MPs Demand UKs Nuclear Investment to Help Allies Drop Russian Exports

UK industry is uniquely placed to help allies replace use of Russian nuclear fuel The Government must back urgent investment in UK nuclear capability to cut Russian civil nuclear leverage over our allies, according to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Nuclear Energy paper, “Resisting Russia’s Energy War: UK Nuclear Investment for Allied Energy Security”. Nuclear …

IAEA breaks ground on new laboratory block

The groundbreaking ceremony at Seibersdorf (Image Dean Calma / IAEA) The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has held a groundbreaking ceremony at its Seibersdorf facility near Vienna to mark the start of construction on a new nuclear applications laboratories building. The new building will house three laboratories: Plant Breeding and Genetics (PBGL), Terrestrial Environment and …

Ansaldo, Westinghouse Partner on Nuclear Plant Based on Lead-Cooled Fast Reactor Design

Westinghouse and Ansaldo Energia’s Switzerland-based nuclear arm, Ansaldo Nucleare, will cooperate in developing a nuclear power plant based on lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) technology. The two companies, which have separately spearheaded the development of fast-reactor designs, said they will advance a common design “to maximize synergies, combine experience in design, testing and licensing, and align respective partner and …

Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy to develop safer nuclear reactor

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ next-generation nuclear power reactor could be in operation by the mid-2030s. (Illustration courtesy of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) Company partnering with Kansai Electric and three other energy companies Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will work with four local power utilities, including Kansai Electric power, to develop a nuclear reactor with enhanced safety features. As the Japanese government considers …

Romania’s Nuclearelectrica launches joint venture for small modular nuclear reactors

Nuclearelectrica and Nova Power and Gas launched RoPower Nuclear, a project firm for the development of small modular reactors in Romania on the site of a former coal plant. They plan to use NuScale’s technology to build a 462 MW nuclear power plant, with a possibility to add 80 MW in capacity from renewable energy …

‘Huge demand for SMRs’ – so what are the key challenges?

The interest in small modular reactors (SMRs) means that building the industrial capacity to produce the numbers required is just one of the challenges for companies as they turn their visions into reality, World Nuclear Symposium heard. Both Jon Ball, executive vice president market development for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, and Rick Springman, senior vice president of …

Oklo Relaunches NRC Licensing Process for Nuclear Microreactor

A rendering of the Aurora powerhouse, a 1.5-MW fission power system being developed by Oklo Inc. Source: Oklo Inc. Oklo, the developer of the much-watched 1.5-MW Aurora microreactor, has submitted a recharged licensing project plan (LPP) with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), launching a renewed effort that could help the advanced nuclear reactor developer set …

IAEA assesses Romania’s SMR site selection process

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has conducted its first ever Site and External Events Design (SEED) mission to look into site selection for a small modular reactor (SMR). The three-day mission to Romania was conducted last month at the request of Nuclearelectrica. Nuclearelectrica and NuScale are cooperating with the US Trade and Development Agency …

Coal plant sites could host 265 GW of advanced nuclear, costing 35% less than greenfield projects: DOE

About 80% of operating and recently retired coal-fired power plant sites could host an advanced nuclear power reactor, with nearly 265 GW in total potential nuclear capacity, according to a Department of Energy report released Tuesday. Using transmission, switchyard facilities and other infrastructure at the coal plant sites could reduce the overnight cost of capital of a nuclear facility by …

Power conversion breakthrough could increase plant efficiency

Sandia National Laboratories mechanical engineers Logan Rapp (left) and Darryn Fleming pictured with the control system for the supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle test loop (Image: Bret Latter) Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratory have successfully tested a new power system based on a closed-loop Brayton cycle to deliver electricity to …