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Preparations for COP29 underway
The 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP29) will convene in November 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event will be led by Azerbaijan Ecology Minister Mukhtar Babayev.
Installation of Brest lead-cooled fast reactor shell nears completion
The reactor shell of Russia’s Brest-OD-300 lead-cooled fast reactor in Seversk is nearing completion according to general contractor Titan-2. The Brest-OD-300 is under construction at the Siberian Chemical Plant (SCC part of Rosatom fuel company TVEL) as part of the pilot demonstration power complex (ODEK – Opitno Demonstratsionovo Energo-Kompleksa), which is part of the Breakthrough (Proryv) project intended to demonstrate closed fuel cycle technology.
AMG establishes new company to support mox production
Netherlands-based AMG Critical Materials has established a new company, NewMOX SAS in Grenoble, France, to service the nuclear fuel market. NewMOX is a subsidiary of ALD Vacuum Technologies based in Hanau, Germany. ALD is AMG’s engineering subsidiary focused on vacuum furnace technology, which includes sintering furnace systems enabling the production of commercial nuclear fuel from plutonium and depleted uranium mixed oxides (mox). ALD’s MOX technology has been applied in Germany, the USA, France, Belgium, the UK and recently ALD has been delivering furnace systems to China. ALD inherited the mox technology from Degussa AG, ALD’s former owner (later renamed Evonik AG).
Zaporizhia NPP attacked by drones
Rosatom, Zaporizhia NPP, Russian media and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have all reported drone strikes against the Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP). Drone strikes hit the ZNPP site on 7 April “in a serious incident that endangered nuclear safety and security, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. For the first time since November 2022, the plant was directly targeted in military action that also represents a clear violation of the five basic principles for protecting the facility established by Grossi at the United Nations Security Council in May 2023, IAEA noted.
Work begins on foundation of Leningrad 7 cooling tower
Work has begun on the foundation of the evaporative cooling tower for unit 7 at the Leningrad NPP. As part of the project, 919 piles with a diameter of 0.6 metres and a length of 35 metres will be used to lay the foundation for the cooling tower. Construction of the tower will require more than 13,000 cubic metres of concrete. At a final height of 179 metres, it will become one of the highest structures in the Leningrad region.
Korean support for Warsaw University’s nuclear training centre
The University of Warsaw (UW) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with South Korea’s Kepco International Nuclear Graduate School (KINGS), Pusan National University (PNU) and Korea Nuclear Association for International Cooperation (KNA). The agreement will support the establishment of a European training centre for nuclear energy at the UW’s Faculty of Physics.
Another record for South Korea’s KSTAR
The Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) at the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE) in Daejeon has broken its previous plasma operation record during its first plasma campaign after upgrading its divertors, (plasma facing components) to tungsten monoblocks. KFE said it had sustained the plasma with ion temperatures of 100m degrees Celsius for 48 seconds during the KSTAR plasma campaign run from December 2023 to February 2024. Additionally, it achieved the high confinement mode (H-mode) for over 100 seconds.
US DOE launches training centre in Poland
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has launched a a regional Clean Energy Training Centre in Warsaw, Poland to serve Poland and the broader Central European region as a training hub for countries considering new or expanded nuclear reactor deployment. It builds on previous international agreements to expand global nuclear energy capacity and combat the climate crisis.
Rosatom lists results of science and technology development programme
Rosatom has listed the result for 2023 of the state programme: “Development of Engineering, Technologies & Scientific Research (RTTN Razvitii Tekhniki Tekhnologii I Nauchnikh Issledovanii) in the field of the use of atomic energy in the Russian Federation”.
New Director General appointed at Zaporizhia NPP federal enterprise
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has signed a decree appointing Vladislav Isaev as General Director of the Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP) Federal State Unitary Enterprise (FSUE). He will hold the position for two years. The relevant document is published on the website of the official publication of legal acts.