Neutron Bytes

• Is There New Hope for UK Wylfa Nuclear Project?
• UK / Head Of EDF ‘Demands Clarity’ on Funding For New Nuclear Projects include Sizewell C
• China Launches CAP1400 a New Generation III Reactor Design
• US / DC Based Energy Impact Center Widens Its Circle of Collaboration
• DARPA Awards $14M for HALEU Fueled Nuclear Thermal Propulsion System for Deep Space Missions

Is There New Hope for UK Wylfa Nuclear Project?

The BBC reports that there are “fresh talks” underway to save £20bn Wylfa nuclear plant from oblivion. The fat lady may not have sung her last aria about the plant according to letters sent by Horizon, the UK business unit that was working with Hitachi to build the 2700 MB project (twin 1350MB ABWRs).

Hitachi pulled the plug on the site at Wylfa on Anglesey two weeks ago citing a distinct lack of government commitment to guaranteed rates and equity investment.

The strike price offered by the government to Hitachi was £75/Mwh which was less than 80% of what it offered for the Hinkley Point C project. The lower price would mean over the years billions of pounds less in return on the investment. Hitachi walked away from the project as much for this reason as any other. Also, the government offered a one-third equity stake which was insufficient as a confidence building measure for private investors.

However, since then, according to the BBC, Wylfa developer Horizon Nuclear Power sent two letters to UK government ministers that disclosed talks with other “third parties” are continuing. That “third party” is reported to be Westinghouse. The firm has a unique advantage in that its AP1000 LWR type AP1000 has passed the UK Generic Design Review and can be built in the country.

The Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactor successfully completed review by regulators in the UK, who concluded the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) by issuing Design Acceptance Confirmation (DAC) and Statement of Design Acceptability (SoDA) for the Westinghouse AP1000 technology. The DAC and SoDA were issued in March 2017 by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency (EA), respectively.

Westinghouse had at one time plans to build three 1150MW AP1000s at the Moorside project, but lost its chance due to two factors. Toshiba, which owned Westinghouse at the time, withdrew from Moorside and all of its nuclear projects citing global financial difficulties. Also, Westinghouse itself declared bankruptcy due to the termination of the U.S. V C Summer project in South Carolina. Westinghouse was subsequently purchased by Brookfield, a Canadian equity investment firm.

While Westinghouse is unlikely to position itself as the engineering procurement and construction (EPC) firm for a revival of Wylfa, and perhaps Oldbury, it could be energized to sell its reactors to whomever could assemble the funding to pick up the projects. A revised and enriched UK financial package would be a key success factor.

The chief executive of Horizon Nuclear wrote to the UK government’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary Alok Sharma on September 22 and again on September 28. In the letters, Horizon’s Duncan Hawthorne asked for a “short extension” on the deadline to announce the government’s decision on whether it would allow planning permission for the original Hitachi plans for Anglesey. Instead of rolling up the sidewalks this month, Horizon asked for an extension to December.

Hawthorne’s second letter to the energy secretary said: “Since Hitachi Ltd’s announcement to cease development activities associated with the Wylfa Newydd Project, Horizon has been engaged in discussions with third parties that have expressed an interest in progressing with the development of new nuclear generation at the Wylfa Newydd site.

“These discussions are still at an early stage and it is felt that a short deferral would allow time for Horizon and those interested parties to determine whether, and if so how, the Wylfa Newydd DCO Project could be taken forward in Hitachi Ltd’s absence.”

Horizon did not specifically name Westinghouse, but other news media reports in the UK have cited Westinghouse as being the “third party.”

The BBC noted that Horizon said it could not reveal any more details about the talks, or who was involved, due to discussions being “commercially sensitive”.

Stay tuned as this is a developing story

UK / Head Of EDF ‘Demands Clarity’ on Funding For New Nuclear Projects include Sizewell C

(NucNet) EDF chairman and chief executive officer Jean-Bernard Lévy has demanded clarity from British chancellor Rishi Sunak regarding the country’s plans for funding nuclear power.

His trenchant call for reason comes after Hitachi announced last month that it was scrapping plans to build two UK Advanced Boiling Water Reactors (ABWR) at the Wylfa Newydd nuclear site in north Wales, blaming the lack of a viable financing structure as a reason for the decision.

A key area where EDF wants answers is whether the government will fish or cut bait on the use of the regulated asset base (RAB) proposal has been the subject of a government consultation which concluded that it has the potential to reduce the cost of raising private finance for new nuclear projects. The government has dithered endlessly about making a decision to proceed with this method of financing large nuclear projects.

The Times said EDF wants a tax on UK household energy bills to help pay for the Sizewell C project with other options including the British government taking a stake.

EDF is already building two 1650 MW EPR units at Hinkley Point C in southwest England and has submitted a planning application for two more similar EPR units at Sizewell C in Suffolk, east England.

EDF and China’s China General Nuclear (CGN) are 80% and 20% shareholders in the Sizewell C project. The cost of the project has been estimated at £18bn, although this has not been confirmed by either EDF or CGN.  Chinese state owned enterprises have a 33% equity stake in the Hinkley Point C project.

After Sizewell C, CGN was set to build a or or more HPR1000, or Hualong One, reactors at Bradwell in Essex.

China Launches CAP1400 a New Generation III Reactor Design

(NucNet) China’s State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) has officially launched the Generation III CAP1400 reactor design following 12 years of research and development. The design is based on expanding the Westinghouse 1150 MW AP1000.

Four of these units were built and commissioned in China. However, as part of that deal, Westinghouse released China from having to pay royalties on the use of the design for its own purposes if it ramped up the power above 1350 MW. The CAP 1400 was developed by the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC).

The 1,400 MW design, also known as Guohe One, is intended for deployment both in China and overseas, SPIC said. It is China’s second indigenous Generation III reactor design, following the HPR1000, or Hualong One. China’s National Energy Administration approved the design in January 2014. It passed a safety review by the National Nuclear Safety Administration in February 2016.

In May 2016, the CAP1400 design passed the International Atomic Energy Agency’s generic reactor safety review. This does not clear the design for use, but reviews the quality of safety documentation. Use of the CAP1400 plant is still dependent on it meeting country-specific standards and requirements, although passing the IAEA review will make this easier.

Hao Hongsheng, general manager of SPIC’s nuclear energy department, told the Global Times that SPIC is promoting the Guohe One brand for export and is discussing potential partnerships with countries including Turkey and South Africa. Turkey has plans for a third nuclear site on the west coast of the Black Sea, but has not formally committed to the project. Prospects for South Africa are even less certain as that nation is considering SMRs due to their being much less costly that larger full size plants.

The results of the IAEA review means meant it could now sell the technology, based on a US design, to other countries and without getting approval from the American makers of the original. It also marks a shift towards domestically produced technology that has been accelerated by the ongoing tensions with the United States.

One CAP 1400 reactor could meet the average annual energy demands of more than 22 million residents and cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 9 million tonnes.

US / DC Based Energy Impact Center Widens Its Circle of Collaboration

(WNN) The Energy Impact Center (EIC) has announced the first major update to OPEN100 – the world’s first open-source design and implementation platform for a small, standard nuclear power plant. Launched in February 2020, the project aims to offer developers everything from a web interface to visualize plant and component design, costs studies and construction plans. (Fact Sheet – PDFD file)

The OPEN100 project includes a detailed engineering design of a nuclear power plant based on a pressurized water reactor. It includes process engineering design, electrical design, preliminary equipment specifications, CAD modelling and site layout.

The engineering data is downloadable directly from the website for public use. Future versions ae expected to include neutronics analysis, probabilistic risk assessment, detailed equipment specifications, structural design and environmental impact assessments. An economic analysis is also available on the EIC website.

“After our February launch, we experienced an outpouring of support and an influx of interest to participate,” said EIC’s director of Stakeholder Relations Michelle Brechtelsbauer.

“We formed strategic collaborations enabling OPEN100 to incorporate institutional knowledge from the best-in-class laboratories, power plant developers, and nuclear industry specialists around the world.”

EIC has now announced an expanded cohort of organizations actively collaborating to support OPEN100. Collaborators in the OPEN100 project include: Framatome of France, Studsvik of Sweden, the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory, Siemens, Pillsbury, the Electric Power Research Institute, as well as the US Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“Each organization brings unique expertise and a shared commitment to the simple principle that nuclear energy should be affordable and accessible,” Brechtelsbauer said.

“The diversity of skills is noteworthy, with several organizations advising on aspects of core design, equipment vendors providing cost modelling, engineering firms advising on component integration, and others assisting with activities that range from construction scheduling to regulatory compliance.”

OPEN100’s engineering files are now accompanied by a detailed construction timeline and an interactive economics dashboard, each providing greater transparency for project stakeholders.

“With OPEN100, we aim to encourage the growth of a robust developer industry, one that relies on a set of common standards that taps into an existing supply chain and enables fast-tracked licensing,” said Brechtelsbauer.

EIC says OPEN100’s design prioritizes supply chain standardization and speed of delivery.

DARPA Awards $14M for HALEU Fueled Nuclear Thermal Propulsion System for Deep Space Missions Beyond LEO

Getting beyond low earth orbit (LEO) (200-300 miles up) requires more push and power. To that end the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Gryphon Technologies (“Gryphon”), a $14M task order to support the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program. Specifically, Gryphon will support the development and demonstration of a High-Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) system.

The new rocket will enable the U.S. military to operate spacecraft in cislunar space, which is the region outside Earth’s atmosphere and extending out to just beyond the Moon’s orbit.

“A successfully demonstrated NTP system will provide a leap-ahead in space propulsion capability, allowing agile and rapid transit over vast distances as compared to present propulsion approaches,” said Dr. Tabitha Dodson, Gryphon’s Chief Engineer on the support team and a national expert in NTP systems.

“Gryphon is committed to providing high-end technical solutions to our nation’s most critical national security challenges,” said P.J. Braden, CEO of Gryphon. “We are proud to support DRACO and the development and demonstration of NTP, a significant technological advancement in efforts to achieve cislunar space awareness.”

According to World Nuclear News, the objective of the DRACO program is to demonstrate a NTP system in orbit. NTP uses a nuclear reactor to heat propellant to extreme temperatures before expelling it through a nozzle to produce thrust. Compared to conventional space propulsion technologies, NTP offers a high thrust-to-weight ratio around 10,000 times greater than electric propulsion and a two-to-five times greater specific impulse than chemical propulsion.

The DRACO program anticipates two tracks. Track A will include the baseline design of an NTP reactor and culminate in a baseline design review. Track B will include development of an operational system concept and a demonstration system design.

Existing power and research reactors typically operate on low-enriched uranium, usually containing up to 5% uranium-235. HALEU fuel, which is enriched to between 5% and 20% uranium-235, will be required by many advanced reactor designs that are under development in both the commercial and government sectors, but such fuel is not yet commercially available. HALEU offers improved reactor economics, greater fuel efficiency, enhanced safety and proliferation resistance, lower volumes of waste and other advantages.

Centrus Energy is currently working under a three-year, USD115 million cost-shared contract with the US Department of Energy to deploy 16 of its AC-100M centrifuges at its Piketon, Ohio, facility to demonstrate HALEU production.

About Gryphon Technologies Inc.

Gryphon Technologies Inc. is a transformational leader in providing digital engineering, cyber, cloud solutions, predictive analytics and technical solutions and services to national security organizations. From science and technology, research and development, to design, to construction, to operations and sustainment, to decommissioning and disposal; our experience across this spectrum informs our approach to each stage, allowing us to deliver maximum value to our customers in each of our engagements.

# # #

• Netherlands Looks to SMRs for Green Energy Policy
• Finland SMR Project Aims to Build Them for District Heating and Export
• Micro-Reactor Startup Radiant Raises $1.2M in Angel Funding
• X-energy Signs Agreement with Hatch to Promote Canadian SMR Development

Other Nuclear News

• Japan / Regulator Says Tepco is Ready To Operate Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Station
• Energy Department Green Lights Critical Decision 1 for Versatile Test Reactor Project
• NJ PSEG to Close Fossil Plants, Keep Nuclear Reactors
• Brazil’s Eletronuclear Sets Plans for Restart of Construction on Angra 3 Nuclear Plant in 2022

Netherlands Looks to SMRs for Green Energy Policy

Dutch minister for economic affairs and climate Eric Wiebes said this week in a report to the nation’s parliament that small modular reactors “are expected to resolve the biggest obstacle for large nuclear power plants: long construction periods causing high prices for the installed capacity.”

The Netherlands is launching a public consultation whether to build up to 10 nuclear power plants after a study commissioned by the Ministry of Economics found that nuclear energy would be as cheap as wind or solar power. The report by nuclear consultancy Enco backs the addition of nuclear capacity.   (PDF file)

The firm ENCO is a Vienna-based engineering and management consultancy, established in 1994 by former officers of the International Atomic Energy Agency and other nuclear specialists.

The report did not reference a specific vendor’s SMR noting that according to the IAEA there are more than 50 SMRs design under development. To that point the government included this finding in report on the role of nuclear energy in its future energy policy.

According to English language European Union trade press reports, Wiebes said that the report considers the cost of nuclear to be comparable to wind and solar when including all system costs.

“A levelized cost of electricity for a new nuclear plant in the Netherlands (in 2040) might be expected to be €72/MWh [$84/MWh]. This cost is 40% higher than the equivalent cost, for example, with offshore wind.”

“An important qualification is that in this figure the system costs are not taken into consideration. Because nuclear power is a dispatchable electricity source and wind and solar are not, the system costs for nuclear power are lower than for the other two.

With this system cost correction, the levelized cost for new nuclear is €74/MWh [$86/MWh], compared to offshore wind 85€/MWh [$99/MWh].”

Mark Harbers, a VVD MP, told the Dutch news site AD: “We will not be able to achieve the climate goals by 2050 with only solar and wind energy. I don’t want a messy landscape, filled with windmills and solar meadows.”

He added, “And I don’t want to become dependent on gas from Russia. You have to take steps now to be able to open a nuclear power plant after 2030. Nuclear energy is simply desperately needed.”

Harbers said in his statement to parliament that between three and 10 reactors are needed.

“It would be nice if the first shovel would go into the ground around 2025, so that the first power plant could be opened in the 2030s.”

Currently, the Netherlands has one nuclear power station, a 485MW facility in Borssele.

Finland SMR Project Aims to Build Them
for District Heating and Export

A two-year EcoSMR (Finnish Ecosystem for Small Modular Reactors) project, which began in August 2020 and is funded by Business Finland, brings together Finnish actors to develop business around the possibilities of small reactors.”  (Press Release)

“The project supports Finnish industry to create an international innovation and business ecosystem that understands customer needs and the potential of Finnish technological know-how in the global energy market,” said Ville Tulkki, VTT’s responsible director for the project.

The project analyses the requirements, licensing and business of nuclear energy technology and supports their development to meet market needs. Networks of actors, activating joint innovation activities and getting to know customers and their real needs are the key ways of working on the project. The project will also investigate the piloting of technology in Finland, as the domestic reference is an important accelerator of knowledge exports.

VTT and LUT University are responsible for the research of the EcoSMR project. There are currently nine business partners in the project.

Fortum, Teollisuuden Voima Oyj and Refinec have launched their own product development projects, which package know-how into products and services for sale.

In its business project financed by Business Finland, Fortum Power and Heat Oy are developing the export operations and production of nuclear district heating. Other business partners include: Helen Oy, Vantaan Energia Oy, Clenercon Oy, Environmental research and assessment EnviroCase Oy, and Rock Design Ltd Rockplan Ltd.

“We see small nuclear power as a significant part of the future of nuclear power. We consider it important that small nuclear power technology and export opportunities for high-quality Finnish nuclear power expertise are developed in Finland. We want to be involved in a national project to develop our expertise and business,” said Eero Vesaoja, Fortum’s head of Nuclear Research and Development

The EcoSMR project will also investigate boundary conditions for the use of a nuclear power plant for district heating. In Central and Eastern Europe, for example, district heating is also widely used, which requires a low-emission energy source.

Research Professor for Reactor Safety Jaakko Leppänen from VTT describes the advantages of a dedicated district heating reactor as follows:

“The safety design of traditional second-generation pressurized and boiling water reactors is based on active systems with high level of redundancy. The complex technology is inevitably reflected in the construction costs. Innovative new reactor concepts rely on passive safety, such as heat removal by natural circulation. The low operating temperature and pressure in district heating reactors enables implementing these passive safety features using very simple technology.”

See also World Nuclear News Finnish regulator prepares for SMR licensing

Micro-Reactor Startup Radiant Raises $1.2M in Angel Funding

Radiant, a nuclear energy startup, said it has raised $1.2 million from angel investors including Charlie Songhurst, Hank Vigil, Josh Manchester and Tom McInerney.

The firm says it is working on a 1 MW reactor design what the company calls a “clean energy alternative to fossil fuels for military and commercial applications.”

“The innovative and ambitious team at Radiant has expertise from SpaceX as well as impressive nuclear industry credentials,” said investor Tom McInerney.

Radiant will use the funds – a combination of cash and cost-share commitments – to continue development of its low-cost, portable nuclear microreactors that provide an alternative to fossil fuels for both military and commercial applications.

The company also announced that it has just received two provisional patents for its portable nuclear reactors. One of these technological advances decreases the cost and time needed for refueling the reactor, and the other enables greater efficiency in heat transport from the reactor core.

Radiant and Battelle Energy Alliance, the contractor that manages operations at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), recently signed a MOU seeking collaboration for development and testing of this technology.

“The National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) looks forward to working with Radiant to test its portable nuclear microreactor at Idaho National Laboratory. It’s part of our mission to empower innovators, and deliver successful outcomes. This is an opportunity to innovate in ways that bring a cleaner energy future,” said Dr. Ashley Finan, Director of NRIC at INL.

Rationale for the Design

Radiant founder Doug Bernauer is a former SpaceX engineer, who while at SpaceX researched energy sources for an eventual Mars colony. Bernauer felt nuclear microreactors held the most promise but realized there was an immediate opportunity for microreactors on Earth, and left SpaceX to found Radiant.

According to Bernauer, there are many remote locations around the world that require portable power such as arctic villages and remote military bases. These locations currently rely on fossil fuel-powered generators, which is not only bad for the environment, but also challenging logistically, because generators require constant shipments of fuel over rural roads.

In the military, transporting fuel can be dangerous: according to an October 2018 U.S. Army report titled, “Mobile Nuclear Power Plants For Ground Operations,” (PDF file) about half of the 36,000 casualties in the nine-year period during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom2 occurred from hostile attacks during land transport missions.

Design Elements

Radiant’s microreactor outputs over 1MW, enough to power about 1,000 homes continuously for up to eight years, while several microreactors could be used together to power an entire town or military base. The microreactor is designed to fit in a shipping container and can be easily transported by air, ship, and road.

Radiant’s microreactor design leverages TRISO type fuel that does not melt down and withstands higher temperatures when compared to traditional nuclear fuels. The use of helium coolant greatly reduces corrosion, boiling, and contamination risks associated with more traditional water coolant.

X-energy Signs Agreement with Hatch
to Promote Canadian SMR Development

X-energy, the US developer of its HTGR type Xe-100 small modular reactor (SMR) design for deployment in Canada has signed a collaboration agreement for engineering and project management with Hatch Ltd for projects in Canada and globally. (Press Release)

“With this agreement, X-energy and Hatch will work together to create a clean energy future here in Canada and worldwide,” said Katherine Moshonas Cole, X-energy’s Canada country manager.

“The Xe-100 design can be a catalyst for building a Canadian SMR industry that will provide global leadership in achieving this goal,” says Moshonas Cole.

Hatch is a global engineering and project management firm founded in Ontario (Canada) 65 years ago. As part of the agreement, Hatch will provide technical services to assist X-energy in advancing the design for the Xe-100 SMR, as well as associated engineering required for site-specific infrastructure planning for potential projects in Canada, the United States and for global export.

X-energy entered the Canadian market in 2019. In 2020 X-energy initiated a combined Phase 1 and 2 Vendor Design Review (VDR) of the Xe-100 with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). The Xe-100 is an 80MWe (scalable to a 320 MWe four-pack) SMR design that can serve several purposes for both electric and non-electric power:

It can be integrated into large, regional electricity systems as a base and load-following source of low-carbon power that will optimize use of low-emission, intermittent renewables and other clean power.

It can provide an all-in-one solution for self-sufficiency in remote communities, providing electricity as well as other power applications including district heating and water desalination. The Xe-100 is also intended for infrastructure development including hydrogen production, mining and other remote-site projects

Japan / Regulator Says Tepco is Ready To Operate
Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Station

(NucNet)  Japan’s nuclear regulator announced on September 23 that Tokyo Electric Power Company is ready to operate the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power station, based on new legally binding safety rules the company drafted and pledged to follow. It is the world’s largest nuclear power station.

Local governments must agree in the coming months to restart the seven-unit station in Niigata Prefecture, northwestern Japan. Local opposition to restart of any of the reactors runs high due to mishandled public information by TEPCO about fires and radioactive waste management at the site.  Bashing TEPCO is a long standing plank in the platform of local elected officials seeking approval from voters.

Kashiwazaki Kariwa was not affected by the earthquake and tsunami which damaged Fukushima-Daiichi in 2011. The station’s reactors were all offline at the time following a 2007 earthquake.

Tepco said in June it was concentrating its resources on restarting the newer Units 6 and 7 at Kashiwazaki Kariwa while it also dealt with the cleanup at Fukushima-Daiichi. Units 6 and 7 originally began commercial operation in 1996 and 1997 respectively.

In 2017, the regulator cleared Units 6 and 7 for restart under new regulations established in 2013 in response to Fukushima-Daiichi. It also scrutinized Tepco’s ability to run the station safely.

Tepco has not announced specific plans on what it intends to do with the older five reactors at the facility.

Energy Department Green Lights Critical Decision 1
for Versatile Test Reactor Project

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced this week it has approved Critical Decision 1 for the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) project, a one-of-a-kind scientific user facility that would support research and development of innovative nuclear energy and other technologies.

Critical Decision 1, known as “Approve Alternative Selection and Cost Range,” is the second step in the formal process DOE uses to review and manage research infrastructure projects. As part of Critical Decision 1, federal committees reviewed the conceptual design, schedule, and cost range, and analyzed potential alternatives.

The VTR project now moves to the engineering design phase as soon as Congress appropriates funding. DOE has requested $295 million for FY 2021 for the project. Congress is likely to pass a continuing resolution for FY2021 by September 30, and an omnibus appropriation bill during a so-called “lame duck” session in December. The final funding level for the VTR in the coming fiscal year will be set in the Omnibus Bill.

Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said the approval of Critical Decision 1 represents a significant step toward re-establishing the United States as a global leader in nuclear energy research, safety and security, and developing new technologies that will help supply the world with low-carbon energy.

“The Versatile Test Reactor addresses a long-standing gap in research infrastructure in the United States,” Brouillette said.

“We have not had a fast neutron spectrum test facility for decades. Many of the new reactor designs under development by in the United States require this sort of long-term testing capability. Not only will VTR support the research and development of much-needed clean energy technologies, but it is key to revitalizing our nuclear industry, which has long been the model for safe operations and security for the world.”

DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy established the VTR program in 2018 in response to reports outlining the need for a fast spectrum test reactor and requests from U.S. companies developing advanced reactors.

Many of the new designs require different testing capabilities than the existing testing infrastructure that supports today’s nuclear energy technologies. Since then, a team of experts from six national laboratories, 19 universities and nine industry partners have been developing a design, cost estimate, and schedule for VTR.

VTR will generate neutrons at higher speeds and higher concentrations than existing test infrastructure. It will provide leading edge capability for accelerated testing of advanced nuclear fuels, materials, instrumentation, and sensors.

“The approval of Critical Decision 1 establishes a solid foundation upon which the design phase can begin,” said Dr. Rita Baranwal, Assistant Secretary for DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy.

“We have repeatedly heard from industry and other stakeholders that the United States needs a fast neutron scientific user facility to maintain our global leadership in nuclear energy. This decision puts us firmly on the path toward achieving that goal.”

The Department will make a final decision on the design, technology selection and location for VTR following the completion of the EIS and Record of Decision, which is expected in late 2021. The cost of the reactor is estimated to be in the range of $3-6 billion.

See also prior coverage on this blog – Versatile Test Reactor

NJ PSEG to Close Fossil Plants, Keep Nuclear Reactors

(Reuters) PSEG New Jersey wants all of its electricity to come from non carbon emitting sources, like renewables and nuclear, by 2050. PSEG said that it expects to sell its non-nuclear generating plants in 2021 including 6,700 megawatts (MW) of fossil-fired generation in New Jersey, Connecticut, New York and Maryland, and over 400 MW of solar power in various states.  (List of power plants in NJ)

PSEG CEO Ralph Izzo said the investment will also drive “significant progress” toward achieving New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s clean energy agenda by avoiding 8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) through 2050.

“Our CO2 emissions (from power plants) are going to drop to zero by the end of 2021 as we exit the fossil generation business,” Izzo said.

He told the wire service that the only big power plants the company plans to keep are the nuclear reactors, which produce about 90% of the New Jersey’s carbon-free energy.

New Jersey regulators also approved Public Service Electric and Gas Co’s (PSE&G) plan to invest $1 billion on energy efficiency programs over the next three years.

Izzo told Reuters its near term energy investments would cut customer bills by about $1 billion and stimulate economic growth by creating up to 4,300 jobs that will help the state recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brazil’s Eletronuclear Sets Plans for Restart
of Construction on Angra 3 Nuclear Plant in 2022

Brazil’s state-owned Eletronuclear and development bank BNDES are working on the complete restructuring of the Angra 3 1405 MW nuclear power project. The goal is to update financing and hire an EPC to resume construction as of the second half of 2022, the mines and energy ministry (MME) told BNamericas.

The resources are being assembled under Electrobras’ investment plan, while financing for the construction is being arranged with BNDES through a restructuring of the current debt and a new loan.

After construction was halted in the 1980s, the Angra 3 project resumed in 2008 but was interrupted again in 2015 when corruption scandals brought work to a halt.

According to the national energy plan which runs out to 2050, Brazil has the potential to add up to 10GW of new nuclear power capacity, besides Angra 1 (640MW), 2 (1,350MW) and 3 (1,405MW). Angra 1 and 2 are already operating. (Profile: Angra Power Plant)

The government defends growth of nuclear power on the grounds that it provides continuous, dispatchable energy that does not produce greenhouse gases.

“This base generation will bring the necessary stability to enable the electric power system to receive growing volumes of energy from intermittent renewable sources, like solar and wind,” according to the government.

Earlier in the week, mines and energy minister Bento Albuquerque highlighted the role of nuclear power in the energy transition process during a speech at the IAEA Scientific Forum 2020 in Vienna.

“The future is clear: hybrid energy systems that combine nuclear technologies with intermittent renewable sources, both for electric power generation and industrial heating,” he said.

See also coverage on this blog – Brazil Seeks Private Investment from US for SMRs

# # #

The National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC)
launches the first webinar in its series “What Inspires Us”.

This 90-minute webinar will be moderated by Ashley Finan, director of the National Reactor Information Center. She will be joined by Mark Peters, Idaho National Laboratory director, and Suzanne Baker, creative director at the University of Michigan’s Fastest Path to Zero Initiative and founder of Good Energy Collective.

They will talk about what inspires them to promote nuclear energy as part of the broader clean energy initiative, and give an update on the NRIC program.

Webinar will be held on Tuesday, September 29, 2020, from 5-6:30 p.m. ET (3-4:30 p.m. MT)

“What Inspires Us,” 5-6:30 p.m. ET, Sept. 29. The event features @Dr_Mark_Peters, @INL & @SuzyHobbsBaker, @FastPathToZero.

Register here: fal.cn/3anQe

# # #

• Hitachi Ends Its Engagement at Wylfa
• Rolls Royce to Offer Mid-size Reactor as a Lifeline for Wylfa Site
• Nuclear Essential to Hydrogen Future, says LucidCatalyst

Hitachi Calls it Quits for UK Wylfa Nuclear Project

• UK / Hitachi Confirms Plans To Scrap Wylfa Newydd Nuclear Project
• Company blames lack of a viable financing package from the UK Government

(NucNet) Hitachi this week announced that it is permanently scrapping plans to build two 1350 Advanced Boiling Water Reactors (ABWR) at the Wylfa Newydd nuclear site in north Wales and at the Oldbury site.

The Japanese firm blamed the lack of a viable financing structure in an “increasingly severe” post-Covid investment environment. It also cited the uncertainties created by the UK government as a result of the erratic path taken by PM Boris Johnson to address the UK exit from the European Union called Brexit.

• For the UK the decision is a first class energy policy disaster caused by indecision and a lack of political will to support the project with a feasible financial package comprised of guaranteed rates and equity investment from the government.
• The latest decision by Hitachi is a severe blow to efforts by Tokyo to promote infrastructure exports as a key driver of economic growth.

Of six sites originally identified over a decade ago for replacements for the UK’s nearly ancient nuclear fleet, only one, Hinkley Point C, is under construction, three have been mothballed and two others are waiting approval. Hinkley, Moorside, Wylfa, Oldbury, Bradwell and Sizewell were identified as the sites for the most significant national wave of new nuclear power construction under the government of then PM David Cameron.

The Wylfa project had an estimated cost of $16 billion for the two reactors, but some estimates reported in the news media, without substantial supporting evidence, put the price at one-third more or $24 billion. This number created a political backlash and  contributed to the UK government’s delays in approving the use of  the RAB method and equity financing for the project.

Strike Price Strikes Out

The UK government is said to have failed to offer a “strike price” for electricity that gave Hitachi’s investors a return on investment that included the “risk premium” for the long lead time to see profits from construction of the nuclear power station.

The nuclear strike price refers to the price the government will guarantee per unit of electricity produced.

Over the years successive UK governments have tried to find ways of making investment in new nuclear power plants an attractive and secure proposition – without breaking their pledge of no direct subsidies from the public sector. In effect, the UK government tried to finesse its response to climate change without changing the paradigm of building new nuclear power plants that provide CO2 emission free electricity.

As a politically expedient policy, it flew in the face of financial reality that indicated that for a large nuclear new build, only governments can take on the kinds risks that come with these projects.

In 2016 the government proposed new nuclear reactors at Hinkley in Somerset with a strike price of £92.50 per megawatt hour (Mwh) which came in for fierce criticism. At the time the wholesale price of electricity was about £44/Mwh or less than half the price of power proposed for the nuclear plant which is composed of twin 1650 MW EDF EPRs.

Financial analysts said that as a result of strong political blow back, the message for Hitachi and Horizon, its UK business unit, after this was clear. Any future strike price would have to be lower, even though the company was taking the same financial risk as EDF at Hinkley Point C.

The strike price eventually offered to Hitachi was £75/Mwh. The lower price would mean over the years billions of pounds less n return on the investment. Hitachi walked away from the project as much for this reason as any other.  Also, the government offered a one-third equity stake which was insufficient as a confident building measure for private investors.

Other reasons include that the government repeatedly delayed a crucial decision regarding going forward to proceed with its Regulated Asset Base (RAB) financial investment model. The plan, which the government has not yet implemented, would have allowed future revenues to be paid upfront to the utility at guaranteed rate.

This Time They Really Mean It

Hitachi said it had now made the decision to abandon the project with no prospects of being involved in any future delivery plan.

When it first suspended the project in 2019, Hitachi kept a small staff at Horizon, its British nuclear subsidiary, and continued to push for planning permission after the government began reviewing a regulated asset base (RAB) funding model.

It limits construction risk for developers by having consumers pay upfront for a new plant through their energy bills. Horizon wanted clarity from the government on whether it could use the RAB model for Wylfa. The answer never came.

• Horizon said that following Hitachi’s decision it will be ceasing its activities to develop projects at Wylfa Newydd and also at Oldbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire where it was to have built twin 1350 MW ABWRS.
• In all Hitachi’s decision will result in the cancellation of 2,700 MW of CO2 emission free power generation.

Swift Reaction Brings a Firestorm of Criticism to the UK Government

Reacting to today’s news, Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said it was disappointing news and underscored the urgent need for progress on new nuclear projects in the UK if net zero carbon emissions is to become a reality.

“Wylfa is probably the best site in the UK for new nuclear capacity, and has strong community and stakeholder support. It is imperative that a way forward is found for the site, to deliver thousands of jobs, hundreds of apprenticeships and millions of pounds of investment into an economic boost for the area while delivering secure, reliable and low-carbon power to underpin the UK’s transition to net zero.”

GMB, the energy union, described the collapse of the project as “utterly predictable” and “the outcome of successive government failures to act decisively around new nuclear, and in particular how it is financed.”

“It’s no coincidence that around the world – almost without exception – it is governments who finance these projects, as they are the lender of last resort when it comes to keeping the lights on,” GMB said.

GMB added it was “bewildered” by the UK government’s de facto position of asking the private sector to shoulder the burden and long lead time of building a $16 billion nuclear power station. GMB called it “a fanciful experiment of trying to get foreign companies or governments to fund our future energy needs.”

The union says the UK needs at least six new nuclear power plants to meet the country’s future energy demands and green targets.

Cameron Gilmour, spokesman for the Sizewell C Consortium said: “This news will have serious ramifications for companies both in Wales and across the UK. The Wylfa nuclear project would have been another important milestone for the UK’s nuclear supply chain and would have created thousands of jobs.

“Unless Sizewell C, a replica of the under-construction Hinkley Point C, is given the go-ahead, there is now a serious risk to the future of the UK’s civil nuclear construction capability and the tens of thousands of jobs that go with it.”

EDF is promoting the advantages of reproducing the design of Hinkley at Sizewell. The 1650 MW EPR design had major cost and schedule overruns in France and Finland, EDF says they UK can benefit from the lessons learned from those mistakes. It also points out that the UK will benefit from transferring high skilled jobs from one site to another.

Boris Johnson’s government did not directly respond to the decision by Hitachi to quit the Wylfa project.

What Ever Happened to Moorside?

(WNN) A group of companies, trade unions and individuals have launched an initiative to develop a Clean Energy Hub centered on a package of nuclear and renewable energy projects at Moorside in Cumbria, north-west England.

The proposal is based on projects including a new 3.2 GW UK EPR plant with links to technologies including renewables and hydrogen production. Several of the companies are involved in the construction of Hinkley Point C, and many are involved in Sizewell C.

The Moorside Clean Energy Hub plans to capitalize on the design and project experience from the Hinkley Point C UK EPR and the follow-on Sizewell C project to develop Moorside.

The hub will link the nuclear plants with other energy technologies such as renewable energy generation, hydrogen production and energy storage. It will explore ways of providing clean heat to industry and could also produce hydrogen to be used as a “green” fuel for local transport and industry.  The consortium said it would also consider small modular reactors and advanced designs for the site.

Moorside, which lies to the north side of the Sellafield site, had been earmarked by the NuGeneration (NuGen) consortium to build a nuclear power plant of up to 3.8 GWe gross capacity using Westinghouse AP1000 reactor technology.

Toshiba, which was to build the AP1000s, withdrew from the nuclear industry. Westinghouse declared bankruptcy after the failure of the V C Summer project in South Carolina and was later sold to a Canadian private equity fund. Although the AP1000 passed the UK Generic Design Assessment in 2017, there is no indication that it has a buyer for this design in the UK.

At one point South Korea entered negotiations with Toshiba to take over the project, but there was no deal.  The UK government squandered an opportunity to put money on the table to make it happen.

The Moorside site itself, which NuGen bought from the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in 2009, remains designated by government for nuclear new build. As of June 2020 no nuclear reactor vendor is slated to build on it.

Rolls Royce to Offer Mid-size Reactor
as a Lifeline for Wylfa Site

(UK Construction Trade Press Reports) Rolls-Royce has floated the prospect of building the first of the next generation of compact nuclear power stations at the Wylfa site in North Wales. Rolls Royce said its power station would be able to operate for 60 years and provide 440MW of electricity, enough to power a city the size of Leeds.

Rolls-Royce, which is leading a consortium including BAM Nuttall and Laing O’Rourke, has said sites at Anglesey and Trawsfynydd could be homes to new small-scale power stations.

What Rolls-Royce says it is doing is taking commercial off the shelf components for light water reactors and bolting them together into a 440 MWe affordable package with a  focus on being competitive in terms of costs. At this size it is larger that the range normally assigned to small modular reactors (SMRs) by the IAEA.  As such it might more accurately be described as a mid-sized PWR.

At an estimated overnight cost of $5,000/Kw, the Rolls-Royce 440 MWe unit would come in at $2.2 billion. By comparison, the proposed twin 1350 MW ABWRs for the Moorside project, led by by Japan’s Hitachi, had projected costs that some sources estimated had soared into the stratosphere from an initial estimate of $16 billion ($5925/Kw) to over $24 billion ($6,480/Kw).

The consortium calculates it can get the cost of a Rolls Royce nuclear power station producing 440 MWe to about GBP1.75 billion, ($2.29 billion)($5,200/Kw) which means being able to sell electricity at below GBP60/MWh ($78.44/MWh). Hitachi had been offered GBP75/MWh ($98.04)/Mwh) by the UK government for power from Wylfa, but walked away from it.

Challenges and Opportunities Ahead

Challenges ahead include the fact that design for the reactor must complete the complex and expensive Generic Design Assessment by the UK Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency. It takes about four years for a new reactor design to complete all the phases of the process

So far four full size nuclear reactors have completed the process including the Westinghouse AP1000, Hitachi ABWR, EDF EPR, and CGN HPR1000 aka Hualong One.

Tom Samson, interim chief executive officer of the UK SMR consortium, said: “The UK SMR consortium’s ambitions for a fleet deployment of clean, cost-effective power plants across the UK remain unchanged and we believe sites such as those at Wylfa, Trawsfynydd and in West Cumbria still have major roles to play.

“Such a program would drive industrial activity to manufacture our modular, factory-built power plants and create thousands of high-skilled jobs, both where the power stations are located and across the UK supply chain.”

By 2050, a full program of 16 power stations (7,700 MW or the equivalent of six 1350 MW ABWRs) could create 40,000 jobs and add £52bn of value to the UK economy, the government added.

Nuclear Energy is Essential to Hydrogen Future – LucidCatalyst

(WNN) Untapped options for clean hydrogen – including the use of advanced modular reactors – can put the world back on the pathway to meeting the Paris climate goals, according to a new report from energy research and consultancy firm LucidCatalyst. (Report – Large PDF file)

The report says the clean energy transition from oil to hydrogen-based fuels could be achieved with a global investment of USD $17 trillion, spent over 30 years from 2020 to 2050

The world can still meet the Paris goals of limiting temperature changes to 1.5-2°C if sufficient, low-cost, clean hydrogen is produced to replace oil and gas in shipping, aviation and industry according to the report.

“If difficult-to-decarbonize sectors continue to be ignored, the world risks experiencing increasingly extreme climate impacts.”

Renewables Can’t Do the Job Alone

The report says the amount of hydrogen required to do this is far more than can be produced with renewables alone. For this reason, a new generation of advanced modular reactors will be required to produce enough climate-neutral fuel to displace the 100 million barrels of oil that are currently consumed around the world each day.

In its report – titled ‘Missing link to a livable climate: How hydrogen-enabled synthetic fuels can help deliver the Paris goals‘ – it says new modelling results show that hydrogen must achieve a target price of USD  $0.90/kg by 2030 to enable broad scale fossil fuel substitution.

Current published projections for renewable-generated hydrogen estimate prices of USD $0.73–USD $1.64 will not be achieved before 2050. New hydrogen production facilities powered by advanced modular reactors could instead deliver at global scale for USD $1.10/kg, with further cost reductions reaching the target price of USD $0.90/kg by 2030.

Advanced modular reactors are the only technology that can realistically achieve this low price from electrolysis in the short to medium term according to the report. These technologies and accompanying cost reductions can enabled by a shipyard-based manufacturing and delivery model for advanced reactors. Several developers of advanced reactors are taking this approach to bringing their plants to market.

“Innovative heat sources need to be fully brought into the world’s decarbonization efforts. Therefore, for the near term we are referring to advanced modular reactors, but in the longer term, advanced heat sources could also include fusion and high-temperature geothermal.”

“This transition will not begin without urgent action by governments and other actors to bring down costs and accelerate innovation and deployment,” the report says.

It adds, “This report sets out a pathway to decarbonize a substantial portion of the global energy system, for which there is currently no viable alternative.”

“There is simply no other way to make the numbers add up,” added Kirsty Gogan, LucidCatalyst’s managing director.

“This truly is the missing link we need to maintain a livable climate on this planet.”

Can Hydrogen Save Nuclear Energy?

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Nuclear power plants can produce hydrogen in a variety of methods that would greatly reduce air emissions while taking advantage of the constant thermal energy and electricity it reliably provides.

Existing nuclear plants could produce high quality steam at lower costs than natural gas boilers and could be used in many industrial processes, including steam-methane reforming.

However, the case for nuclear becomes even more compelling when this high-quality steam is electrolyzed and split into pure hydrogen and oxygen.

A single 1,000 megawatt nuclear reactor could produce more than 200,000 tonnes of hydrogen each year.

Ten nuclear reactors could produce about 2 million tonnes annually or one-fifth of the current hydrogen used in the United States.

This process would allow utilities to produce and sell hydrogen regionally as a commodity in addition to providing clean and reliable electricity to the grid.

# # #

• TerraPower and Centrus Propose HALEU Facility
• CNL and Terrestrial Energy to Collaborate on IMSR Power Plant
• DOE Heads North to Alaska to Work on Micro Reactors
• World Nuclear Association Appoints Sama Bilbao y León, Ph.D as New Director General
• UAE May Build Four More Nuclear Reactors
• Energy Communities Alliance Launches a “New Nuclear” Initiative

TerraPower and Centrus Propose HALEU Facility

TerraPower announces plan to invest in domestic advanced nuclear fuel production to ensure U.S.-based fuel supply for advanced reactors. Will team with Centrus Energy to create domestic, commercial-scale HALEU production

TerraPower announced September 15th its plans to team with Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE American: LEU) to establish commercial-scale, domestic production capabilities for high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU), which will be needed to fuel many next-generation reactor designs.

The fuel would be used by the recently announced Natrium Power Storage System designed by TerraPower and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy.

The proposed investment is part of the TerraPower-led proposal for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), which is intended to support the deployment of two first-of-a-kind advanced reactor designs in the next five to seven years.

The ARDP requires applicants to “establish a plan by which they would obtain the fuel/special nuclear material needed for their projects.”

The TerraPower application proposes that, if selected for ARDP, the company would work with Centrus to build commercial-scale capacity to produce HALEU and fabricate it into metal fuel assemblies. HALEU, which is not commercially available today, offers improved reactor economics, greater fuel efficiency, enhanced safety and proliferation resistance, lower volumes of waste and other advantages.

The first year of scope initiates the facility’s design and licensing and involves detailed planning and cost estimating for implementation of the new infrastructure and production.

The Natrium reactor technology employs a metal fuel form that is not currently available from any U.S. commercial nuclear fuel supplier. This contract will close the gap in metal-specific fabrication infrastructure and meet growing HALEU needs.

“We are investing in American capability because it offers advantages related to assured domestic supply for the Natrium technology’s long-term commercialization prospects,” said Chris Levesque, TerraPower President and CEO.

“By catalyzing commercial-scale HALEU production, the proposed investment would put America in the leadership position when it comes to fueling the advanced reactors of tomorrow,” said Daniel B. Poneman, Centrus President and CEO.

“This partnership with TerraPower would enable us to expand beyond demonstration scale and we have more than enough room at the Ohio plant to continue expanding uranium enrichment and fuel fabrication capability as demand grows and the market matures.”

Centrus Energy is currently working under a three-year, $115 million cost-shared contract with the Department of Energy to deploy 16 of its AC-100M centrifuges at its Piketon, Ohio, facility to demonstrate HALEU production. Once the demonstration is complete in mid-2022, TerraPower would work with Centrus to expand the plant to meet the fuel requirements of the Natrium demonstration reactor.

HALEU is Number 1 “Keep Awake” Issue for Developers of Advanced Reactors

In a survey of America’s advanced reactor developers conducted by the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council, the availability of HALEU was cited as the number one issue that “keeps you up at night.”

The Department of Energy’s U.S. Nuclear Fuel Working Group report also identified HALEU production capability as a key priority in restoring U.S. leadership in nuclear technologies, and bills supporting HALEU have passed the House of Representatives and received bipartisan support in the Senate.

TerraPower and Centrus Make Plans Beyond DOE Contract

To ensure that both the reactor can be commercialized within five to seven years and that new HALEU production capacity can be built, the Natrium proposal includes additional private investment levels, beyond the 50% cost share minimum required by the Department of Energy for ARDP demonstration reactors.

This additional investment will be used to build HALEU infrastructure that can benefit the large number of advanced reactor developers planning on using HALEU.

In addition to creating HALEU production capacity, TerraPower and its partners plan to establish a new Category II metal fuel fabrication facility that is scaled to meet the needs of the Natrium demonstration program.

The facility will include the capability to manufacture the Natrium technology’s advanced metal fuel forms that will be included as lead test assemblies in the demonstration plant. Specific terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.

CNL and Terrestrial Energy to Collaborate on IMSR Power Plant

Terrestrial Energy announced an agreement with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) to collaborate on a program of work evaluating safeguards related to the operation of Terrestrial Energy’s Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR), a Generation IV advanced nuclear power plant.

The work will involve establishing material accounting methods to track the IMSR’s nuclear fuel salt and is being supported by CNL’s Canadian Nuclear Research Initiative (CNRI). The CNRI was launched in 2019 to support the deployment and advance the commercialization of SMRs, as envisioned in Canada’s SMR Roadmap, by using the facilities and expertise within Canada’s national nuclear laboratories.

“Safeguards” is an international regulatory framework that ensures the security of nuclear material. This system is administered in Canada by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and verified internationally by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under national treaty arrangements.

Terrestrial Energy has developed a Safeguards program for the IMSR power plant operation. These Safeguards follow Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) regulatory requirements on Safeguards and nuclear material accountancy.

“The CNRI program was established to make our facilities and researchers easily accessible to SMR developers, such as Terrestrial Energy, so that we can help support deployment of these technologies,” said Joe McBrearty, CNL’s President and CEO.

“This CNRI-supported project will help to enable Terrestrial Energy’s IMSR Safeguard program and methods, which are essential for regulatory approval.”

“CNL has a long and reputed history delivering world-class services to the nuclear industry, and we intend to leverage this expertise as part of our supply chain strategy,” said Simon Irish, CEO of Terrestrial Energy.

The IMSR’s molten salt fuel cycle has been designed to meet the stringent nuclear safety, performance, and reliability requirements for IMSR power plant operation. The collaboration agreement between CNL and Terrestrial Energy further strengthens the relationship between the two companies that started in June 2016 with a Master Task Agreement for consulting, technical and scientific services.

DOE Heads North to Alaska

US Energy Department reopens Arctic office with focus on methane hydrates, microgrids and nuclear micro reactors.

The office will also focus on oil recovery, carbon reinjection, extended-reach drilling, liquefied natural gas, gas hydrates and alternative energy.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Sept 16th it would reopen its Arctic Energy Office, located at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The office will collaborate internationally on Arctic issues, as well as advancing research on methane hydrates and the development of microgrids and nuclear power.

Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said in a statement that the office would “strengthen and coordinate our work in energy, science, and national security.”

Deputy Secretary Mark W. Menezes said that international collaboration with other Arctic nations was important as “the region’s geopolitical importance increases.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, had set a priority on the reestablishment of the office in the 2020 Energy-Water Appropriations bill.

The Arctic Energy Office will research, develop and deploy energy technology particularly in rural and remote parts of the country and “especially where permafrost is present or located nearby.”

The office won’t belong to a specific program area, and it will report to the Under Secretary of Energy. The office will coordinate work both within the U.S.

World Nuclear Association Appoints Sama Bilbao y León, Ph.D, as New Director General

Sama Bilbao y León, Ph.D., Head of the Division of Nuclear Technology Development and Economics at OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, has been appointed as the next Director General by the World Nuclear Association.  From the WNA press release . . . bit.ly/33zylgf

World Nuclear Association announces that Agneta Rising, Director General since January 2013, will be stepping down from her position at the end of October to move to new endeavors.

Dr Sama Bilbao y León, currently the Head of the Division of Nuclear Technology Development and Economics at OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, has been appointed as the next Director General by the World Nuclear Association Board of Management.

Sama brings a very diverse professional experience, having worked in the nuclear industry, in academia, and in international organizations, including the IAEA.

Her background is in Nuclear Engineering, and she is well versed in all topics relating to nuclear energy including nuclear safety, energy and environmental policy, electricity markets and economics. Her extensive experience working in international environments makes her particularly suited for this role.

UAE May Build Four More Nuclear Reactors

(SPGlobal/Platts) The trade wire service reports that the UAE, which became this year the first Gulf country to use nuclear power to generate electricity, may in the future construct four more nuclear reactors, depending on the country’s needs, a government official said Sept. 17

“We designed Barakah for eight units,” Mohamed al-Hammadi, CEO of Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. told a webcast organized by the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency.

“The government decision — whenever we decide to go beyond the four — that depends on the energy strategy. The government does every 10 years a comprehensive review of the energy policy.”

When all four units at Barakah are operational, they will produce 5.6 GW of electricity, meeting up to 25% of the country’s power needs.

Construction of the three remaining nuclear units is almost complete and the full commissioning of all units will take a few years, Hammadi said, without giving a specific timeline. The 1.4-GW Barakah-1 was connected to the grid in August.

ECA Launches “New Nuclear” Initiative

The board of directors of the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA), an organization known more for its work in advancing the cleanup of Department of Energy sites, is launching a new initiative aimed at supporting the development of new nuclear technologies. As announced by the ECA on September 15, the self-funded, one-year initiative will focus on small modular reactors, micro and advanced reactors, a skilled nuclear workforce, and new nuclear missions around DOE facilities. facilities.

The board of directors of the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA), an organization known more for its work in advancing the cleanup of Department of Energy sites, is launching a new initiative aimed at supporting the development of new nuclear technologies.

As announced by the ECA on September 15, the self-funded, one-year initiative will focus on small modular reactors, micro and advanced reactors, a skilled nuclear workforce, and new nuclear missions around DOE facilities. facilities.

“With growing bipartisan support for nuclear energy in Congress, new federal demonstration projects led by DOE and the Department of Defense, and notable investment from the private sector, local governments want to be meaningfully engaged—and prepared—to match the strengths and needs of our communities with new nuclear opportunities,” the ECA said in its announcement.

Why new nuclear? The ECA, a nonprofit, membership organization of local governments adjacent to or impacted by DOE activities, said that its communities host and support the nuclear research and development that is under way across the DOE complex.

This includes, the organization said, the advanced nuclear reactors at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee; the production of high-assay low-enriched uranium in Piketon, Ohio; and the development of the Versatile Test Reactor and the NuScale small modular reactor at Idaho National Laboratory.

The ECA also points to private-sector initiatives such as Bill Gates’ TerraPower, Deep Isolation’s nuclear waste disposal solution, and NDB’s battery that is powered by nuclear waste.

“ECA communities are knowledgeable about and, in many ways, driven by the nuclear missions they already host,” the ECA said.

“These local governments are eager to fill vital roles, from establishing new U.S.-based manufacturing and supply chains to promoting creation of training programs at local community colleges around existing nuclear sites.”

A new subcommittee: To focus its work, the ECA formed the New Nuclear subcommittee, led by Rebecca Casper, mayor of Idaho Falls, Idaho, and identified the three core questions the subcommittee will address:

• What do communities need to know to attract and support new nuclear development/missions?
• What and how should communities communicate to industry, national laboratories, and state and federal governments about local resources and development opportunities?
• What hurdles and challenges will communities face and who can the ECA work with to overcome them?

The ECA said that it will build on former successful efforts working cooperatively with the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, industry, contractors, educators, and labor unions to address these issues, ensure information sharing, and identify how best to take action on common goals.

First steps: The New Nuclear subcommittee intends to begin by hosting a series of educational webinars to facilitate interaction and develop a shared understanding of the outlook for developing technologies, messaging and advocacy strategies, national security implications, and supply chain impacts and needs.

The ECA will also develop written resources to support education and outreach in communities on specific issues, including understanding priorities and timelines, federal and state regulatory requirements, community and workforce needs related to siting, potential cost-sharing, and public/private partnership opportunities. New issues are expected to be identified through ongoing discussions throughout the project year.

Participation: Those looking to collaborate or provide educational resources, or those wanting more information about the ECA New Nuclear subcommittee, are asked to contact Kara Colton, ECA director of nuclear policy, at kara.colton@energyca.org or MacKenzie Kerr, ECA program manager, at mackenziek@energyca.org

# # #

• NASA Seeks Industry Proposals to Put Nuclear Reactors on Moon and Mars
• General Atomic Delivers Nuclear Propulsion Plans To NASA
• Framatome Partners with ADAGOS to Use AI in Nuclear Engineering
• CNL Announces SMR Research Partnership with Kairos Power
• Approval Granted for Four New Chinese Nuclear Reactors

(SpaceNews) NASA and the Department of Energy will seek proposals for industry later this year for the development of a compact nuclear power system that can support the agency’s long-term lunar and Martian exploration plans.

In a Sept. 1 presentation to the Technology, Innovation, and Engineering Committee of the NASA Advisory Council, agency officials said they expected to release a request for proposals in late September or early October for the first phase of its Fission Surface Power effort. (Presentation – PDF file)

The project seeks to develop a 10-kW fission power system that could be placed on the moon as soon as 2027 The purpose of the system is to provide power to support long-term lunar surface activities, especially during the two-week night when solar power is not an option.

The DOE said 10 kW would be enough to power one-hundred 100-watt light bulbs or roughly 1/100,000 of the power produced by a typical 1,000-MW commercial reactor.

“That may not seem like a lot of juice, but it will be enough to power a portion of the infrastructure and equipment needed by astronauts on the lunar surface,” a speaker from DOE said at the briefing.

“It’s an enabling capability for a sustained lunar presence, particularly for surviving a lunar night,” said Anthony Calomino, nuclear systems portfolio manager in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, at the meeting.

“The surface of the moon provides us an opportunity to fabricate, test and flight qualify a space fission system.”

NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE) have been working together in recent years on a space nuclear power project called Kilopower, which featured a demonstration of the technology at the Nevada Test Site in 2018 with a one-kilowatt reactor. That project used highly enriched uranium (HEU), which enables an efficient and lightweight reactor.

DOE issued a request for information for the Fission Surface Power effort in July to seek ideas from industry for these types of power systems.

According to SpaceNews, Calomino said, “This is a new capability. The system is rather complex. There isn’t one provider that could be a one-shot do-all kind of thing,” he said.

“Partnering is important, and we wanted to give ample time for the aerospace and nuclear industries to identify common needs and common capabilities, and build up those teams.”

SpaceNews reported that at the NASA meeting it was announced that DOE will lead the procurement in cooperation with NASA. A formal RFP is expected in October after the start of the new federal fiscal year.

The agencies expect to make several awards for phase one to work on preliminary designs that would be completed by the end of 2021. A second phase, starting in early 2022, would select one company to develop a unit that would be ready and qualified for flight and for launch in 2027.

It was not lost on people attending the briefing that the technologies developed for missions to the Moon and Mars might also have commercial prospects here on earth.

General Atomic Delivers Nuclear Propulsion Plans To NASA

(Nuclear Street) San Diego-based General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems said this week that it delivered a design concept of a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) reactor to power future astronaut missions to Mars for a NASA-funded study. (DOE – Six things you should know about nuclear thermal propulsion)

The study, managed by Analytical Mechanics Associates (AMA), explored a design space defined by key performance parameters as well as figures of merit. The GA-EMS design exceeded the key performance parameters and optimized the NTP reactor for manufacturability, the highest ranked figure of merit.

“This is an exciting effort that directly aligns with our 60+ years of nuclear energy research and development, including nuclear reactor design and deployment and our expertise in space systems,” said Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS.

Dr. Christina Back, vice president of Nuclear Technologies and Materials at GA-EMS, said that NTP systems for NASA Human Mars Missions “are achievable in the near-term.”

Framatome Partners with ADAGOS for Use of AI
in Nuclear Engineeringt Applications

Framatome has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with France-based computer software provider ADAGOS to bring advanced, parsimonious artificial intelligence technology to the nuclear energy sector.

ADAGOS’ NeurEco architecture introduces a third-generation neural network to solve large and complex problems using fewer computational and data resources compared to previous generations.

Neural networks analyse data and information in a way that mimics the human brain. Framatome said NeurEco addresses common challenges to artificial intelligence and deep-learning technology as its new neural network approach based on parsimony reduces resources such as the amount of learning data, energy consumption, size of neural network, requested memory and computing time required to implement deep-learning methods.

Calculation times for non-linear fields such as neutronics and computational fluid designs can be reduced from days to a few minutes, and the generated metamodel provides more information on the output.

Sensitivity studies are raised to the next level with extensive results verses one for consideration. Calculation files are several hundred times smaller and can be compressed and decompressed infinitely, saving time and money for operators.

“Artificial intelligence is a game changer for advancing technologies and increasing the competitiveness and efficiency of the nuclear energy industry now and in the decades to come,” said Catherine Cornand, senior executive vice president of the Installed Base Business Unit at Framatome.

“This partnership combines Framatome’s engineering expertise and ADAGOS’ cutting-edge technology to automate and resolve complex issues,” said Alexis Marincic, senior executive vice president of the Engineering and Design Authority at Framatome.

CNL Announces SMR Research Partnership with Kairos Power

(WNN) Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) has announced a collaboration agreement with US-based Kairos Power, which is working to develop and license fluoride salt-cooled small modular reactor (SMR) technology. The agreement is funded through CNL’s Canadian Nuclear Research Initiative (CNRI) program and will cover research and engineering of technologies to separate, analyse and store tritium generated through the reactor’s operation

The reactor, known as Kairos Power FHR (KP-FHR) (interactive graphic) uses tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) ceramic fuel combined with a low-pressure fluoride salt coolant. The heat generated through the nuclear reaction is then converted into electricity through a flexible steam cycle. Tritium – a radioactive isotope of hydrogen – will be produced as a by-product of reactor operations, and this means the company must incorporate and maintain engineering controls to ensure the protection of workers and the environment.

CNL President and CEO Joe McBrearty said partnering with Kairos Power on this research was a “natural fit” at CNL’s Chalk River Laboratories.

“With four projects now under way through our CNRI program, it’s clear that there is a need for this type of collaborative research and financing to advance SMR technologies here in Canada.”

Kairos Power has conducted extensive testing and analysis related to tritium behavior and management, and is now working to identify and assess options for a tritium recovery and storage system.

CNL said it will work with Kairos to identify the best engineering designs for tritium recovery from various locations within the reactor system. Researchers will also work to identify experimental instrumentation and testing methods to measure tritium in various chemical forms, including nitrate salts.

In November 2019 Kairos Power was selected alongside Moltex Canada, Terrestrial Energy Inc and UltraSafe Nuclear Corporation as one of the first recipients of funds under the CNRI, which was launched in July last year to provide reactor vendors access to CNL’s research facilities.

Approval Granted for Four New Chinese Nuclear Reactors

(WNN) China’s State Council has approved the construction of four Hualong One reactors: two as phase one of the San’ao plant in Zhejiang province and two as the second phase of the Changjiang plant in Hainan province. Total investment in the projects exceeds CNY70 billion (USD10 billion).

At a September 2, 2020, meeting, the State Council noted that actively and steadily promoting the construction of nuclear power projects is an important measure to expand effective investment, enhance energy support, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Following the new approvals, two Hualong One units will be built as phase two – units 3 and 4 – of the Changjiang plant by state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and China Huaneng Group. Construction of unit 3 is scheduled to be completed in 2025, with unit 4 following in 2026.

CNNC and Huaneng are also cooperating in several other projects

• phase one of the Changjiang plant (which comprises two CNP-600 pressurized water reactors),
• the Shidaowan HTR-PM project (a demonstration high-temperature gas-cooled reactor in Shandong province) and
• the 600 MWe demonstration fast reactor at Xiapu, Fujian province.

The State Council has also approved the construction of two Hualong One units at China General Nuclear’s (CGN’s) new San’ao site in Zhejiang province.

This project will mark the first Chinese nuclear power project involving private capital, with Geely Technology Group will take a 2% stake in the plant. CGN holds 46% of the shares of the project company Cangnan Nuclear Power, with other state-owned enterprises holding the remainder.

The South China Morning Post reported that a number of factors have provided new impetuses for the approval of more nuclear plant projects. The coronavirus pandemic has strained the national economy, tensions are rising with the United States, and China is looking to cut its reliance on fossil fuels while reducing pollution.

Liu Jing, an analyst at Huajin Securities, said the State Council’s decision meant that China’s construction of nuclear plants would return to a more active track, with four to six projects expected to be approved annually over the next few years.

“Nuclear power … plays a pivotal role in ensuring China’s energy security and in achieving the [government’s] goal for non-fossil energy to account for 20 per cent [of China’s energy consumption] in 2030,” Liu wrote in a note to clients

There are now seven Hualong One reactors under construction in China and two in Pakistan. Two are planned for Bradwell in UK. Fuel loading has commenced at the first of the Chinese units – Fuqing 5.

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Neutron Bytes is taking a week off for the Labor Day holiday.

In the last decade of the 19th century, Americans toiled 12 hours a day, seven days a week, often in physically demanding, low-paying jobs. Child labor at a scale which is unfathomable today took place on farms and in factories and mines. Conditions were often harsh and unsafe resulting in uncompensated injuries and deaths.

Labor Day was created as an official U.S. holiday in 1894 by then President Grover Cleveland. The strike at the Pullman Railroad Car company was the impetus for the change. The labor unrest was sparked when firm lowered wages without changing the rents in company owned housing.

The New York Times reports;

“When angry workers complained, the owner, George Pullman, had them fired. They decided to strike, and other workers for the American Railway Union, led by the firebrand activist Eugene V. Debs, joined the action. They refused to handle Pullman cars, bringing freight and passenger traffic to a halt around Chicago. Tens of thousands of workers walked off the job, wildcat strikes broke out, and angry crowds were met with gun fire from the authorities.”

By the 1930s, the U.S. had the largest and strongest labor movement in the world. It led to an eight hour day, paid vacation and sick leave, and other employer paid benefits we take for granted today. Labor union power continued to grow and led to the prosperity of the American middle class that characterized the 1950s and 60s.

However, as American manufacturing firms outsourced their production to Asian countries, and globalization, with its race to the bottom for cheap labor, became a dominant economic force, the result in the U.S. was that the labor movement suffered a steep decline in membership and bargaining power.

U.S. Labor Movement Has Faded but the Holiday Lives On

Labor Day in the second decade of the 21st century is a fading echo of the era that created the holiday. It is now seen as a cultural milestone for the end of summer, the start of school, and the initiation of seemingly endless rounds of baseballs’s division and league playoffs. The National Football League’s season kicks off around Labor Day  as does Big 10 college Football.

Across America millions of us will fire up the BBQ for one last cookout and a chance to kick back with some grilled food and a cold brew. Beaches will fold up their umbrellas and the college kids who staffed the fast food industries’ resort based franchises will head back to school.

Way out west the crowds will thin out in places like Yellowstone National Park. Where once the cries of children in RVs and campers filled the air, but now it is so quiet that you can hear the sound of the wind as it passes through the feathers of a raven as it flies through an empty parking lot looking for the tidbits left behind by the now departed tourists.

COVID19 has Changed Labor Day

That’s what used to happen. Not any more, and perhaps it won’t happen again for a while. In the COVID19 era, according to several estimates, at least 40 million people, and perhaps more than 50 million, have filed for unemployment insurance. That’s about one-third of the total U.S. labor force which is estimated to be about 160 million people. Many of these people have also lost their health insurance and other elements of the so-called “safety net.”

Congress has stalled out in a partisan standoff on doing anything to stem the oncoming tidal wave of destitution and all of its hardships that will afflict tens of millions of Americans in the coming months. Our elected leaders are wrapped around their fantasies of self interest and they are tragically disconnected from the realities of daily life for people who have lost their livelihoods.

There is an election coming up in November. You might want to let your elected representatives know that your vote matters.

By registering to vote, and by showing up in person at the polls or voting by mail, you will send a message that you will support the candidates who will take concrete positive steps to turn the situation around.

Don’t sit this one out.

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• NRC Issues Final Safety Evaluation Report for NuScale Small Modular Reactor
• Holtec Successfully Completes Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Phase 1 Vendor Design Review
• NRC releases Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Interim Storage Partners’ Consolidated Interim Storage Facility

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a final safety evaluation report for NuScale’s small modular reactor design. This meets the agency’s original 42-month technical review schedule and demonstrates the NRC’s commitment to timely licensing of safe technologies for new, advanced reactors. The NRC is preparing a rulemaking to certify the design.

The NRC completed Phase 6 review — the last and final phase—of the Design Certification Application (DCA) for the company’s small modular reactor (SMR) with the issuance of the Final Safety Evaluation Report (FSER).

The FSER represents completion of the technical review and approval of the NuScale SMR design.

With this final phase of NuScale’s DCA now complete, customers can proceed with plans to develop NuScale power plants with the understanding that the NRC has approved the safety aspects of the NuScale design.

NuScale applied on Dec. 31, 2016, for certification of the company’s SMR design for use in the United States; the NRC accepted the design for review in March 2017.

The review process demonstrated the simplicity of NuScale’s SMR design and the thoroughness of the company’s application. As an example, during the rigorous Phase 1 review process, which included 115,000 hours spent reviewing the DCA, the NRC issued far fewer requests for additional information compared to other design certification applications.

NuScale spent over $500 million, with the backing of Fluor, and over 2 million labor hours to develop the information needed to prepare its DCA application. The company also submitted 14 separate Topical Reports in addition to the over 12,000 pages for its DCA application and provided more than 2 million pages of supporting information for NRC audits.

Neither a standard design approval nor a design certification grant permission to build or operate a reactor. Full certification, if granted by the Commission following the staff’s recommendation, allows a utility to reference the design when applying for a combined license to build and operate a nuclear power plant.

The design uses natural “passive” processes such as convection and gravity in its operating systems and safety features to produce approximately 50MW of electricity for each module. The SMR’s 12 modulesare all submerged in a safety-related pool built below ground level. The NRC concludes the design’s passive features will ensure the nuclear power plant would shut down safely and remain safe under emergency conditions, if necessary.

NuScale has indicated it will apply in 2022 for a standard design approval of a 60-megawatt-per-module version of the design. That version will require additional NRC review.

NuScale Takes a Victory Lap
 
NuScale Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Hopkins said, “This is a significant milestone not only for NuScale, but also for the entire U.S. nuclear sector and the other advanced nuclear technologies that will follow. This clearly establishes the leadership of NuScale and the U.S. in the race to bring SMRs to market.”

“The approval of NuScale’s design is an incredible accomplishment and we would like to extend our deepest thanks to the NRC for their comprehensive review, to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for its continued commitment to our successful private-public partnership to bring the country’s first SMR to market, and to the many other individuals who have dedicated countless hours to make this extraordinary moment a reality.”

“Additionally, the cost-shared funding provided by Congress over the past several years has accelerated NuScale’s advancement through the NRC Design Certification process. This is what DOE’s SMR Program was created to do, and our success is credited to strong bipartisan support from Congress.”

NuScale Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Tom Bergman said, “The NRC embraced the challenge of reviewing the first-ever small modular reactor DCA, which at the time not only marked an important milestone for NuScale, but also for the nuclear industry as a whole.”

NuScale appreciates the dedication, time, and effort of the NRC throughout this multi-year process, often with reviews completing ahead of schedule. As a long-time former NRC employee, including as an executive in the Office of New Reactors, I can say that this early issuance of the FSER is truly a credit to everyone at the NRC—including technical review and project staff, management, and the Commission.”
 
What’s Next for NuScale? 

NuScale said it continues to maintain strong program momentum toward commercialization of its SMR technology, including supply chain development, standard plant design, planning of plant delivery activities, and startup and commissioning plans.

The company fields growing domestic and international customer interest from those who see the NuScale power plant as a long-term solution for providing reliable, safe, affordable, and operationally flexible carbon-free energy for diverse applications.

NuScale has signed agreements with entities in the U.S., Canada, Romania, the Czech Republic, and Jordan. Similar agreements with other entities are being negotiated.

NuScale’s first customer. UAMPS, is working with the vendor to develop the first of a kind installation at a site at the Idaho National Laboratory. However, UAMPS also recently said its member cities and utilities might not need the reactor until 2030, a 2-year setback from the original delivery target date.

Nuclear Energy Institute Statement on NuScale FSER

Marc Nichol, senior director of new reactors at the Nuclear Energy Institute said, “The approval of NuScale’s small modular reactor design is not only a monumental milestone for NuScale but is a crucial step for the future of the industry. As the first U.S. small modular reactor design to be issued a FSER, NuScale is pioneering the way for additional innovative advanced nuclear technologies under development.

“NuScale’s design approval, the first of its kind, brings the country closer to meeting its clean energy goals and making electricity more accessible for all. This milestone demonstrates the nuclear industry can meet the demands for reliable, safe and affordable carbon-free energy here in the U.S. but also meet the demands of customers across the world.”

Holtec Successfully Completes Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Phase 1 Vendor Design Review

Holtec International’s SMR, LLC has successfully completed Phase 1 of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) “Pre-Licensing Review of a Vendor’s Reactor Design” for its small modular reactor design, the SMR-160.

A Vendor Design Review (VDR) is an assessment service CNSC provides to nuclear power plant designers. The benefits of this direct engagement are early feedback on the SMR-160 design as it addresses CNSC regulatory requirements and early identification and resolution of potential regulatory or technical issues on the design process.

The CNSC staff concluded that “overall, SMR, LLC understands and has correctly interpreted the high-level intent of CNSC’s regulatory requirements for the design of nuclear power plants in Canada pertaining to the scope of the Phase 1 VDR.”

“This milestone reinforces our expectation that the SMR-160 will meet Canada’s regulatory requirements while also providing valuable feedback that will allow us to further improve the design throughout the ongoing regulatory process,” said Dr. Kris Singh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Holtec International.

SMR, LLC started Phase 1 of the VDR in mid-2018, addressing the associated 19 focus areas and submitting hundreds of documents over the course of 18 months to support the review.

Successfully concluding Phase 1 demonstrates the significant progression of the design and associated engineering processes. As expected, the CNSC identified some areas that require follow-up in Phase 2 of the VDR as the review moves further into the details of the design.

Based on feedback received from the Phase 1 VDR, SMR, Holtec LLC plans to pursue a Phase 2 VDR in the near future, to continue this process for its walk-away safe reactor in order to gain assurance of a path to licensing certainty in Canada.

NRC releases Draft Environmental Impact Statement for
Interim Storage Partners’ Consolidated Interim Storage Facility
for Used Nuclear Fuel

Interim Storage Partners received notification on 08/27/20 from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission of a favorable finding included in a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for ISP’s consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) application.

The DEIS concludes that the application submitted by ISP, a joint venture of Orano USA and Waste Control Specialists, to construct and operate a consolidated interim storage facility for used nuclear fuel at the existing WCS storage site in Andrews County, Texas, will have no discernable negative effects on the environment or natural resources.

Following a public comment period, the current NRC schedule calls for the development of a final EIS during the second quarter of 2021.

In addition to the EIS, the NRC staff is concurrently conducting an analysis and review of the technical safety aspects of the ISP application. This effort, also scheduled to conclude during the second quarter of 2021, will result in a staff Safety Evaluation Report (SER). The completed EIS and SER would form the basis for the issuance of a license by the NRC.

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TerraPower and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Introduce Commercial Natrium [tm] Power Production and Storage System

TerraPower and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) announced on 08/27/20 the launch of the Natrium[tm] reactor and energy system architecture. This advanced nuclear technology features a sodium fast reactor combined with a molten salt energy storage system.

Building on the technology used in solar thermal generation, Natrium energy storage and flexible power production is intended to offer abundant clean energy in time to help meet climate goals.

The Natrium system features a 345MWe reactor and can be optimized for specific markets. For instance, its innovative thermal storage has the potential to boost the system’s output to 500MWe of power for more than five and a half hours when needed. This allows for a nuclear design that follows daily electric load changes and helps customers capitalize on peaking opportunities driven by renewable energy fluctuations.

Investors Are Coming Onboard

TerraPower’s President and Chief Executive Chris Levesque told Reuters TerraPower LLC, and its partner GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, the companies are seeking additional funding from private partners and the U.S. Energy Department, and that the project has the support of PacifiCorp, owned by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, along with Energy Northwest and Duke Energy.

If successful, the plan is to build the plants in the United States and abroad, Levesque said. The 345MW plants would be cooled by liquid sodium is estimated to cost about $1 billion each. Levesque told the Bloomberg wire service [firewall] that the two firms plan to build the first-of-a-kind unit by 2028.

By 2050 “we would see hundreds of these reactors around the world, solving multiple different energy needs,” Levesque said.

What the Two Firms Bring to the Table

In terms of what the two firms bring to the table, TerraPower is working on a molten chloride salt reactor with a consortium of firms. GE-Hitachi has designed the PRISM sodium cooled fast reactor based on the legacy work done with EBR-II and the Integral Fast Reactor. It has applied for a license for the reactor with the NRC.

The joint effort claims that Natrium technology’s novel architecture simplifies previous reactor types especially for the non-nuclear mechanical, electrical and other equipment. This infrastructure will be housed separately reducing complexity and cost.

The design is intended to permit significant cost savings by allowing major portions of the plant to be built to industrial standards. Improvements use fewer equipment interfaces and reduce the amount of nuclear-grade concrete by 80% compared to large reactors.

As a nuclear innovation company, TerraPower values collaboration with GE Hitachi to make nuclear generation as affordable as possible,” said Chris Levesque, TerraPower President and CEO.

The breadth and depth of the team’s expertise and resources reflect years of work on multiple reactor designs and efforts across the nuclear lifecycle. The Natrium system demonstrates the benefits of modern virtual design and construction tools and has attracted the attention of numerous utilities through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.

The effort is part of the work by Bill Gates as an investor to help fight climate change, and is targeted at helping utilities slash their emissions of planet-warming gases without undermining grid reliability. Natrium reactors are designed to provide firm, flexible power that seamlessly integrates into power grids with high penetrations of renewables.

Bill Gates, chairman of TerraPower’s board, said in a statement to Reuters that Natrium innovation was “extremely difficult” but its team had “the expertise, commercial experience, and the resources necessary” to develop viable reactors.

TerraPower started out working on its Traveling Wave fast reactor, in partnership with a Chinese state owned nuclear firm. TerraPower was forced to abandon the Chinese partnership when the Trump administration restricted nuclear deals with China.

Both firms are also currently in a partnership to negotiate a contract with the Idaho National Laboratory to design and build the Versatile Test Reactor and to have it operational by the end of this decade. It would also be based on the GE-Hitachi PRISM design.

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Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA) has initiated contract negotiations with a team led by Bechtel National Inc. to support the design and build phase of the Versatile Test Reactor, a one-of-a-kind facility that would support research and development of innovative, clean nuclear energy technologies.

The BNI team also includes TerraPower and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy. The decision reflects the early stage of engagement these firms have had with the project.

• In January 2020 GE-Hitachi and TerraPower agreed to collaborate to seek the business.
• In November 2018 GE-Hitachi was awarded a subcontract to support the conceptual design, cost/schedule estimate and safety framework activities.
• Within the INL-led VTR team, engineers from GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy will adapt the company’s 300 MW PRISM sodium-cooled nuclear reactor design to the needs of a test reactor for state-of-the art research and development purposes. The acronym PRISM stands for Power Reactor Innovative Small Module.
• Separately, GE-Hitachi is seeking an NRC license for the PRISM reactor design.
• Bechtel will support the project using its expertise in construction and project management for cost, schedule, and related management systems.

The announcement comes after BEA, the contractor that operates Idaho National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy, and members of the VTR technical team reviewed submissions by industry teams in response to a Request for Proposal issued earlier this year.

After careful review of multiple high-quality proposals, BEA selected the BNI-led team to start contract negotiations. INL manages the VTR project on behalf of DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy.  The negotiations will cover technical scope, schedule, cost, and the other normal elements of a major engineering procurement construction (EPC) effort.

While no cost estimate has been made public, the Department of Energy will need major funding in the order of at least several billion to build the reactor.  Once operational, it will become the kind of anchor facility that the INL has sought for decades since the Integral Fast Reactor  was shut down in the 1990s.

INL Excited About the Future

“We received excellent proposals from industry, which is indicative of the support to build a fast-spectrum neutron testing facility in the United States,” said Mark Peters, Idaho National Laboratory director.

“We are excited about the potential for working with the BNI-led team. They will bring a lot of design and construction expertise to the VTR project. This is essential since it has been several years since we built a test reactor in the United States.”

Background to the Decision

DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy established the VTR program in 2018 in response to several reports outlining the need for a fast spectrum test reactor and requests from U.S. companies developing advanced reactors. Currently, there are very few capabilities available for testing fast neutron reactor technology in the world and none in the United States.

In 2018, Congress passed the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act (NEICA), which highlighted the need for a reactor-based fast neutron source and authorized DOE to proceed.

Since then, a team of experts from INL and five additional national laboratories Argonne National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Savannah River National Laboratory), 19 universities, and nine industry partners have been developing a conceptual design, cost estimate and schedule for VTR.

DOE Confident the VTR Can Be Built

Dr. Rita Baranwal, assistant secretary for DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, said it is important for the VTR project to move forward.

“The VTR team led by INL has established a solid foundation upon which the design phase can begin,” Baranwal said.

“We have repeatedly heard from industry and other stakeholders that the United States needs a fast neutron scientific user facility to maintain our global leadership in nuclear energy. The selection of the BNI team with its TerraPower and GE Hitachi partners, puts us firmly on the path toward building this important infrastructure capability.”

“We are looking forward to successful negotiations with the BNI team and want to make sure the project is ready to go in Fiscal Year 2021,” said Kemal Pasamehmetoglu, executive director of the VTR project.

Instead of producing electricity, the Versatile Test Reactor would conduct irradiation testing for fuels, materials, and equipment to be used in rapidly evolving designs for advanced reactors brought forward by U.S. companies, as well as public and private research institutions.

“Advanced reactors hold great promise, but their fuels and materials need proper testing before they can be licensed and used in energy-producing reactors,” said Barbara Rusinko, president of Bechtel’s Nuclear, Security & Environmental global business unit.

The INL-led team is also supporting the development of an Environmental Impact Statement that will be used to assist the Department in making the final decision on the design, technology selection and location for VTR. The final decision is expected in late 2021.

History of the VTR

In August 2019 the INL received a charter from DOE to establish the National Reactor Innovation Center. It is a test and demonstration center for new nuclear technologies and it will involve public / private partnerships with firms that want to bring these technologies to a mature enough level to attract investors and customers.

 About INL

INL is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory that performs work in each of DOE’s strategic goal areas: energy, national security, science and environment.

INL is the nation’s center for nuclear energy research and development. Day-to-day management and operation of the laboratory is the responsibility of Battelle Energy Alliance.

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