Rosatom and a subsidiary of Kaz Minerals have signed for power supply to the new Baimskaya copper mining project in the Chukotka region of eastern Siberia. Rosatom proposes to use three floating nuclear power plants each employing a pair of the new 55 MWe RITM-200M reactors, a version of which is in service powering icebreakers. A fourth …
Construction officially started today of the ACP100 small modular reactor demonstration project at the Changjiang nuclear power plant on China’s island province of Hainan. China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said the project will be the world’s first land-based commercial SMR. The multi-purpose 125 MWe pressurised water reactor (PWR) – also referred to as the Linglong …
The world’s first cosmic-ray muon detector developed specifically for use in industry-standard boreholes, has been deployed at Orano’s McClean Lake site in northern Saskatchewan where it will be used to image a uranium deposit. The technology developed by Canadian start-up company Ideon Technologies could transform mineral exploration. Muon tomography uses muons – naturally occurring subatomic …
At the beginning of the new millennium, amid growing awareness of the link between energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, the notion of a ‘nuclear renaissance’ became popular. Scientists and policy makers identified low carbon nuclear power as a potential protagonist in the transition to clean energy. However, the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi …
The Bugey power plant is the oldest in France still operating at full capacity. After 40 years, the nuclear power station, located to the east of Lyon, still provides 2,000 jobs and accounts for 7 percent of national nuclear production. In 15 years, two of its four reactors could be shut down but in the …
Uranium mining hopefuls are fond of tables showing how many reactors are operating around the world and — even more exciting — how many are in construction, being planned or being thought about. The picture from the 2020 annual report of the Paris-based Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) reveals a situation where, yes, there are more …
Some of what you’ve heard about nuclear waste is true. It really can take thousands of years to decay, and even the briefest exposure to the most dangerous kind can be lethal. But in my ten years working with and researching nuclear waste, I’ve also encountered a lot of nonsense. It’s simply not as bad as …
Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Energy has published a detailed ‘Concept Note’ outlining its strategy on electrical generation to the year 2030. The document anticipates a sharp reduction in the country’s reliance on gas-fired power generation from the current 83% to 50%, and sets goals for new nuclear, solar and wind power production of 15%, 8% and …
In 2010, Great Britain generated 75% of its electricity from coal and natural gas. But by the end of the decade*, these fossil fuels accounted for just 40%, with coal generation collapsing from the decade’s peak of 41% in 2012 to under 2% in 2019. The near disappearance of coal power – the second most …
The UK obtained 19% of its primary energy from low-carbon sources last year, with 39% of this from nuclear power, but this was 7% lower than in 2017 due to outages at Dungeness B and Hunterston B towards the end of 2018, official statistics published today show. Nuclear capacity was broadly the same as in …