NEI Weekly Newsletter
Nuclear Engineering International
NEI has been providing technical insight behind the news headlines for the entire civil nuclear sector for over 60 years
Welcome to the latest edition of Nuclear Engineering International's newsletter on LinkedIn.
Another busy week for the sector and lots of news items shared.
Please make sure to check out the latest content on our updated website: https://www.neimagazine.com/
See this week's highlights below:
IAEA EXPANDS UKRAINE NUCLEAR SAFETY SUPPORT
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will further expand its assistance to Ukraine by taking a more proactive stance to protect the status of vital energy infrastructure to ensure it does not impact nuclear safety, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said after meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
This follows a number of missile attacks that have either directly caused the disconnection of several nuclear power reactors, or led to dangerous instability of the national grid. Gross also had talks with Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko.
JAPAN TARGETS 2034 FUSION BREAKTHROUGH
Japanese start-up Helical Fusion aims to launch the world’s first steady-state nuclear fusion reactor in 2034 and to begin commercial operations in the 2040s, CEO Takaya Taguchi told Reuters.
“We aim to have the world’s first steady-state fusion reactor up and generating electricity within the next 10 years,” he said. “If successful, Japan, an energy importer, could produce its own energy and even export it, greatly enhancing Japan’s energy security.”
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FINLAND TESTS NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL PROCESS
Finland’s Posiva Oy says the final disposal of used nuclear fuel will be tested without used fuel in the coming months.
Posiva, which is responsible for the final disposal of used nuclear fuel, is jointly owned by Finnish nuclear utilities Fortum and Teollisuuden Voima Oyj.
The construction licence for Posiva’s repository at Eurajoki, near the Olkiluoto NPP, was granted in 2015 and work began the following year. The site was selected in 2000.
MORE DELAYS FOR JAPANESE REPROCESSING PLANT
领英推荐
Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL), the operator of Japan’s first commercial nuclear fuel plant, currently under construction in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, has again postponed its completion by two years.
JNFL now expects the reprocessing plant and mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel plant to be completed during fiscal years 2026 and 2027, respectively. Once operational, the maximum reprocessing capacity of the Rokkasho plant will be 800 tonnes a year, according to JNFL.
A two-year delay was previously announced in 2020.
PALISADES RESTART ON TRACK
Holtec International says it has achieved significant new milestones in its efforts to restart the Palisades NPP in Covert Township, Michigan.
Earlier in August, Holtec confirmed plans to restart power generation at the closed Palisades NPP next year if federal safety regulators approved. “We expect to be resuming power operations in October of next year,” Michael Schultheis, Palisades regulatory and site strategies director for Holtec International, told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) at a public meeting.
The single-unit 800 MWe pressurised water reactor at Palisades NPP began commercial operation in 1971.
NORTH ANNA APPROVED TO OPERATE UNTIL 2060
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved 20-year extensions for Dominion Energy’s North Anna Power Station’s two nuclear reactors, allowing them to operate until 2058 and 2060. The North Anna units are 944 MWe pressurised-water reactors located in Louisa County, Virginia, about 40 miles northwest of Richmond.
The two units were originally licensed to operate for 40 years, beginning in 1978 and 1980. In 2003, the licences were renewed for an additional 20 years, permitting the two reactors to operate until 2038 and 2040.
LOVIISA LOADS FIRST WESTINGHOUSE FUEL
The first batch of Westinghouse Electric Company VVER-440 fuel was loaded into Fortum’s Loviisa NPP during its annual outage in August.
The Loviisa plant comprises two Soviet-designed VVER-440 reactors and currently provides more than 10% of Finland’s electricity.
Loviisa unit 1 began commercial operation in 1977 and unit 2 in 1981. The plant has been using fuel supplied by Russia’s TVEL since 2007. However, European Union policy is currently focused on diversifying away from Russian supplied fuel.
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