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HSE reports on nuclear reactor designs
Interim assessment reports for two nuclear power station designs being considered for construction in the UK have been made public today.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published the reports on Step 3 of its Generic Design Assessment of the designs put forward by EDF/AREVA and Westinghouse.
The GDA process enables the HSE and the Environment Agency (EA) to assess new nuclear power station designs before an application for a site licence has been received.
The reports concerning EDF/AREVA’s EPR design and Westinghouse’s AP1000 reflect progress to date and highlight issues to be resolved during the next phase, a detailed assessment which will conclude in June 2011.
Nuclear plans still flawed, says watchdog - Times Online
The nuclear safety regulator has warned that two new reactor designs earmarked for use in Britain remain incomplete and could be rejected unless improvements are made.
The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) said that it was concerned about several features of both the US-Japanese and French reactor technologies that had been proposed for use in a new generation of British nuclear power stations.
The NII, which is part of the Health and Safety Executive, is conducting a safety review of the so-called AP-1000 reactor from Toshiba-Westinghouse and the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) from Areva of France.
Final approval of the designs is not due to be granted until 2011, but an update on progress said that significant questions remained unanswered.
Nuclear reactors contain safety flaws, watchdog reveals | Business | guardian.co.uk
In the race to provide energy for the nation's future, two multinational companies have led the way with designs for reactors that promised clean, green electricity with unprecedented safety.
But detailed reviews by the Health and Safety Executive highlight a series of shortcomings in security and safety systems in both reactors that must be fixed or redesigned before the power plants can be approved for construction.
Safety officials reviewed plans from the European companies, Areva and EDF, which make the EPR reactor, and similar documents for the AP1000 reactor built by the American multinational power company, Westinghouse, and ruled that both need to improve the safety of their power plants before they can be approved for construction.
FT.com / Europe - French nuclear watchdog exposed
Andre-Claude Lacoste was taken aback when French politicians demanded a public inquiry into the country’s nuclear industry a few weeks ago.
The head of France’s Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) could not understand why his joint letter with two other European regulators demanding design changes to a new-generation EPR reactor being built in France, Finland and soon in the UK, should have prompted a storm in a country traditionally supportive of nuclear power.
The Energy Collective | Hyperion reveals design details of its 25 MW reactor
Hyperion Power Generation, which is designing a small, 25 MWe, nuclear reactor, revealed design details Nov 18 (slides) about the company's product at the winter meeting of the American Nuclear Society taking place in Washington, DC.
This is the first release of reactor design information by the company. It marks the kick-off of the firm’s pre-application process with the NRC for safety analysis review that leads to a reactor design certification decision by the agency.
NRC to Meet With Toshiba on Nuclear-Reactor Design (Correct) - Bloomberg.com
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Toshiba Corp. next week to discuss the safety of its proposed AP1000 nuclear-reactor design.
Toshiba’s Westinghouse unit will address the commission’s concern about the structural integrity of the silo-shaped shield building that would contain the reactor and trap radioactivity in an accident, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said today in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York bureau.
Containment buildings at existing reactors were poured at the site as a solid piece of steel-reinforced concrete, Jaczko said. Toshiba wants to piece the building together from sections, he said.
“Where the staff has some concerns is how those things are tied together,” Jaczko said. “When you’re dealing with the kinds of accident scenarios that we look at, or hurricanes or tornados or seismic events, will that structure maintain its integrity?”
Joint Regulatory Position Statement on the EPR Pressurised Water Reactor
The UK nuclear safety regulator (HSE's ND), the French nuclear regulator (ASN), and the Finnish nuclear regulator (STUK) are currently working to assess the EPR Pressurised Water Reactor.
In carrying out individual assessments, we have all raised issues regarding the EPR Control and Instrumentation (C&I) systems, which the proposed licensees and/or the manufacturer (AREVA) are in the process of addressing.
Although the EPR design being developed for each country varies slightly, the issues we raised with the current C&I system are broadly similar, our aim being to collectively obtain the highest levels of safety from the EPR.
The issue is primarily around ensuring the adequacy of the safety systems (those used to maintain control of the plant if it goes outside normal conditions), and their independence from the control systems (those used to operate the plant under normal conditions).
Areva shares fall over nuclear safety concerns | Markets | Markets News | Reuters
* New reactor design criticised by French politicians
* Follows calls for modification by nuclear safety bodies
* Shares close almost 4 percent down
PARIS, Nov 3 (Reuters) - A new generation of French nuclear power reactors came under attack on Tuesday as opposition parties called for an inquiry into their security systems, after three nuclear safety bodies asked for changes to their design.
In a rare joint statement, nuclear safety bodies in France, Britain and Finland on Monday ordered France's Areva (CEPFi.PA) and EDF (EDF.PA) to modify the safety features on its European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) due to insufficient independence between the day-to-day systems and the emergency systems.
Opponents to nuclear power latched on to the news, with France's opposition socialist party calling for a parliamentary inquiry.
France's Areva agrees to modify reactor design | Reuters
France's Areva (CEPFi.PA) said on Monday it would modify the design of its European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) before the end of the year, following a request by the French, UK and Finnish nuclear safety bodies.
The bodies asked in a joint statement that the control and safety systems within the reactor be independent from each other to avoid both systems failing at the same time.
"The safety of the EPR is not called into question," a spokeswoman at the world's largest nuclear reactor maker told Reuters.
HSE issues nuclear alert - Building
Watchdog warns £20bn programme faces delay unless reactor designers improve performance
The UK’s £20bn nuclear programme is facing delays because of a failure to tackle design problems with their reactors, the Health and Safety Executive has warned.
A report by the HSE, seen by Building, said the two firms in the running to build the reactors had to put more resources into dealing with the safety assessment process if it was to be completed on time.
One of them, Japanese-owned Westinghouse, came in for particular criticism for failing to provide a report on external hazards such as flooding.
Group predicts more problems at nuke site - al.com
Westinghouse vows to fix all the issues raised by regulators
SCOTTSBORO - Westinghouse's failure to show that a shield building for a proposed nuclear plant near Scottsboro is structurally safe is "the tip of the iceberg of problems that lie ahead" for the project, said Lou Zeller, director of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League.
Zeller said Friday that cracks could cause the steel and concrete buildings housing a nuclear reactor to leak into the air outside the plant.
But Westinghouse spokesman Scott Shaw said that the plant "wouldn't be licensed" if that were the case.
Zeller said containment buildings at older nuclear plants are "showing signs of wear and tear," including cracks.
But Shaw said Westinghouse designed a concrete building with steel plates to prevent any leaks, instead of steel-reinforced bars used in previous nuclear plant designs.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday informed Westinghouse, designer of the AP1000 plant proposed at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Bellefonte site, that it will need to modify its design.
NRC orders changes in reactors set for S.C. - Local / Metro - The State
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is raising safety concerns a proposed new reactor designed by Westinghouse, two of which South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. and Santee Cooper plan to install at their existing plant north of Columbia.
A key part of the reactor may not withstand a tornado, earthquake or even high winds, NRC said.
The commission staff has directed Westinghouse to make changes in the reactor design so its outer shell, which protects the reactor's containment structure, is strengthened. The staff concluded the steel and concrete structure of the AAP-1000 reactor does not meet safety design requirements.
SCE&G spokesman Robert Yanity said Thursday the redesign is not expected to affect the schedule of the South Carolina reactors, which are set to come online by 2016 and 2019, respectively.
The project at the V.C. Summer nuclear station near Jenkinsville is projected to cost $10 billion. Utility officials hope to have a combined operating and construction license in hand by 2011.
Westinghouse Statement Regarding NRC News Release on AP1000(TM) Shield Building
The U.S. NRC has informed Westinghouse that the proposed design of the shield building for its AP1000(TM) nuclear power plant will require either additional analysis, testing or actual design modifications to ensure compliance with NRC requirements.
As a result of our understanding of the requirements, Westinghouse fully expected that the NRC would require additional analysis, testing or actual design modifications to the shield building. In fact, we had already begun to address certain portions of the design. We have fully committed the resources necessary to both quickly and definitively address the NRC's concerns, and we are confident that we will meet all applicable requirements.
Westinghouse continues to work toward our goal of receiving Design Amendment Certification from the NRC in 2011, and we continue to work to bring the first AP1000s online in the United States in the 2016 timeframe.
GE Hitachi advances new nuclear reactor design | Green Business | Reuters
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy said on Wednesday it has submitted the revised design documents for its Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
GE Hitachi said the submission marks a milestone in the company's effort to move forward with the 1,520-megawatt design which two U.S. utilities have selected to use for two new nuclear plants, some of the first reactors proposed after a three-decade lapse in U.S. nuclear expansion.
Two other U.S. utilities dropped the ESBWR design fearing that the time needed to obtain NRC certification would slow their efforts to pursue construction of new reactors.
The Outlook for Nuclear Power in the U.S. - WSJ.com
The next generation of nuclear reactors is on its way, and supporters say they will be safer, cheaper and more efficient than current plants. Here's a look at what's coming -- and when.
If there ever were a time that seemed ripe for nuclear energy, it's now.
For the first time in decades, popular opinion is on the industry's side. A majority of Americans thinks nuclear power, which emits virtually no carbon dioxide, is a safe and effective way to battle climate change, according to recent polls. At the same time, legislators are showing renewed interest in nuclear as they hunt for ways to slash greenhouse-gas emissions.
South Africa: Pebble bed study flawed, claims NGO
A key assessment document for the proposed pebble bed nuclear reactor was fatally flawed, the Public Service Accountability Monitor said on Tuesday.
A decision on whether to go ahead with a PBMR demonstration project involved choices on the use of substantial public resources, the Grahamstown-based NGO said.
It said the socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA) carried out on the project did not give the public the information it needed to participate meaningfully in these decisions.
It said the SEIA was based on a proposal for a 400 megawatt demonstration unit.
However the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Pty) Limited (PBMR) website now said the reactor was "designated DPP200".
The safety inadequacies of India's fast breeder reactor | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
* India's Department of Atomic Energy plans to build a large fleet of fast breeder nuclear reactors in the coming years.
* However, many other countries that have experimented with fast reactors have shut down their programs due to technical and safety difficulties.
* The Indian prototype is similarly flawed, inadequately protected against the possibility of a severe accident.
India's Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is planning a large expansion of nuclear power, in which fast breeder reactors play an important role. Fast breeder reactors are attractive to the DAE because they produce (or "breed") more fissile material than they use. The breeder reactor is especially attractive in India, which hopes to develop a large domestic nuclear energy program even though it has primarily poor quality uranium ore that is expensive to mine.
OpEdNews » Revolutionary Thorium Reactor - The most environmentally beneficial power source on earth
There are many so-called "Generation IV" nuclear reactor designs being studied to replace the world's aging fleet of light water nuclear power plants. Light water nuclear reactors use ordinary H2O to moderate nuclear fission, for cooling, and to create steam for running turbines. All of the newer reactor designs have clear advantages over the old light water standard. China and South Africa are rapidly perusing meltdown proof pebble bed reactor technology, and the Idaho National Laboratory is experimenting with prismatic block reactors, reported to be even more efficient and stable. Most of the proposed new designs represent evolutionary improvements, but the LFT (liquid fluoride thorium) reactor design is truly revolutionary. LFT reactors are an earth friendly power source that solves all of the major problems associated with nuclear power.
Viability of new small nuclear power reactors could be postponed by budget realities - Ohio Power & Utilities News – cleveland.com
The viability of a new generation of small nuclear power reactors, hailed by industry and several political leaders Wednesday, could be postponed by the realities of budgets and economics.
Federal regulators say they are in no position to start reviewing plans for a new, smaller nuclear reactor like the one rolled out Wednesday by Babcock & Wilcox, a global company with facilities in Euclid and Barberton.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission even recently told the company to wait, as the agency confirmed to The Plain Dealer on Wednesday.
The NRC simply lacks the money and staff to start reviewing prospective plans, especially when it has proposals for larger reactors that utility companies have committed to installing. Babcock & Wilcox's proposed "mPower" reactor, which could bring jobs to Ohio, has no committed user or site.
B&W signs MOU with utilities on fleet of 125-MW nuclear units
Babcock and Wilcox, the Tennessee Valley Authority and a consortium of municipal and cooperative utilities have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the construction of a fleet of B&W's modular, 125-MW nuclear reactors in the US, B&W said Wednesday. B&W also said that it has received a letter of intent from TVA stating the federal utility will "begin the process of evaluating a potential lead plant site" for the B&W mPower reactor. The company added that it has assembled a "global team of potential future customers to support the development of the reactor" to ensure it meets customer and regulatory requirements in North America, Europe and elsewhere.
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