Some interesting recent nuclear news items worth reporting, at a time of the year when vacations dominate business and news is slow.
Vogtle: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday (Aug. 3) gave thumbs up for Georgia Power to begin startup operations at its Vogtle 3 nuclear unit, signing off on the second phase of the first and possibly last of the NRC’s combined construction and operating license procedure.
“This is the first time we’ve authorized a reactor’s initial startup through our Part 52 licensing process,” said Andrea Veil, director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. “Before authorization, we independently verified that Vogtle Unit 3 has been properly built and will protect public health and safety when it transitions to operation. Our resident inspectors at Vogtle will keep a close eye on Unit 3 as the fuel load and startup testing move forward. We’re focused on safety so the country can use Vogtle’s additional carbon-free electricity. We will maintain this focus as we license the next generation of new reactors.”
The NRC green light means the 1,000-MW Westinghouse APR pressurized water reactor, joining two earlier units at the Waynesboro, Ga., site, could be in commercial operation in early 2023. Construction, along with sister unit 4, began in 2009 after repeated delays, both units are billions of dollars over the initial budget.
Georgia Power, the Southern Co. subsidiary that will operate the plant, said in a news release, “Over the next several weeks, well-trained and highly qualified nuclear technicians will continue work required to support loading of fuel, which is already onsite, into the unit’s reactor. This will be followed by several months of startup testing and operations.”
Hinkley Point B: One of the six last operating nuclear units in Great Britain, Hinkley B, shut down Tuesday (Aug. 2), after 46 years of operation. The Times of London cleverly headlined the news, “It’s fission accomplished for Hinkley B.” French nuclear colossus Electricite de France, (EDF), which operated the unit, said it prematurely shut down the 840-MW advanced graphite reactor after discovering cracks in the graphite blocks that make up the reactor core.
Hinkley B construction began in 1967 and the plant began operating eight years later in 1976. No new nukes have been built in the UK since Sizewell B, an 1,195-MW conventional pressurized water reactor, the only one in Britain, began operating in 1995.
Britain’s once-ambitious nuclear program began with a unique technology, Magnox, which uses natural (unenriched) uranium as a fuel, graphite as a neutron moderator, and CO2 as a coolant and heat exchange medium. The technology was designed for dual-used, civilian and military, purposes. The name derives from the magnesium-aluminum fuel cladding. The technology, used in 11 units built between 1962 and 1972, was notoriously inefficient. Great Britain’s Central Electricity Generating Board replaced the Magnox technology with its own Advanced Graphite Reactor (AGR) designs. AGRs (seven units from 1968 to 1976), also graphite moderate and CO2 cooled, were a bit of an improvement.
Deutschland: Germany, faced with major shortages of Russian natural gas heading into fall and winter, is burning more coal and reassessing its long-held policy of shutting its once robust nuclear program. The Wall Street Journal reported, “German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said for the first time that his government could postpone the planned closure of its remaining nuclear reactors, as he criticized a decision by Russia to constrain gas flows to Germany—a move that could deal a severe blow to Europe’s largest economy.”
More than 20 years ago, Germany adopted a policy of phasing out its nuclear program, which featured 19 operating reactors at the time. In 2000, the governing coalition of Social Democrats and the Green Party, under Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, agreed to abandon nuclear in favor of renewable technologies, primarily wind and solar. This energy transition (Energiewende) gathered steam (pun intended) with the rise of long-time Chancellor Angela Merkel (2005-2021), and her reaction to the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine this year may have scuttled the nuclear plant shutdowns and given rebirth to coal, perhaps only temporarily. According to the Journal, a recent poll by the German organization INSA found that “around 70% of Germans are now in favor of extending the life of nuclear reactors,” and that “a proposal to put off the shutdown has been gaining traction within Mr. Scholz’s government, which is composed of the Social Democrats, the Greens and the business-friendly Free Democrats.”
France: Soaring temperatures hitting 36 C (97 F) in France likely will force EDF to curtail power from its already staggering nuclear program, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (Aug. 3). According to the report, river (and plant cooling water) temperatures are rising dramatically, “bringing the energy crisis in the European Union’s second-largest economy into sharp focus.”
EDF power curtailments affect much of Western Europe, including Germany and the UK, pushing up electricity prices. The giant, 56-unit largely state-owned French nuclear program is already facing sever problems. The system features aging plants, several of which have closed for inspections and repairs in recent months.
Crocodile nursery: The ever-lively New York Post reports a nuclear-wildlife story. “Located just south of Miami, American crocodiles have come to call the Florida Power and Light Company’s Turkey Point Nuclear Plant home.
Since the first hatchlings were discovered at the plant in 1978, it has become a popular nesting ground for the area’s reptilian residents.” Crocs (which no doubt would like to eat turkeys) like the FPL plant, according to University of Florida wildlife biologist Mike Lloret. “It’s prime crocodile habitat” he said. “Essentially, they’re attracted to come into our areas thanks to our raised berms, which allow the females to nest away from flooding.”
–Kennedy Maize
Twitter (@kennedy maize)