heat to the right temperature before moving ahead.

Read more ....

More News On Iran's Nuclear Program

Iran Says Its First Nuclear Power Reactor Will Start Operating by January -- Bloomberg
Iranian nuclear plant nears national electricity production -- CNN
Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant to join national power grid in two months -- Xinhuanet
Iran says first nuclear plant begins operating -- AFP
Reactor started at Bushehr nuclear power plant -- ITAR-TASS
Iranian Nuclear Plant is Powering Up -- Arutz Sheva
Iran Nuclear Power Plant Completes Fueling -- CRIEnglish

Monday, November 22, 2010

More private firms want partnerships at SRS Energy park, reactors, synthetic fuels on the table

Although two private firms have announced intentions to develop and test a new line of small, modular nuclear power reactors at Savannah River Site, at least two more companies are exploring similar efforts. More at:
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/government/2010-11-19/more-private-firms-want-partnerships-srs?v=1290206519

Friday, November 19, 2010

UAE Ambassador to IAEA pursues development of nuclear energy

By Dan Yurman
"In December 2009, the United Arab Emirates awarded a $20 billion contract to a consortium of South Korean firms to build four nuclear reactors on a remote desert location along the Persian Gulf. The consortium, led by state-owned Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), is committed to having the first reactor in revenue service by 2017. The change from fossil (natural gas) to uranium as a fuel source comes not a moment too soon as the UAE is now a net importer of gas for electricity generation and desalinization." More at:
http://ansnuclearcafe.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/uae-ambassador-to-iaea-pursues-development-of-nuclear-energy/

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

GE Expects India Sales to Grow 30% Annually

NEW DELHI—General Electric Co. expects to grow its business in India by 30% annually over the next several years as Asia's third-largest economy offers huge opportunities in transportation, nuclear reactors and many other sectors, the chief executive of its local unit said Monday.
"We are huge optimists on India overall," John L. Flannery told The Wall Street Journal in an interview. "The country has incredible depth and breadth and momentum behind it...The government has done a great job in developing markets, while private companies here are phenomenal." More at:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704584504575615963770507630.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

Monday, November 15, 2010

Nuclear Industry Can Lead a Revival in Skilled Labor and Manufacturing in the United States by Rod Adams

The Nuclear Energy Institute, the American Nuclear Society and the North American Young Generation in Nuclear have been investing time and money into focused workforce development programs for several years. The people leading the effort are taking the action to ensure that there are educated and trained people who are ready to meet the challenge of continuing to reliably operate and maintain our existing fleet of 104 nuclear reactors at the same time that we are reestablishing our nuclear plant manufacturing and construction industry.http://atomicinsights.blogspot.com/2010/11/nuclear-industry-can-lead-revival-in.html

Sunday, November 14, 2010

France, China to form nuclear power partnership

France, China agree to build reactors in common
* China signs $20 bln of business contracts in France

PARIS, Nov 4 (Reuters) - France and China have agreed to form a strategic partnership in civilian nuclear power that ranges from building reactors in common to exploiting uranium mines, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday.
His announcement came after a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, in France for a three-day visit, and the signing of a slew of business deals including a $3.5 billion contract with energy firm Areva CEFPi.PA to supply 20,000 tonnes of uranium.
The partnership marks the coming together of French expertise in civilian nuclear power -- France is overwhelmingly dependent on nuclear energy -- and China's insatiable appetite for cheap energy to fuel its economic growth.
"We have decided to work without limits on a strategic collaboration in the nuclear domain that will go much farther on the full spectrum of nuclear activity," Sarkozy said in a speech after a deal-signing ceremony in the presidential palace.
The two countries will work on nuclear reactors, fuel recycling and uranium extraction and will consider selling the products of their collaboration to third parties, he added. More at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE6A32MF20101104