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Hydrogen from Nuclear Power Test Set at Idaho Lab

May 18, 2021

The post Hydrogen from Nuclear Power Test Set at Idaho Lab appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A California company that introduced a new electrolyzer technology last year has announced an agreement with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to test how nuclear energy can create clean hydrogen using the product.

San Jose-based Bloom Energy on May 18 said INL will use the company’s solid oxide, high-temperature electrolyzer to produce carbon-free hydrogen through electrolysis, powered by nuclear generation. Bloom on Tuesday said the electricity generated by nuclear facilities could produce “cost-effective hydrogen,” including during periods when the power grid has an ample supply of electricity. Rather than ramping down to prevent an oversupply of power, the plant can use its electricity to produce hydrogen.

INL, based in Idaho Falls, Idaho, is a nuclear science and technology lab. The facility’s team leads research, development, and demonstration projects to support and expand the use of nuclear energy. The group, like those in other countries, is involved with supporting the growth of a hydrogen economy, a sector with a rapidly growing market as governments and industries worldwide seek to decarbonize their operations.…

TVA, Kairos Partner to Deploy Molten Salt Nuclear Reactor Demonstration

May 8, 2021

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The post TVA, Kairos Partner to Deploy Molten Salt Nuclear Reactor Demonstration appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In a notable, dedicated effort by a major U.S. utility to boost the development of an advanced reactor technology, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Kairos Power, developer of a novel fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature nuclear reactor, on May 6 said they will team to demonstrate Kairos’ Hermes test reactor at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

As part of their agreement, TVA will provide engineering, operations, and licensing support to help California-based Kairos Power deploy its “low-power” demonstration reactor. According to Kairos, Hermes is a 50-MWth test reactor that will integrate the Kairos Power Fluoride Salt-Cooled High-Temperature Reactor (KP-FHR) as part of a cost- and risk-reduction–focused development pathway that ultimately envisions commercial deployment of a 140-MWe “KP-X” plant.

“Kairos Power’s singular objective for deploying the Hermes Reactor is to demonstrate the capability to deliver an advanced reactor at the costs necessary to make nuclear power the most affordable source of dispatchable electricity in the United States,” it said on Thursday.…

Centrus on Track to Produce HALEU Nuclear Fuel Material by Early 2022

March 27, 2021

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The post Centrus on Track to Produce HALEU Nuclear Fuel Material by Early 2022 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Centrus Energy, a firm under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to demonstrate production of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) with domestic technology, says it expects to begin producing the advanced nuclear fuel material by June 2022 at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio.

Centrus President and CEO Daniel Poneman said on March 23 that the company has kept construction of a cascade of 16 AC100M centrifuges on track despite the pandemic. The facility is being built and licensed under $ 115 million, cost-shared contract with the DOE that runs through May 2022. If completed as planned, Centrus expects its Piketon, Ohio, facility will “become the first plant in the nation licensed to produce HALEU, with enrichment levels up to a U-235 concentration just below 20%.”

The Urgency for HALEU

As POWER has reported, HALEU—a nuclear fuel material that is enriched to a higher degree (of between 5% and 20%) in the fissile isotope U-235—is not commercially available in the U.S.…

License Issued for Barakah Nuclear Unit 2

March 10, 2021

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The post License Issued for Barakah Nuclear Unit 2 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Arab world’s first nuclear power plant has received an operating license for its second unit, and the facility’s timeline still calls for commercial start-up of the first unit later this year.

The Barakah nuclear power station, in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi, will include four units with 5,600 MW of generating capacity when complete. It is being built by Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and will feature four APR-1400 pressurized water reactors. The plant is expected to supply about one-quarter of the peak power demand for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to government officials.

A Long Road to Completion

The UAE’s nuclear regulator on March 9 announced the operational license for Unit 2. Unit 1 was connected to the UAE’s national power grid in August of last year, and in December 2020 reached 100% of reactor power capacity during testing. Hamad Al-Kaabi, deputy chairman of Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) and the UAE’s representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in a media briefing Tuesday said construction of Unit 3 is 94% complete, with Unit 4 at 87% complete (Figure 1).…

Is Nuclear Power Poised for a Resurgence?

February 14, 2021

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The post Is Nuclear Power Poised for a Resurgence? appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Since 1990, nuclear power has consistently supplied about 19% to 20% of the electricity used in the U.S. However, very few nuclear plants have been added to the U.S. fleet over that time. Currently, the only new nuclear project in the U.S. is Southern Company’s Plant Vogtle expansion, which is expected to add two new reactors to the grid by the end of next year. Still, there are 50 reactors under construction around the world—12 of them in China—and several countries are considering adding more.

“There has been a fundamental shift in the thinking around the world. As climate change has become front and center as the number one issue globally—environmental issue and societal issue—the recognition that nuclear can and should play a part in helping us overcome the climate change problems has shifted a lot of thinking in governments that I talk to around the world, but also even with people that are environmental-minded—people that have been, in the past, anti-nuclear—and start seeing that nuclear now is and should be part of the solution.…

First Turbine Module Delivered for Turkish Nuclear Plant

January 13, 2021

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The post First Turbine Module Delivered for Turkish Nuclear Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Turkey’s first nuclear power plant reached a milestone with delivery of the first steam turbine module for the project, four months ahead of schedule.

GE Steam Power, which is supplying all the major equipment for the plant’s four turbine islands, on Jan. 12 announced it had delivered the module to Atomenergomash, an engineering company and the nuclear power division of Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear power company.

The Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP) is located in Büyükeceli, Mersin Province, in Turkey. The first unit of the $ 20 billion, 4.8-GW project is planned to come online in 2023. Akkuyu will feature four, 1.2-GW VVER (water-water energetic reactor) units from Rosatom; all four reactors are planned to enter service by year-end 2026.

Arabelle Steam Turbine

Each Arabelle steam turbine that will be used in the Akkuyu project includes three modules: the high pressure/intermediate pressure (HIP) module, and two low-pressure modules.…