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Hanford Site launches second melter
Workers at the US Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment & Immobilisation Plant (WTP) have launched the second of two 300-tonne melters that has now reached the operating temperature of 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit as part of US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste programme. EM said this represents significant progress toward starting plant operations to immobilise in glass millions of gallons of radioactive and chemical waste from large underground tanks.
Proxima raises more funding for its fusion programme
Munich-based start-up Proxima Fusion has raised €20m ($21.7m) in seed funding to accelerate its plans to build the first generation of fusion power plants based on quasi-isodynamic (QI) stellarators with high-temperature superconductors.
China gives details of its nuclear space engine project
Design and R&D of a megawatt lithium-cooled space nuclear reactor was the subject of a recent detailed article in the scientific journal SCIENTIA SINICA Technologica (v.54, Issue 3, pp. 365-376) co-sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Electrical work paves way for reactor assembly at Rooppur 1
Specialists of Russia’s ESCM have completed the full range of electrical work on the reloading machine at unit 1 of the Rooppur NPP under construction in Bangladesh. This ensures that the main equipment is ready for commissioning and paves the way for reactor assembly. More than 200 ESCM employees were involved in the work. Currently, the total number of ESCM specialists at the site exceeds 2,500. ESCM opened a branch in Bangladesh in 2018.
ČEZ extends tender deadline for new nuclear units
Czech power company ČEZ Group says its Elektrárna Dukovany II subsidiary has extended the deadline for submitting updated bids to construct unit 5 at the Dukovany NPP with binding options three more units – Dukovany 6 and two at the Temelin NPP. The extension was requested by Électricité de France (EDF), one of the bidders, the other being Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP). Ministry of Industry & Trade recommended that this request be granted. The deadline for submitting updated bids has been extended from 15 to 30 April.
New jackal species discovered in Chornobyl exclusion zone
The Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve reports on its Facebook page that a new species of large predatory mammals – a jackal – has been spotted on the territory of the Chornobyl reserve (in the vicinity of Lubyanka). “It is an animal from the canine family, a representative of the wolf genus. It is similar to a wolf, but the head is not so lobed, the muzzle is narrower, more pointed, and smaller in size.”
SMRs: A catalyst for nuclear change
There is no technology development more important to the future of the nuclear industry than widescale deployment of SMRs. Long promised, these designs do not represent a fad, they are completely integral to the future of nuclear energy and complementary to larger designs.
The complexities of irradiated graphite
Since the world’s first reactor, graphite has been used as a moderator in multiple nuclear plant designs so that today the world has accumulated a quarter of a million tonnes of irradiated graphite. It’s a major waste management challenge.
Newcleo teams up with CEA on reactor development
UK-based nuclear start-up newcleo has signed a partnership agreement with the French Alternative Energies & Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) on development of newcleo’s lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR).
Support grows for South Africa’s HTMR-100 SMR
South Africa’s Koya Capital has signed a partnership agreement with Stratek Global to assist in securing finance for construction of a high temperature modular reactor. The ZAR9bn ($480m) HTMR-100 is based on South Africa’s Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR).