No inadequate or counterfeited documentation related to the manufacture of forged steel parts used in Finnish nuclear power plants has so far been identified by the plant operators. However, the country’s regulator has requested detailed investigations be completed by the end of April. world-nuclear-news.org

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission performed special inspections of the New Jersey Oyster Creek Generating Station after personnel found a box of uranium-containing monitors outside the nuclear power plant’s  app.com

An American engineer who was a consultant to China General Nuclear Power Corp. agreed to plead guilty to illegally helping the company hire U.S.-based nuclear engineers to speed the design and manufacture of reactor components. bloombergnews.com

Sweden has decided to tighten up security around nuclear plants by requiring guards to be armed. The measures will be introduced following recent terrorists attacks across the globe. rte.com

       Hanford keeps turning up in my blogs because it is one of the most radioactively contaminated sites on Earth thanks to the Department of Defense use of the site for the development of nuclear weapons. At one point, they poured millions of gallons of radioactive liquids directly into ditches that were not even lined with plastic. There are underground tanks that are filled with a witches brew of toxic chemicals and radioactive substances that are leaking into the soil. The U.S. government is getting ready to spend a trillion dollars to upgrade U.S. nuclear weapons while Hanford goes begging for a few more billion dollars to clean up Hanford. The Department of Energy is so incompetent that they have to be hauled into court to force them to meet cleanup deadlines. The DoE is also being sued for their failure to protect the workers at Hanford.

        Now it is being reported that radioactive contamination is spreading in an old complex at Hanford called the Reduction-Oxidation (REDOX) plant.  The REDOX facility was used between 1952 and 1967 to remove plutonium from around twenty four thousand tons of spent uranium fuel rods for use in nuclear weapons. Currently, the REDOX facility is scheduled for demolition no earlier than 2030.The local newspaper reports that the REDOX plant is far inside the boundaries of the Hanford Reservation and does not pose a threat to public health.

        The new report said that annual inspections over the past few years have found that water leaking into the building through the roof and joints has spread radioactive contamination. Evidence of animal intrusions and deteriorating asbestos was also found. There are concerns about contamination being spread by animals that get into the building, a fire that might damage the building, utility pipes bursting or the penetration of rain water.

        The new report suggested that one hundred and eighty million dollars spent on “interim” cleanup of the building in the near future. Demolition of an attached building that is highly contaminated and demolition of annexes to the main building should help prevent further spread of contamination. There are also two tanks containing chemicals used to make plutonium that should be removed.

         The report also suggested that reducing the spread of contamination in the REDOX building would help the DoE retain skilled workers needed to continue the cleanup and decommissioning work at Hanford. There are reports that the new Trump administration is interested in accelerating the cleanup at Hanford. It is anticipated that this may result in more federal money becoming available soon to expand cleanup efforts and hire more workers with the necessary skills.

         Considering the problems that the State of Washington has had with the work of the DoE at Hanford, it would be a major improvement of the situation if the new administration actually chose to move forward more aggressively on cleaning up the radioactive contamination left over from the development of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

REDOX complex at Hanford:

 

Russian nuclear fuel manufacturer TVEL has signed a contract with the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIEA) for the supply of fuel to the Chinese Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR). world-nuclear-news.org

Bruce Power began its Life-Extension Program on Jan. 1, 2016, which will see the site operate through 2064. As part of the life extension, the Major Component Replacement (MCR) Project will take place in Units 3-8 beginning in 2020. nuclearstreet.com

With constant emphasis on slapping a ban on the use of imported coal and furnace oil in electricity production, Pakistan is mulling over putting a brake on the installation of nuclear power plants in future because of concern over the high cost of production. tribune.com.pk

Workers at the USA’s only underground nuclear waste repository stowed two pallets of drums deep underground Wednesday for the first time in nearly three years. usatoday.com

       Yesterday, I blogged about serious financial problems at Toshiba because of difficulties at Westinghouse, its U.S. nuclear technology subsidiary. Westinghouse is busy working on construction projects for eight nuclear power reactors in the U.S. It is not yet known whether or not the problems at Toshiba will impact the U.S. reactors projects of Westinghouse.

        Toshiba is still hoping to profit from its nuclear technology business in the U.S. In 2016, Toshiba American Energy Systems (TAES) was created by the consolidation of several branches of Toshiba’s Energy Systems and Solutions company in Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlotte is considered a major center of innovation in the energy sector and is home to other major companies working in the energy sector.

        The CEO of TASE told an interviewer that Toshiba had had separate divisions to provide turbines to the coal, hydro and nuclear industries. In view of the fact that some of Toshiba’s utility customers were consolidating the management of different energy sources, Toshiba made the decision to consolidate the separate turbine divisions into a single entity.

      Charlotte was chosen for the new consolidated turbine business because the nuclear division was already located in Charlotte and the city had a number of attractive features both for employees and for the company. The Denver and San Francisco offices were brought to Charlotte and merged with the nuclear division. The main business for TAES is the sale of turbines to the energy production industry.

        North Carolina has create a Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard. Recently there have been calls by members of the nuclear power industry to include nuclear energy in the Portfolio. Toshiba is currently involved in the construction of nuclear power reactors in North Carolina and definitely supports this initiative. The CEO of TAES believes that nuclear power is critical to meeting climate change mitigation goals of lowering carbon emissions from power plants.

        As with all nuclear power reactors, spent nuclear fuel disposal is a big problem. The CEO of TAES agrees that it is necessary to create a permanent geological repository for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel in the U.S. He suggested that the canceled Yucca Mountain Repository project should be reconsidered. He also said that there are dry cask systems for storing spent nuclear fuel onsite at nuclear power plants.

        Toshiba is not a manufacturer of wind and solar power systems but they are interested in working with major manufacturers of such systems. Toshiba is also working on closed-cycle, zero-emission gas turbines to help fight climate change.

        While energy generation is a primary focus for TAES, they are also working on other projects such as ion cancer therapy developed from their nuclear technology. This new medical technology is being developed for the U.S. market and will be available soon. The CEO says that a few twenty-minute sessions can eliminate major cancer tumors without serious side effects.

        It is unclear exactly how recent problems at Toshiba Corporate in Japan and Westinghouse Nuclear in the U.S. will impact TAES.

US-based GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) has been awarded a three-year contract to dismantle the reactor internals of units 1 and 2 at the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in Sweden. world-nuclear-news.org

Industrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB) has started work on its Engenho mine in Brazil’s Bahia state. The company said the move was a “decisive step” towards resumption of domestic uranium production. world-nuclear-news.org

Looking to end a decades-old moratorium, state Rep. Gerald Watkins has pre-filed legislation designed to ultimately add Kentucky to the list of states allowing nuclear-generating power stations. thegleaner.com

In the nation’s first legal challenge of Chinese procurement of American nuclear know-how, the government has scored a victory in procuring the cooperation of the engineer prosecutors say was an operative for China, federal court records show. usatoday.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       The Prime Minister of Japan bet heavily on nuclear power for domestic power production and for major export sales to foreign nations. Major Japanese nuclear technology corporations also bet on nuclear power for expansion and profit. Now one of those corporations finds itself in serious financial difficulty related to its nuclear power business.

       In 2006, Toshiba bought the Westinghouse nuclear division, one of the biggest manufacturers of nuclear reactors in the world for about five and a half billion dollars. In 2006, the outlook for nuclear power was bullish with plans for nuclear reactor construction on the rise.

      The March 2011 nuclear disaster at Fukushima shut down all of Japan’s power reactors and cooled public acceptance of nuclear power and investor interest. Nonetheless, the PM was still sold on nuclear power and is pushing to restart many of Japan’s power reactors. Many nuclear power plant projects were put on hold around the world while countries studied Fukushima and made changes to their nuclear reactor safety regulations. The nuclear industry including Toshiba experienced a downturn in orders and profits.

       In mid-2015, Toshiba became embroiled in an accounting scandal. Toshiba overstated profits by over a billion dollars while understating costs on some projects. Two high-level executives had put serious pressure on subordinates to meet ambitious but unrealistic sales projections. Toshiba responded by replacing eight of its sixteen members of the board of directors. Japan is trying to exert more control over the governance of its large corporations including Toshiba.

         At the end of 2015, Toshiba lost about twenty percent of its market value due to a write-down of billions of dollars on its U.S. nuclear subsidiary, Westinghouse. Westinghouse has been working on the construction of new reactors in the U.S. and Toshiba reports serious problems with the competence and productivity of the U.S. workforce resulting on serious cost overruns.

         Westinghouse is still assessing the problems and reviewing the finances of the eight reactor projects in the U.S. It is still not known whether or not the problems will impact construction and completion of the eight U.S. reactor projects. Some of Westinghouse problems stem from acquisition of a nuclear equipment firm. The whole nuclear industry is struggling to find skilled workers, maintain quality control and meet increasingly stringent regulatory requirements from national regulators.

         All over the world, reactor construction projects are experiencing scheduling delays and cost overruns. It can be difficult to obtain financing for new reactor builds as investors remain skeptical about the future of the nuclear power industry. Downturns in electricity demand, dropping costs for fossil fuels and renewable are having a severe impact on nuclear power expansion. Vietnam recently canceled a nuclear reactor project that had been in the works for years. Other countries are rethinking the need for nuclear power.

       With respect to Toshiba, the problems with Westinghouse are so serious that Toshiba is talking about possibly selling its semiconductor division, the most profitable division, to cover its liabilities. Problems with its nuclear subdivision may actually bring an end to this Japanese technology giant. It appears that rosy projections for the nuclear power industry may be fantasy.

 

This month the state should get some more information about the expected closure of the Palisades nuclear plant near South Haven. michiganradio.org

President-elect Donald Trump’s tweets not only breach a sacred U.S. presidential taboo; they are also likely to usher in an era of uncertainty and fear not seen since World War II. haaretz.com

German power utilities E.ON (EONGn.DE) and RWE (RWEG.DE) are able to cover their contributions to the country’s nuclear waste storage costs in one lump-sum payment, the chief executives of both groups were quoted as saying on Monday. uk.reuters.com

Following reports of the Indian government asking French and American nuclear companies interested in building atomic plants in the country to furnish details of functional reactors designed by them, the group opposing a nuclear power plant at Jaitapur has announced a one-day protest on January 25. thehindu.com