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The milestone was announced by plant owner Constellation today as the unit was taken offline for refuelling. Brew Barron, the company’s executive vice-president described the achievement at “phenomenal”, while site vice president Jim Spina said it would not have been possible without “employees’ unwavering commitment to safety, human performance and equipment reliability.”

Calvert Cliffs 2 generated some 32 billion kWh during its 693-day run, which works out as a 99.3% capacity factor according to Constellation. The previous record holder was Exelon’s Three Mile Island 1 with a run of 689 days.

World Nuclear News understand the world record for continuous operation of any light water reactor resides with Exelon’s boiling water unit LaSalle 2. In February 2007 that reactor shut down after a run of 739 days, shortly after its sister unit number 1 completed a 711-day uninterrupted generation run.

US nuclear power reactors achieved an average capacity factor of 91.8% in 2007, up from 66% in 1990 and 56.3% in 1980.

Source: World Nuclear News

The CNSC has determined in this preliminary stage of their review that the ACR-1000 is a robust reactor design, says AECL President and CEO Hugh MacDiarmid. We welcome this news as business activity to build new nuclear reactor plants continues to surge around the world, including interest in the CANDU(R) design.

The objective of a Pre-Project Design review is to verify, at a high level, the acceptability of a nuclear reactor design with respect to Canadian safety requirements and criteria. This includes the identification of fundamental barriers to licensing a new reactor design in Canada. The CNSC Phase 1 Pre-Project Design Review of the ACR-1000 concluded that:

• AECL has provided sufficient design and analysis information for the purpose of this review;
• At an overall level, the design intent is compliant with the CNSC regulatory requirements, and meets the expectations for new nuclear power plants in Canada; and,
• CNSC staff did not find any issues that would lead to significant reactor design changes.

We are confident in the merits of the ACR-1000 as it’s built on the fundamentals of our CANDU reactor design, including the CANDU 6, which has been built on-time and on-budget on four continents in the last 12 years,” says MacDiarmid. “We want to build the first ACR-1000 on Canadian soil, so the Canadian regulator’s review process is extremely important to us.”

Phase 2 of the Pre-Project Design Review will identify any potential fundamental barriers to licensing the design in Canada, and is scheduled for completion in August 2009.

About the ACR-1000

The ACR-1000 is Atomic Energy of Canada’s evolutionary, Gen III+((*)), 1200 MWe-class pressure tube reactor. It is a light water cooled, heavy water moderated pressure tube reactor derived from the well-established CANDU line. The ACR-1000 retains the basic, well-proven, features of the CANDU plant design such as a modular, horizontal fuel channel core, a low-temperature heavy-water moderator, water-filled vault, two independent diverse shutdown systems, on-power fuelling, simple fuel design and reactor building accessibility for on-power maintenance. ((*)) Gen III+ is the classification given to nuclear technologies by the US Department of Energy, applying to reactor designs that feature enhanced safety, economics and operability.

The ACR-1000 is one of the technologies considered to be a Generation III+ design.

About AECL Atomic Energy of Canada Limited is a full-service nuclear technology company providing services to nuclear utilities around the world. Established in 1952, AECL is the designer and builder of CANDU technology, including the CANDU 6, one of the world’s top performing reactors. AECL’s 5,000 employees deliver cutting edge nuclear services, R&D support, design and engineering, construction management, specialized technology, refurbishment, waste management and decommissioning in support of CANDU reactor products. For further information: Dale Coffin, Director, Corporate Communications, AECL, (905) 403-7457

Source: Newswire.ca

The Treasury Board of Canada reported Thursday that Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. is paying $100 million to cover the cost associated with delays at two nuclear refurbishment projects. The federal Crown corporation is also running late on the refurbishment of a Candu reactor at the Bruce complex near Lake Huron in Ontario, and now Ottawa is budgeting extra money in its latest batch of supplementary estimates.

It’s not clear how much of the $100 million is to cover the Point Lepreau delays and how much is for the Ontario project. David Hay, the president and chief executive officer of NB Power, has estimated that a four-month delay at Point Lepreau could cost the utility upward of $90 million. AECL is required to pay penalties to NB Power for any delays at Point Lepreau, which was a key part of the refurbishment agreement in 2005. Hay said the penalties protect New Brunswickers from higher delay costs. “My view was I negotiated it on behalf of New Brunswick taxpayers,” Hay told reporters on Friday. “And do they have some element towards federal responsibility? Of course. When we hired AECL, everybody knew that. But we’re getting a pretty good share of it.” This is the first Candu-6 reactor refurbishment project, which is expected to extend the life of Atlantic Canada’s only nuclear power plant by 25 to 30 years. AECL is hoping to market these refurbishment projects to other Candu-6 reactor facilities around the world. The Point Lepreau project was supposed to be finished at the end of September, but now it may take until Christmas or later. Norman Rubin of the Toronto-based environmental group Energy Probe said it’s unacceptable to not know how that money will be divided up when taxpayers are footing the bill. “The sad thing here is that you and I and all of your listeners have signed on … to cover AECL’s penalties and overruns, but we’re not allowed to look at the contract that triggers those penalties and costs for overruns,” Rubin said. Rubin said if this happened in a private company, heads would roll.

Source: CBC

Gentilly 2 is a 675 MWe gross (638 MWe net) Candu pressurized heavy-water reactor (PHWR) built by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) between 1974 and 1982. The unit was commissioned in October 1983. Candu reactors require refurbishment and replacement of core components after about 25-30 years of operation. The process normally extends the unit’s life by about the same amount.

Hydro Quebec decided in August 2008 to refurbish Gentilly 2 as an alternative to closing it in about 2011. The C$1.9 billion ($1.5 billion) investment includes construction of a radioactive waste management facility. Refurbishment of the reactor is expected to extend the operating life of Gentilly 2 unit to around 2040.

The engineering and procurement phase of the unit’s refurbishment is already under way, with the construction work scheduled to start in 2011. The reactor is expected to return to commercial service in 2012 with an increased power generating capacity, although no figure has been specified.

Trevor Bailey, general manager of GE Energy’s steam product line, commented: “Hydro-Quebec’s investment in the refurbishment of the Gentilly 2 nuclear generating station shows the critical value of the plant as part of the future of power generation in Quebec and Canada.”

The reactor currently accounts for some 3% of Quebec’s energy output, with most of the remainder coming from hydroelectric plants.

The Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in New Brunswick – considered Gentilly-2’s twin as both use Candu-6 reactors – is currently being refurbished at a cost of C$1.4 billion ($1.1 billion) to add another 25 years of operating life.

Another reactor at the Gentilly site, Gentilly 1, was a 250 MWe prototype boiling water reactor also built by AECL. The reactor entered commercial operation in May 1972 and was shut down in June 1977.
Source: World Nuclear News

The contract includes modernizing the simulation computers, updating plant models to reflect the plant safety system changes, upgrading the simulation tool set and providing a new hardware interface system. GSE said that the upgrade will be complete in approximately eighteen months.

In early 2006, GSE was awarded a contract by Rosenergoatom and Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant (LNPP) for a major upgrade to the Leningrad 1 full scope simulator. The scope of supply included implementing numerous panel hardware and system software modifications to reflect design changes in the actual plant. In addition, GSE was to upgrade the current simulator computers and modelling technology.

This latest contact was one of a clutch that GSE has recently won in Europe worth over $7 million in total. In addition, GSE is eyeing India as a possible new market to enter, following the opening of India to civilian nuclear trade with the USA. The company participated in the recent five-day US trade mission to India organised by the US-India Business Council (USIBC) in partnership with the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and US Department of Commerce (DoC).
Source: World Nuclear News

Source: World Nuclear News

Ronan, founded in 1959, is an international manufacturer of instrumentation used in the power generation, oil and gas, steel, mining and food processing industries. For decades, Ronan has supplied instrumentation including Annunciators and Sequence of Events Monitors to nuclear power plants in North America and internationally.

Versatile Measuring Instruments Inc. (versatilemeasuring.com), a nuclear instrumentation division of the Amidyne Group, has manufactured electronic instrumentation and panel meters for the nuclear power industry since 1964. Versatile has been recently qualified to CSA CAN Z299.2, CSA N286.1 and N286.2 to design, manufacture, procure and perform Commercial Grade Dedication on components and systems used in CANDU reactors.

“The distribution arrangement between Ronan and Versatile capitalizes on the synergies offered by both companies and will result in better service to our customers and a significant opportunity for growth for both companies as we look to work together to provide broader, systems-based solutions for the CANDU market.” says Charles Johnson, president of the Amidyne Group.

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South Korea has a number of pressurized water reactors (PWR) plants (of the OPR1000 and APR1400 designs) supplied by Combustion Engineering and is currently constructing six further units, including the Shin Kori 3 and 4 APR1400 reactors. Shin Kori 4 is expected to be the first unit to utilize CEAs manufactured by the joint venture. Joe Belechak, senior vice president of Westinghouse’s nuclear fuel division, said that the joint venture will enhance Westinghouse’s presence in South Korea and will continue to foster the relationship between Westinghouse and KNF. He commented: “As the construction of OPR1000 and APR1400 nuclear power plants continues to grow in the Republic of Korea, this joint venture will enable our valued customer, KNF, to further improve the efficiency of their manufacturing operations.” Ik Hwan Lee, president and CEO of KNF, said that the collaboration between Westinghouse and KNF will be reinforced in supplying CEAs to utilities in the USA and South Korea. KNF is over 96% owned by Korea Electric Power Corp (Kepco). It is the supplier for pressurized water reactors (PWR) fuels and Candu fuels in Korea. KNF performs the initial core design and reload core design, including the safety analysis, and has also been developing an advanced fuel called X-Gen. South Korea employs 20 nuclear reactors to generate 40% of its electricity. All the nuclear fuel for Korea’s power reactors is manufactured by KNF.

Source: World Nuclear News

The Nuclear N-Former — your source for the latest nuclear power developments

The new objective is for nuclear power plants to reach a capacity of 70 gigawatts in 11 years, the China Daily reported, enough to power 70 cities the size of San Francisco.

The objective, if approved by the State Council or Cabinet, will be up from a previously announced target of 40 gigawatts for 2020.

China currently has a combined capacity of nine gigawatts at 11 nuclear reactors.

The China Daily quoted the state-controlled newspaper 21st Century Business Herald, which in turn had its information from the National Energy Administration.

“We have the ability to raise our nuclear power capacity to at least 60 gigawatts,” said Fu Manchang, secretary general of the Chinese Nuclear Society, a group of mainly scientists. “Seventy gigawatts is not unthinkable.”

However, it will be necessary if China is to meet its objective of raising the share of nuclear power in the overall energy mix to five percent from slightly more than one percent presently, the paper said.

China is banking on nuclear power as a cleaner alternative to coal, which currently covers about two thirds of its energy demand.

It has also emerged as an attractive alternative to oil, especially after global crude prices reached record highs last year.

China’s plans have given new hope to the global nuclear industry, represented by firms such as Areva of France and US-based Westinghouse, while offering a market for uranium suppliers such as Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton.

Source: AFP

The Nuclear N-Former — your source for the latest nuclear power developments

‘The climate issue is now in focus, and nuclear power will thus remain an important part of Swedish electricity production for the foreseeable future’, said the policy document released today. This was part of what the government called a ‘long-term, sustainable energy and climate policy’ with the vision of an efficient and sustainable Sweden by 2050 with no net emissions of greenhouse gases.

A piece of legislation in 1980 set 2010 as the shutdown date for all the country’s nuclear power plants, but this was put aside by Christian Democrat policy in March 2007. The coalition government, which also includes Conservatives, and Liberals then settled on a line that no new reactors could be planned during their first term. That principle too was thrown out today.

The act which banned construction of new nuclear reactors has been officially abolished and ‘Permission must be given to gradually replace the existing reactors as they reach the end of their economic life.’ However, ‘state aid for nuclear power, in the form of direct or indirect subsidies, cannot be expected.’

Sweden has a strong nuclear sector which responded to the ban on new reactors by upgrading most of the existing ones. When fully completed, the resulting boost in national nuclear capacity boost will reach over 1150 MWe – about the same as a new reactor could have provided. This figure compares to the 1200 MWe in nuclear generation lost by the early closure of the two Barsebäck reactors in 2004 and 2005, which was forced by Social Democrats.

OKG, which owns the Ringhals power plant and is part of the EOn group, said today it was ready for the challenge of new nuclear should its owners choose to pursue it. The company noted that Ringhals has space for three new reactors and the government’s move gives far greater certainty for the long-term future of the plant. OKG’s main priority, it said, would remain the maintenance of their current three-unit nuclear fleet so that each can operate for 60 years.

The current electricity sector in Sweden is dominated by two forms of generation – hydro power at up to 50% and nuclear power at 45%. Expansion of both these low carbon forms was limited by legislation that protected undeveloped rivers and prohibited new reactors. Under the new policy restrictions on nationally protected rivers will stay, but new reactors will be allowed and a third ‘significant’ sector will be developed from ‘cogeneration, wind and other renewable power’.

Wind power will be supported by a simplification in planning processes and follow European directives by allowing ‘other countries to finance investment in renewable electricity production.’

Source: World Nuclear News

The Nuclear N-Former — your source for all the latest nuclear power developements

Putin told Löscher: “Russia is ready to pass from one-time projects to large-scale partnership as practice has shown that our cooperation with your company is quite effective.”

The discussions follow Siemens’ announcement last week that it wishes to leave its nuclear plant construction partnership with Areva. The Areva group will buy back Siemen’s 34% stake in Areva NP before the end of January 2012.

A tie-in between Siemens and Russian firms such as AtomStroyExport, AtomEnergoProm or AtomEnergoMash now looks likely. Siemens could supply process, instrumentation and control systems for the reactors Russia plans to export or build at home. It could even gain a re-involvement in reactor technology, which it packaged into Areva NP. Russian nuclear technology could gain a valuable image boost, while a joint venture would allow Russia some interest in Western markets.

Siemens has already cooperated with AtomStroyExport to build the two pressurized water reactors at Tianwan in China, supplying the control systems. It will also partner with Areva to supply electronic equipment for two new Russian reactors at Belene in Bulgaria.

Source: World Nuclear News

Areva said the memorandum also specified that it would provide uranium fuel for all the reactors throughout their operating lives of at least 60 years. This puts the potential Jaitapur project among the very largest in Areva’s history.

Today’s deal covers work towards a minimum of two reactors and remains far removed from an actual contract to build. It is expected that the units would be built in three phases of two units each at the site, which is in the state of Maharastra on India’s west coast, about 250 kilometres south of Mumbai.

This document was signed by S K Jain, chair and managing director of NPCIL, and Anne Lauvergeon, CEO of Areva. It came during an official French nuclear industry visit to India, which itself follows the September 2008 signing of the civil nuclear cooperation agreement between the countries that made commercial contracts possible. Other leading nuclear nations such as Canada, Kazakhstan, Russia, the UK and USA have sent trade missions and Indian firms are expected to make many further large orders. The spending spree is expected to widen when Indian legislators change rules that insist on state control of nuclear projects.

Source: World Nuclear News

The Nuclear N-Former — your source for the latest nuclear power developments.

The Conservative government has quietly committed another $135 million to the development of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.’s next-generation nuclear reactor.

The Canadian Press has learned that the latest proposed funding for the Advanced Candu Reactor, or ACR 1000, is part of the $351 million budgeted for AECL in last week’s federal budget.

The 2009-10 stipend is the biggest federal subsidy to the Crown corporation since the late 1980s, and the Conservative government won’t provide an itemized breakdown of what the money is for.
A spokeswoman for Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt says there is no final determination on how the AECL funding will be apportioned.

But according to a preliminary list obtained by The Canadian Press, the cash includes $72 million to decommission two medical isotope reactors at Chalk River, Ont. Those reactors, called the Maples, were scrapped last year because of design flaws after going hundreds of millions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule.

There is also $144 million in the AECL funding “to maintain safe and reliable operations” at the Chalk River laboratories.

Federal funding for development of the ACR 1000 is politically and commercially sensitive. The reactor is currently in the running as an option for Ontario’s nuclear generation expansion and most experts believe a successful bid by AECL is critical to the future of the Crown corporation.

Source: Brandon Sun

Precision Nuclear Inc. of Mactaquac appears to be on its last legs.

The company, which manufactures parts for CANDU nuclear reactors, passed out pink slips to 75 employees Friday.

A dozen people have been kept on to put the finishing touches on a contract for Point Lepreau, while another 10 are still working at Precision Metal Works, the company’s sister facility.

Pam Allen, vice-president of sales for Precision Nuclear Inc., said the company had no choice but to lay off employees after Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) cancelled a contract the company was working on to deliver parts for a nuclear plant in Wolsong, South Korea.

“We are hopeful that AECL will reverse its decision to allow us to keep the Wolsong contract,” Allen said.

She said she didn’t know how long Precision Nuclear, once described as one of the fastest growing companies in Atlantic Canada, could remain open.

“I’m not sure. At this point, I am not exactly sure,” Allen said.

Last fall, AECL had asked the courts to appoint a receiver when it became apparent Precision Nuclear was struggling financially.

But it withdrew that request after a compromise was reached to name a monitor to oversee the company’s operations until June 30, or until the Lepreau and South Korean contracts were complete.

Robin Forbes, manager external in communications for AECL, said Precision Nuclear has completed the Lepreau contract.

“We made a business decision based on the commercial realties,” Forbes said when asked why the plug was pulled on the Mactaquac firm.

Forbes said AECL would work with an appointed receiver and move forward from there.

A Business New Brunswick spokesman said the province has a $1.5-million forgivable loan outstanding with the company as well as a $250,000 capital lease arrangement.

“At this point, we really have to look at what options are available to Business New Brunswick and let the judicial process play itself out,” said Ryan Donaghy.

“It’s early on in the process but we’ll need to let that play out to see what part, if any, of the loan guarantees will need to be paid out.”

Donaghy acknowledged that the government could be on the hook for the entire amount.

“This is really a matter between AECL and Precision Nuclear,” Donaghy said. “The company is basically laying off its employees because it no longer has the contract.”

Donaghy said it was unfortunate so many people lost their jobs.

Joe Dunn, an eight-year employee with the company, was one of the people who lost his job.

He said work was progressing well on the South Korean contract.

“We were working on Wolsong right up until Friday,” Dunn said. “As soon as we got the Lepreau contract (finished), the last one in the box, they pulled the plug on it.”

Dunn said it didn’t make sense because AECL was supplying the raw material and had just made a delivery.

“On Friday, they told us that AECL had pulled the contract and they could no longer afford to keep the place open,” Dunn said.

Despite everything, the Springfield resident said he’s hopeful.

“As far as I am concerned, he (owner Dave Rioux) is the best employer I have ever had.”

Another ex-employee, however, was not quite so complimentary.

The man, who didn’t want to be identified, blamed the closure on mismanagement. He said there should have been a lot more checks and balances put in place regarding the overseeing of government money.

“For me, I would really like to ask the government for a public inquiry,” he said.

Source: Daily Gleaner

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