Ambient office = 77 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 126 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 129 nanosieverts per hour

Icebury lettuce from Central Market = 108 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 109 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 86 nanosieverts per hour

     Slovenské elektrárne, a.s. (SE) is an electric utility company based in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, and is the successor to the former state monopoly. It operates nuclear, hydroelectric and fossil fuel power plants in the Slovak Republic.
     SE said that over the past weekend, there were successful start up tests and the launch of steam turbines for the new Unit 3 reactor at the Mochovce nuclear power plant. It was connected to the Slovak power grid for the first time at twenty percent of its nominal power at 11 PM on the 31st of January.
     Branislav Strýček is the Chairman and CEO of Slovak Power Plants. He said, “Today represents a fundamental milestone for SE, the community of nuclear energy workers and the entire country. As of today, the third unit converts the thermal energy released in the reactor into electricity. This will help us fulfill the agreement with the government, in which SE undertook to supply cheap electricity for households at a price of EUR61.2077 euros (USD66.7) per megawatt hour, which represents an unprecedentedly low price of electricity for households within the EU. The new block will significantly contribute not only to energy stability, but also to the commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the road to carbon neutrality.”
     During the energy start-up process, tests have been carried out at increasing power levels – five percent, fifteen percent and twenty percent – of the reactor’s nominal power. The company said, “After successfully preparing and carrying out the tests necessary for the start of the turbines, over the weekend, steam was brought into them for the first time, which gradually spun them up to the nominal speed – 3000 revolutions per minute.”
     Tests were also carried out on the generator itself, the block transformer and the four hundred kilovolts line connecting the plant to the Slovak electricity system. “After completing this part of the power start-up, Slovenské elektrárne could proceed to the actual phasing of the first turbogenerator to the network at 20% of the nominal power of the reactor and the third unit … began supplying the first electricity to the network.”
     The next stage of the launch process will be to test the reactor at levels from thirty five percent to one hundred percent. The final step is the successful completion of a one hundred and forty four hour trial run at the full four hundred and seventy one megawatt output.
     Martin Mráz is the director of the Mochovce plant. He said that in the coming weeks, “the new unit will supply electricity to the grid with short-term planned shutdowns, according to the new unit commissioning schedule”.
     Construction of the first two four hundred and seventy-one megawatt VVER units at the four-unit Mochovce plant began in 1982. Work started on Units 3 and 4 in 1986, however it stalled in 1992. Units 1 and 2 were completed and came online in 1998 and 1999 respectively. A project to complete Units 3 and 4 started in 2009. Unit 4’s schedule has been to follow about one or two years behind work on Unit 3. Each of these reactors will be able to provide about thirteen percent of Slovakia’s electricity needs when operating at full capacity.
     The final design includes many upgrades for safety and security. These include aircraft impact protection and emergency management measures based on lessons learned from the Fukushima disaster which were incorporated during the project. The Slovak Nuclear Regulatory Authority issued the final authorization for commissioning Unit 3 of the Mochovce nuclear power plant in August of this year. The service life of the new reactor is expected to be about sixty years.

Ambient office = 92 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 84 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 81 nanosieverts per hour

English cucumber from Central Market = 93 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 79 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 68 nanosieverts per hour

      MoltexFLEX is a subsidiary of Moltex Energy Limited. It has just received a research grant to work with researchers at the University of Manchester to investigate how its FLEX reactor’s molten coolant salt interacts with graphite. The grant came from the Henry Royce institute of Advanced Materials. It will be used for cutting-edge characterization that will help qualify industrial-grade graphite for application in advanced molten salt nuclear technologies. The award is part of the Industrial Collaboration Program (ICP). This is a Royce initiative that seeks to boost research, development and innovation activities across the U.K.
     Graphite is a critical material used to control the fission process in the FLEX reactor and many other nuclear reactors. MoltexFLEX is investigating the possibility of using standard industrial-grade graphite as part of the company’s goal to use already available, ‘off-the-shelf’ components and solutions.
      The research program calls for MoltexFLEX scientists to work alongside those of the University of Manchester’s Nuclear Graphite Research Group (NGRG), which have been working in partnership on graphite-related topics since 2020. It will employ state-of-the-art facilities in the university’s irradiated materials laboratory. The researchers will make use of x-ray computer tomography and hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to examine the graphite and its response to molten salt exposure in minute detail.
     MoltexFLEX said that the research will have far-reaching implication. “Using industrial-grade synthetic graphite that has high thermal and chemical resistance will deliver significant cost savings for the FLEX reactor, as well as enabling it to be rolled out across the globe even more quickly.”
     Chris Morgans is the project manager for MoltexFLEX. He said, “We believe that collaboration truly enables the path to technology maturity, and so working with Royce and the University of Manchester on this joint project to determine the effects of molten salts on the physical and mechanical properties of graphite, will not only drive the development of the FLEX reactor design forward, but forge a strong academic-industrial partnership in the process.”
     MoltexFLEX is working on the FLEX reactor which is a thermal neutron (moderated) version of Moltex Energy’s stable salt reactor technology. The FLEX reactor is small and modular. This allows components to be factory-produced and readily transportable, reducing on-site work, increasing speed of construction, and minimizing overall costs. It is passively safe which means that it does not require engineered, redundant, active safety systems. The FLEX reactor has no moving parts and is fueled for twenty years at a time. This means that there is very little need for operator input and very low operating costs. Each FLEX reactor delivers forty megawatts of thermal energy at thirteen hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Moltex plan is to have its first reactor operational by 2029.
     David Landon is the CEO of MoltexFLEX. He said, “Graphite is a significant component of the reactor cost. The success of this research in demonstrating the viability of industrial-grade graphite will contribute to MoltexFLEX’s mission to deliver affordable nuclear power for all.”
    Royce is operating from its hub at the University of Manchester. It is in partnership with nine institutions including the universities of Cambridge, Imperial College London, Liverpool, Leeds, Oxford, Sheffield, the National Nuclear Laboratory, and UKAEA. The universities of Cranfield and Strathclyde are Royce’s associate partners.
     The Royce program is funded by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council, part of UK Research & Innovation. Royce coordinates over three hundred and seventy million dollars’ worth of facilities. They provide a joined-up framework that can deliver beyond the current capabilities of individual partners of research teams.
      The award to MoltexFLEX is part of t he Industrial Collaboration Program. This is a six hundred and eighty-five million dollar Royce initiative for collaborative, business-led research, development and innovation projects aimed at accelerating progress towards a sustainable future.

Ambient office = 100 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 67 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 70 nanosieverts per hour

Blueberry from Central Market = 76 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 78 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 63 nanosieverts per hour

Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
     The Iranian mission to the U.N. responded to questions about Grossi’s remarks. They said that Iran “is prepared to stick to its commitments within the framework of the (deal) provided the other parties do the same. The Iranian nuclear program has never been about making nuclear weapons and enriching has nothing to do with deviating from it.” These comments were made despite Iran accelerating its enrichment after the collapse of the 2015 deal.
     Iranian state television separately quoted Mohammad Eslami who is the head of Iran’s civilian nuclear program. He said that Iran would welcome a visit by Grossi to the country.
     As Iran’s rial currency plunge further to historic lows against the dollar amid its crises, Iranian officials also have made unsupported claims about American officials agreeing to their demands for frozen money abroad being released.
     At the U.S. State Department, the concerns about Iran’s claims have grown more and more pointed. Ned Price is a State Department spokesperson who responded to a question on Monday. He said, “We’ve heard a number of statements from the Iranian foreign minister that are dubious if not outright lies, so I would just keep that broader context in mind when you point to statements from the Iranian foreign minister.”
     Price and other officials in the Biden administration say that any future talks with Iran remain off the table as Iran cracks down on months-long protests after the death of ZMahsa Amini. She was a young woman detained in September by Iran’s morality police. At least five hundred and twenty seven people have been killed and over nineteen thousand five hundred arrested during the unrest. This was reported by Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group monitored the protests.
     Another part of American and European exasperation comes from the fact that Iran is sending bomb-carrying drones to Russia which have repeatedly targeted Ukrainian power plants and civilian targets. Iran has a strained history with Russia. It is not clear what they expect to get for supplying weapons to Russia. One Iranian lawmakers has suggested that Iran could get Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of pre-1979 U.S. warplanes. No such deal has yet been confirmed.
     Such fighter jets would provide a key air defense for Iran. This could be critical as its nuclear sites are tempting targets for Western nations fearful of an nuclear armed Iran. Israel has carried on strikes in Iraq and Syria to stop nuclear programs. It has publicly stated that it will not permit Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
     The U.S. and Israel also launched their biggest joint air, land and sea exercise this week with over one hundred and forty warplanes, an aircraft carrier group and almost eight thousand troops called Juniper Oak. The Pentagon described the drill as “not meant to be oriented around any single adversary or threat.” However, it comes amid increasing tensions with Iran and includes aerial refueling, targeting and suppressing enemy air defenses. Such capabilities would be crucial in conducting airstrikes.
     For now, Grossi said that there was “almost no diplomatic activity” over trying to restore the Iran nuclear deal. He now describes the agreement as an “empty shell.” However, he still urged more diplomacy as Iran would still need to design and test any possible nuclear weapon. “We shouldn’t give up,” he said.