The goal of limiting the global temperature increase to well below 2˚C requires new climate policies, investment incentives, and a massive adoption of low carbon energy technologies, including nuclear power, participants at an IAEA side event to the Bonn Climate Change Conference heard yesterday. Iaea.org

The U.S. and Europe are developing nuclear weapons use and intensifying combat training near the Russian border, according to a Russian defense minister newsweek.com

Russian state nuclear company Rosatom hopes to win a tender announced by Saudi Arabia to build nuclear plants in the kingdom, Alexei Likhachyov, head of Rosatom, told reporters. Reuters.com

NuScale Power and Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) have signed the initial contract for the new Centre for Advanced Nuclear Manufacturing (CANM). The contract covers prototype work for manufacturing NuScale’s helical coil steam generators, a major component in the NuScale small modular reactor (SMR) design that is under certification review by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. World-nucleare-news.org

       The Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) is France’s public service expert in nuclear and radiation risks, and its activities cover all the related scientific and technical issues.

“The decree 10 March 2016 entrusts IRSN with missions of expertise and research in the following areas:

• nuclear safety
• safety of transport of radioactive and fissile materials
• protection of man and the environment against ionizing radiation
• protection and control of nuclear materials
• protection of nuclear facilities and transport of radioactive and fissile materials against malicious acts.

IRSN interacts with all parties concerned by these risks (public authorities, local authorities, companies, research organizations, stakeholders’ associations, etc.) to contribute to public policy issues relating to nuclear safety, human and environmental protection against ionizing radiation, and the protection of nuclear materials, facilities, and transport against the risk of malicious acts.”

      Today, the IRSM reported that a cloud of radioactive pollution over Europe suggested that there was an accident at some nuclear facility in Russia or Kazakhstan in the last week of September. European radioactivity monitoring stations showed high levels of Ru-106 at the beginning of October with the levels steadily decreasing after October 6^th. Ruthenium (RU) 106 does not occur in nature. Nuclear reactors are the only source of Ru-106. It would have taken a significant release of Ru-106 to produce the levels found over Europe. If that much Ru-106 had been released in France, there would have been evacuations for miles around the source.

       The IRSN said that the radioactive cloud was not indicative of an accident in a nuclear reactor. They believe that the source was probably either a site where nuclear fuel is handled or a center for radioactive medicine. There have been no reports of any impact on human health or the environment in Europe.

       The IRSN was unable to say exactly where the radioactive pollution originated. Based on weather patterns, it is likely that the source of the pollution was south of the Ural mountains, between the mountains and the Volga river. That means that the source was in Russia or Kazakhstan. The IRSN director Jean-Marc Peres told the Reuters news service that “Russian authorities have said they are not aware of an accident on their territory.” The IRSN has not yet spoken with Kazakh authorities with respect to the radioactive cloud.

       The IRSN said that if there had been a nuclear reactor accident, other radioactive isotopes would have also been released. Ru-106 can be used to power satellites but there had been no report of a Ru-106 satellite falling to Earth over Europe recently. Ru-106 is used in nuclear medicine because it has a half-life of about a year. It is probable that the Ru-106 was released from a radioactive medicine center. It could also have come from a facility where nuclear fuel is processed.

       This is not the first time that releases of radioactive materials from Russia and surrounding countries have found their way into the atmosphere over Europe. Sometimes it has been difficult to track down the exact source of such releases in the past.

California’s last nuclear power plant — Diablo Canyon — may be one step closer to closing, despite a vocal campaign to save it. Sfchronicle.com

Even as the proposed Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) is back on the negotiating table between the Indian and French governments, talks on liability and costs are yet to see a breakthrough in this 9,900 MW plant — the world’s largest in terms of capacity. Thehindu.com

A study released on Monday in the journal International Security found that national nuclear energy programs “rarely” lead to the development of nuclear weapons. Motherboard.vice.com

Cameco will temporarily suspend production from the McArthur River mining and Key Lake milling operations in northern Saskatchewan by the end of January “due to continued uranium price weakness”, the Canadian uranium producer announced yesterday. The duration of the suspension and temporary layoff of about 845 workers is expected to last 10 months, it said. World-nuclear-news.org

 

 

 

       In the research and development of a nuclear fusion reactor, one of the major problems is keeping the super-hot plasma in a stable configuration that does not touch the interior wall of the vacuum chamber that contains the plasma. If the plasma touches the wall, it can lose shape and temperature, quenching the reactions that produce fusion.

       Copper coils have fast reaction time to reshape the magnetic fields confining the plasma but they require huge amounts of energy. Superconducting coils are much more efficient and require a great deal less power to maintain magnetic fields but they are slower to adjust their configuration. One aspect of the configuration of the plasma that is especially important is the vertical height that the plasma can reach and still be stably maintained.

       The Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) device is one of the biggest superconducting tokamaks in the world. It uses niobium and tin in its superconductors. This is the same type of alloy that will be used to construct the superconductors that will be used on the ITER fusion reactor being built in France by an international consortium.

       U.S. researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), General Atomics in San Diego and Korean researchers from the National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI) in South Korea formed a team to work on the stable containment problem. The team was led by Dennis Mueller of the DoE PPPL. They have radically improved the ability of the KSTAR to maintain the stability of the vertical dimension of the plasma cloud. The new control method was demonstrated this summer. It managed to control the vertical stability in the KSTAR where, previously, the plasma bounced up and down in the eleven foot tall device.

        Mueller gave a presentation to 59th annual meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics in October. He said “As the plasma got taller it moved away from stable operation, the new correction method stops the plasma from bouncing up and down by stabilizing the vertical center of the plasma. Control of the vertical instability has allowed for taller plasmas in KSTAR than the original design specifications.”

      The key to managing the plasma turned out to be modifying the electronics for the sensors that monitored the configuration of the magnetic field in the plasma as well as the motion and position of the plasma. The sensors were reconfigured to speed up the control signal that informed the system of the vertical position of the plasma. There is a vertical control coil inside the vacuum chamber that contains the plasma. This control coil is able to push back against the plasma and prevent it from contacting the walls of the vacuum chamber.

       Nicholas Eidietis of General Atomics devised a control system that can tell the difference between fast and slow changes in the sensor signals. The new control system can use different coils to modify plasma movement to maintain stability on different time scales. The final result of this work is the development of a control system that responds quickly to specific movements of the plasma which allows the reactor to operate with taller plasmas than the KSTAR was originally designed to handle.

Korean Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) device: 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today issued a Preliminary Notice of Violation (PNOV) to Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC (SRNS) for a violation of worker safety and health requirements.  The violation is associated with worker retaliation by SRNS against an employee at the Savannah River Site in 2015.  Energy.gov

Federal regulators say operators of the FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant along Lake Ontario are trying to figure out why several fuel rods are leaking radiation. Northcountrypublicradio.org

Numerous emergency crews were on the scene of a transformer fire at the McGuire Nuclear Station in Huntersville early Wednesday morning. Wsoctv.com

Belarus has a plan to build a nuclear power plant funded by the Russian government. Twelve miles across the border, Lithuania has serious concerns about what they think is a growing nuclear threat. Pri.org

       India was one of the first countries to have a nuclear power program. It built its first research reactor in 1954. Today, India has twenty two reactors which provide about two percent of its electricity. Coal provides about sixty-nine percent and seventeen percent is provided by renewable sources.

       India is not able to import enough uranium for a larger fleet of reactors because import restrictions were impose in 1974 after India detonated its first nuclear bomb. Nations which supplied India with nuclear technology were upset because India illegally used some of that technology to develop nuclear weapons.

       In 2010, an agreement with the U.S. led to conversations with U.S. nuclear companies such as Westinghouse and GE Hitachi. India also began discussion with Areva of France. India was hoping to gain access to commercial nuclear technology but negotiations with major nuclear companies ground to a halt over the insistence by India that nuclear technology suppliers would be liable for any future accidents.

       This insistence on supplier liability arose from the horrible industrial accident in Bhopal in 1984 where thousands of people died and hundreds of thousands were exposed to toxic chemicals. No other countries have this requirement. The current government has suggested that it could create an insurance pool against future accidents but suppliers of nuclear technology insist that the liability provision be cancelled entirely. India was also barred from the International Nuclear Suppliers Group because India has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty.

       In addition to the problems detailed above, the bankruptcy of Westinghouse this year in the wake of the cancelled nuclear reactors in South Carolina and financial problems with Toshiba, the owner of Westinghouse, called into question their ability to construct six promised nuclear power reactors in India. Recently, the news that Westinghouse will soon be exiting its chapter 11 bankruptcy status raised hopes in India that their plans to expand India’s fleet of nuclear reactors might be able to proceed.

        The French nuclear company, Areva, is also having financial difficulties that are impacting its ability to deliver nuclear reactors to other countries. Although Areva was recently recapitalized by the French government, it is still deep in debt.

        Brahma Chellaney, a professor at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi recently said that “There are no active negotiations with foreign vendors. Years after India signed the nuclear deal with the US, not a single western-designed power plant is under construction, and even if you started now it would not be built for another 10 years.” Mr. Chellaney says, “Indian nuclear plants are of a reliable design, and are more efficient in terms of cost. What’s more, because they are built by a state-owned operator, the government can stop worrying about who would pay the cost in the event of a nuclear accident — they would.”

       The debate continues in India about whether they should invest their capital in new nuclear power plants or invest their capital in renewable energy sources. Their desire and intent to reduce carbon emission require that they invest in one of the two alternatives. Ravi Grover, a nuclear scientist and adviser to the Indian department of atomic energy said “Electricity generation in India will continue to grow at about 6 per cent. India can provide for this on the basis of coal-fired power plants or low carbon sources, and it is desirable that low-carbon sources are given preference. If nuclear power from foreign sources does not materialize, it would imply generation from coal-fired sources would have to be higher.” On the other hand, Amit Bhandari, a fellow at the Gateway House think-tank and a supporter of renewable energy says “Renewables are quicker, cheaper and more convenient to build. We already have constant power being delivered by our coal plants. We should be focusing what capital there is on renewable generation.”

The global nuclear decommissioning services market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 34.87% during the period 2017-2021. Businesswire.com

North Korea’s underground nuclear test site has turned the surrounding area to wasteland and caused defects among newborn babies, defectors have reported. Telegraph.co.uk

France’s environment minister is backing down on promises to sharply reduce nuclear power production so that the government can concentrate on reducing fossil fuels instead. Abcnews.go.com

The Vatican is hosting a two-day high-level international symposium on a nuclear-weapons-free world this week, in the backdrop of an escalating face-off  between  the US and North Korea.  Eleven Nobel peace laureates, top United Nations and NATO officials, leading experts, ‎heads of  major foundations and of civil society organizations, as well representatives of bishops conferences, Christian denominations and other faiths are attending the November 10-11 conference in the Vatican on, “Prospects for a World Free from Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament”. ‎ en.radiovaticana.va