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IAEA: Shelling at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant Raises ‘Real Risk’ of Nuclear Disaster

August 7, 2022

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is growing increasingly alarmed by military action at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, warning that artillery shelling at the plant site on Aug. 5 underlines a “very real risk of a nuclear disaster.”

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in a statement on Aug. 6 said new information about the Russian-Ukraine conflict at the site poses a “serious situation.” The information suggests that while there has been no damage to the 6-GW Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant’s six reactors and no radiological release, “there is damage elsewhere on the site,” he said.

Military action at Zaporizhzhya—Europe’s largest nuclear power plant—has ramped up in recent days. Russia occupied the plant, which is located in the southern part of Ukraine, in March—relatively early in its occupation of Ukraine. The nuclear plant continues to be operated by Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-owned entity. All 15 of Ukraine’s nuclear reactors are pressurized water reactors of Russian VVER design and are located at four plant sites.…

Rosatom Picks New EPC Lead for Turkey’s First Nuclear Power Plant

August 1, 2022

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A new contractor has been named to finish construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant. Russia’s state-owned energy giant Rosatom on July 30 said it had chosen TSM Enerji, a company owned by three Russian groups and incorporated in Turkey, as the project’s new engineering, procurement, and construction lead.

The Turkish government has said it wants to begin operating the first of four reactors at the 4,800-MW Akkuyu facility next year. “All works under current subcontracts will be transferred to TSM … similar new contracts will be signed between TSM and subcontractors,” Akkuyu Nuclear said in a statement on Saturday. The group did not say specifically why the previous EPC deal with IC Ictas, a Turkish company, had been ended.

IC Ictas on August 1 said it planned legal action against Rosatom’s move. Bloomberg News reported that IC Ictas said annulment of its contract was unlawful, and could result in a delay in the project. IC Ictas in a statement Monday said TSM Enerji, the new contractor, is a limited liability company that may not be able to complete the project.…

UK Throws Support Behind Sizewell C Nuclear Plant Construction

July 22, 2022

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The UK government has given the go-ahead for construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in southeast England, which officials have called an important project for the country to meet its net-zero climate goals.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on July 20 confirmed the government’s support, saying UK officials consider it a major infrastructure project for the country.

Sizewell C, which would be majority-owned by France utility EDF, would be built in Suffolk, a fishing village about 110 miles northeast of London that has been home to nuclear power at the Sizewell site for nearly 60 years. The plant is expected to have 3.2 GW of generation capacity, according to officials who on July 20 announced their support for the project. The plant is expected to feature two, 1,600-MW pressurized water (EPR) reactors.

Sizewell C is sited next to the existing Sizewell B nuclear plant, a 1,250-MW facility that has operated since 1995. Sizewell A, which came online in 1966, was closed at the end of 2006.…

DOE Grants California’s Request to Revise Civil Nuclear Credit Program Eligibility, Extends Deadline

July 2, 2022

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The Department of Energy (DOE) has revised eligibility criteria for the first-award cycle of its $ 6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) program and extended its application period to Sept. 6, 2022. The action responds to a request for adjustments from the California governor’s office to better address Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E’s) 2,240-MW Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s (DCPP’s) “unique circumstances.”

The DOE’s formal amendment of its April 2022–issued CNC program guidance on June 30 seeks to clarify how it interprets a reactor has met eligibility requirements that it “competes in a competitive electricity market,” as set out in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The changes, which the DOE adopted from a proposal it unveiled on June 17, have drawn mixed reactions from an array of stakeholders, including the nuclear industry, the power sector, and citizen and environmental groups.

‘Material Amount of Total Revenue’

The April guidance, which applies to the CNC’s first-award cycle, allowed nuclear reactors to demonstrate competitive operation during the CNC’s four-year credit period by showing units would receive 50% or more of total revenue “from sources that are exposed to market competition.”…

Unit 3 at Barakah Nuclear Plant Licensed, Set to Load Fuel

June 19, 2022

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The third unit of the Barakah nuclear power plant (NPP), the first such facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Arab world, is ready to begin fuel loading, according to a statement issued by the country’s nuclear regulatory agency on June 19.

The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) on Sunday said it would send inspectors to oversee the process, in order “to ensure the fuel load and testing processes are completed according to requirements.”

The FANR on June 17 granted Nawah Energy Co., the operations and maintenance division of Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp., a license to operate Unit 3 for 60 years. Christer Viktorsson, FANR’s director-general, said the licensing of Unit 3 means the plant’s operators can being a commissioning period to prepare for commercial operation.

FANR in a news release said its decision to issue the operating license “is a culmination of efforts made by FANR since it received the Operating License Application from Nawah in 2017 for Units 3 and 4.…

Latest APR-1400 Reactor Now Online at South Korea’s Shin Hanul Nuclear Plant

June 11, 2022

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The first of what could be as many as four APR-1400 nuclear reactors at the Shin Hanul site in South Korea is now supplying electricity to the country’s power grid.

Unit 1 at Shin Hanul is a 1,400-MW reactor. It was connected to the grid on June 9, just more than two weeks after the pressurized water reactor reached first criticality on May 22, according to officials with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP).

South Korean officials said Shin Hanul, located in Uljin on the country’s east coast, is part of the new government’s strategy to achieve energy security while also supporting environmental goals. The start-up of the reactor comes three months after the election of Yoon Suk-yeol as South Korea’s new president. Suk-yeol has said he plans to reverse the strategy of former President Moon Jae-in, who wanted to phase-out nuclear power generation. Jae-in adopted that policy after he assumed office in 2017, in part citing the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan.…