Saudi Arabia is considering accepting a Chinese bid to construct a nuclear power plant for the kingdom. The U.S. has also been interested in building a Saudi nuclear plant. State-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has bid to construct a nuclear power plant in Saudi Arabia’s Easter Province, near the border with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The press reported the bid, citing Saudi officials familiar with the matter.
     China’s foreign ministry did not confirm the report. A ministry spokesperson told a news briefing that “China will continue to conduct mutually beneficial cooperation with Saudi Arabia in various fields, including civil nuclear energy, while strictly abiding by international non-proliferation obligations.” CNNC did not respond to a request for comment. The foreign ministry of Saudi Arabia did not respond to requests for comments on the report.
     Saudi Arabia has previously requested U.S. cooperation in establishing a civilian nuclear program on its soil as part of a possible normalization deal with Israel. U.S. officials have said in the past that they would share nuclear power technology only if the agreement prevents the enrichment of uranium or reprocessing of plutonium made in reactors. These are two routes to the construction of nuclear weapons. Saudi officials acknowledged that considering the Chinese bid was a way of pressuring the Biden administration to compromise on its non-proliferation requirements.
     Saudi officials said that they would prefer contracting South Korean state utility Korea Electric Power (KEP) to construct the plant’s reactors and involve U.S. operation expertise. However, the Saudis are reluctant to agree to the proliferation controls that the U.S. generally requires. The Saudis said that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was prepared to move ahead with the Chinese company in the near future if talks with the U.S. fail.
     Israel’s energy minister has voiced opposition to the idea of Saudi Arabia developing a civilian nuclear program as part of any U.S. efforts to establish closer Israeli-Saudi relations. Israel has said that it expects to be consulted by the U.S. on any U.S.-Saudi deal affecting its national security. Israel is outside the Voluntary Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has no nuclear power. It is believed that Israel has over a hundred nuclear weapons in its arsenal.
     Saudi Arabia has developed closer relations with China over the past year. Last March, China assisted in a resumption of ties between Saudi Arabia and its long-time enemy Iran. China and Saudi Arabia have extensive trade relation in the energy field. China is the biggest importer of crude oil and Saudi Arabia is the biggest exporter.
     State-run China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC) is constructing a two and a half gigawatt solar power station in Al Shuaiba alongside Saudi utility developer ACWA Power. This will be the biggest solar project in the Middle East.
     Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Saudi Arabia last December. This was described by China’s foreign ministry as an “epoch-making milestone in the history of the development of China-Arab relations”. However, Saudi Arabia has tried to maintain a balance between China and the U.S. The U.S. remains Saudi Arabia’s most important security partner.
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Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
     Professor Tom Scott is the academic lead for the University of Bristol’s Sellafield Centre of Expertise for Uranium and Reactive Metals. He said that he considered the discharging of Japan’s contaminated water into the sea to be the right decision. Although other alternatives such as continued storage were investigated, he said that “ultimately this is a situation where the actual quantity of tritium being discharged per litre of water is incredibly low, and hence the risk posed to the environment and people is incredibly low”.
     Professor Scott added that “When released into the Pacific, the tritium is further diluted into a vast body of water and would quickly get to a radioactivity level which is not discernibly different from normal sea water. It poses very little risk and the risk itself decreases with time due to the relatively short radioactive half life… meaning that the amount of tritium – and hence the risk – continually reduces.” Sea water already contains small amounts of tritium, according to Scott. He said that “Tritium is produced naturally in small quantities in the upper atmosphere and gets into the oceans through rainfall.” However, some of the atmospheric tritium was also left behind from nuclear weapons testing.
     Nigel Marks is a physicist at Australia’s Curtin University. He said that the radioactivity in the Fukushima water was almost entirely tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. He went on to say that “For scale, the Pacific Ocean contains 8,400 grams of pure tritium, while Japan will release 0.06 grams of tritium every year. The minuscule amount of extra radiation won’t make the tiniest jot of difference. A lifetime’s worth of seafood caught a few kilometers from the ocean outlet has the tritium radiation equivalent of one bite of a banana.”
     Associate Professor Tony Hooker is the director of the Centre for Radiation Research, Education and Innovation at the University of Adelaide. He said that this is a common practice. He added that “I would like to reiterate that the release of tritium from nuclear facilities into waterways has and is undertaken world-wide with no evidence of environmental or human health implications. I welcome the news about the impending release and support Japan’s decision to commence disposal.” The Japanese government had a robust radiation management plan in place that had been approved by radiation protection agencies around the globe. “I think with the likely comprehensive independent monitoring of the environment to occur around the release site of Fukushima, that this will hopefully alleviate some of the fear that has been generated around this issue.”
     The government and TEPCO, the owner of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, say that the water will be treated and diluted with seawater to levels that are even safer than current international standards. The plan is to release seven thousand eight hundred tons of treated water in the first seventeen days. Thirty-one thousand tons will have been released by March of 2024. This will empty just ten of the thousand tanks at the site. Seawater and marine life will be regularly tested throughout this period for any potential impact. The results will be reported on the government and TEPCO websites.

Part 1 of 2 Parts
     Japan could begin releasing treated and diluted radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster into the Pacific Ocean as early as the 24th of August. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave the final approval for the release of the wastewater at a Cabinet meeting yesterday.
     It has now been over twelve years since the magnitude 9.1 Tōhoku earthquake hit Northern Japan on the 11th of March, 2011. The quake was the fourth strongest ever recorded. It caused mass fatalities and huge infrastructural damage. In addition, it triggered deadly tsunamis with waves up to forty-six feet high. These waves fatally damaged generators at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in the Fukushima Prefecture. The result was meltdowns and a hydrogen explosion.
     When the reactors melted down, over one and one third million tons of cooling water was contaminated. This water is still stored on-site. The Japanese government says that it needs to be diluted and discharged so Japan can finish decommissioning the site. The discharge will reduce the risk of the thousand tanks of contaminated water leaking into the ground. Many nuclear experts say that they are not concerned. However, environmental activists from Japan, South Korea and China have criticized the controversial action. There have even been protests in the streets.
     In the days leading up to the start of wastewater discharge, there have been widespread protests in nearby South Korea. Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung has referred to Japan’s plan to discharge the water as an act of “terror.” Surveys show the main public concerns are seafood and ocean contamination.
     The release of the treated wastewater has also faced strong domestic opposition from Japanese fishing organizations. They worry about further damage to the reputation of their seafood amid their ongoing struggle to recover from the nuclear disaster.
     China is also concerned about the release of the wastewater, making it a political and diplomatic issue. Hong Kong has stated that it will suspend imports from Fukushima and nine other Japanese Prefectures if Japan proceeds with the release. China has increased radiation testing on Japanese fisheries products, delaying customs clearance.
     International environmental organizations such as Greenpeace have also commented. In a press release, Greenpeace condemned the Japanese decision. They said that it “violates the human rights of communities in Japan and the Pacific region and is non-compliant with international maritime law”.
     Hisayo Takada is the Greenpeace Japan project manager. He said that they were “deeply disappointed and outraged” by the Japanese Government’s announcement. “Despite concerns raised by fishermen, citizens, Fukushima residents, and the international community, especially in the Pacific region and neighboring countries, this decision has been made.” He also said that the Japanese government did not learn from the disaster. He added that, “Instead of acknowledging the flaws in the current decommissioning plan, the ongoing nuclear crisis, and the massive amount of public funds required, the Japanese government intends to restart more nuclear reactors despite evidence of major earthquakes and safety risks.”
Please read Part 2 next

     Swedish nuclear technical services provider Studsvik has just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with small modular reactor (SMR) project development company Kärnfull Next. Kärnfull Next is investigating the possibility of building and operating SMRs on the Studsvik industrial site near Nyköping on the east coast of Sweden.
     Kärnfull Next said that the feasibility study began in May. Preliminary results suggest that the Studsvik area “has favorable conditions for hosting commercial SMRs.” The study is due to be completed in December. It is evaluating the “the financial, technological, environmental, and societal feasibility of flexible and state-of-the-art nuclear power production at the site”.
     Studsvik said that its Nyköping site is in a strategic location and houses the company’s broad expertise in nuclear technology. This includes fuel and materials technology, reactor analysis software and fuel optimization, decommissioning and radiation protection services. In addition, it has technical solutions for handling, conditioning and volume reduction of radioactive waste.
     The collaborators said that provided the feasibility study indicates favorable conditions, including local acceptance, key decisions regarding financing, permitting and power purchase agreements with off-takers will be made in the second half of 2024.
     
     Christian Sjölander is founder and CEO and founder of Kärnfull Next. He said, “With its extensive expertise in the nuclear technology sector, Studsvik is the perfect partner for us. The Studsvik site seems to be well suited to become Sweden’s first new nuclear power site, accompanying the three that already exist. Our vision is that one of Europe’s first SMR parks can be taken into operation here already in the early 2030s. Having several small reactors creates future-proof jobs and opportunities for co-location with other high-tech industries.”
     Camilla Hoflund is the CEO of Studsvik. She said, “Kärnfull Next has established itself as a reliable and innovative partner with solid expertise. We welcome the partnership and look forward to the outcome of the feasibility study. At present it is too early to say what this may mean for Studsvik, as the conditions have not yet been fully investigated and there are many years left before a possible establishment of an SMR at the Studsvik site.”
     In March of 2022, Kärnfull Next signed a Memorandum of Understanding with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy for the deployment of the BWRX-300 in Sweden.
     Swedish lead-cooled SMR technology developer LeadCold is a spin-off from Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In March of 2024, it announced that it was to conduct a feasibility study on the construction and operation of a demonstration Swedish Advanced Lead Reactor (SEALER) with associated infrastructure for fuel fabrication at Studsvik’s site in Studsvik.
     Earlier this month, Sweden’s Radiation Safety Authority presented its final report to the Swedish government on how the regulatory framework for nuclear power should be developed. The report will also include what other measures that may be needed for nuclear power to be expanded in the country. The report included identifying the need for development of rules or other measures that can affect the conditions for the use of existing and new nuclear power, such as SMRs, based on known, as well as new, reactor technology.