For years, Japan has made the export on nuclear technology a major part of their industrial expansion. The Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 dampened public enthusiasm and investor interest for nuclear power but the national politicians kept emphasizing how important nuclear equipment export were going to be for the future. While they are restarting some of the reactors which were shut down after Fukushima, there are serious problems with a couple of major reactor construction projects in other countries.
       The Japanese government often joins Japanese corporations to form consortiums to take on big international projects such as nuclear power reactor construction in other countries. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) is one of the main Japanese companies that constructs nuclear reactors. Hitachi is another nuclear reactor exporter.
       The Prime Minister of Japan discussed a nuclear reactor project for Turkey with the Turkish Prime Minister in 2013. At a press conference in Ankara, the Japanese Prime minister said, “We will share our experiences and lessons from the (2011) disaster at the nuclear plant (run by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. in Fukushima) with the rest of the world, and will strive to contribute to enhancing the safety of nuclear power generation.”
      As time passed, the MHI estimation for the cost of the project has more than doubled. This means that Turkey would have to agree to purchase the electricity from the four nuclear reactors planned for Japan to build in the Turkish city of Sinop at a higher price than originally expected.
      Last December, the President on Mitsubishi Heavy Industry Ltd. said “The Turkish government is in the midst of evaluating the project. I believe it will respond to us in some way or other.” If the Turkish government refuses to accept the increase in price for the reactors and the electricity that they produce, Japan and MHI will probably cancel the project.
          Japan is planning on suggesting to Ankara that Japan would “provide comprehensive energy cooperation” with respect to coal-fired power plants and liquifid natural gas facilities to replace the current agreement concerning nuclear power. Fearing a backlash from Ankara if the nuclear project is cancelled, Japan is looking for a way to get out of the nuclear deal in a way that will not trigger a diplopatic backlash between the two countries.
       A Hitachi project to build nuclear power reactors in the U.K. on the Isle of Anglesey is also encountering problems. The estimated cost of the project has risen by fifty percent and British citizens are afraid that this will be reflected in the price of electricity if the project goes forward.
      The current U.K. government supports the Anglesey project, but it is under heavy pressure from the turmoil caused by Brexit and, if it falls, the new government may not be as supportive. Companies in Japan that participate in nuclear project abroad may withdraw from the project because of the increased risk and the lack of profits in the project. Without guarantees from the U.K. government, it is likely that Japan will pull out of the deal.
       With two major international nuclear construction projects in serious trouble, it appears that despite government plans, it might be best for Japan to give up the idea of being a major exporter of nuclear technology.

Ambient office  = 97 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 83 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 83 nanosieverts per hour

Broccoli from Central Market = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 109 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 101 nanosieverts per hour

       Yesterday, I blogged about the search for new radioactive isotopes that might have commercial applications. Belgium is one of five major producers of radioisotopes for medical uses. Annually, almost seven million patients around the globe undergo diagnostic procedures that utilize molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) produced in Belgium.
       Mo-99 is produced by bombarding a very pure uranium-235 target with highly energetic neutrons. Mo-99 has a half life of sixty-five hours. It has to be quickly shipped to where it will be used because it decays to technetium-99m which is a metastable isotope of technetium with a half-life of six hours. Metastable means that the nucleus actively emits gamma rays and relaxes into technetium-99 with a half-life of over two hundred thousand years. Te-99m’s  short half-life makes Te-99m ideal for injection into patients because it quickly decays into a form which does not emit gamma rays. This minimized overall radiation exposure.
       Over a quarter of Belgian medical isotopes are produced at the Nuclear Research Center (SCK-CEN) Belgium Research Reactor Number 2 (BR2) in Mol. These isotopes are subjected to chemical processes by The National Institute for Radioelements (IRE) before they are given to patients. The residue left over from the chemical processing contains various useful elements that can be recovered. These residues are currently being stored in special containers at the IRE’s facility in Fleurus.
       The IRE says that the available storage space for these containers of residue will be filled before the end of 2019 if they are unable to move some of the containers to another location. They are taking actions to remedy this such as purchase of additional special containers that will expand storage capacity at the site until 2021.
       The RECUMO (Recovery of Uranium from Mo-99 Production) project has been initiated by SCK-CEN and IRE to treat all the residues at the IRE site. The residues will be mixed with low-enriched uranium to dilute them and then purified to produce a low-enriched high-quality material that can then be used. Future residues created by the Mo-99 production process will also be recycled by the RECUMO.
      Erich Kollegger is the IRE CEO. He said, “This public-public partnership provides a structural solution for the management of all of the radioactive residues stored at the IRE’s site. It will it make possible to recover those substances for other uses, whilst at the same time ensuring that Belgium retains the expertise that is necessary to ensure the safe management of this nuclear legacy. It also confirms our excellent relationship with SCK-CEN, which we have nurtured for many years now.” Eric van Walle is the Director-General of the SCK-CEN. He said that there would be new advanced infrastructure created in Belgium for the partnership. It will create many long term jobs.
      The SCK-CEN and the IRE commented on their partnership today. One of the features of the RECUMO project serves the commitment of Belgium to nuclear nonproliferation. The partnership of the two organizations will be implemented in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Energy of the Federal Public Service Economy, SMEs, Self-Employed and Energy, and under the supervision of Belgium’s Federal Agency for Nuclear Control.

Ambient office  = 112 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 126 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 128 nanosieverts per hour

Green bell pepper from Central Market = 80 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 93 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 79 nanosieverts per hour

        Elements are identified by the number of protons in their nucleus. A particular element always has exactly the same number of protons in its nucleus. The nuclear of the atoms of an element also have neutrons. While the number of protons remains the same, there can be samples of the element which have different number of neutrons. These variants of an element are called “isotopes.”
       Some isotopes of some elements are stable. Other isotopes of some elements are unstable and are referred to as radioactive. This means that over time, these elemental nuclei will emit the nuclei of helium referred to as alpha particles, energetic electrons referred to as beta particles, energetic photons referred to as gamma rays and/or neutrons as they decay.
       The result of these emissions may change one isotope to another or change the element into another element. There are subtle differences between isotopes in terms of how intense their radioactivity may be and how long they take to decay. There is also enormous variation in the amount of each isotope of a particular element that can be found in nature.
       There are one hundred and eighteen elements in the periodic table. Most of them occur in nature but some are man-made. Isotopes have many uses today. They are used to create nuclear weapons, carry out medical diagnosis and treatment, take industrial measurements, date organic material to name just a few.
       So far, scientists have isolated about three thousand different isotopes of various elements. However, current nuclear theory suggests that about four thousand more isotopes may exist that have not been observed. Around the world, billions of dollars are being spent on research and equipment to find these “missing” isotopes in the hope that some of them may have unique properties that could lead to new technologies.
       It can be very difficult to produce rare isotopes. Huge colliders are used that accelerate nuclear particles to near the speed of light and then ram them together. Such collisions can either fuse atoms together to make elements higher on the periodic table or break atoms apart to create new isotopes of simpler elements that may have new and useful properties. Detectors that surround the collision point are used to detect and observe these new nuclei and their properties.
     The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory has developed a new highly efficient gamma ray detector called the SuN. Most radioactive isotopes emit gamma rays when they decay. The new SuN detector can catalog properties of isotopes as they appear via analysis of emitted gamma rays. It is very expensive to search for new isotopes even with new devices such as the SuN.
        It is impossible to predict exactly what useful properties new isotope will have but considering all the uses that have been found for the three thousand known isotopes, it is probable that some new isotopes will lead to expansion of the current uses of radioactive isotopes and discovery of new uses and future technologies.

Ambient office  = 105 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 123 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 122 nanosieverts per hour

Jalepeno pepper from Central Market = 104 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 100 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 84 nanosieverts per hour

      Westinghouse has made a lot of money in the international nuclear market for big conventional nuclear power reactors that product a gigawatt or more of electricity. Currently, the nuclear industry is promoting what are called small modular reactors which produce three hundred megawatts or less of electricity. Small, decentralized energy sources have surpassed big power plants in new installation connecting to the national electrical grid.
      Westinghouse is jumping on the new trend with something they are calling an “eVinci” microreactor. In June, the Westinghouse eVinci microreactor design got a five-million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The new microreactor will be small enough to put on the bed of a truck. The eVinci would act like a nuclear battery. Once installed, it should work for ten years without needed to be refueled.       
        Westinghouse considered the designs for nuclear reactors used space probes when they designed the eVinci. Arafat said that they are “probably the only nuclear reactor concept that run autonomously, without any operators.” New materials will have to be developed to cope with temperatures up to eleven hundred degrees Fahrenheit. This is almost twice the temperature inside a conventional power reactor.
        Yasir Arafat is Westinghouse’s technical lead for eVinci. Last September, Arafat talked about the eVinci design at a microgrid conference at Eaton’s Experience Center. He said the grand vision of Westinghouse was to be able to plug an eVinci microreactor into any microgrid in the world.
       Arafat said that the eVinci can recycle nuclear fuel three or four times. The eVinci will be built in a factory and transported by truck or train to the installation site. Arafat claims that it should only take about a week to install an eVinci. Westinghouse says that they anticipate the use of eVinci at remote military bases, remote civilian communities, industrial mines and oil drilling sites. They hope to begin commercial operations in 2024 but have been accused in the past of being overly optimistic in their time and cost estimations.
        Rita Baranwal is a former Westinghouse executive who is now heading up the DoE’s nuclear research. She was nominated to be the new assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the DoE. During her Senate confirmation hearing this October, she said that one of her priorities would be to work with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) on deploying advanced reactors for military needs.
        John Kotek is the vice president of policy development and government affairs at the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) which is a nuclear industry lobbying group in Washington, D.C. Kotek said “It’s going to be essential for the federal government to keep providing support (for SMRs).”  There are at least six companies working on their own SMRs and looking to the federal government for help.
       The DoD has expressed an interest in microreactors. Kotek said that such an interest on the part of the huge federal agency could act as a “demand signal” to stimulate the development of the supply chain that will be required in order for microreactors to be manufactured and deployed.