The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRC) has approved the extension by 20 years of the operating licence for unit 3 of the Rovno nuclear power plant. The approval, which was granted by SNRC's board on 16 July, means the unit can operate until 11 December 2037. The regulator approved 20-year licence extensions of Rovno 1 and 2 in December 2010.The four-unit Rovno plant (Image: E...Read More
Niger has a strong commitment to developing the infrastructure for a nuclear power programme, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission team has concluded in its final report. The report from the mission - conducted in April - was submitted to the Nigerien government on 16 July.IAEA Deputy Director General Chudakov (left) presented the final INIR mission report to Nigerien Energy Minist...Read More
Weekly Reports |Jul 17 2018Japanese government approval of a 2030 energy mic target implies acceleration of reactor restarts and/or new reactor builds.-Uranium spot price ticks higher-Utility demand remains muted-Japan sets 2030 nuclear energy goalBy Greg PeelThe uranium market was back in business last week following what was effectively a holiday week with the US Independence Day break in the mi...Read More
Levels Playing Field for American Developers and Producers Promotes Environmentally Sustainable Domestic MiningCENTENNIAL, Colo., July 17, 2018 - Westwater Resources, Inc. ("Westwater," or the "Company") (Nasdaq: WWR), an energy materials development company, released the following statement from Christopher M. Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer of Westwater:"United States Trade Represen...Read More
Global energy investment fell for the third consecutive year in 2017, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Investment in nuclear power declined by nearly 45% last year to USD17 billion. Although spending on new reactors reached the lowest level in five years, investment on upgrades of existing units increased.Total global energy investment totalled USD1.8 trillion last year, a 2% de...Read More
First concrete for the foundation of unit 2 of the Rooppur nuclear power plant in Bangladesh was poured during a ceremony on 14 July. A construction licence for the Russian-supplied reactor was issued by the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority on 8 July.Concreting of the basemat of Rooppur unit 2 gets under way (Image: Rosatom)The first concrete pouring ceremony was attended by Banglade...Read More
Ukrainian nuclear power plant operator Energoatom has explained to the European Parliament the benefits of supporting the 'energy bridge' project. Ukraine expects to start supplying electricity to the EU network via the so-called energy bridge as early as next year, and to complete the project by 2025.Nedashkovsky (second from left) and Dombrovsky (right) at the European Parliament (Image: Energoa...Read More
? koda JS of the Czech Republic will manufacture and supply two sets of EPR reactor pressure vessel internals for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant project in the UK under a contract signed with France's Framatome. The contract - the value of which was not disclosed - includes the core basket, heavy reflector and the upper internals.The core basket is a welded and machined stainless steel st...Read More
Unit 5 of the Yangjiang nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province has completed commissioning tests and now meets the conditions for entering commercial operation, China General Nuclear (CGN) announced yesterday. The unit is the first ACPR1000 reactor to be built and the first Chinese unit to feature a domestically-developed digital control system.The control room of Yangjiang unit 5 (Ima...Read More
UK broker Liberum has sounded a note of caution about the future supply-demand balance in the uranium market.In a detailed 11-page research note Liberum set out its case that although demand for uranium from new power stations is likely to be material, the rise of renewables and an increasing tendency to favour gas-powered electricity generation will mitigate against any significant breakout in th...Read More
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has launched a consultation until 14 September on draft regulations that aim to enable a domestic nuclear safeguards regime following the UK's withdrawal from the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) as part of its departure from the European Union.Meanwhile the House of Lords EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee yesterd...Read More
The General Court of the European Union today dismissed a lawsuit filed by Austria, supported by Luxembourg, against the European Commission's approval of state aid for the planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in the UK. The court said the Commission "did not err" in accepting the UK's stance that construction of the plant is in the British public's interest.An artist's impression of how Hi...Read More
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected nine projects to receive almost USD20 million in funding for cost-shared research and development for advanced nuclear technologies. These awards are the second group selected under a DOE Office of Nuclear Energy's funding opportunity for cost-shared projects to develop innovative, industry-driven reactor designs and accompanying technologies with hig...Read More
British engineering group Rolls-Royce has signed a memorandum of understanding with Canada's Bruce Power to deepen their cooperation in digital technology. The agreement expands the two companies' T-104 programme, under which Rolls-Royce's T-104 technology has been implemented to optimise the operational lifetime of Bruce Power's nuclear power plants as part of Bruce's Life-Extension Programme.The...Read More
A plasma melting facility at Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant has started operations, heralding a breakthrough in nuclear waste disposal to boost the decommissioning process, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced today. Decommissioning work is under way at four of Kozloduy's six units (Image: EBRD)The technology allows for treatment of waste with a minimum r...Read More
The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) has formally received a design and construction licence for Rooppur unit 2. It received an equivalent licence for unit 1 in November last year and construction work started on that unit soon afterwards. The licence for Rooppur unit 2 has been issued (Image: Rosatom)ASE Group, the engineering subsidiary of Russia's Rosatom, announced issuance of the l...Read More
Kazakh uranium producer NAC Kazatomprom has made its first delivery to London-based Yellow Cake plc under a long-term contract between the two companies. The sale follows Yellow Cake's floatation on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market and represents more than a quarter of Kazatomprom's 2018 uranium production.Yellow Cake was founded by Bacchus Capital as a specialist company to operate in the u...Read More
The Oyster Creek nuclear plant, located near the New Jersey shore, will be completely dismantled between 2075 and 2078.Even though the closure of the 50-year-old plant will take place by the end of 2018, officials with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced this week that it will take much longer to completely shut it down.During a press briefing, the NRC said that the facility will stop p...Read More
Urenco is to provide enrichment services to EDF to support the recycling of uranium recovered from used nuclear fuel in French nuclear reactors under a new contract announced yesterday.Dominique Mini??re, EDF Group senior executive vice president for nuclear and thermal, and Urenco CEO Thomas Haeberle, at the signing ceremony (Image: Urenco)The "high value and long-term" contract covers the enrich...Read More
World's second largest miner Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO) said its recent decision to consolidate the sales and marketing teams in London and other European countries into one located in Frankfurt, Germany, had less to do with Brexit than with "synergies."In an interview with Australian Financial Review (subs. needed), chief executive Jean-S?(C)bastien Jacques said the plan was part of a wider reorga...Read More