Russian Explosion. An explosion of some sort at a large Russian uranium enrichment plant in the Urals last wseek has reportedly killed one worker, although details are sparse and state-owned nuclear monopoly Rosatom is playing down the event. The first account, from the now all-digital magazine Newsweek, was somewhat breathless. “More than 100 people have been hospitalized and one person was killed after an explosion at a uranium enrichment plant in Russia’s Urals region—the largest of its kind in the world—according to local media reports,” Newsweek reported.
A follow-up provided Rosatom’s take on the event: “Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, which owns the Ural Electrochemical Combine in Novouralsk, said a cylinder with depleted uranium hexafluoride was ‘depressurized’ at around 9 a.m. local time [July 14]. Russian media outlets often use euphemisms such as ‘loud bang’ or ‘depressurized’ instead of ‘blast’ or ‘explosion,’ allegedly to avoid sowing panic and maintain a favorable information landscape.”
Rosatom confirmed that a 65-year-old technician was killed in the event. The company said radiation levels around the plant were at “normal” levels. The International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna had no published information about the event.
The Ural Electrochemical Combine in Novouralks is a subsidiary of TVEL (Rosatom group). It was originally constructed in 1949 to use gaseous diffusion technology to produce weapons-grade uranium for the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons program. The plant moved to centrifuge enrichment making low-enriched uranium for civilian reactors, and also collaborated with China in helping that nation develop centrifuge enrichment.
According to the World Nuclear Association, Novouralks is one of four Rosatom enrichment plants, producing some 25 million separative work units annually, making Russia the world’s leading producer of civilian nuclear power fuel. According to Wikipedia, Novouralks has 49% of Russia’s enrichment capacity.
Hot Water. A prolonged European heat wave has caused nuclear power plants in France and Hungary to cut production. River water temperatures have caused both power reductions. In France, Reuters reports, state-owned Electricity de France was preparing to halve the output from the 3.6 gigawatt Bugey plant and the 2.6 GW Saint Alban plant from July 13 and July 16 because of elevated cooling water temperatures in the Rhone River. The same event, only larger, occurred last year.
The news service reported, “Kpler analyst Emeric de Vigan said the restrictions were likely to have little effect on output in practice, with cuts likely only at the weekend or midday when solar output was at its peak, so that the impact on power prices would be slim.”
In Hungary, Reuters reported July 14, heated Danube River water forced power cut backs a Hungary’s Paks plant “at three of its four reactors by a combined 240 MW due to the rising temperature of the Danube river, the plant’s operator said late on Thursday.
“It said the temperature of the Danube, whose water is used to cool the plant, reached 29.72 degrees Celsius on Thursday, forcing the cut in output from 1430 GMT. The operator did not specify when power could be restored to nominal levels.” Paks is a 2,000-MW Soviet era VVER pressurized water. Hungary’s only nuclear plant, construction began in 1967 and the plant was commissioned in 1982.
Zaporizhzhia. What’s Russia’s plan for its occupation of the Ukrainian giant Zaporizhzhia nuclear installation? That’s a question that’s been on many minds since the Russians took over Europe’s largest nuclear station in March 2022. The Economist recently headlined an article, “Zaporizhia braces itself for Russian nuclear tricks” [The Brits seem to have adopted there own spelling of the name of the plant]. Le Monde July 11 published a letter from a group of European intellectuals asserting, “According to numerous concordant reports, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (Enerhodar) is riddled with mines and explosives. More specifically, according to Ukrainian intelligence services, the Russian army has placed explosives in four of the six units at the plant.”
The situation at the plant is confusing at best, as Ukrainian technicians control to control the plant, which is not generating power, while Russia forces govern the operations. Following a recent inspection, the International Atomic Energy Agency wrote that the plant is “preparing to move reactor unit 4 from cold shutdown to hot shutdown – after which unit 5, currently in hot shutdown, will be placed in cold shutdown in order to carry out preventive maintenance activities that are only possible in cold shutdown. The other units remain in cold shutdown.”
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said inspectors have not seen any mines or explosives at the plant, but have not yet been able to inspect the rooftops of units 3 and 4, where there have been claims that mines have been placed there. He added that the “nuclear safety and security situation remains very precarious.”
UK SMR Competition. Britian has officially launched its second competition for government support for development of small modular reactors, Reuters reported Tuesday (July 18). Grant Shapps, energy minister, said the aim is to have SMRs selected by 2030, as the country’s experience with large, site-built reactors has not been particularly successful. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt announced in March that another SMR competition was coming, after a competition rolled out in 2015 failed in 2017.
Reuters said, “Britain is to seeking increase its nuclear power capacity to 24 gigawatts (GW) by 2050 as part of efforts to meet climate targets and boost energy security. That would meet around a quarter of projected electricity demand, compared with 14% today,” adding, “The new Great British Nuclear body, also launched on Tuesday, will select technologies that have met the criteria later this year.”
World Nuclear News reported, “The detailed timeline published on Tuesday says the first stage, of market intelligence gathering, concluded in June 2023, with the ‘technology initial down-selection, launched in July, concluding in Autumn 2023’. It adds that “the next phase to launch as quickly as possible after that … successful technologies will be supported to be ready to enable a Final Investment Decision by 2029.”
–Kennedy Maize
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