- Korea Hydro Signs on to Build Global Fleet of ARC-100 SMRs
- Best and Final Bids from KHNP and EDF are in for Dukovany and Temelin
- Anti-Nuclear Groups Thwarted in Court Challenge Over Diablo Canyon
- DOE Loan Chief Jigar Shah Calls for Reopening Closed Nuclear Plants
- Danish Firm to Assess Use of Floating Nuclear Plant for Thailand
- Rolls-Royce Cuts Plans for New UK SMR Factory
Korea Hydro Signs on to Build Global Fleet of ARC-100 SMRs
- Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co, ARC Clean Technology, and NB Power sign Collaboration Agreement to advance SMR fleet deployment
It has the goal of establishing teaming agreements for global SMR fleet deployment. The Collaboration Agreement was signed at the Reuters SMR and Advanced Reactor 2024 Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
South Korea has several separate efforts underway to develop SMRs using light water reactors design principles. This is the first time a South Korean firm has committed to co-develop an advanced SMR design with the objective of building a fleet of them on a global basis.
Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore have all indicated interest in SMRs as being more affordable that full size 1,000 MW+ light water reactors. In particular the megacities of Southeast Asia are hungry for carbon emission free power to support their growth.
Scope of the Agreement and Capabilities of the Partners
The three-party agreement establishes firm commitments to deliverables, processes, and timelines to advance discussions for participation and potential investment in the deployment of ARC units, starting with the commercial demonstration unit in the Province of New Brunswick. The three companies bring significant capabilities in the technical design, operation, and construction of nuclear facilities.
KHNP is the largest electric power company in Korea and one of the world’s largest nuclear operators. The company has acquired world-class capabilities in the construction and operation of nuclear power plants globally.
ARC is developing the ARC-100, a versatile Generation IV advanced sodium-cooled fast reactor suitable for on-grid and industrial applications. The first deployment of the ARC reactor is an on-grid commercial demonstration unit serving NB Power, one of Canada’s three nuclear operators, at the site of the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station. In 2023, NB Power’s license to prepare site application for the ARC-100 was the first application submitted by a nuclear operator for a Generation IV advanced reactor.
The ARC-100 is a 100 MWe sodium cooled, fast flux, pool type reactor with metallic fuel that is based on the 30 year successful operation of the EBR-II reactor in Idaho. ARC was formed to bring back and commercialize a technically mature, advanced reactor technology that was created and proven by a U.S. prototype reactor that ran successfully in the United States for 30 years which is the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) which was developed at the Argonne West field station on the Arco Desert 27 miles west of Idaho Falls, ID.
ARC has made significant proprietary advances to the original EBR-II design in order to create the ARC-100.
The ARC-100 design creates a “walk away” passive safety system that insures the reactor will never melt down even in a disaster that causes a complete loss of power to the plant site. In addition, it can be fueled with the nuclear waste produced by traditional reactors, and its 20 year refueling cycle offers new levels of proliferation resistance.
The company has a goal of deploying the first unit at the Point LePreau site by 2030.
Regulatory Status of the ARC-100
In February 2022 the ARC-100 entered Phase 2 of Vendor Design Review at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is currently engaged in pre-application activities interactions with ARC Clean Technology (ARC) for the ARC-100 Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor. The firm’s Regulatory Engagement Plan was filed with the NRC in April 2023  ML23120A001 It contains a proposed schedule for submittal of the white papers and technical and topical reports identified as of that date.
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Best and Final Bids from KHNP and EDF are in for Dukovany and Temelin
- Czech Republic / South Korea’s KHNP Submits Binding Offer For Up to Four New Nuclear Plants
- EDF Offers Four 1,200 MW EPRs
(NucNet) Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has submitted a binding offer for the construction of new nuclear units in the Czech Republic. The South Korean state company said on social media that in addition to a planned fifth unit at the Dukovany nuclear site, the offer includes binding options for three additional units –Dukovany-5 and TemelĂn-3 and TemelĂn-4. KHNP said its offer was for the APR1000 reactor technology, which has an output of 1,050 MW and has already been certified in Europe.
“The plant has been designed by KHNP specifically for export to European countries and has been localized to meet European conditions and comply with requirements based on the latest International Atomic Energy Agency and Western European Nuclear Regulators Association standards,” KHNP said in a press statement.
The firm said it said it has been developing relationships with the Czech government, universities and potential suppliers.
“Cooperation with Czech companies is a long-term priority for KHNP,” the the firm said adding, “Since 2016, KHNP has identified over 200 potential Czech suppliers and signed more than 50 memorandums of understanding as a basis for future cooperation.”
KHNP said it is the only bidder counting on a Czech company for the delivery of the turbine, which is one of the most important and largest components in a nuclear power plant.
The offer from KHNP was announced as France’s state energy company EDF submitted an updated offer for the delivery of up to four new nuclear power units in the Czech Republic. The EDF offer is for up to four EPR1200 reactors at the Dukovany site – Units 5 and 6 – and at the TemelĂn site – Units 3 and 4.
Details Of New Build Plans Remain Unclear
Exactly how many new nuclear plants the Czech government is planning to build, and at which sites, remains unclear. Also unclear is how the Czech government plans to finance the massive new build. A decade ago the government walked away from a similar new build worth$25 billion at the time .
The government had previously been looking for binding bids for a single new 1,200-MW Dukovany unit with the possibility for non-binding offers for an additional three units split between the Dukovany and TemelĂn nuclear stations. EDF and KHNP are both proposing two units at each site.
Dukovany is about 50 km west of Brno in the south of the country and TemelĂn more than 100 km south of Prague in the southwest.
Czech prime-minister Petr Fiala told journalists earlier this year that building up to four new reactor units “in one package” is economically advantageous and estimated to push the total cost down by 25%. The government set an ambitious agenda of deciding on the winner and the size of the contract by the end of 2024.
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Anti-Nuclear Groups Thwarted in Court Challenge Over Diablo Canyon Open
- US Court of Appeals Rejects Climate Groups’ Challenge to NRC’s Decision
(NucNet) A US Court of Appeals has has denied a challenge to a license renewal application extension granted by the federal government for the two-unit Diablo Canyon nuclear power station in California.
In an opinion written by US circuit judge Consuelo Callahan, the three-judge panel found that the NRC had not acted arbitrarily nor capriciously. The agency “adequately explained why California’s changing energy needs constitute a special circumstance, and why the record supported its findings of no undue risk to the public health and safety.”
The 36-page decision written by US circuit judge Consuelo Callahan, said;
“We conclude that NRC’s issuance of the NEPA categorical exclusion is supported by the record. Despite Petitioners’ arguments to the contrary, there is nothing in the language of the categorical exclusion that limits its use to certain types of exemptions. Additionally, NRC historically has approved timely renewal exemption requests using the very same NEPA categorical exclusion.”
“This is a singular case. In circumstances like these where NRC’s decision has the almost guaranteed practical effect of extending the operating timeframe of a license beyond its original expiration date, such a decision is directly reviewable in our court under our broad and liberal reading of the Hobbs Act. Additionally, we hold that at least two of the Petitioners have standing.”
“[The] NRC was not required to provide a hearing or meet other procedural requirements before issuing the Exemption Decision because the Exemption was not a licensing proceeding. NRC adequately explained why California’s changing energy needs constitute a special circumstance, and why the record supported its findings of no undue risk to the public health and safety.”
“NRC was not required to provide a hearing or meet other procedural requirements before issuing the Exemption Decision because the Exemption was not a licensing proceeding. NRC adequately explained why California’s changing energy needs constitute a special circumstance, and why the record supported its findings of no undue risk to the public health and safety.”
Three green groups – Mothers for Peace, Environmental Working Group, and Friends of the Earth – filed a motion asking for the immediate closure of Diablo Canyon based on it posing an “unacceptable safety risk.”
It remains a mind boggling mystery why so-called “green groups” continue efforts to stop the use nuclear energy to provide carbon emission free power in place of fossil fuel plants.
Diablo Canyon owner and operator Pacific Gas and Electric is planning to keep Unit 1 operational until October 2029 and Unit 2 until October 2030. It may keep it open longer depending on the outcome of a separate NRC licensing process.
California governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed legislation in 2022 that reversed a 2016 agreement between the state, PG&E and environmental groups to retire the facility. Newsom, once a leading voice to close the facility, said Diablo Canyon’s power is needed beyond 2025 to ward off possible blackouts as California moves to solar and other renewable energy sources.
Newsom’s administration has cited “unprecedented stress” on the state’s energy system as a reason for keeping open Diablo Canyon, which alone accounts for 9% of the state’s generation and 17% of its electricity from carbon-free sources.
Translation – It is a fact that voter will take their ire over blackouts on current elected officials.
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DOE Loan Chief Jigar Shah Calls for Reopening Closed Nuclear Plants
The Bloomberg Wire Service reports that a month after the US offered $1.5 billion to restart Holtec’s Palisades nuclear power plant, there’s a growing sense among officials in the industry and government that it may not be the last.
“There are a couple of nuclear power plants that we probably should, and can, turn back on,” said Jigar Shah, director of the US Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office.
“A lot of the other players that have a nuclear power plant that has recently shut down and could be turned back on are gaining that confidence to try,” said Shah in an interview with Bloomberg. He declined to name specific plants.
Shah’s exuberance has support from DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy. According to the Bloomberg report, while the federal government has not made a wholesale effort to revive shuttered plants, it sees reactors and their carbon-free power as “extremely valuable assets,” said Michael Goff, principal deputy assistant secretary for the Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy. Some closed plants clearly have the potential to be reopened, he said.
“Unless you do something irrevocable, they can be turned around,” Goff said.
The US nuclear energy industry’s trade group in Washington, DC, also weighed in.
“The environment has shifted significantly in a really short period of time,” said Doug True, chief nuclear officer for the Nuclear Energy Institute trade group. “I think there are companies that are looking at whether a restart makes sense.”
True estimates there may be only five reactors suitable for resurrection. He declined to name them.
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Danish Firm to Assess Use of Floating Nuclear Plant for Thailand
- Reactors could help Asian country’s net zero transition
(NucNet) Thai power company Global Power Synergy Public Company Limited (GPSC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Denmark’s Seaborg Technologies to explore the potential deployment of Seaborg’s compact molten salt reactor (CMSR) floating “power barge ” in Thailand. Under the MOU, GPSC and Seaborg will assess how the CMSR power barge could be used in Thailand to support the Southeast Asian country’s transition to net-zero.
On April 24, 2024 Mr. Worawat Pitayasiri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Power Synergy Public Company Limited signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mr. Klaus Nyengaard, Chief Executive Officer of Seaborg Technologies ApS, the developer of SMR technology in Denmark. The signing ceremony, presided by H.E. Mr. Jon Thorgaard, Ambassador of Denmark to Thailand and Cambodia, was organized at the Royal Danish Embassy, Sathorn, Bangkok, Thailand.
The study – expected to take about four years to complete – is intended to explore the use of electricity generated from Seaborg´s Power Barge to feed directly into the grid and to explore the potential use of the steam generated during operations. Thailand has no commercial nuclear plants,
The US said in 2022 it was planning to help the government build capacity for the deployment of advanced nuclear reactor technologies. US Vice President President Kamala Harris visited Thailand in November 2022.
At the time she said US assistance was part of its Net Zero World Initiative, a project launched at last year’s Glasgow climate summit in which the US partners with the private sector and philanthropists to promote clean energy. She did not name any potential US partners for a Thai nuclear power project. Thailand does not have a 123 Agreement with the US. The two countries will need to work together to sign off on one.
Seaborg’s design is for modular CMSR power barges equipped with between two and eight 100 MW CMSRs, with an operational life of 24 years. In a CMSR reactor, the fuel is mixed with molten fluoride salt, which also acts as a coolant. The Power Barges are modular and can produce from 200 to 800 MW of electricity.Last year Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries of South Korea announced a consortium with Seaborg to develop floating nuclear plants using Seaborg’s CMSR technology.
Floating nuclear plants are seen as a potential method of providing power to isolated regions and also for industry, mines, armed forces and disaster relief. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, they can be built in a factory, assembled in a shipyard and transported to a site, all of which may help to speed up construction and keep costs down.
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Rolls-Royce Cuts Plans for New UK SMR Factory
- The firm cites delays in the UK government’s commitments to fund SMRs
Rolls-Royce has proposed building 16 470 MW PWRs at multiple locations around the UK for a total of 7.5 GW of carbon emission free electrical generation capacity. If built, the fleet would exceed the potential power once represented by the now cancelled four 1,350 MW BWRs slated for Wylfa and Oldbury under a previous ambitious UK government plan for 19 GW of nuclear power. It sank without a trace when the government failed to address a mechanism for covering anticipated cost increases and schedule delays in the first of a kind the massive project.
The company said it has been waiting for the outcome of an ongoing SMR design competition in the UK – first announced by the Government in 2015 – before it makes a decision on the pressure vessel plant.
The competition has been repeatedly delayed, with the UK government’s Great British Nuclear ministry only formally created last summer. The ministry has a provisional award date of summer 2024. Six firms, including Rolls-Royce, are competitors for government funds.
Rolls-Royce had originally proposed one factory to make reactor pressure vessels for its SMRs and another to make the building other components for nuclear reactors. It reportedly had drawn up a final shortlist of multiple locations for the pressure vessels factory.
Rolls told wire services that it no longer intends to proceed with that plan because there is no longer time to build the factory and make the first pressure vessels for the early 2030s, when it hopes to complete its first SMRs. It will now buy its heavy pressure vessels from a third party supplier.
That supplier is most likely Sheffield Forgemasters which was nationalized by the Ministry of Defense in 2021. The firm has earned NQA-1 ASME certification to manufacture nuclear reactor components. The key question is whether Sheffield can scale up to meet demand and whether the government will fund the now nationalized plant to do so.
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