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Clearing out Kozloduy 1-4
23 November, 2014
With support from the European Union, work towards decommissioning Units 1-4 of Bulgaria’s Kozloduy nuclear power plant is now well under way. By Denitsa Dishkova

Evaluating the safety of new fuel types. Part 2: accident & storage conditions
29 October, 2014
Determining the overall safety level for a new nuclear fuel is not trivial because it involves balancing a host of attributes in several operating scenarios. Currently, there is no focussed, peer-reviewed guidance to help perform such assessments. The work described here, based on a report by the World Nuclear Association’s Fuel Technology Working Group, is intended to be a starting point for formal safety assessment. By Julian Kelly

Evaluating the safety of new fuel types. Part 1: normal conditions
27 October, 2014
Determining the overall safety level for a new nuclear fuel is not trivial because it involves balancing a host of attributes in several operating scenarios. Currently, there is no focussed, peer-reviewed guidance to help perform such assessments. The work described here, based on a report by the World Nuclear Association’s Fuel Technology Working Group, is intended to be a starting point for formal safety assessment. By Julian Kelly

Demonstration of a new recycled fuel for CANDU
22 October, 2014
In collaboration with the Third Qinshan Nuclear Power Company (TQNPC), the China North Nuclear Fuel Corporation (CNNFC), and the Nuclear Power Institute of China (NPIC), Candu Energy Inc has successfully accomplished a demonstration irradiation of a first-of-a-kind fuel called Natural Uranium Equivalent (NUE) which makes use of recycled and depleted uranium at Qinshan CANDU® Unit 1. It has completed detailed technical analyses to prove that NUE fuel can be implemented in existing CANDU stations without any major modifications to the plant or the licensing basis. By Valeh Aleyaseen, Catherine M. Cottrell and Sermet Kuran

European skills pass
22 October, 2014
A standardized, pan-European vocational transfer system has been proposed. Its benefits include worker mobility, mutual recognition, harmonization and improvement of education, all of which happen to be pressing issues in the European labour market’s international competitiveness. By Alicia Lacal Molina and Ulrik von Estorff

Small change, powerful gains
16 October, 2014
Simple, low-cost improvements to valves, MSRs and preheaters can improve water-steam cycle efficiency and have the potential to increase the electrical output of a boiling water reactor by up to 30 MW. By Sören Künne and Wolfgang Schuch

Wylfa given approval to carry on generating until December 2015
01 October, 2014
An assessment of the periodic safety review of the Wylfa A1 magnox-fuelled, carbon-dioxide-cooled, graphite-moderated reactor by the UK nulcear regulator has allowed it to continue operating until December 2015, a five-year life-extension for the 43-year old reactor.

Hinkley C state-aid approval looks likely - updated
23 September, 2014
Media organisations Platts and Reuters have both reported that the European Competition commissioner will recommend approving the state aid request for EDF Energy’s Hinkley C nuclear power plant project.

Design issues resolved for China AP1000s
19 September, 2014
First-of-a-kind engineering issues related to the reactor coolant pumps and squib valves for the Chinese AP1000 have been resolved, according to Westinghouse president and CEO, Danny Roderick.

Optimizing maintenance
10 September, 2014
Efforts are under way to update technical guidance to include maintenance optimization

EU assistance to Ukraine - project roundup
15 August, 2014
After the Chernobyl nuclear accident and particularly after independence in 1991, Ukraine received significant technical assistance from the European Union. This article give a round-up of specific projects.

Transport of spent fuel after dry storage
12 August, 2014
It now appears that spent fuel may be stored in interim dry stores for longer than was expected. The safety analysis requires knowledge of the characteristics and behaviour of materials under these storage conditions. Despite much R&D, questions about material properties remain open. Two key issues are residual water after drying and subsequent radiolytic generation, and the possibility of cladding embrittlement caused by thermal transients during the cask drying process and its impact on the cooling of stored fuel. By Maurice Dallongeville, Hervé Issard, Elisa Leoni and Aravinda Zeachandirin

The CSC is coming
16 July, 2014
Although international nuclear liability has been an incomplete patchwork of conventions and treaties, there is now hope for much greater cohesion, thanks to Japan’s announcement that it is planning to ratify the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage 1997. By Mark Richards

EDF Energy publishes AGR graphite loss levels
11 July, 2014
The operator of the UK’s 14 advanced gas-cooled reactors has released information about the ageing of the graphite blocks in the reactor core, which roughly corresponds to about a 10% loss of weight over the fleet.

Researchers tell reactor type from flavour of spent fuel
17 June, 2014
Researchers have demonstrated a way to determine the type of reactor that a sample of spent fuel comes from. Based on isotopic and elemental measurements of a sample, the researchers used pattern recognition and machine learning techniques to consider all material parameters (including impurities and isotopes) simultaneously.

China’s nuclear growth
12 June, 2014
Over the next two years, many more new reactors are expected to start up in China, doubling nuclear capacity from today’s levels. Although its nuclear new-build programme remains vastly larger than anywhere else in the world, nuclear capacity growth is expected to diminish in the 2020s. By Ian Hore-Lacy and Stephen Tarlton