Part 1 of 2 Parts
     Glenn Youngkin is the governor of Virginia. Last Monday, Youngkin announced his 2022 Virginia Energy Plan. He said that all forms of energy should be embraced. However, he added that the deadline for having all energy generated from renewable sources by 2050 is unrealistic and too expensive. That was the target date for former Governor Ralph Northam’s Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) goal of one hundred percent zero-carbon energy generation. Youngkin prefers a measured approach with intermediate steps and utilizing all forms of energy.
     Youngkin said, “We must reject the mindset that it is ‘either/or’ and embrace the reality that it is ‘both/and.’ In fact, the only way to confidently move towards a reliable, affordable and clean energy future in Virginia is to go all-in on innovation in nuclear, carbon capture, and new technology like hydrogen generation, along with building on our leadership in offshore wind and solar.”
     Youngkin’s Plan recommends that the commonwealth make strategic investments in innovative, emerging technologies such as hydrogen, carbon capture, storage and utilization, and small modular reactors (SMR). The Plan contains funding to pursue the goal of deploying a commercial SMR in Southwest Virginia within ten years.
     A SMR is an advanced nuclear reactor that generates three hundred or less megawatts of electricity. This is about one third of the output of current full scale commercial nuclear power reactors. SMRs are promoted as being safer and much smaller that convention power reactors. The intention is to construct SMRs in a factory in order to benefit from economies of scale and improved quality control. The modules for a SMR would be shipped to the site and installed. There are studies that suggest that although SMRs are much smaller than conventional power reactors, they would wind up producing more dangerous radioactive waste than a conventional power reactor per unit of power generated.
     The goal of the Plan is for Southwest Virginia to become the nation’s leader in the development and deployment of SMRs. The Plan advocates for the development of the first commercial SMR in the U.S. in Southwest Virginia. It also calls for the development of spent nuclear fuel recycling technologies that offer the promise of a zero-carbon emission system with minimal nuclear waste and a closed-loop supply chain. The state will work with government, industry and academic partners to “develop a plan to deploy a commercial small modular nuclear reactor in Southwest Virginia within 10 years.”
     No specific site has yet been chosen for the SMR. Delegate James W. Morefield is the Republican representative for Tazewell County. He has some reservations about SMRs. He said, “Small nuclear reactors are promising but a great deal of research must be conducted and other factors such as environmental and safety issues must be strongly considered.  and other countries around the world focused heavily on nuclear and renewable energy. They have experienced the dangers of nuclear energy and the expense of renewable energy with several of them now focusing on building new coal-fired power plants.”
Please read Part 2 next

Constellation reports progress on the first US nuclear-powered hydrogen facility neimagazine.com

Hungary, Uzbekistan to launch nuclear cooperation program dailynews.hungary.com

GSE Solutions Wins Contract to Implement Digital Twin Simulator for Nuclear Plant in Korea prnewswire.com

North Korea fires nuclear-capable missile over Japan in another spike in tensions  euronews.com

Ambient office = 117 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 93 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 984 nanosieverts per hour

ARed bell pepper from Central Market = 72 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 96 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 74 nanosieverts per hour

Nuclear powering vehicles as Energoatom launches ATOMcharge network world-nuclear-news.org

Ontario extends Pickering operations world-nuclear-news.org

Russia open to in-person talks with U.S. on nuclear arms treaty reuters.com

Curtiss-Wright, X-energy Sign Supplier Plan nuclearstreet.com

 

 

Ambient office = 99 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 79 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 80 nanosieverts per hour

Heirloom tomato from Central Market = 100 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 62 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 52 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient office = 61 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 91 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 91 nanosieverts per hour

English cucumber from Central Market = 97 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 97 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 80 nanosieverts per hour

Dover Sole from Central = 102 nanosieverts per hour

Finnish EPR reaches full capacity for first time world-nuclear-news.org

Calls grow for China and India to talk sense into Putin politico.com

Comment deadline extended on idea for nuclear waste chroniclejournal.com

Russia’s nuclear trade with Europe flows despite Ukraine war abcnews.com

     Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) recently launched the SRZ-1200 advanced pressurized water reactor (PWR) design. The SRZ-1200 was developed in collaboration with four Japanese utilities. It is designed to meet Japan’s enhanced regulatory safety standards.
     MHI stated that the SRZ-1200 has additional safety features when compared with conventional pressurized light water reactors. Its design implements enhanced Japanese regulatory safety standards which incorporate lessons learned from the March 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. MHI claimed that the design will ensure the regulatory requirements of “strengthening safety equipment” and “resistance to natural disaster and security against terrorism and unforeseen event” are fulfilled.
     Low probability postulated events are still accounted for in the reactor design to ensure plant and public safety according to MHI. These new safety mechanisms include an advanced accumulator design and systems which effectively reduce the probability of radioactivity release in the event of a postulated accident. Efforts of this nature and the resulting SRZ-1200 design features will limit any impact to the public and plant site.
     In addition, the SRZ-1200 design is also intended to enhance operational flexibility. This will effectively allow for improved electrical power delivery alongside variable electrical power sources such as renewables.
     MHI said, “The ability to adapt the SRZ-1200 for hydrogen production will also be studied to ensure that all potential uses of energy generated from this plant are efficiently and proactively applied for all of societal needs.” It noted that the name of the reactor is derived from ‘S’ for supreme safety and Sustainability, ‘R’ for resilience and ‘Z’ for zero-carbon emissions.”
     The SRZ-1200 has been designed in collaboration with Hokkaido Electric Power Company, Kansai Electric Power Company, Kyushu Electric Power Company and Shikoku Electric Power Company. All of these utilities have experience in operating PWR nuclear power plants.
     MHI has been involved in the construction and maintenance of all of the twenty-four existing PWR nuclear power reactors in Japan. This has led to the efforts to restart and ensure the safe operation of the existing nuclear power plants.
     MHI said that it intends “to take the SRZ-1200 conceptual design and proceed with basic design efforts”. It aims to bring the new design to market “as early as possible” to “ensure new innovative nuclear technologies are available toward a stable energy supply for Japan”.
     MHI said, “Taking into account the Fukushima Daiichi accident, MHI Group strives to continuously enhance safety through the restart of existing nuclear power plants as well as the safe and stable operation upon restart. This is part of our contribution to society and we intend to continue this contribution through the development of advanced light water reactors which achieve the world’s highest level of safety.”
     MHI’s 2021 Medium-Term Business Plan was published in October of 2020. In the plan, MHI said that it planned to develop new reactor designs. It said it was working on a “next generation” light water reactor that will feature safety improvements such as a core catcher and a radiation leak prevention system. MHI said that such a reactor with a generating capacity of up to twelve hundred megawatts will improve compatibility with renewables by increasing “output adjustment capability”. MHI said that it was targeting commercialization of the new reactor design in the mid-2030s.

U.S. has not seen acts indicating Russia contemplating nuclear attack reuters.com

Russia Said to Allow Crypto Mining in Regions With Hydroelectric and Nuclear Power news.bitcoin.com

Fuel dispatched for China’s CFR-600 fast neutron reactor world-nuclear-news.com

ESAS propose disclosures for fossil gas and nuclear energy investments esma.europa.eu

 

Ambient office = 98 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 88 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 84 nanosieverts per hour

Avocado from Central Market = 79 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 119 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 99 nanosieverts per hour