A nuclear worker at the Fukushima power plant almost caused another meltdown after accidentally switching off a vital cooling pump to one of its reactors.  dailymail.co.uk

Britain’s nuclear power stations are at risk from tsunamis caused by undersea landslides, scientists have warned. rt.com

Nuclear technology could join the list of China-made goods with high-tech features, such as high-speed rail, and could become a new facet of the country’s export portfolio with nuclear power projects in Pakistan serving as a touchstone and leading to more opportunities in the global market, experts said on Monday. globaltimes.cn

The Radical Party faction of the Ukrainian parliament is seeking to withdraw Ukraine’s membership of the 1968 international treaty which bans the development of nuclear weapons and keeps nuclear technology in check. rt.com

 

        An 18-member team from the International Atomic Energy Agency carried out an Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission to evaluate the regulatory framework for nuclear and radiation safety in Italy in late November of this year. Fourteen experts from Sweden, France, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Slovenia, Cuba, Luxembourg, Spain and Hungary, plus four International Atomic Energy Agency staff members, spent 12 days in Italy. The mission was hosted by the Italian government and the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research’s (ISPRA’s) nuclear, technological and industrial risk department.

       The IRRS carries out these review missions in order to ” strengthen the effectiveness of the national radiation safety regulatory infrastructure, while recognizing the responsibility of each member state to ensure nuclear and radiation safety.” The IRRS review compares the nuclear regulatory frameworks in a member country with IAEA standards and best practices in the international nuclear industry. The review results in a report that identifies good nuclear regulatory practices in the nation hosting the review and also points out area for improvement.

      The review verified that Italy has a regulatory framework for nuclear safety. Italy has “state of the art” practices with respect to decommissioning nuclear reactors and handling nuclear waste. There is a comprehensive database and analytical software for evaluating nuclear transport issues. And, the IRRS review concluded that Italy has excellent training for radiation protection experts.

      The IRRS review identified areas where Italy could improve its framework for regulating nuclear safety. Italy should continue working on national policies for safety, decommissioning and radioactive waste management. It also recommended that Italy complete work on legal frameworks for “the approval of technical services, the establishment of national databases related to safety and improvements in aspects of the authorization process.” 

       The IRRS review suggested that an integrated management and communication system should be developed for the new NSRP regulatory board and said that Italy should improve the regulation of “review and assessment, authorization, inspection, emergency preparedness and response, and occupational and public exposure control.”

        The ISPRA Director said, “The effort made by ISPRA staff to conduct the self-assessment and to host the IRRS mission as well as the commendable work done by the IRRS team will provide very useful basis for further improving our national regulatory system for nuclear safety and radiation protection.”

       Italy has operated four nuclear power reactors in the past but decided to abandon the use of nuclear power following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. The last two power reactors were shut down in 1990. The Management Company for Nuclear Plants was created to oversee the decommissioning of the old nuclear power plants and to locate a site for the permanent disposal of nuclear waste. Italy still operates five research reactors and utilizes nuclear radiations sources for medical, industrial and research applications.

        Legislation was passed in 2014 in Italy to create the Inspectorate for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (NSRP) which will take over the duties for nuclear regulation from ISPRA which has had that responsibility for many years.

 

With more than 74,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel stored at locations around the United States, ensuring the safety of moving it to more secure disposal sites is a top federal priority. physorg.com

Germany’s highest court will rule next week on whether the country’s decision to exit nuclear power was legal, helping to determine whether or not three power firms can pursue damage claims of up to 19 billion euros ($20.16 billion). in.reuters.com

The deal Exelon announced yesterday with Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner to save its nuclear power plants appears to be teetering today. Rauner’s staff has found problems it didn’t anticipate now that the bill language purporting to carry out the governor’s agreement with the Chicago-based energy company is out. chicagobusiness.com

The U.K. government’s approval of Hinkley Point C in September has clearly injected a new belief and momentum into a sector all-too familiar with false dawns. constructionnews.com

 

With more than 74,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel stored at locations around the United States, ensuring the safety of moving it to more secure disposal sites is a top federal priority. physorg.com

Germany’s highest court will rule next week on whether the country’s decision to exit nuclear power was legal, helping to determine whether or not three power firms can pursue damage claims of up to 19 billion euros ($20.16 billion). in.reuters.com

The deal Exelon announced yesterday with Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner to save its nuclear power plants appears to be teetering today. Rauner’s staff has found problems it didn’t anticipate now that the bill language purporting to carry out the governor’s agreement with the Chicago-based energy company is out. chicagobusiness.com

The U.K. government’s approval of Hinkley Point C in September has clearly injected a new belief and momentum into a sector all-too familiar with false dawns. constructionnews.com

 

       I have discussed the possible impact of the Brexit vote on the nuclear program of the U.K. That post was dedicated to nuclear fission. There are also issues about the future of nuclear fusion research in the U.K. and Europe related to the Brexit.

       Culham Centre for Fusion Research (CCFR) is the national laboratory for the U.K. for fusion research. It is located at the Culham Science Centre in Oxfordshire. The CCFR is owned and operated by the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).

        The current focus of the Centre is the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST) experiment. This experiment is funded by the U.K. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and by the European Union under the Euratom framework.

         The Centre also hosts the Joint European Torus (JET), the world’s largest magnetic fusion experiment on behalf of the E.U. European fusions scientists collectively share the use of the JET which is located next to the U.K. fusion experiment at the CCFR. The JET facility employs over five hundred people with over three hundred and fifty European scientists visiting the facility each year.

         With respect to the Brexit vote, the CEO of the UKAEA pointed out that the U.K. has been on the cutting edge of fusion research for fifty years and that “It would be bizarre and extreme for the UK to just leave these projects.” The U.K. has not yet commented on its plans for future involvement in the Euratom framework which will have to include the future of the JET. If the JET is decommissioned, there will be almost ten thousand cubic feet of radioactive waste left over which will cost in the neighborhood of three hundred and seventy million dollars to deal with.

       The JET experiment has logged a number of important milestones in the quest for nuclear fusion. Recently, JET has been used to run experiments that are aimed at helping to build the ITER fusion reactor in France. The continued operation of JET is critical to the ITER project. JET was scheduled to be concluded in 2018 but delays in the ITER project have resulted in plans to keep JET running past 2018. This is one of the issues that must be dealt with during the Brexit negotiations.

        In my previous post about the Brexit, I mentioned that there has been a discussion of continued U.K. involvement in the Euratom framework for nuclear cooperation among European nations. While Euratom is not one of the founding documents of the European Union, nonetheless, the U.K. exit from the E.U. will significantly impact its participation in  Euratom. One of the possibilities being discussed is to have the U.K. continue to participate in Euratom and JET for a few years after leaving the E.U. in order to allow time for negotiating an alternative framework for the U.K. to participate in nuclear cooperation with European nations after the U.K. E.U. exit.

      Some critics of the Brexit point out that legally, Parliament must vote to leave the E.U. While the Prime Minister has said that she will abide by the Brexit vote, she does not have the legal authority to remove the U.K. from the E.U. The backlash of the U.K. public against the anticipated problems associated with the Brexit might result in Parliament refusing to vote for the exit. This would certainly be to the benefit of the JET experiment and the work on ITER.

When it comes to powering your holiday lights, and most everything else, that’s Omaha Public Power District’s job. But now that the nuclear plant is offline north of Omaha and there’s public concern about keeping the juice flowing. ketv.com

Russia’s ,State Atomic  Energy Corporation, Rosatom, has, said that Nigeria should add nuclear energy to its energy mix to harness abundant benefits and most importantly improve its current power situation. vanguardngr.com

The South African energy department has come under fire for its procurement processes in the nuclear new build program. enca.com

Gérard Magnin, the former director of EDF who stepped down from the board in July in protest at the Hinkley Point C approval, says French nuclear industry is in its worst situation ever, and calls on UK to promote citizen solar. reneweconomy.com.au