Kazatomprom to maintain uranium output cuts through 2022

Kazatomprom KZAP.KZ, KAPq.L, the world’s biggest uranium miner, will keep its output reduced by 20% through 2022, it said on Wednesday, in order to help the market recover. “The decision to keep production similar year-over-year, and extend production curtailment into 2022, is indicative of a global uranium market that is still recovering from a long period of …

What Will A Biden-Harris Administration Do For Nuclear Energy?

Probably more than the last five administrations, including the present one. That’s because nuclear energy can’t shine on the climate and low-carbon front until we actually have a climate plan we follow, something that has been lacking. As the Democratic Convention begins today, it is good to remember that all the leading climate scientists say we cannot …

Permit to construct Egypt’s Dabaa Nuclear Power Station may be issued late in 2021

Chairman of the Nuclear Plants Agency Amgad al-Wakil told Egypt Today that the Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority (ENRRA) is expected to issue the permit to construct Dabaa Nuclear Power Station in the second half of 2021. Wakil pointed out that the agency applied for the permit on March 10, 2019, and that it …

Wylfa backers ready for quick restart on nuclear power plant

Backers of the £20bn Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant on Anglesey are poised to restart work, as “detailed conversations” get underway with government. Horizon Nuclear Power chief executive Duncan Hawthorne has revealed that conversations with government about a new funding mechanism are ongoing. Enabling work at the site was suspended in January 2019 after Hitachi, …

Looking beyond Hinkley Point C

IN JUNE, EDF ENERGY ANNOUNCED it had completed the 49,000-metric-tonne concrete basemat for the second EPR reactor at Hinkley Point C in Somerset. The milestone was achieved “on schedule”, despite the coronavirus pandemic and a reduction of “more than half” in the number of workers on site since March. Completion came less than a year …

X-Energy submits its SMR for Canadian Vendor Design Review

US company X-energy announced on 11 August  that it had initiated a Vendor Design Review (VDR) for its Xe-100 small modular reactor (SMR) design with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). In preparing to site the advanced nuclear technology reactors in Canada, with partners across the Canadian supply chain, X-energy has found the ideal environment …

Investors Get Charge Out Of Small Modular Nuclear Reactors

The opportunity to provide carbon-free power to pair with renewables, combined with promises of increased safety over traditional nuclear plants, appear to be opening the door to the use of small modular reactors (SMRs) as a source of baseload power. “The world isn’t getting smaller,” said Chris Colbert, chief strategy officer for SMR designer NuScale Power. “Not …

Tianwan 5 achieves grid connection

Unit 5 of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China’s Jiangsu province has been connected to the grid for the first time. The 1080 MWe domestically-designed ACPR1000 pressurised water reactor achieved the milestone at 19:52 local time on 8 August, China National Nuclear Corporation announced today. The unit, which achieved first criticality on 27 July, …

Nuclear Energy for Non-Electric Applications Key for Climate Change Mitigation

Using nuclear energy to produce hydrogen, desalinate seawater and heat buildings can further enhance nuclear power’s contribution to climate action while also boosting its economic viability, speakers at a recent IAEA webinar said. Nuclear power accounts for around one-third of global low carbon electricity production. But in addition to powering millions of homes and businesses, …