Ten projects have been selected to receive a total of up to USD24 million in funding under a new programme from the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) initiative. The projects selected include a transportable gas-cooled reactor, and technology to support load-following, improve safety and reduce costs in advanced reactors.HolosGen's integral reactor i...Read More
The US Administration recognises the growing security risk of cyber threats and has prioritised overcoming these challenges, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a statement marking one year since President Donald Trump signed Executive Order (EO) 13800. In the EO, titled Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure, the president directed departments and agencies...Read More
US President Donald Trump has directed Secretary of Energy Rick Perry to take immediate action to stop the loss of "fuel-secure power facilities" from the country's power grid, including nuclear power plants that are facing premature retirement.Exelon's Three Mile Island, which Exelon last year said could face premature closure(Image: US NRC/Exelon)"The United States of America has the most techno...Read More
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) have submitted a statement to a court of appeal saying federal rules do not pre-empt Illinois' zero emission credit (ZEC) programme. The court is hearing an appeal against an earlier ruling that dismissed a lawsuit aimed at invalidating the programme, which provides financial support to Exelon's Quad Cities and...Read More
Texo Drone Survey and Inspection (Texo DSI) has carried out an internal unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) inspection of a "live nuclear asset", which it says is a first for the global nuclear sector. Texo DSI was commissioned by Urenco UK to perform the inspection of one of its processing plants for fire compartmentation checks.The UAV used to inspect the Urenco facility (Image: Texo DSI)The project h...Read More
The European Space Agency (ESA) will host the international space and applications community in a workshop on 27-28 June to find out how best to prepare for the implementation of advanced radioisotope hybrid power systems. Here, Dr Markus Landgraf, architecture analyst in the Directorate of Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration Programmes at the European Space Research and Technology Centre, o...Read More
Japan's Toshiba Corporation is to withdraw from the project to construct two of its advanced boiling water reactors (ABWRs) as units 3 and 4 of the South Texas Project (STP) in the USA. The company said the project, which has failed to find investors, is no longer financially viable.An impression of how the two ABWRs would have appeared at STP (Image: STPNOC)Toshiba - through its US-based wholly-o...Read More
Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power Company is to cut its electricity prices for customers by more than 5% on average following the restart of units 3 and 4 of its Ohi nuclear power plant and the subsequent reduction in fuel costs. The company made a similar price cut last August after units 3 and 4 of its Takahama plant resumed commercial operation.Ohi units 3 and 4 (Image: Kansai)The company...Read More
Hot functional tests have been completed at the Olkiluoto 3 EPR, Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) announced today. The company said preparations have already started for loading fuel into the core of the 1600 MWe pressurised water reactor ahead of its start-up later this year.Workers in the control room of OL3 during hot tests (Image: TVO)Cold functional tests - which are carried out t...Read More
Russia's Rosatom and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) have signed a strategic document on partnership in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The agreement was signed on 24 May by Rosatom Director General Alexy Likhachov and CEA Chairman Fran??ois Jacq in the presence of the Russian and French presidents, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron, during the St. Petersbu...Read More
Fuel loading at unit 1 of the United Arab Emirates' first nuclear power plant will now take place in late 2019 or early 2020. Nawah Energy Company said the updated start-up schedule reflects the time required to complete operator training and to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals.Barakah units 1 to 4, pictured in December 2017 (Image: Enec)Nawah said it has completed a comprehensive operati...Read More
Hitachi Ltd. has decided to continue talks over a ?3 trillion nuclear power plant project in Wales after the British government made a financing offer, according to a source.The maker of machinery and infrastructure systems made the decision at an extraordinary board meeting Monday and will exchange a document that will serve as a basic agreement with the British government if negotiations make p...Read More
Framatome has signed a contract to design, fabricate and supply fuel assemblies using enriched reprocessed uranium to French utility EDF between 2023 and 2032. Framatome noted the project is subject to administrative and regulatory authorisations.The fuel assemblies - to be produced at Framatome's facility at Romans-sur-Is??re in the Dr??me region of France - will incorporate uranium that has been...Read More
CanAlaskaUranium Ltd (CVE:CVV) updated on partner Cameco's summer work plans at the 36,000 hectare West McArthur uranium project, which includes borehole EM (electromagnetics) surveys.Cameco has a three year three year program at the 5km long Grid 5 target area.Work to date has been focused around the northeastern part of what's called the C 10 corridor, where several ground-defined conductive res...Read More
Canadian junior miner CanAlaska Uranium (TSX-V:CVV) provided Thursday an update on ongoing summer work at the West McArthur uranium project, being carried by partner Cameco Corporation (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ), the world's top listed uranium producer.Work at the asset, located immediately next to Cameco's Fox Lake uranium discovery, has been focused on evaluating the C10 corridor, which is highlight...Read More
Belarus and Kazakhstan yesterday signed a memorandum of cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the Belarusian Energy Ministry has announced. The document was signed by Belarusian Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk and Kazakh Deputy Energy Minister Bakytzhan Dzhaksaliev.Kazakh and Belarusian deputy energy ministers at the memorandum signing (Image: Ministry of Energy of the Repu...Read More
The UK's Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) has welcomed confirmation of the government's intention to seek associate status to Euratom R&D programmes. NIA chief executive Tom Greatrex stressed however that this is just one part of the current Euratom framework, and progress in replicating other vital areas is still needed before the UK leaves the treaty, as part of its exit from the European...Read More
The target of achieving global nuclear generating capacity of 438 GWe by 2020 under the International Energy Agency's (IEA's) Sustainable Development Scenario appears to be on track, the agency said today. However, it said the prospects of meeting the target of 490 GWe by 2025 remains uncertain.The IEA's Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS), introduced in the World Energy Outlook 2017, depicts a...Read More
Weekly Reports |May 22 2018The spot uranium price jumped 5% last week to mark the biggest weekly move in six months.-Uranium spot price jumps 5%-US government sales suspension to be extended-Japan targets one fifth nuclear powerBy Greg PeelA total of 1.2mlbs U3O8 changed hands in the uranium spot market last week, industry consultant TradeTech reports, shaking the market out of its recent doldrums...Read More
Chugoku Electric Power Company has today requested permission from local governments to apply for pre-startup inspections of unit 3 at the Shimane nuclear power plant in Japan's Shimane prefecture. Construction of the 1373 MWe advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR) is nearing completion.Shimane 3 (Image: Hitachi-GE)Construction of Shimane 3 started in December 2005 and the unit had been scheduled t...Read More