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AFP: Japanese firms to develop small nuclear reactors
Japan's major nuclear reactor manufacturers have begun developing small nuclear power systems for both developed and emerging countries, a report said on Saturday.
Toshiba Corp. is developing an ultra-compact reactor with an output of about 10,000 kilowatts and has started procedures for approval in the United States, the Nikkei business daily said.
The new reactor, the Toshiba 4S, is designed to minimise the need for monitoring and maintenance, with an automatic shutdown function to ensure safety in case of problems, the newspaper said.
Greentech Media: Experts: Energy Department Should ‘Immediately Halt’ Plans to Issue Taxpayer-Backed Loan Guarantees
Not only does the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) objection last week to major problems in the AP1000 reactor design call into serious question the future of over half of proposed new reactors in the United States (14 of 25), it also means that it would be “grossly imprudent” for the Department of Energy (DOE) to proceed with its plans for loan guarantees for new reactors that are not finalized and licensed.
Four experts delivered that stern warning during a news conference today urging the DOE to halt controversial plans to issue nuclear loan guarantees “soon,” according to Energy Secretary Chu. These guarantees are part of the DOE’s Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program. Two of the four new nuclear projects that the DOE is reported to be considering for taxpayer-backed loan guarantees are AP1000 designs proposed by the Southern Company at the Vogtle site in Georgia and the South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) V.C. Summer site.
NRC - NRC Informs Westinghouse of Safety Issues with AP1000 Shield Building
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has informed Westinghouse that the company has not demonstrated that certain structural components of the revised AP1000 shield building can withstand design basis loads. An NRC letter to Westinghouse states that progress on the shield building review will require the company to provide modifications to the design, as well as testing that demonstrates the building will perform its intended safety function under design basis loads. The staff will continue its review of the remainder of the AP1000 design certification amendment application.
As the name implies, the AP1000 shield building would protect the reactor’s primary containment from severe weather and other events. The building’s other functions would include providing a radiation barrier during normal operation and supporting an emergency cooling water tank.
“We’ve been talking to Westinghouse regularly about the shield building since October 2008, and we’ve consistently laid out our questions to the company,” said Michael Johnson, director of the NRC’s Office of New Reactors. “This is a situation where fundamental engineering standards will have to be met before we can begin determining whether the shield building meets the agency’s requirements.”
Associated Press: NRC raises concern about new reactor design
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission raised safety concerns Thursday with the design of a proposed next-generation reactor to be built by Westinghouse Electric Co., saying a key part of the reactor may not withstand a tornado, earthquake or even high winds.
The NRC staff directed Westinghouse to make changes in the reactor design so that its outer shell, which is supposed to protect the reactor's concrete containment structure, is strengthened. The staff concluded the outer steel and composite structure does not meet the design requirements for safety.
The reactor, called the AP1000, is one of three next-generation reactor designs under NRC review. The others are being proposed by Areva Inc., the French nuclear company, and GE Hitachi Corp.
But the AP1000 is one of the most popular and has been widely viewed as likely to be the first of the new reactors to be built in the United States. At least seven utilities have selected the reactor design in preliminary applications filed with the NRC, anticipating the potential construction of 14 units.
NASA tests nuclear powered Stirling engine for future Moon and Mars bases
NASA is testing a concept for powering future lunar and Mars bases that involve a nuclear power source the size of a trash can attached to an engine based on 19th Century technology called the Stirling Engine. The testing, using a non nuclear power source, is taking place at the Marshal Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
According to NASA, “For this particular test series, the Marshall reactor simulator was linked to a Stirling engine, developed by NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The Stirling engine, named for 19th-century industrialist and inventor Robert Stirling, converts heat into electricity.
TVA backs firm exploring small nuclear reactors » Knoxville News Sentinel
Small nuclear reactors — like a mini-car versus a Hummer — are on the drawing board of the nuclear industry, which has been hard-pressed to get financing for the standard-size models.
The Tennessee Valley Authority has agreed to help one nuclear power company, Babcock & Wilcox of Lynchburg, Va., gain certification for such a scaled-down version.
The reactors would be a tenth of the normal size and suitable for a community of 100,000 residents. The atom-splitting operations and radioactive waste would be stored underground, which advocates say offers more protection from airplane sabotage by terrorists.
Photos: Inside a nuclear reactor | ZDNet Photo Gallery
Technicians in the Idaho National Lab's Advanced Test Reactor work to place an object into the reactor below. Though there is little measurable radiation in the area where they're working, they wear the suits as a precaution. In order to maneuver the object, they use very long-handled tools, which are capable of reaching far down into the reactor.
The Idaho National Lab is, among other things, the U.S. Department of Energy's leading nuclear research institution, and its employees are working on developing the technology behind what would be known as the "fourth-generation" nuclear reactors, facilities that many hope will help provide large amounts of energy with little additional carbon footprint.
Peak Energy: "New" Nuclear Reactors, Same Old Story
AMory Lovins has a look at various new forms of nuclear power being touted as the next big thing - "New" Nuclear Reactors, Same Old Story.
he dominant type of new nuclear power plant, light-water reactors (LWRs), proved unfinanceable in the robust 2005–08 capital market, despite new U.S. subsidies approaching or exceeding their total construction cost. New LWRs are now so costly and slow that they save 2–20x less carbon, 20–40x slower, than micropower and efficient end-use.1 As this becomes evident, other kinds of reactors are being proposed instead—novel designs claimed to solve LWRs’ problems of economics, proliferation, and waste.2 Even climate-protection pioneer Jim Hansen says these “Gen IV” reactors merit rapid R&D.3 But on closer examination, the two kinds most often promoted—Integral Fast Reactors (IFRs) and thorium reactors4—reveal no economic, environmental, or security rationale, and the thesis is unsound for any nuclear reactor.
Modular Nuclear Reactors - B&W
The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) plans to deploy the B&W mPowerTM reactor - a scalable, modular, passively safe, advanced light water reactor system.
The B&W mPower reactor, with its scalable, modular design, has the capacity to provide 125 MWe to 750 MWe or more for a five-year operating cycle without refueling, and is designed to produce clean, near-zero emission operations.
A newly formed entity, B&W Modular Nuclear Energy, LLC, will lead the development, licensing and delivery of B&W mPower reactor projects.
Features of the B&W mPower reactor include:
Nuclear designs under the microscope
Designs for new nuclear power stations that could be built in this country will be under public scrutiny from today.
EU law requires that before any new nuclear power station is built, their designs must be 'Justified'. This involves a generic assessment to determine whether the overall benefit of the practice of ionising radiation outweighs any associated health detriment.
Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change Mike O'Brien said: "This Justification process is yet another example of the facilitative actions the government is taking to support new nuclear power in the UK. At the same time it gives people the opportunity to have their say on the benefits and detriments of the practices involved."
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