Nuclear Energy

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Italy-s-electricity-could-be-20-from-nuclear-by-20

Italy's Minister for Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, has set out the possible scale of capacity if the country decides to resume a nuclear power programme.

Fratin, pictured above, speaking at the Global Energy Transition Congress in Milan, Italy, said: "By launching Italy’s platform for sustainable nuclear power, we have started an evaluation process, of course after 2030, on the possible resumption of nuclear power in Italy. We intend to do so by implementing the new sustainable nuclear technologies currently being developed, in particular small modular fission reactors and, in the long-term, through fusion power.

"Nuclear and fusion will complement the increasing penetration of energy production from renewable sources and other low carbon solutions. We expect to be able to reach about 8 GW from nuclear power by 2050, covering more than 10% of the nation’s electricity demand. This percentage may increase to over 20-22% by fully exploiting the potential of nuclear power in our country."

Italy's government included the potential nuclear capacity - the conservative 11% of capacity option and the ambitious 16 GW/20-22% of capacity - in its National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan which was submitted to the European Commission on Monday. That document also says Italy aims to have 131 GW of power from renewables by 2030 - 79 GW solar, 28 GW wind, 19 GW hydro, 3 GW bioenergy and 1 GW from geothermal sources.

A spokesman for Italian-founded innovative reactor developer Newcleo called the announcements a "good step forward" and noted the focus was on the potential of small and advanced modular reactors and also that a key part of the Italian government's submission was that the estimated cost of achieving climate goals by including nuclear was EUR17 billion (USD18.2 billion) lower than achieving it without the contribution from nuclear.

The background

Italy operated a total of four nuclear power plants starting in the early 1960s but decided to phase out nuclear power in a referendum that followed the 1986 Chernobyl accident. It closed its last two operating plants, Caorso and Trino Vercellese, in 1990.

In late March 2011, following the Fukushima Daiichi accident, the Italian government approved a moratorium of at least one year on construction of nuclear power plants in the country, which had been looking to restart its long-abandoned nuclear programme.

The public mood has changed since then, and in May 2023, the Italian Parliament approved a motion to urge the government to consider incorporating nuclear power into the country's energy mix. In September, the first meeting was held of the National Platform for a Sustainable Nuclear, set up by the government to define a time frame for the possible resumption of nuclear energy in Italy and identify opportunities for the country's industrial chain already operating in the sector.

There are a variety of emerging plans for nuclear energy in Italy, including Edison last October announcing its ambition to construct two nuclear power plants based on EDF's SMR technology between 2030 and 2040 "if the conditions are created for its return to Italy".

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Talen-refutes-objection-to-Susquehanna-data-centre

A protest lodged against a precedent-setting interconnection service agreement to co-locate a data centre with a nuclear power plant is a "misguided attempt" to stifle innovation, Talen Energy Corporation said.

Exelon Corporation and American Electric Power (AEP) lodged their protest with the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on 24 June, saying that the regulator must either hold a hearing, or, failing that, reject the Interconnection Service Agreement (ISA) between transmission provider PJM Interconnection, Talen subsidiary Susquehanna Nuclear, operator of the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, and PPL Electric Utilities Corporation.

Earlier this year, Talen announced the sale of its 960 MW Cumulus data centre campus - which is directly connected to the two-unit Susquehanna plant - to Amazon Web Services (AWS), with a long-term agreement to provide power from Talen's Susquehanna nuclear power plant.

PJM is the regional transmission organisation that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Its request to amend an existing Interconnection Service Agreement to increase from 300 MW to 480 MW the amount of load it is allowed to transfer from Susquehanna as "co-located load" was filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on 3 June. (Co-located load refers to end-use customer load that is physically connected to the facilities of an existing or planned customer facility at the point of interconnection to the PJM transmission system).

The amendment states that 480 MW of load may be physically transferred to a co-located load’s transmission facilities without a material impact on the transmission system, and also notes that Susquehanna has proposed modifications to allow it to physically transfer 960 MW of power.

"Too many questions of fact remain unresolved in what is, by the filing's own admission, an ISA that establishes novel configuration," Exelon and AEP say in their filing, which they say "raises more questions than it answers" and could potentially have a huge impact on customer rates, as well as raising reliability and planning concerns.

"The co-located load should not be allowed to operate as a free rider, making use of, and receiving the benefits of, a transmission system paid for by transmission ratepayers," they said. "We have no objection to co-location per se, but such load should pay its fair share of system use and other charges, just like other loads and customers."

Talen has acknowledged that its Interconnection Service Agreement is precedent-setting but also said that the protest is unfounded.

"The rapid emergence of artificial intelligence and data centres has fundamentally changed the demand for power and leads to an inflection point for the power industry," the company said. "Talen's co-location arrangement with AWS brings one solution to this new demand, on a timeline that serves the customer quickly. We believe powering the data centre economy will require an all-of-the-above approach, which includes both metered and behind-the-meter solutions.

"Exelon and AEP's protest of the Susquehanna ISA is a misguided attempt to stifle this innovation by interfering with an ISA amendment agreed to and supported by all impacted parties - which Exelon and AEP decidedly are not."

Talen goes on to say the facts cited by Exelon AEP are "demonstrably false", the legal positions are "demonstrably infirm", and "nearly all the issues raised by Exelon and AEP are not subject to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission oversight, because transmission is not implicated".

Nuclear power is increasingly being eyed by energy-intensive data centres as a means of meeting their energy demand while achieving zero-carbon objectives, whether through co-location of resources, or energy-matching deals such as last year's agreement between Constellation and Microsoft to match the energy needs of Microsoft's data centre in Boydton, Virginia, with Constellation's carbon-free energy with 35% of the environmental attributes coming from nuclear power. Earlier this year, North American steel manufacturer Nucor Corporation and US tech giants Google and Microsoft Corporation announced plans to work together across the electricity ecosystem to develop new business models and aggregate their demand for advanced clean electricity technologies, including advanced nuclear.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/French-regulatory-review-of-Newcleo-SMR-progresses

Innovative reactor developer Newcleo announced it has completed the preparatory stage set up by the French authorities for developers of small modular reactor projects to facilitate, secure and accelerate the review of licence applications.

The first step of London-headquartered Newcleo's delivery roadmap will be the design and construction of the first-of-a-kind 30 MWe lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) to be deployed in France by 2030, followed by a 200 MWe commercial unit in the UK by 2033.

At the same time, Newcleo will directly invest in a mixed uranium/plutonium oxide (MOX) plant to fuel its reactors. In June 2022, Newcleo announced it had contracted France's Orano for feasibility studies on the establishment of a MOX production plant.

Newcleo said that during the preparatory stage, the French nuclear regulator Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN) and the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) assessed the maturity of its project and discussed all safety options for its LFR projects and the associated nuclear fuel manufacturing plant. The conclusion of this preparatory stage follows numerous technical meetings involving approximately 20 specialised experts from the authorities, as well as the development of a range of preparatory documents covering various technical topics.

The completion of the preparatory phase on 26 June will be followed by the submission of official technical options for both the LFR and the MOX manufacturing plant. The French authorities will then establish a written advice which, along with other considerations derived from the preparatory phase discussions, will allow a faster process to grant the necessary authorisation decrees to Newcleo.

"We are all thrilled that our project has reached this key milestone in the rigorous process leading Newcleo to obtain the required authorisations for the launch of this new sustainable nuclear sector," said Newcleo Global Licensing Director Stéphane Calpena. "The constructive discussions we have had with experts from the French authorities have been invaluable, enabling us to guide our design choices and associated safety requirements to meet the exceptionally high standards that French nuclear energy is known for."

In January, Newcleo announced a strategic and industrial partnership with French micro-reactor developer Naarea designed "to support all players in their industrial, technological, scientific and regulatory development" of Generation IV fast neutron reactors. The companies said that the partnership will be open to others to join and said it will focus on key areas where there are common interests, such as gaining access to the used nuclear fuel from conventional nuclear reactors that their Gen-IV reactors are designed to use as part of their efforts to close the fuel cycle.

Newcleo was a winner of the 'Innovative nuclear reactors' call for projects under the 'France 2030' investment plan implemented by Bpifrance and financed by the European Union - Next Generation EU as part of France's economic recovery plan (Plan France Relance).

Newcleo said its LFR AS-30 reactor design has been optimised over the last 20 years leading to the concept of an ultra-compact and transportable 200 MWe module with improvements in energy density compared with other technologies. Costs are kept low by means of simplicity, compactness, modularity, atmospheric pressure operation and elevated output temperature.

In order to best prepare for possible requests for authorisation to construct SMR projects, and with a view to mobilising resources proportionate to the level of maturity of each project, a progressive framework of technical exchanges in four phases has been put in place.

Newcleo's LFR is one of about ten SMR designs being evaluated by ASN and IRSN. Four vendors are currently in the initial stage, referred to as prospective monitoring (Blue Capsule, Hexana, Out and Stellaria). Newcleo has now joined Naarea, Calogena and Thorizon in step 2, the preparatory review. Nuward is in the third step, the pre-instruction stage where ASN will deliver an opinion on the main safety options to be used in its SMR design, while Jimmy is in step 4, where it has requested a "creation authorisation decree" from ASN to construct an SMR intended to supply industrial heat to a Cristal Union Group plant located on the Bazancourt site.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Another-Norwegian-town-looks-to-host-nuclear-plant

Norsk Kjernekraft has signed a cooperation agreement with the municipality of Lund on establishing a nuclear power plant in the town in the southern Norwegian county of Rogaland. The town is expecting a large increase in power demand due to industrialisation of the area.

The collaboration agreement enables the first steps towards the realisation of nuclear power in the municipality, among other things, suitable areas must be identified and then an impact assessment must begin.

A number of plans for sustainable industrialisation in the region have come closer to being realised, Norsk Kjernekraft said: "These activities will require large amounts of stable and emission-free power, and it is in this connection that Lund's mayor Gro Helleland has advocated that this energy must also be obtained through the least possible use of nature."

Helleland said: "When it became clear that all these industrial plans in our region would require enormous amounts of energy, it became natural for us to obtain more information about the various alternatives that existed. Gradually it became clear that modern nuclear power, so-called small modular reactors (SMRs), not only has the lowest lifetime emissions of greenhouse gases, but will also use far less nature than the alternatives."

"Through Regionråd Dalane [a political council for the four Dalane municipalities], we are working together with Rogaland county on a regional growth agreement, where the goal of the agreement is anchored in the Regional Plan for green industry," she continued. "I clearly see the connection between the main goal there of increased value creation and jobs in green industry that contribute to a nature-neutral, low-emission society, and the establishment of nuclear power."

Norsk Kjernekraft CEO Jonny Hesthammer commented: "It is important that the local population is involved in this work from the start so that any projects that are taken forward can achieve sufficient democratic anchoring.

"Norway has major challenges in reaching its climate targets and at the same time safeguarding natural diversity when new emission-free power is to be established. We are therefore convinced that a safe and extremely area-efficient energy source such as nuclear power will be able to contribute to a good solution."

Norsk Kjernekraft said it will be necessary to construct several small nuclear power plants in different parts of the country. "That Lund, as the first municipality in Rogaland, takes the initiative for such a collaboration with Norsk Kjernekraft is therefore very important," it said.

Last month, Norsk Kjernekraft submitted a proposal to Norway's Ministry of Energy for an assessment into the construction of a power plant based on multiple SMRs in the north-eastern county of Finnmark. In April last year, the municipality of Vardø in Finnmark proposed nearby Svartnes as a possible site for a nuclear power plant to Norsk Kjernekraft, which aims to build, own and operate SMR power plants in Norway in collaboration with power-intensive industry.

In November, Norsk Kjernekraft submitted a proposal to the ministry for an assessment into the construction of an SMR power plant based in the municipalities of Aure and Heim in south-western Norway. In April this year, it initiated work on the impact assessment of a plot of land in Øygarden municipality, west of Bergen, to assess the possibility of establishing a nuclear power plant comprising up to five SMRs.

A new company, Halden Kjernekraft AS, has also been founded by Norsk Kjernekraft, Østfold Energi and the municipality of Halden to investigate the construction of a nuclear power plant based on SMRs at Halden, where a research reactor once operated.

The installation of the steam generators has been completed at Unit 4 of the Kudankulam nuclear power station in Tamil Nadu state, southern India, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom said.

All four steam generators – each about 14 metres long with a diameter of four metres and weighing 340 tonnes – were installed using the ‘open top’ method, first used at Kudankulam-3.

This method allows large equipment to be loaded into the reactor building using a heavy-duty crane before the reactor dome is closed. Rosatom said it can significantly cut the time taken to carry out the installation.

Construction of the Generation III Kudankulam-4, a 917-MW VVER pressurised water reactor unit supplied by Russia, began in October 2017.

There are three other units of the same design under construction at the site. Construction of Kudankulam-3 began in 2017 and of Kudankulam-5 and -6 in 2021.

Kudankulam-1 and -2, also both VVER V-412 units, have been in commercial operation since December 2014 and March 2017.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Simulator-launched-for-development-of-Korea-s-i-SM

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power announced it has built an initial version of a simulator at the KHNP Central Research Institute to verify the operational suitability of the Innovative Small Modular Reactor (i-SMR).

The i-SMR is an integrated pressurised water reactor type nuclear power plant with an electrical output of 170 MWe. It is being developed according to a development roadmap, with the goal of completing the standard design by the end of 2025 and obtaining standard design approval in 2028.The i-SMR operation verification simulator will be used to verify design and operation suitability, and the verification results derived from the simulator operation process will be reflected in the standard design process, KHNP said.

It noted that the simulator developed to date is an early version that reflects the concept and basic design of the i-SMR.

The concept and basic design of the i-SMR was completed at the end of last year, and standard design will be carried out by December 2025. After 2025, update work will be carried out to reflect the standard design in the simulator, and development is accelerating with the goal of completing the simulator in the first half of 2027.

Once the simulator is completed, KHNP plans to use it to continue verifying the operational suitability of the i-SMR standard design, and plans to use the verification results as additional data for standard design approval.

"We will focus our existing experience in developing large-scale nuclear power plant simulators and the capabilities of researchers at KHNP to help obtain i-SMR standard design approval by creating a high-fidelity simulator," said Shin Ho-chul, head of the KHNP Central Research Institute.

KHNP has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Nusantara Power - a power generation subsidiary of Indonesian Electric Power Corporation - on mutual cooperation for the introduction and construction of the i-SMR in Indonesia. Through this MoU, the two companies will cooperate in various fields, including: joint basic research on the economic feasibility and technology for deployment of the i-SMR in Indonesia; development of local specialised technology through R&D cooperation; and collaboration through human/technology exchanges in the nuclear field through the formation of a working group.

KHNP has also signed an MoU on mutual cooperation with the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission for the deployment of the i-SMR in Jordan. The two organisations agreed to cooperate in comprehensive technology and information exchange on the i-SMR and to jointly conduct a feasibility study. Jordan is currently considering the introduction of SMRs after 2030 in preparation of expected increased electricity demand.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Companies-sign-agreements-to-support-Polish-SMR-de

Polish company ORLEN Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) has signed a teaming agreement and two bilateral agreements with North American companies to support the planned deployment of a fleet of BWRX-300 small modular reactors (SMRs) in Poland.

OSGE said the cooperation agreements with Aecon Group Inc and AtkinsRéalis company Candu Energy Inc, and the teaming agreement with Aecon, AtkinsRéalis and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, were signed at a ceremony in Warsaw, attended by Canada's Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Mary Ng and Ambassador of Canada to the Republic of Poland Catherine Godin.

OSGE - a joint venture between chemical producers SGE and PKN Orlen - plans to deploy the first of a fleet of BWRX-300s before the end of this decade and received the go-ahead to begin environmental and siting research for a planned small modular reactor (SMR) project in Stawy Monowskie, in Małopolska, earlier this year.

"We are positioning ourselves as the partner of choice for utilities worldwide on deploying nuclear power technology," AtkinsRéalis President and CEO Ian Edwards said. "As Poland undertakes a visionary modernisation of its power grid, moving away from coal and toward nuclear power via both large and small reactors, we’re thrilled to offer our expertise to provide Poland with clean, reliable, and safe electricity for generations."

Construction and infrastructure company Aecon is the Canadian constructor of the first-of-a-kind BWRX-300 reactor which is to be built at Ontario Power Generation's Darlington New Nuclear Project, and is also delivering the ongoing nuclear refurbishment projects at Ontario Power Generation and Bruce Power's CANDU plants in partnership with AtkinsRéalis.

"We’re pleased to bring our full spectrum of construction solutions to support OSGE in collaboratively planning the deployment of the next generation of nuclear technology, contributing to the supply of clean, reliable and affordable electricity in Poland,” said Aecon Executive Vice President, Nuclear and Civil Thomas Clochard.

Danish thorium molten salt reactor (TMSR) developer Copenhagen Atomics has signed an experimental collaboration agreement with Switzerland’s Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), to validate the TMSR technology.

The partnership between Copenhagen Atomics and PSI aims to conduct a thorium molten salt critical experiment in 2026, a statement said.

Copenhagen Atomics said the experiment will provide valuable experience for the design, construction, licensing, operation and decommissioning of the new MSR technology and collect data for commercial deployment.

The collaboration agreement runs initially for four years and will position Europe at the forefront of advanced reactors, Copenhagen Atomics said.

It said TMSR technology has huge potential to become one of the world’s most abundant energy sources. To date, the bulk of TMSR experiments have taken place in China, so this represents “a major step forward for the tech in Europe”, Copenhagen Atomics said.

The company said the use of thorium over uranium has several advantages. Thorium, a naturally occurring radioactive metal that is found in soil, rock and water, is much more abundant than uranium and there is enough thorium in the Earth’s crust to “cover the entire lifetime of the human race”.

According to Copenhagen Atomics, thorium offers a lower price per kWh of energy generated and produces less long-lived nuclear waste than uranium.

In 2023 Copenhagen Atomics said it had raised €20m ($21.4m) to accelerate the development of its TMSR technology.

Co-founder Thomas Jam Pedersen said the funding would support plans to have the first commercial reactors online in 2028.

Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/China-and-France-aim-to-strengthen-nuclear-energy

China's CGN and France's EDF have signed a Letter of Intent on deepening and expanding cooperation on nuclear energy - it came as President Emmanuel Macron hosted a visit to France by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Acording to the Chinese Foreign Ministry report on the talks, President Xi said the two countries should step up cooperation in a number of areas, including "nuclear energy, innovation and finance", with President Macron responding that France was "ready to step up cooperation with China" in areas including "nuclear energy for civilian use".

During the visit there were a number of business cooperation agreements outlined, with the Letter of Intent on Deepening Related Cooperation in the Nuclear Energy Field signed by Yang Changli, Chairman of China General Nuclear (CGN), and EDF Chairman and CEO Luc Raymond.

According to CGN the letter of intent means "the two parties will further expand and strengthen cooperation in aspects such as nuclear power engineering construction, talent training, EPR operations and leadership training in the field of nuclear power operations to achieve common development".

CGN and EDF have worked together over many years, dating back to the Daya Bay nuclear power plant's construction, which began in the 1980s, and CGN said that deepening and expanding cooperation areas "is of great significance to the development of civil nuclear energy in both countries and the business development of the two groups".

China and France are two of the world's biggest generators of nuclear energy, with both having large-scale plans to expand capacity in the coming years. According to World Nuclear Association figures, both countries currently have 56 operable reactors. China's have a capacity of 54 GW and it has 27 more reactors under construction which would provide 28.9 GW more capacity. France currently has 61 GW nuclear energy capacity, with one more 1.6 GW reactor under construction.