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IAEA reviews Poland’s nuclear power infrastructure
Poland is making progress towards adding nuclear power to its energy mix, including in developing the necessary infrastructure for a safe and sustainable nuclear power programme, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) review mission.
Vogtle 4 begins commercial operation
US-based Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Co, has announced that unit 4 at the Vogtle nuclear expansion project near Waynesboro, Georgia, has begun commercial operation. Unit 4 was connected to the grid in March following initial criticality, which was achieved in mid-February.
Argentina begins design of radioisotope production plant
Argentina’s National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA – Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica) and private technology company INVAP (from INVestigación APlicada – applied research) have held the first workshop focused on the design of a fission radioisotope production plant (PPRF). It is a support facility for the new RA-10 multipurpose reactor at the Ezeiza Atomic Centre.
Romanian experts visit Doosan Enerbility to investigate SMR production capabilities
Romanian nuclear utility Societatea Națională Nuclearelectrica (SNN) visited South Korea’s Doosan Enerbility plant in Changwon, as part of the delegation led by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. The purpose of the visit was to assess Doosan’s advanced SMR production capabilities with a view to developing bilateral cooperation and technological exchange. During this visit, tours of forging and nuclear workshops took place, and vital installations for small modular reactor (SMR) production were reviewed.
Westinghouse pays working visit to Khmelnitsky
Patrick Fragman, President & CEO of Westinghouse Electric Company, accompanied by Petro Kotin, head of Ukrainian nuclear utility Energoatom, paid a working visit to Khmelnitsky NPP. They conducted an inspection of stored fresh Westinghouse fuel, which was delivered to Khmelnitsky for the first time. Khmelnitsky was the last of Ukraine’s NPPs to switch to Westinghouse fuel.
Power outage halts ocean discharge of treated water from Fukushima
The fifth discharge of treated water from Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi NPP was suspended for several hours following a power outage, local media has reported. The outage occurred after as a power cable at the plant was damaged during excavation work, Kyodo reported, citing plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco). The system to cool reactors and used fuel pools was not affected by the power cutoff and continued to operate, Tepco said.
Iran to build more NPPs and co-operate with oil industry
The head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, has reiterated plans to increase the number of NPPs in order to achieve a total capacity of 20,000 MWe. During a visit of the Bushehr NPP in southern Iran, he said the project “seeks to align Iran with global standards in nuclear power production”.
China to revise its atomic energy law to accelerate nuclear power development
The draft of China’s amended atomic energy law will clarify the regulatory system for nuclear power and promote research and development and the competitiveness of China’s domestic industry, according to the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA). The draft law was submitted to the Ninth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress for consideration.
X-energy awarded federal tax credit for TRISO fuel facility
US-based X Energy has been awarded $148.5m in tax credit for the construction by its wholly-owned subsidiary, TRISO-X, of a first-of-a-kind advanced nuclear fuel fabrication facility (TX-1) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The award is funded by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and is part of the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Tax Credit programme jointly administered by the US Department of Energy (DOE), Department of the Treasury, and Internal Revenue Service.
UK and Japan strengthen collaboration on HTGR fuel
The UK National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) have signed a memorandum of collaboration (MOC) on coated particle fuel for use in high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs).