Nuclear Energy

A consortium led by Belgian engineering firm Tractebel has completed the European Space Agency-commissioned RocketRoll project on nuclear electric propulsion for space exploration. The consortium has defined a comprehensive technology roadmap to equip Europe with advanced propulsion systems capable of undertaking long-duration missions.

The RocketRoll project - or 'Preliminary European Reckon on Nuclear Electric Propulsion for Space Applications' - brought together leading stakeholders in aerospace and nuclear within a consortium led by Tractebel that includes the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), ArianeGroup, Airbus and Frazer Nash. It also included researchers from the University of Prague, the University of Stuttgart and engineers from OHB Czechspace and OHB System in Bremen.

The partners studied the feasibility of an electric nuclear propulsion (NEP) system where the electricity produced by a nuclear power reactor powers electric ion thrusters - ionising a gas and accelerating the ions produced, which are then ejected to generate thrust. This method's thrust is lower but continuous, and with far greater fuel efficiency it has higher speeds and could cut 60% off the Mars travel time of traditional chemical rockets.

"Thanks to its huge energy density, NEP offers disruptive advantages in terms of speed, autonomy, and flexibility," Tractebel said. "This innovative propulsion technology has the potential to transform space exploration and space mobility by enabling longer-duration missions, potentially shaping the future of interplanetary exploration."

The RocketRoll project, which started more than a year ago and concluded last month, has now submitted a technology roadmap to develop an NEP system, including a candidate design for a demonstrator spacecraft that could flight test NEP systems for deep space missions by 2035.

"I am proud to lead such an important initiative in nuclear electric propulsion, which could enable exploration and in-space logistics in Earth Orbit and beyond on a scale that neither chemical nor electrical propulsion could ever achieve," said Brieuc Spindler, Space Product Owner, Tractebel. "I am committed to navigating the intricate technical and strategic challenges ahead. By leveraging its nuclear expertise and innovative solutions, Tractebel helps advance space technologies and push the boundaries of the final frontier's exploration."

Currently, European space missions depend on external sources for nuclear capabilities. Tractebel says its strategy is to engineer a range of nuclear power solutions, from radioisotope to fission systems, while also contributing to developing a European value chain for nuclear solutions in space applications.

According to the European Space Agency: "NEP would enable exploration and in-space logistics in Earth Orbit and beyond on a scale that neither chemical nor electrical propulsion could ever provide. The ultimate raison d'être of NEP is to explore beyond Mars orbit where solar power is limited.

"In addition, NEP could have strong synergies with other space application. For instance, nuclear power could be used on the Moon or Mars surface to power future habitats or robotic exploration of the solar system, or in space for other purpose than propulsion."

AtkinsRéalis company Candu Energy Inc has announced it is entering into a special project with Canadian nuclear regulators to plan for a Pre-Licensing Design Review of the new Candu Monark reactor's suitability to be licensed and built in Canada.

The 1000 MW Candu Monark, a Generation III+ reactor with the highest output of any Candu technology, was unveiled in November 2023. The conceptual design phase of the reactor was completed in September, and AtkinsRéalis plans to complete the preliminary engineering by 2027.

"Reactor development is a key differentiator for us as we have the exclusive licence to deploy one of only a few large reactor technologies available worldwide, and so we have extensive experience navigating the nuclear licensing process in Canada," said Joe St Julian, AtkinsRéalis President, Nuclear. "As the world enters a nuclear market super-cycle with estimated demand for 1,000 new reactor builds, we remain on track to complete the Candu Monark's design by 2027, positioning the first Candu Monark new build to begin as early as 2029 and be completed by the mid-2030s."

The special project will familiarise Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) staff with the design and allow them to provide feedback on what will be needed in a future pre-licensing design review.

The CNSC's optional vendor design review (VDR) process enables CNSC staff to provide feedback to a vendor early on in the design process. Such a review aims to verify, at a high level, that Canadian nuclear regulatory requirements and expectations, as well as Canadian codes and standards, will be met as well as helping identify, and potentially resolve, any fundamental barriers to licensing for a new design in Canada. AtkinsRéalis said it believes completion of a VDR was an added measure that offers predictability to a purchasing utility.

A typical VDR includes three phases, but since the Candu Monark's design heavily leverages the platform of past Candu reactor models which have fully completed all three phases of the regulator's VDR, as well as those that have already been licensed and built, the company said it has asked the CNSC to consider two possible types of pre-licensing design review: either a VDR, or a preliminary regulatory design assessment.

The special project between the CNSC and AtkinsRéalis will see the regulator's experts develop a schedule and estimate for both a VDR and a preliminary regulatory design assessment, reflecting the impact of the range of improvements and modernisations made to Candu Monark technology, their variance to past Candu designs that have already gone through all three VDR phases, and any relevant changes to regulatory requirements and expectations.

"AtkinsRéalis will then be able to evaluate which of these pathways will be most suitable in supporting the Candu Monark design programme, with the goal of seeking rigorous review and feedback on the Candu Monark's design in support of ensuring that any eventual Candu Monark new build project can be undertaken with confidence in the licensing costs and timeline," the company said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that "a small water leakage was detected from an impulse line - essentially a small pipe - connected to" Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant's first unit’s primary circuit, with repairs taking place and no "immediate issue for nuclear safety".

According to the update from the IAEA, the repairs required the pressure in the primary circuit to be decreased to atmospheric levels and the operators of the plant - which has been under Russian military control since March 2022 - told them on Thursday the welding work had been completed and radiography checks of the welds were on-going.

Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said: "The agency will continue to follow this issue closely, although we don’t see any immediate issue for nuclear safety. In general, we have identified regular equipment maintenance - which is vital to ensure sustainable nuclear safety and security - as a challenging area for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during the conflict."

All six of Zaporizhzhia's units have been in cold shutdown and, following this shutdown for maintenance, unit 1 is expected by the IAEA to be put back into cold shutdown.

The operators of the plant said on Telegram that a "microcrack in the pipeline was discovered and promptly eliminated", and after testing has confirmed the successful repair "it will be put into operation". The update added that radiation levels at the plant and surrounding area was unchanged.

The IAEA has had experts stationed at the Zaporizhzhia plant for more than two years, seeking to protect nuclear safety and security at the site, which is close to the frontline of the Ukrainian and Russian forces. The IAEA says the current team at the plant "continue to hear explosions daily, although no damage to the plant was reported".

There are also IAEA teams at Ukraine's three other operating nuclear power plants, with those at Khmelmnitsky reporting that drones had flown within 400 metres of the plant. Grossi said: "Frequent reports of drones flying near nuclear power plants continue to be a source of deep concern for nuclear safety and security. As we have stated repeatedly, any military activity in the vicinity of nuclear power plants represents a potential risk."

Leadership of the UK's STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) programme has transitioned to UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

The establishment of UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd (UKIFS) as a new delivery body for the UK's fusion programme was announced in February 2023 by then Science Minister George Freeman.

UKIFS will lead a public-private partnership that will design, build and operate the STEP prototype fusion plant at the West Burton power plant site in Nottinghamshire, England. The West Burton site was selected to host STEP in October 2022.

The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) - which carries out fusion energy research on behalf of the government - said it will continue to be STEP's fusion partner, working alongside two industry partners – one in engineering and one in construction – to spearhead the development of a UK-led fusion industry.

"A major procurement exercise is currently under way to select STEP's strategic, long-term industry partners, with the shortlist expected to be announced by the end of the year," the UKAEA said.

"The launch of UK Industrial Fusion Solutions demonstrates significant progress and commitment to developing fusion as a viable clean energy source, and also to creating a UK-led fusion industry," said Paul Methven, CEO of UKIFS and Senior Responsible Owner for STEP. "STEP is a national endeavour with global impact, and we will continue to work closely with public and private sector partners to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of a revolutionary sustainable new energy source that will drive economic growth."

Ian Chapman, CEO of UKAEA, said: "UKIFS brings together an experienced team dedicated to translating decades of fusion research into a functioning prototype plant that will be capable of supplying low-carbon, safe, and sustainable energy to the grid. UKIFS will integrate partners in a national endeavour to build STEP as well as focussing on delivering enormous social and economic benefits to the UK, especially for the East Midlands region where the plant will be built."

The aim for the first phase of work on STEP is to produce a 'concept design' by the end of this year. The UK government is providing GBP220 million (USD285 million) of funding for this part. The next phase of work will include detailed engineering design, while all relevant permissions and consents to build the prototype are sought. The final phase is construction, with operations targeted to begin around 2040. The aim is to have a fully evolved design and approval to build by 2032, enabling construction to begin. The demonstration plant is due to begin operating by 2040.

The technical objectives of STEP are: to deliver predictable net electricity greater than 100 MW; to innovate to exploit fusion energy beyond electricity production; to ensure tritium self-sufficiency; to qualify materials and components under appropriate fusion conditions; and to develop a viable path to affordable lifecycle costs.

US-based company Amentum has been awarded a contract worth an estimated EUR5.5 million (about USD6 million) to consult for the first-of-a-kind dismantling of steam drum separators at units 1 and 2 of the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania.

The seven-year contract with Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) will be implemented under International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) Yellow Book Conditions, administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and funded by European Commission grants.

Lithuania assumed ownership of the two RBMK-1500 units - light-water, graphite-moderated reactors, similar to those at Chernobyl - in 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It agreed to shut down the Ignalina plant as a condition of its accession to the European Union, with unit 1 shutting down in December 2004 and unit 2 in December 2009. The reactors are expected to be fully decommissioned by 2038, with most of the cost of the decommissioning being funded by the European Union via the EBRD and other funds.

Amentum said it will provide consultancy services to support INPP's Project Management Unit and carry out the duties of FIDIC Engineer for the dismantling contract. It will help INPP to manage the removal of the steam drum separators, which are large drums installed over the graphite core to divert steam to the turbines. The Project Management Unit will oversee the design and safety justification for dismantling and fragmentation of the drums and associated equipment. These are located in the plant’s radiologically contaminated primary circuit.

"We will deploy our extensive nuclear decommissioning and waste management experience from the UK, France, Czechia and Slovakia to this ground-breaking project,” said Andy White, who leads Amentum Energy & Environment International.

Amentum was created in early 2020 from the spin-off of US-based global infrastructure firm AECOM's Management Services business. Through its heritage firms, Amentum has been working at Ignalina for more than 20 years on projects including the delivery of the New Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility and other facilities required for decommissioning.

In September, Amentum completed a merger with Jacobs Solutions Inc's Critical Mission Solutions and Cyber and Intelligence government services businesses to form an independent, publicly traded company called Amentum Holdings, Inc. The combination was described by Amentum CEO John Heller as transformational for the company, forming a "global leader in advanced engineering and innovative technology solutions".

Global Atomic said it anticipates securing a project financing loan from a US development bank by early in the first quarter of 2025 to advance its Dasa uranium project in Niger.

The Canada-based company reported that in recent discussions, the bank confirmed its intention to approve a $295m (€271m) debt facility, which would cover 60% of the project’s projected costs.

Dasa is the highest-grade uranium deposit in Africa, surpassed only by grades found in Canada’s Athabasca Basin, and is scheduled to achieve commercial production in early 2026.

“The approval timelines outlined by the bank support yellowcake deliveries in 2026 as anticipated in the four offtake agreements we have in place with American and European nuclear power utilities,” said Global Atomic president and chief executive officer Stephen Roman.

“To help fund the continuing development of Dasa until the bank funds are available, earlier this month we raised CAD40 million [€26m, $29m] in an oversubscribed public offering.”

In addition to the unnamed development bank, Global Atomic is in discussions with parties regarding potential joint venture investment in the Dasa Project and other financing solutions, the company said.

According to Global Atomic, earthworks and civil engineering are progressing in preparation for the installation of plant equipment, components of which are now arriving at the site.

In August it emerged that the US development bank postponed a scheduled July presentation about the Dasa project to its credit committee, with Global Atomic saying it would move to “finalise other financing discussions” if there were further delays.

The Nigerien government has pledged its full support for the Dasa project, but other uranium developers in Niger faced major setbacks this past summer.

In June, Niger’s ruling military junta, which came to power following a coup in July 2023, revoked the operating licence of French company Orano at the Imouraren mine, which sits on one of the biggest uranium deposits in the world.

Orano said last week it would halt its uranium production in Niger from 31 October, citing a “highly deteriorated” situation and its inability to operate.

In July, Canada-based GoviEx Uranium said the junta had withdrawn its licence for the Madaouela uranium mine, dealing a major blow to the development of one of the world’s largest uranium projects.

The coup led the US to suspend government funding for Dasa. Still, the company managed to raise CAD15m in January and CAD20m in July by selling stock.

Holtec International said it repaired 125 damaged used fuel assemblies as part of the successful completion of its recent loading campaign of 480 used nuclear fuel assemblies into 15 HI-STORM FW dry storage casks at Angra unit 2 in Brazil.

Holtec said its team would return in early 2025 to load 75 damaged fuel containers from the Angra 1 site into 18 HI-STORM FW systems, also at the Complementary Dry Storage Unit for Spent Fuel (UAS).

Under a turnkey contract signed in 2017, Holtec of the USA supplied Eletronuclear with HI-STORM FW systems and related equipment for dry storage of used fuel from Angra units 1 and 2. Angra 1 is a Westinghouse-designed 609 MWe pressurised water reactor (PWR), while Angra 2 is a Siemens-designed 1275 MWe PWR. The units have different architectures and licensing bases, adding to the complexity of the project. Holtec modified their respective cask handling cranes and equipment for loading the fuel into the multi-purpose canisters and for moving the canisters to the dry storage facility.

PK Chaudhary, President of Holtec’s Nuclear Power Division with direct responsibility for Projects, Manufacturing & Supply Chain, said: "We thank Eletronuclear's team for their exemplary support for the Angra 2 used fuel storage campaign. We are gratified to see our innovative spent fuel storage solutions play a critical role at the Angra Nuclear Station. We look forward to a repeat success when our team returns to load used fuel at Angra 1 in early 2025."

The storage facility is designed to receive fuel elements after the cooling process in pools at the plants. They are stored in canisters made of steel and concrete to guarantee safety. It is a system which is used in the USA and is designed to withstand extreme events such as earthquakes and floods.

It includes physical security, radiation and temperature monitoring, an armoured access control centre and a storage warehouse with a technical workshop, designed and constructed by Holtec. The facility was constructed because the storage pools of both units were reaching full capacity. It is designed to hold up to 72 modules, with the capacity to receive used fuel until 2045.

Holtec said it used its Fuel Repair Device (FRD) to repair the damaged used fuel assemblies, technology which it used for the first time during refuelling at its Indian Point Nuclear plant in the USA last year. It says that its system renders a damaged fuel assembly that cannot be handled by normal means into one that can be handled in a normal manner using the plant’s existing fuel handling tooling and is "the only fuel repair technology available in the industry that involves no welding or introduction of any foreign material in the fuel pool".

Holtec says that in 2025 at Angra 1 it will load 18 HI-STORM FW systems with 75 damaged fuel containers and used fuel will be stored in MPC-37 canisters, each of which can contain 37 PWR used fuel assemblies.

A new strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and Mongolia's national atomic companies will provide new opportunities for the uranium industries of both countries, Kazatomprom's CEO has said.

The agreement to establish a partnership with MonAtom LLC was a "significant" result of the recent visit by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakshtan's recent official visit to Mongolia, Kazatomprom CEO Meirzhan Yussupov said. "The opportunities for implementing joint projects will allow us to combine resources and exchange experience and technologies, which will increase the efficiency and safety of uranium exploration and production," he said. "We strive for environmentally-friendly and safe development of the industry and are confident that this partnership will help to strengthen the positions of Kazakhstan and Mongolia in the international arena.

The new cooperation creates prospects for implementing joint projects in uranium exploration and mining in Mongolia, allowing both parties to strengthen their positions in the uranium industry, Kazatomprom said. "The companies plan to expand cooperation in the future and to consider a possibility of implementing joint initiatives aimed at strengthening the positions of Kazatomprom and MonAtom in the international uranium market," it added.

The agreement between Kazatomprom and MonAtom was reached during the state visit to Mongolia by President Tokayev, which also saw the signature of a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of nuclear energy between Kazakhstan's Ministry of Energy and Mongolia's Atomic Energy Commission.

Tokayev and Mongolia's President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation in a joint declaration on strategic partnership between Mongolia and Kazakshtan issued at the conclusion of Tokayev's visit to Ulaanbaatar on 29 October.

Mongolia has substantial known uranium resources, although no uranium has been mined there since the closure in 1995 of an open-pit mine at the Dornod deposit in the north-east of the country. The Dornod mine was operated by Russian interests, and produced 535 tU during six years of production. Ore from the mine was transported by rail to the Priargunsky facility in Krasnokamensk, Russia, for processing.

French nuclear company Orano has had a presence in Mongolia since 1997, and is working to develop the Zuuvch Ovoo project - which it says has a potential 30-year mine life - through its Badrakh Energy joint venture with MonAtom.

Nuclear energy - including the nuclear supply chain - is at the core of the Government of Ontario's plans to build critical infrastructure and spur economic growth set out in its latest economic statement.

The 2024 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: Building Ontario for You was released by Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy, who said the province's fiscal position had improved since the 2024 Budget which was released in March. The minister said the province - which is supporting both nuclear new-build and the refurbishment of existing units - will "continue investing responsibly to support Ontario’s growth and rebuild Ontario’s economy to make our province the best place to live, work and raise a family".

Nuclear already provides more than 50% of the province's power, and Ontario is building on its "nuclear advantage" to meet growing electricity demand, the review says. The government is working with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to start planning and licensing for three additional small modular reactors (SMRs) at the Darlington New Nuclear project, in addition to the first phase plant, for which site preparation is already under way. It is also working with Bruce Power on pre‐development work for the first large‐scale nuclear build in more than three decades in Canada.

The Ontario government is also supporting OPG's plans to refurbish units 5-8 at the Pickering nuclear power plant, as well as ongoing refurbishment projects at OPG's Darlington and Bruce Power's Bruce plants.

It has also introduced the Ontario Sustainable Bond Framework, enabling Green Bonds to fund environmentally beneficial projects, including nuclear energy.

Supply chain

"Ontario’s expansion of nuclear energy is cementing the province’s position as a global leader in new nuclear technologies, creating new export opportunities that will drive economic growth," the review notes, highlighting recent trade missions to Romania and France, which have secured "significant deals totalling CAD360 million that will leverage the province’s nuclear expertise to create jobs for Ontario workers and grow its nuclear supply chain". (CAD360 million is about USD259 million.) OPG and other Ontario nuclear supply chain providers had previously signed major agreements worth around CAD1 billion to export nuclear products and services to other countries, including Poland, Estonia and the Czech Republic.

In addition, it is "leveraging the expertise of OPG and its subsidiary Laurentis Energy Partners to support a new collaboration agreement with SaskPower in the deployment of a small modular reactor in Saskatchewan". This would also create more jobs for the Ontario economy, the review says.

Earlier in October, Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator issued an updated forecast projecting that power demand in the province will increase faster than previously expected over the next 25 years, with annual consumption rising from 151 TWh in 2025 to 263 TWh in 2050. This accelerated pace of demand growth is primarily due to the industrial sector, including additional electric vehicle supply chain manufacturing, and energy-intensive data centres, as well as an increasing population and focus on electrification.

Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) said the government's new vision document "reinforces the importance of several IESO initiatives under way to meet the growing needs of the province, such as the competitive procurement of new electricity generation and expanding energy efficiency programs that will help keep electricity affordable for all Ontarians".

Sweden-based small modular reactor (SMR) developer Blykalla and global engineering company ABB have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop advanced nuclear reactor technology and potentially build an electrical SMR pilot facility near the existing Oskarshamn nuclear power station south of Stockholm.

Blykalla said the SMR pilot facility, which will not use nuclear fuel, will test proof of concept before expanding to future plants.

ABB, a Swedish-Swiss multinational, will explore how its automation, electrification and digitalisation solutions can support Blykalla’s SMR prototype the Sealer-E, which features an electric lead-cooled reactor. This includes cyber security frameworks to ensure compliance with nuclear safety regulations.

Lead-cooled nuclear plants are not yet operating, but are being developed as next-generation, or Generation IV, reactors. Lead has a very high boiling temperature of 1,749°C which means the problem of coolant boiling is for all practical purposes eliminated. This brings with it important safety advantages that also result in design simplification and improved economic performance.

ABB’s expertise of power distribution, control and automation technologies, and system integration, will “lay the groundwork” for a successful deployment of advanced nuclear technologies as part of the collaboration, a statement said.

Blykalla’s Sealer SMR plant uses liquid lead cooling and has what the company said are unique safety elements and proprietary innovations.

The company said it wants to provide baseload energy to enable a complete transition to a fossil-free future and is collaborating with partners to deliver Sweden’s next nuclear reactor within this decade.

Blykalla announced in September that it had doubled the capital raised in an early-stage investment round to €14m ($15.2m) as it seeks to industrialise its Sealer design.

Focus Is On Two Advanced Reactor Projects

Blykalla is focused on two projects – the construction of the electric Sealer-Enon-nuclear prototype test reactor at Oskarshamn and the development of its flagship advanced reactor design demonstrator the Sealer-One.

Blykalla said earlier that the funds announced in September will primarily be used for the construction of the prototype test reactor in collaboration with utilities OKG and Uniper, and the continued design and development of the Sealer-One.

The Oskarshamn prototype will be used for materials testing at high temperature, including testing of Blykalla’s innovative corrosion-tolerant steel alloys, which are expected to enable the efficient cooling of liquid lead.

Blykalla has also signed an MOU with Sweden-based nuclear engineering and services company Studsvik to conduct a feasibility study on the construction and operation of a demonstration Sealer reactor with associated infrastructure for fuel fabrication in Nyköping, south of Stockholm.

According to Blykalla, construction of the electric prototype reactor is expected to start at Oskarshamn by the end of 2024. A demonstration deployment of the actual Sealer-One lead-cooled reactor is expected by the end of the decade.

Sweden’s six commercial nuclear power plants provide almost 30% of the country’s electricity. In November 2023, the government unveiled a roadmap to expand nuclear energy, increasing new capacity by 2,500 MW by 2035 and building up to 10,000 MW by 2045, which could include SMRs.

The American Bureau of Shipping has released its latest report into the potential of advanced nuclear technology for maritime applications, with a study of a small modular reactor on a standard liquefied natural gas carrier.

The report notes that large liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier vessels are increasing in demand as the international LNG trade remains important for global energy security. LNG is stored on board in large cryogenic tanks that maintain natural gas (primarily methane) in a liquid state around -165°C. The typical energy demand for LNG carriers is between 30 to 75 MW.

The scope of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) study - titled Pathways to a low carbon future: LNG carrier nuclear ship concept design - was to consider and discuss a standard LNG carrier design using nuclear power for propulsion and other primary energy needs. A conceptual future zero-emissions LNG carrier is presented to illustrate how one type of advanced nuclear fission technology may be applied for shipboard power in the future, with an emphasis on what aspects of ship and reactor design may require further investigation to guide the development of the integrated technology and regulatory framework.

The transformational impact of a high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) on the design, operation and emissions of a 145,000-cubic-metre LNG carrier design was modeled by ABS and Herbert Engineering Corporation. ABS said the study was designed to help industry "better understand the feasibility and safety implications of nuclear propulsion and to support future development projects".

The study shows a nuclear-propelled LNG carrier would have specific design features, with reactors placed at the rear of the vessel (to shield the cryogenic cargo from the thermal load of the reactor compartment) and batteries forward of the location occupied by fuel tanks on current vessels and a reinforced hull. Given design constraints, the HTGR technology would only be suitable for larger LNG carriers.

"The study provides ABS and the industry important information on heat and energy management, shielding, weight distribution, and other design features for an LNG carrier with nuclear propulsion," ABS said. "This will assist the identification of design issues that will inform future Rules development. The study also found the HTGR technology allowed faster transit speeds and offers zero-emission operations. There would also be no requirement to refuel, although the HTGR technology would need replacing approximately every six years."

ABS said the benefits from nuclear propulsion include decarbonised high-power availability, reduced or eliminated bunker costs, and associated reduced bunker time in port.

"Nuclear power would be an ideal means of drastically abating shipping emissions, but significant hurdles remain in public perception and international regulations before this can be achieved," it adds.

"While this technology is well understood on land, adapting it for marine application is in its infancy," noted ABS Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Patrick Ryan. "However, this study and the other research we have carried out clearly highlight its significant potential to address not only shipping's emissions challenge but to deliver a range of other operational advantages to the industry. ABS is committed to helping the industry evaluate its suitability for use in a range of use cases and LNG carriers is just one of a range of potential applications we are exploring."

In August 2022, ABS announced it had been awarded a contract by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to research barriers to the adoption of advanced nuclear propulsion on commercial vessels. Working with support from DOE's National Reactor Innovation Center, based at Idaho National Laboratory, ABS is developing models of different advanced reactor technologies for maritime applications and developing an industry advisory on the commercial use of modern nuclear power.

In July last year, a study commissioned by ABS explored the potential of advanced nuclear reactor technology for commercial marine propulsion. ABS commissioned Herbert Engineering Corporation to carry out a study designed to help the shipping industry better understand the feasibility and safety implications of nuclear propulsion and to support future development projects. The study modelled the impact of nuclear propulsion on the design, operation and emissions of a container vessel and a Suezmax tanker.

Great British Nuclear (GBN) has issued an “invitation to negotiate” to the four companies that were chosen for the shortlist of the UK government’s small modular reactor (SMR) selection process.

GBN, the public body set up to drive the delivery of new nuclear energy projects in the UK, said that after these negotiations are concluded, the companies will be invited to submit final tenders, which GBN will then evaluate.

A final decision on which technologies to select will be taken in the spring. GBN said it will provide further updates in due course.

The four companies remaining in the process are GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy International, Holtec Britain Ltd, Rolls Royce SMR Ltd and Westinghouse Electric Company UK.

The two companies that were on an initial list of six, but were not included in the list of four, were EDF and US-based NuScale Power.

French state-owned utility and nuclear operator EDF said in July that it had pulled out of the competition after deciding to shift away from its indigenous Nuward technology to a design based on proven technology only.

The UK government gave no reason for NuScale’s failure to make the list of four. In November 2023, NuScale cancelled its first SMR project, in the US, as costs increased.

Industry Calls For No Delays

Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the London-based Nuclear Industry Association, said that whilst it is good to see the UK SMR competition reach this stage, what is critical is reaching a decision as soon as possible without any further delays to the now published timeline.

“Confidence in the UK government’s pronouncements on support for SMRs rests on fulfilling commitments made today,” Greatrex said.

“It is vital for supply chain confidence as well as driving the wider nuclear ambition.”

Greatrex called for the government to empower GBN to buy more sites, starting with Heysham, so “we can deliver a fleet of SMRs for clean, reliable, British power and good, skilled jobs”.

The SMR competition for UK government support was launched last year by the then Conservative government, as part of a strategy to replenish the UK’s dwindling nuclear power fleet, most of which is due to shut down by the end of the decade.

It has been running behind the initial schedule to award contracts by the end of summer 2024.

The cost of cleaning up the U.K.'s largest nuclear site, "is expected to spiral to £136 billion" (about $176 billion), according to the Guardian, creating tension with the country's public-spending watchdog.

Projects to fix the state-owned buildings with hazardous and radioactive material "are running years late and over budget," the Guardian notes, with the National Audit Office suggesting spending at the Sellafield site has risen to more than £2.7 billion a year ($3.49 billion).

> Europe's most hazardous industrial site has previously been described by a former UK secretary of state as a "bottomless pit of hell, money and despair". The Guardian's Nuclear Leaks investigation in late 2023 revealed a string of cybersecurity problems at the site, as well as issues with its safety and workplace culture. The National Audit Office found that Sellafield was making slower-than-hoped progress on making the site safe and that three of its most hazardous storage sites pose an "intolerable risk".

> The site is a sprawling collection of buildings, many never designed to hold nuclear waste long-term, now in various states of disrepair. It stores and treats decades of nuclear waste from atomic power generation and weapons programmes, has taken waste from countries including Italy and Sweden, and is the world's largest store of plutonium.

> Sellafield is forecast to cost £136bn to decommission, which is £21.4bn or 18.8% higher than was forecast in 2019. Its buildings are expected to be finally torn down by 2125 and its nuclear waste buried deep underground at an undecided English location. The underground project's completion date has been delayed from 2040 to the 2050s at the earliest, meaning Sellafield will need to build more stores and manage waste for longer. Each decade of delay costs Sellafield between £500m and £760m, the National Audit Office said.

> Meanwhile, the government hopes to ramp up nuclear power generation, which will create more waste.

"Plans to clean up three of its worst ponds — which contain hazardous nuclear sludge that must be painstakingly removed — are running six to 13 years later than forecast when the National Audit Office last drew up a report, in 2018... "

"One pond, the Magnox swarf storage silo, is leaking 2,100 litres of contaminated water each day, the NAO found. The pond was due to be emptied by 2046 but this has slipped to 2059."

The Czech Republic's competition authority has issued a preliminary ruling rejecting the appeals by Westinghouse and EDF about the tender process for new nuclear units in the country which saw Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power selected.

In a ruling published on Thursday, the Office for the Protection of Competition (UOHS) said it had "decided in the first instance on the proposals of the companies Électricité de France and Westinghouse Electric Company LLC against the procedure of the contracting authority Elektrárna Dukovany II in the tender for the construction of a new nuclear power plant. The proceedings on the proposals of both companies were mostly terminated, while other parts of the proposals were rejected. The decisions are not final and the parties to the proceedings may lodge an appeal with the Chairman of the Office".

It said that Westinghouse's objection "against the procedure of the contracting authority outside the framework of the Public Procurement Act on the basis of the so-called security exception" did not proceed "because the company should have filed its objections to the use of the exemption no later than 15 days after it became aware of the use of this procedure, which was in March 2022. However, the objections were not received by the contracting authority until 1 August 2024".

It also says that "both applicants also argued that the contracting authority had acted illegally in failing to comply with the basic principles of public procurement ... for example, the substantial extension of the subject of performance of the public contract in question, the inability of the preferred supplier to perform the contract, etc". However this complaint was also not taken forward "because no legal objections can be raised against the specific procedure of the contracting authority in awarding the public contract outside the procurement procedure using the exception under Article 29(a) of the Public Procurement Act".

Both companies claimed that foreign subsidy regulations had been infringed, with EDF also alleging "a breach of the 3E principles as well", which refers to the benchmarking process for tenders. But the office "rejected the proposals in these parts because they were not directed against a procedure which the contracting authority is required to follow under the Public Procurement Act".

Because these are not final rulings the competition office added that "the prohibition to conclude a contract for the tender in question remains in effect until the decision in the case comes into force".

The ruling was published the day after it emerged that there was a ban on signing the contract pending a decision on the case. Speaking on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Vlastimil Válek said that was "the standard procedure of the Office" and happens in many hundreds of cases a year "so it's nothing out of the ordinary - it's part of our legislation and I don't think it should jeopardise any of that timetable in any way".

ČEZ Group also issued a statement saying that its project company for the two new units, had "proceeded from the very beginning in accordance with the applicable laws" and it was "conducting negotiations with the preferred supplier, which is the Korean company KHNP, regarding the form of the final contract. According to the current schedule, it should be ready for signing by 31 March 2025. It can be expected that by then the ÚOHS will be able to make a decision in the proceedings so that the signing of the contract with the preferred supplier is not delayed".

The background

The Czech Republic currently gets about one-third of its electricity from the four VVER-440 units at Dukovany, which began operating between 1985 and 1987, and the two VVER-1000 units in operation at Temelín, which came into operation in 2000 and 2002.

In October last year, Westinghouse, EDF and KHNP submitted binding bids for a fifth unit at the Dukovany nuclear power plant, and non-binding offers for up to three more units - another one at Dukovany and two at the Temelin nuclear power plant. Westinghouse was proposing its AP1000, EDF was proposing its EPR1200 reactor, KHNP was proposing its APR1000. But in February the Czech government announced it was changing the tender to be binding offers for four new units, with Westinghouse not included because it "did not meet the necessary conditions".

Prime Minister Petr Fiala explained at the time that the decision to switch to binding offers for all four units was the result of the original tender suggesting that contracting for four units, rather than having separate processes, could have a 25% benefit in terms of costs.

In July, he announced KHNP as the preferred bidder, with contract negotiations to begin with the aim of signing contracts for the initial unit by the end of March 2025 - the target for test operation of the first new unit is 2036 with commercial operation in 2038. He said the winning tender "based on the evaluation of experts, offered better conditions in most of the evaluated criteria, including the price". The KHNP bid was for a cost of around CZK200 billion (USD8.6 billion) per unit, if two units were contracted.

Ceremonies have been held to mark the completion of units 1 and 2 of South Korea's Shin Hanul nuclear power plant, as well as the start of construction of units 3 and 4 at the plant. The new APR1400 units are scheduled to be completed by 2032 and 2033, respectively.

Shin Hanul units 1 and 2 - both APR1400 units - entered commercial operation in December 2022 and April this year, respectively. Speaking at the ceremony, President Yoon Seok-yeol noted, "Shin Hanul units 1 and 2 are the first nuclear power plants completed under our government, and Shin Hanul units 3 and 4 are the first nuclear power plants to be started."

In November 2014, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) signed an agreement with Ulchin County to build Shin Hanul 3 and 4. The company applied for a construction licence for the units in January 2016. Site preparation for the two units was originally scheduled to begin in May 2017, with commercial operation of unit 3 scheduled for December 2022, with unit 4 following a year later. However, KHNP announced in May 2017 that it had instructed Kepco Engineering & Construction - which signed a design contract in March 2016 - to suspend work for the planned units as a result of the then new President Moon Jae-in's policy of phasing out nuclear power. Work towards licensing the new units was to continue.

President Yoon - who assumed power in May 2022 - reversed the former president's policy of phasing out nuclear power. In July 2022, Yoon encouraged a speedy restoration of the country's "nuclear power plant ecosystem" after Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang set out plans for revitalising South Korea's nuclear power industry, including the aim for work on Shin Hanul 3 and 4 to resume as early as 2024.

"During the last presidential election, I visited this very site where construction of Shin Hanul units 3 and 4 was halted and promised the people that if I were elected president, I would immediately restore the nuclear power ecosystem and immediately resume construction of Shin Hanul units 3 and 4," Yoon said at today's ceremony.

Preparatory groundwork began for the construction of the two APR1400s following the approval by the South Korean government of the project's implementation plan in June 2023. The approval of the plan effectively approved 20 licensing and permitting procedures under the jurisdiction of 11 ministries required for the construction of nuclear power plants. South Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission issued a licence to KHNP for the construction of Shin Hanul 3 and 4 in September.

In March last year, KHNP and Doosan Enerbility signed a KRW2.9 trillion (USD2.2 billion) contract for the supply of the main equipment for Shin Hanul 3 and 4. Under the contract - which will run for 10 years - Doosan Enerbility will supply the nuclear reactors, steam generators and turbine generators for the two APR1400 units.

"Since our government took office, KRW8.7 trillion worth of work has been ordered for nuclear power plants," Yoon said. "In addition to the construction of Shin Hanul units 3 and 4, the ongoing construction of Saeul units 3 and 4, the continued operation of existing nuclear power plants, and overseas nuclear power plant orders, many orders have been placed."

He added: "As of the first half of this year, orders for Shin Hanul units 3 and 4 have exceeded KRW1 trillion, and once construction begins in earnest, more work will pour in, greatly revitalising the local economy." A total of KRW8.13 trillion worth of work is expected to be ordered for the project by 2033, Yoon noted.

"We are now in the midst of a nuclear renaissance," the president said. "As countries around the world rush to build nuclear power plants, a global nuclear power market worth KRW1 trillion is opening up. Using the Czech nuclear power plant order as a springboard, I and the government will further open the export path for our nuclear power industry."

Yoon said the government will prepare a mid to long-term nuclear power roadmap for 2050 within the year and present a vision and comprehensive plan for the nuclear power industry. It will also aim to enact a special law on supporting the nuclear power industry.

The Czech anti-monopoly office UOHS has put a temporary hold on the conclusion of a contract with South Korea’s state-owned Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company (KHNP) for the construction of two new nuclear power plants following challenges by Westinghouse and EDF.

UOHS said that the preliminary measure to prohibit the conclusion of the contract for new reactors at the existing Dukovany nuclear site was not indicative of how the case will be decided and was standard procedure in such a case.

The measure comes after the office started official proceedings work in September following appeals from US-based Westinghouse and France’s EDF against the country’s choice in July of KHNP as preferred bidder to build new nuclear reactors.

The Czech government and majority state-owned utility ČEZ have said they aim to conclude negotiations with KHNP and sign contracts by next March. The first reactor at the site could be online by 2036.

ČEZ said it believed the preliminary measure would not impact the tender's schedule. “The company is convinced it acted in accordance with the applicable laws from the first moment in the selection of the preferred bidder,” it said.

UOHS had said earlier that the complaint by EDF demanded that UOHS cancels decisions by a unit of the 70% state-owned ČEZ on evaluating bids.

The complaint by US-based Westinghouse focused on the use of a national security exception that suspended public procurement rules, it said. Westinghouse also appealed a decision not to be invited into the second round of the tender.

EDF has also filed a complaint with the European Union competition regulator over the decision to pick KHNP.

EDF said it wants to ensure that KHNP’s offer to ČEZ “respects fundamental European principles, laws and regulations”.

TerraPower has signed a term sheet with ASP Isotopes Inc for the construction of a uranium enrichment facility in South Africa and a supply agreement for fuel delivery for the Natrium small modular reactor.

The term sheet contemplates the preparation of definitive agreements pursuant to which TerraPower would provide funding for the construction of a high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) production facility. In addition, the parties anticipate entering into a long-term supply agreement for the HALEU expected to be produced at this facility pursuant to which the customer would purchase all the HALEU produced at the facility over a 10-year period after the expected completion of the facility.

It is anticipated that the definitive agreements will be assigned to ASP Isotopes' wholly-owned subsidiary, Quantum Leap Energy LLC. The term sheet contains non-binding and binding provisions, including a period of exclusivity during which ASP Isotopes will not negotiate with third parties for the supply of HALEU or work on another ASP technology-based uranium enrichment facility.

ASP Isotopes said it is in discussions with certain financial institutions to provide additional capital for the HALEU production facility. The company said it believes that its enrichment technologies can be deployed in a new HALEU facility for considerably lower capital costs, and in much less time, compared with the construction of an enrichment facility using a traditional centrifuge process of HALEU production. ASP has already constructed or is in the process of constructing three isotope enrichment facilities in South Africa.

"Over the last several decades, the scientists at ASP Isotopes have developed some of the world's most advanced isotope enrichment technologies," said ASP Isotopes Chairman and CEO Paul Mann. "This term sheet is further validation of our belief that ASP Isotopes can offer scalable and capital efficient technology solutions to the supply challenges which exist in global isotope markets."

TerraPower said its agreement with ASP "is one of many investments TerraPower has made to secure access to the fuel for the Natrium reactor and energy storage system being developed in Kemmerer, Wyoming".

The company has also made multiple strategic agreements and investments to help spur domestic production capabilities in the USA and ensure a robust and competitive front end of the nuclear fuel cycle. These include MoUs and agreements with Centrus for HALEU commercialisation, Framatome to develop a HALEU metallisation plant and Uranium Energy Corporation to explore the use of Wyoming uranium as a potential fuel source for Natrium plants.

Once enriched, Natrium's fuel will be fabricated at the Natrium Fuel Facility in Wilmington, North Carolina, which is under development at the Global Nuclear Fuel–Americas site through a significant investment by TerraPower and the US Department of Energy (DOE). TerraPower also remains an active member and participant of DOE's HALEU Consortium.

"TerraPower has been working diligently to ensure a stable, secure HALEU supply chain for our Natrium reactors," said TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque. "This agreement is another example of our commitment and investments to commercialise HALEU production domestically and in allied countries. We are optimistic about ASP Isotopes enrichment capabilities and planned timeline to help ensure advanced nuclear energy can achieve its necessary role in meeting climate energy targets."

TerraPower broke ground for the first-of-a-kind advanced reactor plant at Kemmerer in Wyoming in June this year. The 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system - which can boost the system's output to 500 MW of power when needed, allowing it to integrate seamlessly with renewable resources - is being built near a retiring coal-fired plant.

TerraPower, the nuclear innovation company founded by Bill Gates, has entered into a non-binding agreement with ASP Isotopes related to the construction of a uranium enrichment facility capable of producing high assay low-enriched uranium (Haleu) and the future supply of Haleu for TerraPower’s reactors.

Washington-based ASP Isotopes, which is developing technology and processes for the production of isotopes for use in multiple industries, said the “term sheet” with TerraPower outlines early-stage proposals for TerraPower to provide funding for the construction of a uranium enrichment facility and buy Haleu when the facility is in operation.

A term sheet is a document that outlines the key terms and conditions of a proposed investment or transaction.

The two companies hope to enter into a long-term supply agreement for TerraPower to buy all the Haleu produced at the facility over a 10-year period after the expected completion of the facility.

The term sheet contains non-binding and binding provisions, including a period of exclusivity during which ASP Isotopes will not negotiate with third parties for the supply of Haleu or work on another ASP technology-based uranium enrichment facility, a statement said.

It said ASP Isotopes is also in discussions with financial institutions to provide additional capital for the Haleu facility.

Haleu is uranium enriched between 5% and 20%, which increases the amount of fissile material to make the fuel more efficient relative to lower-enriched forms of uranium.

ASP Isotopes’ subsidiary Quantum Leap Energy aims to use proprietary techniques it has developed to enrich U-235 and produce Haleu.

Many advanced reactors – likely to be deployed from the 2030s onwards – will use Haleu to achieve smaller designs, longer operating cycles, and increased efficiencies over current technologies.

Haleu Needed For First Natrium Reactor In Wyoming

One of those advanced reactors is TerraPower’s Natrium. TerraPower, a startup founded by Gates in 2008, broke ground in June 2024 for construction of its first commercial Natrium nuclear plant at Kemmerer in Wyoming, where a coal plant is shutting down.

TerraPower’s chief executive Cristopher Levesque has said that the company is aiming to start nuclear-related works in 2026 subject to receiving a permit from the US regulator. The plant is expected to be completed by 2029-2030.

However, Haleu is not yet widely available commercially. Only Russia and China have the infrastructure to produce Haleu at scale, although a number of countries have announced plans to manufacture it. In the US, Centrus Energy, began producing Haleu from a demonstration-scale cascade in October 2023 and delivered its first batch to the Department of Energy in November 2023.

ASP Isotopes believes that its enrichment technologies can be deployed in a new Haleu facility for considerably lower capital costs, and in much less time, compared to the construction of an enrichment facility using a traditional centrifuge process of Haleu production.

The company has already constructed or is in the process of constructing three isotope enrichment facilities in South Africa. The first facility is expected to enrich carbon-14 for use in healthcare and agrochemicals. The second will enrich silicon-28, which will enable faster, more efficient semiconductors for use in artificial intelligence and quantum computing. The third facility is expected to enrich ytterbium-176, a critically important raw material used in the production of oncology therapies.

“Over the last several decades, the scientists at ASP Isotopes have developed some of the world’s most advanced isotope enrichment technologies,” said Paul Mann, chairman and chief executive officer of ASP Isotopes. “This term sheet is further validation of our belief that ASP Isotopes can offer scalable and capital efficient technology solutions to the supply challenges which exist in global isotope markets.”

Developed in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics specifically for the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator, Thales's TH1507U gyrotron has achieved a significant milestone by reaching a total output of 1.3 megawatts in radiofrequency at a frequency of 140 gigahertz for 360 seconds.

A gyrotron is a high-powered linear beam vacuum tube that generates millimeter-wave electromagnetic waves by the cyclotron resonance of electrons in a strong magnetic field.

Thales's gyrotron plays a crucial role in the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator project by providing heating and stabilisation of the plasma, which are essential for reaching the temperatures required for magnetic confinement nuclear fusion.

The Wendelstein 7-X project - the world's largest and most powerful stellarator - not only aims to enhance the fundamental understanding of plasmas, but also to contribute to the development of commercial fusion reactors.

Munich-based Thales is the only European manufacturer of gyrotron electronic tubes. The TH1507U gyrotron was developed in collaboration with the European GYrotron Consortium, which aims to create an autonomous European source of highly reliable gyrotrons. Operating at a strategic nominal frequency of 140 gigahertz, these reactors can also adapt to other frequencies.

"The world record set by our gyrotron marks a significant milestone in the race for fusion and illustrates our commitment to technological innovation and excellence," said Charles-Antoine Goffin, vice president of Microwave & Imaging Sub-Systems at Thales. "This technological breakthrough positions Thales at the forefront of high-power plasma heating solutions, essential for addressing the energy challenges of tomorrow."

After Wendelstein 7-X generated a record plasma in February 2023 (lasting 8 minutes with an energy output of 1.3 gigajoules), the stellarator at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald, Germany, was shut down as planned for maintenance and improvements, including the installation of the new gyrotron. In September, Wendelstein 7-X started a new experimental campaign.

Japan’s Tohoku Electric Power has restarted Unit 2 at its Onagawa nuclear station after additional safety construction work delayed the process.

The long-delayed restart of the 796-MW boiling water reactor unit, confirmed on Tuesday (29 October), takes the number of Japan’s operational reactors to 13, with a combined capacity of about 12,500 MW.

The station, in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, is about 180 km north of the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power station. It was hit by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that resulted in meltdowns at Fukushima-Daiichi, but survived with its cooling system intact, saving its reactors from the threat of meltdowns. Onagawa has been offline since the Fukushima disaster.

Tohoku Electric received a de facto regulatory approval to restart Unit 2 in 2020, but has seen a delay in the completion of safety constructions that needed to be introduced under post-Fukushima rules.

One of the measures that needed to be implemented was the construction of a 29-metre-high, 800-metre-long seawall along the Pacific coast to guard against a tsunami as high as 23.1 metres.

For Tohoku Electric, the Onagawa restart follows a total investment of $3.7bn (€3.4bn) on safety measures to meet the tougher rules adopted after the Fukushima disaster.

There are three BWR units at the Onagawa site. Onagawa-1, the oldest of the three plants and a smaller unit at 498 MW, has been permanently shut down. The 796-MW Onagawa-3 is offline, but could be restarted.

The 13 nuclear plants that have now resumed operations after meeting post-Fukushima safety standards are: Sendai-1 and -2, Genkai-3 and -4, Ikata-3, Mihama-3, Ohi-3 and -4, Onagawa-2 and Takahama-1, -2, -3 and -4. Business Backs ‘Maximum Use Of Nuclear’

The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, recently called on the government to clearly spell out a policy to make the maximum use of nuclear power, which it said contributes to the country’s energy security and decarbonisation.

“Concerns over future power shortages cannot be wiped out and there will be no choice but to reduce domestic capital spending as a result if the government fails to clarify a path toward expanding the use of such energy sources,” Keidanren said.

Keidanren – considered to be the voice of big business in Japan – noted that Japan has been facing the toughest energy challenges since the oil crises in the 1970s and 1980s.

It said unstable international situations, decarbonisation and progress in digital industries will boost demand for electric power. Securing cheap and stable clean energy sources such as nuclear power is “essential”, it said.

Earlier this month Japan’s new economy minister said the country will need to maximise the use of existing nuclear power plants because AI and data centres are expected to boost electricity demand.

Yoji Muto said the new administration will plan restarting as many reactors as possible so long as they are safe.

Muto’s comments point to a continuation of former prime minister Fumio Kishida’s policy that moved Japan back towards nuclear energy as a major power source.

Newly appointed prime minister Shigeru Ishiba, who succeeded Kishida on 1 October following the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, had said during his election campaign that Japan should reduce its dependence on nuclear energy, but later said that he would support the restart of existing plants.

The first level of the inner containment building for unit 2 of Egypt's El Dabaa nuclear power plant is in place.

The inner containment building is a cylindrical reinforced concrete structure which houses the nuclear reactor and the primary circuit equipment of the nuclear power plant. It has a domed roof and will be surrounded by a similar shaped, but larger, outer containment building.

The inner containment building consists of 12 leaf-type segments, each weighing between 60 and 80 tonnes. The first segment was installed on 26 September and the final section installed less than a month later, on 24 October. The installation of the first tier of the inner containment building for unit 1 took three months, between March and May this year.

Amged El-Wakeel, chairman of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) of Egypt, was at the site to announce the landmark moment.

El Dabaa will be Egypt's first nuclear power plant, and the first in Africa since South Africa's Koeberg was built nearly 40 years ago. The Rosatom-led project is about 320 kilometres north-west of Cairo and will comprise four VVER-1200 units, like those already in operation at the Leningrad and Novovoronezh nuclear power plants in Russia, and the Ostrovets plant in Belarus.

Rosatom will not only build the plant, but will also supply Russian nuclear fuel for its entire life cycle. It will also assist Egyptian partners in training personnel and plant maintenance for the first 10 years of its operation. Rosatom is also contracted to build a special storage facility and supply containers for storing used nuclear fuel. Construction of the nuclear power plant began in July 2022.

UK-based Rolls-Royce SMR and Czech state power company ČEZ Group have announced they will join forces in a bid to deploy Rolls-Royce SMR’s small modular reactor (SMR) technology.

ČEZ, which owns and operates the Czech Republic’s six commercial nuclear plants, will make an equity investment into Rolls-Royce SMR as part of a partnership to deploy up to 3,000 MW of electricity in the Czech Republic using Rolls-Royce SMR power plants, which have a capacity of 470 MW.

Reports said that under the agreement, ČEZ will acquire a 20% share in Rolls-Royce SMR for which it will pay several billion Czech crowns (hundreds of millions of dollars).

ČEZ plans to build the first small modular reactor at the existing Temelín nuclear power station site in the first half of the 2030s.

The agreement strengthens Rolls-Royce SMR’s ability to deploy SMR technology in Europe and globally, and puts ČEZ, Rolls-Royce SMR at the forefront of SMR deployment, a statement said.

“These efforts further support the UK and Europe to reach their ambitious net zero goals and contribute solutions to address the challenges of climate change,” the statement added.

Tufan Erginbilgic, chief executive of Rolls-Royce SMR parent company Rolls-Royce, said the partnership represented a significant opportunity to deploy the company‘s SMR technology in the Czech Republic.

“We have a shared vision and ČEZ further strengthens our ability to build stable, secure, low-carbon power – delivering on our promise as a leading SMR business.”

Daniel Benes, chief executive officer of ČEZ Group, said the Czech Republic hosts some of the world’s leading nuclear supply chain companies and the collaboration in the deployment of Rolls-Royce SMR units offers “a unique opportunity for growth and prosperity to the nuclear sector”.

The Czech Republic’s trade and industry minister Lukas Vlcek told state broadcaster Radio Prague International recently that Prague was planning to take part in Rolls-Royce SMR’s reactor programme with a decision on “significant” investment to be made in several weeks.

Vlcek said in an interview that being involved in the SMR sector presents “a huge window of opportunity” and “we are in a situation where we have a very broad window of opportunity, not only in nuclear energy but also in other sectors such as chip and semiconductor technologies”.

Last month Czech prime minister Petr Fiala said ČEZ would establish a partnership with Rolls-Royce SMR for the development of SMRs.

Fiala said Prague is not interested in only building new SMR plants, but wants to participate in their production on a global scale.

ČEZ has chosen South Korean state-owned group Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power as the preferred bidder for the construction of two large-scale reactors at the Dukovany nuclear site.

The Czech Republic’s six commercially operational reactor units are four Russia-designed VVER-440 units at Dukovany and two larger VVER-1000 units at Temelín.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, in 2023 the six units provided 40% of the country’s electricity production.

Residents of the Municipality of South Bruce have voted in favour of declaring itself a willing host for a Deep Geologic Repository for Canada's intermediate and high-level waste in a public referendum. South Bruce is the second community in Canada to declare its willingness to host the facility.

Fifty one percent of the votes cast in the 28 October referendum expressed willingness to host the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) project in South Bruce. With a turnout of 69%, the outcome is binding on the municipality's council under Ontario's Municipal Elections Act.

"We are so pleased that South Bruce voters came out to have their say on this important decision," Mayor Mark Goetz said. "It is an extremely proud moment to have our community make such a momentous decision through a democratic vote."

"On behalf of everyone at the NWMO, I want to thank the residents of South Bruce for their participation in the referendum and for their efforts over many years to learn everything they can about the project and what it would mean for their community," said NWMO Vice-President of Site Selection Lise Morton.

The NWMO is tasked with the safe, long-term management of Canada's intermediate and high-level radioactive waste, in a manner that protects people and the environment for generations to come. The organisation has said it will only site the Deep Geologic Repository in a willing host community, and has been working for over 12 years to identify a suitable site with informed and willing hosts. That process has seen 22 communities that proactively expressed interest in taking part narrowed down to two areas: the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation-Ignace area; and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation-South Bruce area. Both are in Ontario.

As well as the Municipality of South Bruce, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (comprised of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and Saugeen First Nation) must also demonstrate willingness, and NWMO said it "continues to work closely with Saugeen Ojibway Nation as they consider if the project is a good fit for their community".

The Township of Ignace confirmed its willingness to move forward to the next phase of the site selection process in July, with 77.3% of participants in a community vote in favour of becoming a willing host community.

The NWMO said it will select its preferred site following the completion of willingness processes in other communities. It must also demonstrate that the selected site can safely contain and isolate used nuclear fuel and that Canada's used nuclear fuel can be safely transported there. Once a site is selected, the NWMO will enter a mandatory multi-year regulatory decision-making process including an impact assessment and license applications.

The results of the South Bruce referendum have been certified by election service provider Simply Voting Inc, and will be formally presented at a special meeting of the South Bruce council on 12 November.

Micro modular reactor and TRISO fuel company Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation says it is seeking to run a sale process after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the USA.

Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) says it has obtained debtor-in-possession financing that will help ensure it "will maintain full operational continuity across its projects, including the deployment of its Micro Modular Reactor systems in the US, Canada, large scale production of TRISO-based and Fully Ceramic Microencapsulated fuels, and the fulfilment of space and defence projects for multiple US government agencies" during the process.

It said it had entered into an asset purchase agreement with Standard Nuclear to "serve as the Stalking Horse Bidder for USNC's fuel-related assets and technology development contracts" with a price for the assets of USD28 million, and has asked the court for approval to complete the transaction in December. The filing took place on Tuesday.

Kirk Edwards, Chairman of USNC’s Board of Directors, said: "Ultra Safe Nuclear remains steadfast in its dedication to bringing safe, commercially competitive, clean and reliable nuclear energy to global power and industrial markets. After carefully exploring all available options, we have decided that this court-supervised sale process offers the best path forward while ensuring continuity across our key technology initiatives.

"These initiatives include bringing our TRISO-based fuels to market, deploying MMRs as a carbon-free energy solution, and advancing essential technologies for the US Department of Defense, NASA, and the UK Department of Energy Security and Net Zero. We are pleased to begin this process with an agreed-upon offer from an entity aligned with our strategic objectives and experienced in the sector."

The court filing says that many of the company's products were still being developed, so historical revenue was low compared with operating losses, with equity investments covering the difference. It added that since 2022 there was a fundraising round which "successfully attracted interest from a variety of potential investors, including a large asset management company, pension funds, utilities, family offices, large IT companies, corporate investment funds, and various other private equity funds; however, these investments were largely contingent upon the Debtors securing an 'anchor' investor. While the Debtors attracted the interest of an anchor investor, the investor was not able to raise sufficient funds for the investment".

The "most significant investor" for the company had been board chairman Richard Hollis Helms, whose family invested about USD100 million and loaned USD24.6 million. He died in May and "since then, the Debtors have continued to search for new capital sources to continue funding their research and development efforts pending the full launch of their products and projects".

USNC's MMR is a 45 MW thermal, 15 MW electrical high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, using TRISO fuel in prismatic graphite blocks. The graphite blocks contain stacks of ceramic FCM fuel pellets. The helium-cooled reactor can be flexibly fuelled with uranium enrichments from 9% to 19.75% and will have an initial licensed nuclear plant lifetime of 40 years. The company is currently working on deployment projects at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories' Chalk River site in Ontario, Canada, and at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the USA.

Its Pylon microreactor is a containerised system capable of producing 1.5-5 MWe with a lower mass than the MMR high-temperature gas-cooled reactor system. The system is designed to be easily transportable to off-grid locations both on Earth and in space: for terrestrial use, the system comprises separate nuclear heat supply system and balance-of-plant modules, each individually fitting within a standard 20 ft (6 m) container.

TRISO (from tristructural-isotropic) fuel particles contain spheres of uranium oxycarbide (or uranium dioxide) coated with ceramic layers that contain fission products inside the particle and ensure its mechanical and chemical stability during irradiation and temperature changes. The US Department of Energy has described TRISO as the most robust nuclear fuel on Earth. Framatome and USNC agreed on a joint venture last year with the goal of manufacturing TRISO particles and FCM fuel in late 2025.

France's Framatome has signed a contract for the long-term supply of fuel to the four VVER-440 reactors in operation at Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant, starting from 2027.

The fuel supply contract is based on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the Ministry of Energy of Hungary and Framatome in September 2023 for the development of a strategic relationship in the nuclear field. That MoU - which builds upon a long-standing relationship and cooperation between Hungary and Framatome - laid the foundation to facilitate the extension of the cooperation between Framatome and Hungary in various domains of interest in nuclear. These include education and competencies, R&D, the implementation of new technologies, fuel supply and related nuclear materials, as well as long-term operation.

"Framatome is strongly committed to supporting Hungary's nuclear industry and energy policy and we are pleased to contribute to the diversification of the fuel supply for Paks," said Framatome CEO Bernard Fontana. "This first fuel contract for the Hungarian VVER reactors bears witness to the trust they have in our expertise and solutions."

“The strategic objectives of the MVM Group cannot be achieved without the extension of the operating time of the Paks nuclear power plant," said Péter Horvath, CEO of MVM Paks NPP. "The continuous development of the nuclear power plant is crucial for long-term and predictable operation.

"With today's agreement, the first supplier contract has been concluded that extends beyond the duration of the extended operating time extension already implemented. It will provide us fuel for the production of environmentally-friendly, clean electricity, which means stability and affordable prices for households and corporations."

Hungary's Energy Minister, Csaba Lantos, added: "The nuclear power plant, which provides half of the domestic electricity production and covers 36% of the inland consumption, plays an indispensable role in ensuring the security of electricity supply to Hungarian families and enterprises, and in fulfilling climate commitments. With this agreement, we will extend energy diversification to nuclear production, and with this responsible decision we will further strengthen the energy sovereignty of our country."

In recent years, especially since the war with Ukraine began, nuclear power operators in EU countries who had previously relied on Russian-supplied fuel have sought alternative suppliers.

Nineteen VVER reactors - developed during the time of the Soviet Union and historically reliant on Russian fuel supplies - are currently in operation in the EU, including four VVER-1000 reactors in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, and 15 VVER-440 reactors in the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary and Slovakia.

Framatome said it has "a dual-track approach" to supplying fuel to VVER reactors in operation in the European Union. In the short term, it will fabricate fuel identical to the proven design currently used by the reactors. In parallel, Framatome is developing and qualifying European sovereign fuels of its own design for VVER 440 and 1000 reactors.

In June this year, Framatome was awarded a EUR10 million (USD10.7 million) contribution from the EU under the Euratom Research and Training Programme for development and deployment of a European fuel solution for VVER reactors. The SAVE (Safe and Alternative VVER European) project for VVER-440 fuel led by Framatome brings together 17 stakeholders, including utilities operating VVER reactors in the EU.

The project follows the Westinghouse-led Accelerated Program for Implementation of Secure VVER Fuel Supply (APIS) project launched in July 2023 to develop safe fuel designs for VVER-440 and next generation fuel designs for VVER-1000 reactors.

"Hungary can count on Framatome to provide a safe and robust alternative fuel solution for its VVER reactors," said Lionel Gaiffe, senior executive vice president of the Fuel Business Unit at Framatome. "For the past number of years, we have been developing a solution to support both the short and mid-term fuel diversification needs of VVER nuclear operators in the European Union. In the mid-term, Framatome is the only fuel supplier able to guarantee a sovereign European solution, with a fully European design, manufacturing and component supply chain."

The process of loading fuel assemblies into the core of unit 2 at the Shimane nuclear power plant ahead of its planned restart in December began today, Chugoku Electric Power Company announced. It is set to become the second Japanese boiling water reactor (BWR) to be restarted.

The process of moving a total of 560 fuel assemblies from the unit's fuel pool to the reactor and loading them into the core is expected to take about a week to complete, the utility said.

Revised regulations were announced by Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) in July 2013, which must be met before reactors can receive permission to restart. These set out requirements for plants to be able to respond to a variety of natural phenomena as well as establish new measures to mitigate the effects of severe accidents, such as reactor core damage caused by beyond design basis events. Chugoku applied to the NRA in December 2013 for inspections to verify whether measures taken at Shimane unit 2 - which has been offline since 27 January 2012 - meet the new safety standards.

In June 2021, Shimane 2 became the 17th Japanese reactor to pass the regulator's safety screenings and the fifth BWR - the same type as those at the Fukushima Daiichi plant - to receive regulatory approval to restart.

Following approvals by the cities of Matsue, Izumo, Yasugi and Unnan, in June 2022 the governor of Shimane prefecture approved the restart of Shimane 2. His approval marked the completion of the process to gain the consent of local communities for the 789 MWe BWR to resume operation.

Earlier this month, Chugoku released a revised schedule for the restart of the unit. The reactor is expected to restart in early December, with power generation scheduled to begin in late December. The reactor will resume commercial operation in January 2025.

"With safety as our number one priority, we will steadily proceed with each and every preparation for restarting operations, including carrying out fuel loading work and inspection and testing of equipment related to reactor startup," the company said.

Unit 2 at Tohoku Electric Power Company's Onagawa nuclear power plant is schedule to restart on Tuesday 29 October, becoming the first BWR in Japan to be restarted. The loading of fuel assemblies into that reactor began on 3 September and was completed on 9 September.

The 24 months since commercial production of the medical isotope began at the Candu unit have seen Bruce Power and its partners expand production capabilities to match growing global demand.

In October 2022, Bruce Power became the first commercial nuclear operator to produce lutetium-177 (Lu-177), used in targeted radionuclide therapy to treat cancers like neuroendocrine tumours and prostate cancer, in an international collaboration with Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON), Isogen (a Kinectrics and Framatome company) and ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM).

The partnership uses an innovative Isotope Production System (IPS) installed in Bruce 7 to irradiate ytterbium-176 to produce Lu-177. The isotope is then transported to ITM's manufacturing facility in Germany for processing of pharmaceutical-grade, non-carrier-added Lu-177. Operations at Bruce 7 have been reliable and stable, and no shipments of the isotope to ITM have been missed since the start of commercial production.

The past two years have seen the partners expand capacity to match rapidly increasing global demand for the isotope, through system innovations in 2023 and the introduction of a second production line this year.

SON and Bruce Power set up the Gamzook'aamin aakoziwin partnership - it translates to Fighting Cancer Together - in 2019, to jointly market new medical isotopes while creating new economic opportunities within the SON territory by establishing new isotope infrastructure. Their partnership has expanded in step with the increasing output of the IPS.

"SON is proud to play a role in the fight against cancer and looks forward to continuing our success in the years to come," said Chief Conrad Ritchie, Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation.

"Isotopes are an essential part of health care, and the cancer-fighting isotopes produced through our Gamzook'aamin aakoziwin partnership with Bruce Power are opening doors for researchers and doctors to provide patients with cutting-edge tools in the fight against cancer," said Chief Greg Nadjiwon, Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. "Today, we celebrate two years of commercial isotope production, playing a leadership role in the global fight against cancer while also helping build economic opportunities for our Territory, people and communities."

France has injected €300m ($330m) into state-controlled uranium producer Orano as it seeks to relaunch the country's uranium industry, the company and the economy ministry said Thursday.

The company issued new shares which were bought entirely by the French state, bringing its stake to 90.3%, the company said.

“This operation demonstrates the willingness of the French state as a shareholder to contribute to the implementation of the strategic plan of Orano and its development,” Orano said in a statement.

“It reflects a promising environment with new perspectives for nuclear energy in France and around the world to meet climate and sovereignty issues,” the statement said.

The money will finance projects such as an extension of the Georges-Besse II enrichment plant in the south of France, which will increase the group's capacity by a third.

The uranium enrichment market is dominated by four players: Russia's Rosatom with a 43% stake, European group Urenco (31%), China’s CNNC, and Orano (12%).

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine led European countries to seek to cut their reliance on Rosatom.

Urenco has announced expansions for its production facilities in the US, Germany, and the Netherlands, seeking an additional 1.8 million separative work units (SWU) per year globally across the projects.

Orano said last week it is halting its uranium production in Niger from 31 October, citing a “highly deteriorated” situation and its inability to operate.

The Nigerien government, whose leader Abdourahamane Tiani seized power in a July 2023 coup, has previously made clear it would overhaul rules regulating the mining of raw materials by foreign companies.

Orano-owned mining subsidiary Somair’s worsening financial difficulties have “compelled the company to suspend its operations”, in the Artlit region of north Niger where Orano has operated since 1971, the French group’s Paris spokeswoman said.

French engineering group Assystem and micro-reactor developer Naarea have announced the creation of a joint laboratory, dedicated to exploring emerging and advanced digital technologies and integrating them into Naarea's digital twin.

Naarea - formally established in November 2021 - says its ultra-compact molten salt fast neutron reactor will use "the untapped potential of used radioactive materials, and thorium, unused mining waste". Once it develops the eXtra Small Modular Reactor (XSMR) design, the company intends to target applications in areas such as transportation, agriculture and smart buildings. Naarea says that, because of the compact size of its reactor and because there is no need for it to be grid-connected, the XSMR can "be deployed as close as possible to regions, to match energy demand as closely as possible and allow the control of security of supply, at the service of industries and communities". It expects the first units of XSMR - which can generate 80 MWt/40 MWe - to be produced by 2030.

In December 2021, Naarea announced it had signed a cooperation agreement with Assystem to build the XSMR. Under the agreement, Assystem is developing a digital twin of the reactor - an ecosystem of digital tools that incorporates 3D models and advanced simulation capabilities - to model and simulate its behaviour. This twin will enable rapid convergence towards the optimal design, provide critical elements for validating the design and enable the rapid launch of the construction of the physical prototype, Naarea said.

"In just 18 months, Naarea reached a key step in the development of its microreactor by finalising the first stage of the digital twin of its XAMR in partnership with Assystem," Naarea said. "Developed on Dassault Systèmes' 3DX platform, Naarea's digital twin centralises all of the data pertaining to the reactor, and will be used throughout the project's lifecycle, from its design through to operation and reprocessing."

Naarea and Assystem have now announced the creation of a joint laboratory that will aim to meet future challenges related to the development of Naarea's XAMR microreactor. It will bring together the technical and professional expertise of Naarea and Assystem, in collaboration with universities, research centres and public institutions.

"As digital technologies are constantly evolving, Naarea and Assystem decided to create a joint laboratory to evaluate, analyse and integrate all of the emerging technologies that could contribute to the deployment, optimisation and ongoing improvement of Naarea's XAMR digital twin, such as large language models, substitution models, the dynamic reliability of passive safety systems, and the Internet of Things," the partners said. "To do so, NAAREA and Assystem developed a five-year strategic roadmap in three areas: the integration stages for the main nodes of system tree structures; the main groups of processes to be integrated into the digital twin; and the main technological building blocks likely to be integrated into the digital twin."

The joint laboratory will be led by a strategic steering committee made up of Naarea's and Assystem's senior management, who will approve the roadmap and funding. A management committee will provide operational oversight for its R&D activities and may be assisted by Naarea's Scientific Board to guide the scientific and technological aspects of the laboratory.

"This joint laboratory for digital innovation, born of a proposal from Assystem's and Naarea's teams, aims to bring together their skills and expertise to explore the most promising digital technologies that could contribute to improving our digital twin," said Naarea founder and CEO Jean-Luc Alexandre. "Beyond the exceptional knowledge we'll gain from it, and state of the art digital technologies, this laboratory embodies the spirit of innovation that drives all of the teams involved in the design and development of our XAMR."

Christian Jeanneau, executive vice president International, Project Management & Digital at Assystem, added: "We are delighted to continue and expand our partnership with Naarea to contribute to the enrichment of their digital twin. Thanks to our expertise and the use of artificial intelligence, this joint laboratory represents a tremendous opportunity to innovate together. It will allow us to develop new solutions to continuously improve this large-scale project and address the energy challenges of the future."

The nationwide referendum due to be held in Slovenia on 24 November about proposed new nuclear power units has been called off and may now be staged later in the project process, in 2028, instead.

The decision by Slovenia's parliament to cancel the vote - just days after the elected members had voted for it to happen - followed challenges to the wording and allegations that it was not being properly conducted.

The question for the referendum had been due to be: "Do you support the implementation of the JEK2 project, which together with other low-carbon sources will ensure a stable supply of electricity?"

Slovenia's JEK2 project is for a new one or two-unit nuclear power plant, with up to 2400 MW capacity, next to its existing nuclear power plant, Krško, a 696 MWe pressurised water reactor which generates about one-third of the country's electricity and which is co-owned by neighbouring Croatia.

Prime Minister Robert Golob has committed to hold a referendum on the project before it goes ahead, with a number of key studies and documents to be published beforehand to "enable citizens to make an informed decision". The current timetable for the project is for a final investment decision to be taken in 2028, with construction beginning in 2032.

Among a raft of reviews and documents published over the past few months, was an economic review of the estimated cost of the project which put the cost, depending on the power-generating capacity selected, at EUR9.5 billion to EUR15.4 billion (USD10.3 billion to USD16.7 billion).

The opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) - which along with all other parties had been keen on the referendum because "such a large project cannot be successfully completed without broad social consensus" - said it now opposed the referendum because, they say, Energy Minister Bojan Kumer had requested, and not published, an analysis of the costs if there was no nuclear energy and up to 100% renewable energy instead.

SDS MP Zvone Černač said if media reports were true "and Minister Kumer hid the study from the public for two months, he should resign". Černač accused the minister of using the "rhetoric of renewable energy activists" and said that in the current circumstances carrying out a referendum "would be irresponsible".

Prime Minister Robert Golob's Freedom Movement said that "misleading media reports" and other accusations meant "a well-founded doubt has arisen as to whether, in the new circumstances, voters can make an informed, autonomous and responsible decision on such an important issue of national importance as the supply of electricity".

It said that the cancellation of November's referendum does not mean the end of the JEK2 project and work would begin on a "special law for the more effective implementation of this by far the largest planned investment in the history of independent Slovenia ... the cancellation of the referendum also does not mean that there will not be a referendum on JEK2 in the future. The referendum vote will be held in 2028 at the latest, when all the details for the final investment decision will be known".

The party said the new law "will contain provisions on the establishment of a project company, define strategic decision-making procedures on the project, provisions on project control, including civil control, and provisions related to the specifics of the project" and will enable public participation.

Freedom Party MP Miha Lamut said: "We witnessed non-objective and incomplete media reporting, which created the impression in the public that all the decisions made regarding the procedures for adopting both the resolution on the long-term peaceful use of nuclear energy and the decree for the referendum were the result of arbitrary decision-making by the people's representatives."

The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy issued a statement saying it had "never hidden anything" and said the accusations about the reasons for the report not being published were "unfounded". It added: "We reject the accusations that the current non-publication of the document, which is the author's analysis of one energy expert and has not been peer-reviewed, could significantly improve citizens' information about the JEK2 project, since it was not even fundamentally intended for that."

The ministry, which has now published the report and the original letter commissioning it, said it was now going to launch a public procurement process to obtain new expert analyses which would be published in 2025.

The Governor of South Gyeongsang Province has signed agreements with TerraPower and Seaborg for cooperation in the design and production of next-generation nuclear power plants and research and development in the region.

The agreements were signed at the Gyeongnam Small Modular Reactor International Conference, with the province saying it hoped the agreements would strengthen the region's position in the sector and provide opportunities to participate in technology development.

Governor Park Wan-soo said in his opening remarks, at what was the first such conference: "Recently, cutting-edge industries such as artificial intelligence and big data are developing rapidly, and the demand for electricity is increasing worldwide. In the midst of these changes, small modular reactors, or SMRs, a carbon-free energy source that is stable and sustainable, are attracting attention from around the world. Last June, our province established a comprehensive plan to foster nuclear power ... and announced that it would invest KRW2.6 trillion (USD1.8 billion) by 2032 and foster the nuclear power industry, including the development of SMR technology.

"The government's will to revitalise the nuclear power ecosystem and Gyeongsangnam's efforts to foster SMRs will combine to make Gyeongsangnam a true global centre of the SMR industry. I hope that this international conference will serve as an opportunity for the development of all industries, including SMRs, in Korea, and that Korea and Gyeongnam will become leaders in the global SMR industry through cooperation with leading global companies."

Seaborg's design is for modular compact molten salt reactor (CMSR) power barges equipped with between two and eight 100 MWe reactors, with an operational life of 24 years. Instead of having solid fuel rods that need constant cooling, the CMSR's fuel is mixed in a liquid salt that acts as a coolant, which means that it will simply shut down and solidify in case of emergency. In May, it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute "to combine their research and development strengths" to advance nuclear technology.

TerraPower, whose chairman and founder is Bill Gates, broke ground in June in the USA on its first Natrium project, for a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system - which can boost the system's output to 500 MW of power when needed, allowing it to integrate seamlessly with renewable resources. The is being built near a retiring coal-fired plant.

More than 300 people from a wide range of global and Korean firms and organisations attended the event. South Gyeongsang Province is investing a total of KRW16 billion (USD11.5 million) from 2023 to 2026 to build the 'Gyeongnam Nuclear Industry Comprehensive Support Centre' to foster the nuclear power plant manufacturing industry and support companies within the energy industry as part of the aim of becoming a hub for the SMR industry.

The MK60 small modular reactor design, developed specifically to provide power and cooling to data centres, has been unveiled by Deep Atomic.

The MK60 is a light water small modular reactor (SMR) incorporating multiple passive safety systems. Deep Atomic says it is "compact, scalable, and built on a foundation of proven technology". Each unit generates up to 60 MWe and provides an additional 60 MW of cooling capacity through its "integrated data centre-centric design approach".

The company - headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland - says the reactor is well-suited to various types of data centres, including those supporting traditional cloud services, cryptocurrency operations, and AI applications.

"Data centres are the backbone of digital innovation, but their massive energy needs have become the critical bottleneck blocking growth," said Deep Atomic founder and CEO William Theron.

The MK60 is said to offer data centre operators a scalable power solution that can be deployed in various locations, including areas with limited grid access, and can be sited closer to urban areas due to its advanced safety features.

"It's designed to be installed on-site at data centres, delivering reliable zero-carbon electricity and energy-efficient cooling, thereby significantly reducing carbon footprints, and helping data centres meet their increasingly stringent sustainability goals," Theron said.

Deep Atomic's Head of Engineering Freddy Mondale noted that many regions were struggling to provide the amounts of power that new data centres require. "Our on-site reactors bypass these grid limitations, allowing DCs (data centres) to be built in optimal locations without straining existing infrastructure."

Mondale says that a 60 MWe reactor with additional 60 MW of cooling capacity "hits a sweet spot for data centres. It's large enough to power significant compute infrastructure, yet small enough to allow for modular deployment and scaling".

He added: "The MK60 can be deployed in multiples, allowing scalability from 60 MW up to over 1 GW to meet growing energy demands."

Deep Atomic says it has already begun to engage with regulators and potential customers as it moves forward with development. The company is seeking partnerships with data centre operators and other investors "looking towards the future of sustainable digital infrastructure".

Deep Atomic's announcement of the MK60 comes on the heels of several announcements by global tech giants related to nuclear energy.

Microsoft announced in September it had signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation that will see Three Mile Island unit 1 restarted. Google announced last week it had agreed to purchase energy from Kairos Power under a deal that would support the first commercial deployment of its fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature advanced small modular reactors by 2030 and aim for a fleet totalling 500 MW of capacity by 2035. The following day, Amazon announced a series of agreements that will see it taking a stake in advanced nuclear reactor developer X-energy and rolling out its Xe-100 advanced SMR initially at a project in Washington State.

Meanwhile, the head of Japanese cloud-based gaming services provider Ubitus KK has said it is planning to construct a new data centre and is specifically looking at areas with nearby nuclear power plants to provide the required power.

Radioactive waste management company Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB can begin preparatory work for the final repository for used nuclear fuel in Forsmark and the encapsulation facility in Oskarshamn after Sweden's Land and Environment Court granted an environmental permit for the construction and operation of the facilities.

Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB) applied in 2011 to the Land and Environmental Court in Nacka district court for permission to dispose of used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. The court then prepared the application, held a longer main hearing in 2017 and submitted its opinion to the government in 2018. The government decided on 27 January 2022 that the activity was permissible according to Sweden's Environmental Code.

The court has now granted SKB permission and determined the conditions that will apply to the business. An enforcement order also issued by the court means SKB can start initial work at both sites even if the judgment is appealed to the Land and Environment Court at the Svea Court of Appeal.

The permit applies to radioactive waste from the 12 reactors (six reactors in operation) that are part of the ongoing Swedish nuclear power programme. The permit does not apply to waste from a possible new nuclear power programme, the court noted. SKB may deposit approximately 6000 canisters with approximately 12,000 tonnes of nuclear waste at a depth of about 500 metres in the final repository. The business is estimated to last for around 70 years, but it can last longer if, for example, the operating time of the existing reactors is extended.

The court's conditions for the permit aim to limit the activity's impact on the environment through protective measures against noise, groundwater lowering, discharge to water, etc. Several conditions are aimed at protected species and natural areas in Forsmark.

According to a condition in the environmental permit, SKB must conduct environmental monitoring regarding information preservation for future generations and monitoring after closure.

SKB said the works that are within the scope of the permit - and which can start once the County Board of Uppsala County approves the control programme - include protective measures and preparatory work. In Forsmark, where the repository is to be built, it involves forest felling, excavation work for the operational area, construction of an area for rock storage, construction of a bridge over the cooling water channel, filling of the operating area and facilities for nitrogen purification.

"We need to establish the necessary infrastructure above ground and get started with ground work and protective measures," said SKB CEO Stefan Engdahl. "SKB has proposed conditions that take nature and the surroundings into account. We adapt to the birds' nesting periods, move species worthy of protection so that they can continue to live on the site and build bioreactors that purify process water from nitrogen."

In order for SKB to be able to start the tunneling itself, an approved safety report from the Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) is required. SSM will continue the step-by-step examination of the final repository according to the Act on Nuclear Activities.

SKB said the construction of the nuclear fuel repository in Forsmark will begin two years before that of the encapsulation facility in Oskarshamn, as the construction times are of different lengths. Both facilities are expected to be put into operation in the mid-2030s.

A similar geological repository for used fuel is being built at Olkiluoto in Finland. The Finnish government granted a construction licence for that project in November 2015 and construction work on the repository started a year later. Posiva has applied for an operating licence for the facility to the end of 2070.

Taiwan has said it is “very open” to using new nuclear technology to meet rising demand from chipmakers using electricity to provide power for the AI boom, according to premier Cho Jung-tai.

“As long as there is a consensus within Taiwan on nuclear safety and a good direction and guarantees for handling nuclear waste, with this strong consensus, we can have a public discussion,” Cho said in an interview with Bloomberg News.

His comments were one of the strongest signs yet that the government is rethinking its opposition to commercial power reactors. Cho appeared to be referring to advanced reactors, potentially including small modular reactors that are being developed in a number of countries.

The comments came as state nuclear operator Taipower temporarily shut down the nation’s last remaining reactor, Maanshan-2, for 41 days for scheduled maintenance, leaving the island without any nuclear generation.

The shutdown is for equipment maintenance and fuel replacement in preparation for the power plant’s next operating cycle, Taipower said in a statement.

Earlier this year, Taiwan shut down the Maanshan-1 nuclear power plant, leaving the island nation with just Maanshan-2 unit in commercial operation.

The closure of Maanshan-1, a 936-MW pressurised water reactor unit in southern Taiwan, came amid a continuing debate among lawmakers about whether to extend the lives of the island’s nuclear facilities.

The Taipei Times said there is a continuing debate among ruling and opposition parties as well as within society about whether to extend the service life of the Maanshan plant amid fears about potential power shortages.

In 2023, nuclear accounted for about 6.9% of Taiwan’s electricity production, which is dominated by coal and liquified natural gas.

Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness calls the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Limited for the advancement of nuclear technologies adoption a pivotal moment in Jamaica's energy transformation.

Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness (third from left on the back row) and Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Minister Daryl Vaz (front row, left), watch as Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Olive Wilson Cross, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories CEO Jack Craig and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited President and CEO Fred Dermarker sign the MoU (Image: Yhomo Hutchinson/Government of Jamaica)

The partnership reflects the Jamaican government's commitment to diversify the country's energy portfolio with new, clean and sustainable alternatives, Holness said.

In an address to the signing ceremony, Holness said countries such as France and Canada "show that with proper regulation of the technology and the embrace of technological advancement, nuclear can be a game changer. In fact, today’s nuclear technology, especially small modular reactors, is far safer and more adaptable than it was in the past".

He said that small modular reactors offer enhanced safety features, reduced environmental impact and a cost-effective solution for small countries like Jamaica, and taking advantage of such technology could provide long-term benefits.

"Of course, there are those who are going to say, why not wait until this technology is mature," Holness said. "The problem is that anything that has to do with nuclear requires a long period of time and it requires the development of local capabilities. If you don’t do it now, then not only will you have to import the capital and the actual small modular nuclear reactor, you’re going to have to import the technological skills and expertise as well, which will increase the cost of deployment."

Jamaica is the home to the Caribbean’s first - and only - research reactor, the AECL-designed JM-1 pool type reactor at the University of the West Indies' Mona campus which began operating in 1984.

The collaboration with the two Canadian organisations will foster the sharing of knowledge, skills and best practices, driving innovation in research, development and practical applications, Science, Energy Telecommunications and Transport Minister Daryl Vaz said. "Together we will build out a network of expertise that will benefit both Jamaica and Canada. Through organised seminars and meetings, we will ensure that our professionals remain at the forefront of nuclear technology and its peaceful applications," he said.

Jamaica currently relies on fossil fuels for some 85% of its energy, a dependency that leaves it vulnerable to external shocks and global oil and gas price fluctuations, Holness said: "We have already made great strides in diversifying our energy mix. We have done exceptionally well in integrating solar, wind and natural gas and we do have some hydroelectric power… but there is far more to be done. Given Jamaica’s current energy demands, we are cognisant that there has to be a very well-thought-out mix… that is not subject to intermittency, and nuclear offers that as well."

Jamaica is a signatory of the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity by 2050 launched at the UN's COP28 climate change conference in 2023.

Major financial difficulties facing SOMAÏR, the operator of the Arlit uranium mine in Niger, have led to the decision to suspend its activities from the end of October.

The French company said the financial difficulties which have been facing its 63.4%-owned subsidiary since July 2023 - when then-President of Niger Mohamed Bazoum was deposed in a coup d'état - have continued to grow.

Niger's border with Benin, through which uranium concentrates produced at Arlit are exported - has remained closed since the events of July 2023. Since the closure of this main supply and export corridor, Orano and SOMAÏR "have made every effort to maintain dialogue with the Nigerien authorities" and implemented "offsetting measures" to ensure industrial facilities and equipment are maintained and to preserve and pay the workforce at the mine while waiting for production to resume at full capacity, Orano said.

"In spite of Orano's efforts to find alternative possibilities to export the uranium produced by SOMAÏR and to relaunch commercial activities, all the proposals made to the Nigerien authorities have remained unanswered," the company said.

"Moreover, SOPAMIN, the shareholder representing the State of Niger with a 36.6% stake in SOMAÏR, has not paid any of its debts to the mining company for the past 15 months.

"The major financial difficulties facing SOMAÏR have forced the company to suspend its activities, as an interim measure, as of the end of October. The limited remaining financial resources will be used in priority to pay employees’ salaries and to maintain the industrial facilities until the end of the year."

Orano said it "deeply deplores the negative impact" of the worsening situation on SOMAÏR's employees and subcontractors and is concerned about the potential damaging repercussions on the region’s economic, social and societal development.

In an earnings update earlier this year, Orano said production at the Somaïr ore processing plant had resumed during the first quarter, and that ore extraction at the mine had continued, but sales had not been able to resume because of the logistical situation.

Arlit is Orano's only currently operational uranium mine in Niger. The company is carrying out remediation of the former COMINAK underground uranium mine, where more than 40 years of production came to an end in 2021. Earlier this year it announced that it had started preparatory activities for uranium production at the Imouraren project, where development had been suspended since 2015, but days later the State of Niger had decided to withdraw Imouraren SA's licence to exploit the deposit, placing it back in the public domain. The government also withdrew Canadian company GoviEx Uranium's mining rights for the Madouela uranium project.

Like SOMAÏR, COMINAK and Imouraren SA are majority-owned by Orano and partially owned by the state of Niger.

Slovenské elektrárne says that the Mochovce 4 nuclear unit has passed tests of its active and passive emergency safety systems.

Slovakia's nuclear power operator said the passive safety systems tests were designed to verfiy that the water coolant, in the event of a pressure drop in the reactor, would flow into the reactor vessel " in the right way, at the right time and in the right volume".

Martin Mráz, director of completion and commissioning of the Mochoviec 3 and 4 systems, said: "Tests have confirmed that the emergency systems of Block 4 are functional and will ensure safety in the event of an emergency."

Construction of the first two VVER-440 units at the four-unit Mochovce plant started in 1982. Work began on units 3 and 4 in 1986, but stalled in 1992. The first two reactors were completed and came into operation in 1998 and 1999, respectively, with a project to complete units 3 and 4 beginning ten years later.

Mochovce 3 entered commercial operation in October 2023 and unit 4's schedule has been to follow about one or two years behind unit 3. Each of the units will be able to provide 13% of Slovakia's electricity needs when operating at full capacity.

The Schleswig-Holstein Ministry for Energy Transition, Climate Protection, Environment and Nature has issued the first decommissioning and dismantling permit to PreussenElektra for the Brokdorf nuclear power plant. Brokdorf is the last German nuclear power plant to receive this approval and begin dismantling.

PreussenElektra - a subsidiary of EOn Group - applied for approval to decommission and dismantle the 1410 MWe pressurised water reactor in December 2017. The plant was shut down on 31 December 2021.

Phase 1 of the plant's decommissioning and dismantling has now been approved. This includes the decommissioning and dismantling of the plant components that are no longer required and subject to nuclear regulatory supervision, with the exception of the reactor pressure vessel and the biological shield.

Since Brokdorf's closure, the conditions for dismantling the plant have been created in close coordination with the authorities. These include the decontamination of the primary cooling circuit, systems and plant components that are no longer required have been taken out of service, and the workforce has been adjusted. A large proportion of the fuel elements still present in the plant have already been moved to the interim storage facility on site and replacement systems for the plant's energy supply have been installed.

"Over the past seven years, numerous colleagues have worked together to ensure that we can now hold the permit in our hands," said plant manager Tammo Kammrath. "It is important that we get started now and put our preliminary planning work into practice, after all, we still have a lot to do here at the site."

The next steps will be to create new logistics routes within the control area and set up a waste processing centre for the dismantled masses. In addition, systems and plant components that are no longer required will be prepared for dismantling.

A second dismantling permit is required to dismantle the reactor pressure vessel and the biological shield. This requires the removal of all fuel elements and special fuel rods, which are expected to be transported to the interim storage facility at the site in 2025. PreussenElektra submitted the application for the second dismantling permit on 30 August this year. This is currently being examined by independent experts.

"We are pleased that we now have the dismantling permit ... and can begin dismantling our plant," said PreussenElektra CEO Guido Knott. "We want to be finished by the mid-2030s in order to be able to complete the largest battery storage facility in the EU. This remains ambitious, but it is still feasible. Despite all of our ambitions, the highest safety standards also apply to dismantling in Brokdorf, as at all other PreussenElektra dismantling sites. We are now counting on the fact that, in close and proven cooperation with our authorities, we will also master the safe and speedy dismantling together."

In December last year, PreussenElektra, together with EOn group companies, announced plans for the construction at the Brokdorf site of the largest battery storage facility in the EU to date. The facility - to store electricity from renewable sources - is to be expanded in two stages to up to 800 MW of power and a storage capacity of up to 1600 MWh. Commissioning could begin as early as 2026.

Framatome’s GAIA fuel assemblies with PROtect Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel technology have completed their third 18-month fuel cycle at Georgia Power's Plant Vogtle, having spent over four and a half years in an operating reactor. This concludes the assessment of the lead fuel assemblies.

The assemblies - the first full-length PROtect Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel fuel rods with both pellets and cladding to be placed in an operating pressurised water reactor - were inserted into Vogtle unit 2 in April 2019. Plant operator Southern Nuclear removed and inspected the four assemblies with Framatome's assistance following the completion of the operating cycle. It was determined that the fuel demonstrated expected results and excellent performance, Framatome said.

Accident tolerant fuels employ advanced cladding materials and fuel pellet designs to increase the safety and performance of nuclear fuels. As well as enduring the loss of cooling in a reactor core for longer than current fuel designs and widening the existing safety margin for nuclear plants, and they can also improve the performance of existing nuclear plants with longer-lasting fuel as well as paving the way for licensing fuels for advanced reactors.

The US Department of Energy has been supporting the development of accident tolerant fuels by Framatome, Westinghouse and GE Hitachi/Global Nuclear Fuels through its Accident Tolerant Fuel programme, which was launched in 2012. The programme aims to see advanced fuel concepts being brought to market by 2025.

"This is a significant milestone for our programme and through our collaboration with the US Department of Energy and Southern Nuclear we bring this new and innovative technology one step closer to commercial operations," said Lionel Gaiffe, senior executive vice president, Fuel Business Unit at Framatome. "The success of this project demonstrates accident tolerant fuel readiness for the safe and reliable generation of our clean energy future."

The four GAIA lead fuel assemblies loaded into Vogtle 2 were fabricated at Framatome’s manufacturing facility in Richland, Washington. Each assembly included four lead test rods, for a total of 16 lead test rods with the company's advanced chromium coating added to the M5 Framatome zirconium alloy cladding, and chromia-enhanced fuel pellets were included in all fuel assembly rods. The chromium-coated cladding improves high-temperature oxidation resistance and reduces hydrogen generation in the event of loss of cooling. The innovative coating also offers increased resistance to debris fretting, reducing the likelihood of a fuel failure during normal operations.

The outer steel dome has been installed at unit 3 of the Changjiang nuclear power plant in China's Hainan province, China National Nuclear Corporation has announced.

The dome - measuring 53 metres in diameter, 13 metres in height and weighing about 415 tonnes - was hoisted into place on top of the containment building using a 3200-tonne crane on 18 October. The process of raising the outer dome into position 58.8 metres above the ground took just under 2 hours.

The Hualong One reactor design features a double-layered containment building, the main function of which is to ensure the integrity and leak tightness of the reactor building, and it plays a key role in the containment of radioactive substances.

The steel dome for Changjiang unit 3's inner containment - measuring more than 46 metres in diameter and 23 metres in height - was raised by crane and placed on top of the walls of the double containment structure in February 2023. The inner containment dome has since been concreted.

First concrete was poured for the base slab of unit 3's nuclear island in March 2021, with that of unit 4 being poured in the December of that year. Changjiang Phase II - units 3 and 4 - represents a total estimated investment of CNY40 billion (USD6.4 billion), according to China Huaneng, which holds a 51% share in the project. The construction period is expected to be 60 months. Both units are scheduled to be fully operational in early 2027.

CNNC said the installation of the outer dome of unit 3 "marks the completion of the construction of the main structure of the unit and lays a solid foundation for the subsequent installation, cold test and grid-connected power generation".

The Changjiang nuclear site is already home to two operating CNP-600 pressurised water reactors (PWRs) - Changjiang 1 and 2 - which entered commercial operation in 2015 and 2016, respectively. In 2021, CNNC also began construction of a demonstration ACP100 small modular reactor at the site. The multi-purpose 125 MWe PWR - also referred to as the Linglong One - is designed for electricity production, heating, steam production or seawater desalination.

The island province of Hainan is China's southernmost point. Energy policies published in 2019 by Hainan Province Development and Reform Commission specify that nuclear power will become the primary source of electricity for the island, which has a population of close to 10 million.

"As a major energy project in Hainan province, the Hainan Changjiang Nuclear Power Phase II Project is an important measure for CNNC to deeply integrate into the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port and actively promote the construction of Hainan Clean Energy Island," CNNC said. "The successful installation of the outer dome of the No.3 nuclear island will further promote the green and low-carbon process of Hainan Free Trade Port and inject strong momentum into the country's active, safe and orderly development of nuclear power and the construction of a new energy system."