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AGRs

Four of the UK’s ageing nuclear power reactors, currently closed for repairs, should not be allowed to restart, in order to protect public health, says a consortium of 40 local authorities in Britain and Ireland. The Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA), the local government voice on nuclear issues in the United Kingdom, then wants all the rest of the country’s 14 ageing advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs) shut down as soon as possible, with the power they produce replaced by renewables and a programme of energy efficiency. The four reactors they want closed immediately are two at Hunterston in Scotland and two at Hinkley Point B in Somerset in the West of England. Of the other five power stations (each with two reacttors) which the NFLA wants shut down as soon as possible, one is at Torness, also in Scotland. Three more are in the North of England – one at Hartlepool in County Durham and two at Heysham in Lancashire – and one at Dungeness in south-east England. To protect the jobs of those involved, the NFLA calls in its report on the future of the AGRs for a “Just Transition”: retraining for skilled workers, but also an accelerated decommissioning of the plants to use the nuclear skills of the existing workforce. The report details the dangers that the reactors, some more than 40 years old, pose to the public. Graphite blocks, which are vital for closing down the reactor in an emergency, are disintegrating because of constant radiation, and other plants are so corroded that pipework is judged dangerous. If the two Hunterston reactors were restarted and the graphite blocks failed, a worst-case accident would mean both Edinburgh and Glasgow would have to be evacuated, the report says.

Climate News Network 13th Aug 2020 read more »

The UK & Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) publishes today a detailed report outlining the challenging problems besetting EDF’s existing Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) nuclear power plants like Hunterston and Hinkley Point B and argues that the entire AGR fleet is likely to close considerably earlier than the operator or the UK Government would like. This leaves real questions as to future UK energy policy requiring an even greater move towards decentralised and renewable energy alternatives. At present, EDF’s existing nuclear fleet of Advanced Gas Reactors covers reactors at Hunterston B, Hinkley Point B, Hartlepool, Heysham, Dungeness and Torness. All are due to end operations between 2023 and 2030, leaving just Sizewell B, a Pressurised Water Reactor, in operation.

NFLA 13th Aug 2020 read more »

The future of the AGR nuclear reactor fleet – to be closed sooner than expected by EDF?

NFLA 5th Aug 2020 read more »

Dounreay

Scientists are looking at ways to make greater use of robots in cleaning up and taking apart the most highly radioactive areas of Dounreay. The nuclear power complex on the Caithness coast near Thurso is being decommissioned. Robots have been used previously to reach contaminated parts of the site. Dounreay’s operator said they were working with Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Nuclear (Rain), a consortium of universities. Led by the University of Manchester, they are exploring the potential for using robots in the Fuel Cycle Area (FCA), which has the most contaminated parts of the site. Dounreay said the most contaminated areas were “generally also the most inaccessible”. A group of scientists from Rain carried out trials earlier this year in the FCA laboratories of a small remotely operated vehicle equipped with sensors, cameras and a manipulator “arm”.

BBC 13th Aug 2020 read more »

The nuclear site in the north of Scotland, which was the centre of the UK’s research into fast reactor technology in the last century, is being cleaned up and taken apart. The most contaminated areas of the site are found in the Fuel Cycle Area (FCA) facilities, which examined and reprocessed spent nuclear fuel. The nature of the facilities means that the most contaminated areas are generally also the most inaccessible. The site is collaborating with the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Nuclear (RAIN) Hub, a consortium of universities led by the University of Manchester, to explore ways to overcome some of these challenges. A group of scientists from RAIN carried out trials earlier this year in the FCA laboratories of a small remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with sensors, cameras and a manipulator ‘arm’, which provided useful information.

Dounreay 12th Aug 2020 read more »

Nuclear Decommissioning

Three new R&D contracts, worth up to £25million, have been awarded to look for innovative solutions to the technical challenges of delivering the NDA’s decommissioning mission.

NDA 13th Aug 2020 read more »

A trio of multi-million pound research and development contracts have been awarded to support the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s plan. Three £25m contracts have been awarded to 12 successful consortia, six of which are led by SMEs – involving over 60 organisations in total. The 3 new contracts will run for 4 years, replacing the previous DRPs awarded in 2016, and follow a 6-month procurement process. The 12 successful consortia, 6 of which are led by SMEs, involve over 60 organisations in total.

Bdaily 13th Aug 2020 read more »

SMRs

SMNRs: not clean, not small, not green, not affordable. A lightly edited transcript of the webinar by Dr. Gordon Edwards on March 13, 2020.

Canadian Council for Nuclear Responsibility 14th Aug 2020 read more »

The opportunity to provide carbon-free power to pair with renewables, combined with promises of increased safety over traditional nuclear plants, appear to be opening the door to the use of small modular reactors (SMRs) as a source of baseload power.

Forbes 12th Aug 2020 read more »

Small reactors – hyped nuclear technology with obstacles on the road. A hype for small modular nuclear reactors, so-called SMR, is currently underway. Proponents argue that they can be cheaper than large reactors and form a necessary part of climate change. The critics saw the arguments and said that the hopes were greatly exaggerated. “The investment risk is even greater than for full-size reactors,” says researcher Paul Dorfman at the UCL Energy Institute in London.

ETC 13th Aug 2020 read more »

UK-based company Howden is to design a helium circulator for use in Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation’s (USNC) Micro-Modular Reactors (MMR) under a newly announced contract. USNC said Howden’s submerged helium blowers would maximise heat transfer in the MMR’s power plant.

World Nuclear News 13th Aug 2020 read more »

Green Recovery

Can investments in renewable energy power an economic recovery from covid-19? (Iberdrola advert).

Iberdrola 13th Aug 2020 read more »

A group of moderate Conservative MPs has served up a raft of policy recommendations designed to help deliver on the Prime Minister’s pledge to “build back greener” from the Covid-19 recession.

Business Green 13th Aug 2020 read more »

Nuclear Weapons

A nuclear bomb detonating in Germany would instantly kill hundreds of thousands of people, Greenpeace has said, calling on the US to withdraw the small arsenal of atomic weapons it currently has in the country. The environmental non-profit released a study it had commissioned simulating the impact of a nuclear weapon exploding in Germany on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing.

Euro News 5th Aug 2020 read more »

Uranium

CNNC’s Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Engineering and Metallurgy signed a collaborative agreement regarding research on uranium extraction from seawater with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology on July 15. Chinese and Saudi experts will conduct a two-year-long investigation into uranium extraction from seawater, according to the agreement. It’s another milestone for CNNC and Saudi Arabia, following after a human resources training program and a uranium exploration project. Proven uranium reserves on land are extremely limited at present. The mineral uranium resources for economic utilization can only last for few decades on land, but it is estimated it could potentially extract around 4 billion tons of uranium from the sea. Uranium extraction from seawater is a more environmentally friendly way of obtaining uranium than through mining it on land, and it will guarantee a fuel source for countries to produce nuclear power in the long term.

China Atomic Energy Authority 31st July 2020 read more »

Fusion

Oil major Chevron has announced an investment in Zap Energy, a nuclear fusion start-up company developing a next-generation modular nuclear reactor. With this Series A investment, Chevron will join other companies such as Italy’s Eni and Equinor which have also backed nuclear fusion startups to reduce their carbon footprint, Reuters reported. The company has not disclosed the financial details of the investment.

Power Technology 13th Aug 2020 read more »

NS Energy 13th Aug 2020 read more »

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