This may be old news for some, but because many South African’s were on vacation between mid December and now, the news may have been missed.  With construction of AP1000 in China at full speed, this next step represents an acceleration of supply of AP1000s into the Western Hemisphere. We are now positioned to begin an exciting new phase in the deployment of our innovative AP1000 technology.

Our customers in Georgia and South Carolina can now proceed with their combined construction and operating license (COL) applications for the first AP1000 plants in the United States, for which preparations are already underway.  (See links) Together with interim approval given by the UK Regulators, momentum is building towards a positive nuclear future.

The AP1000 reactor is safe — but don’t just take Westinghouse’s word for it.

As Westinghouse works to bring clean, reliable and affordable energy to countries around the world, we fully expect to come under the scrutiny of numerous safety authorities. The communities in which our plants are running today, and those in which we hope to build tomorrow, have the right to expect our reactors to meet the very highest standards of safety.  For that reason, our engineers have always put safety at the heart of everything we do.

So we have been immensely proud — but not particularly surprised — to see our AP1000 reactor given two highly significant accolades recently by two of the world’s most rigorous and demanding regulatory bodies. In the United States the AP1000 design was awarded Final Design Certification by the country’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Across the Atlantic in the UK, the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the UK Environment Agency have jointly awarded Interim Generic Design Assessment approval to the plant.  These milestones are vital steps towards bringing the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor into commercial operation — delivering not just decades of clean and safe power to future generations, but also thousands of high-quality jobs during construction and operation.

Release on AP1000 Design Certification

Other Links with more information and images

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/video/new-nuclear-reactor-approved-for-us-15214440

http://www.multivu.com/mnr/53908-nrc-grants-design-certification-to-westinghouse-ap1000

http://ap1000.westinghousenuclear.com/

Date: 30 November 2011

MEDIA RELEASE ON NECSA GROUP CEO, DR ROB ADAM

The Chief Executive of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa), Dr Rob Adam, will be leaving Necsa after being at the helm of the corporation for six productive years. He will be pursuing an opportunity in the private sector from February 2012.

During Adam’s tenure as CEO, Necsa has stabilized and has once again taken its rightful place at the forefront of nuclear technology in South Africa. Adam has driven the set of national strategic initiatives leading to the adoption of nuclear power as a fundamental component of South Africa’s future reduced carbon generation mix very effectively.

Key achievements in the Necsa Group during the past six years include:

▪ The rise of NTP Radioisotopes to become one of the world’s top radiochemicals companies.

▪ Necsa Group turnover rising from around R600 million in 2006 to a projected R1,8 billion in

2012.

▪ The establishment of a globally competitive nuclear manufacturing division at Necsa, with

ASMEIII accreditation.

▪ The construction of the Necsa Visitor Centre as South Africa’s premier public understanding of science venue.

▪ The establishment of the Nuclear Skills Development Centre and the Decentralized Trade

Test Centre at Necsa, currently training and testing hundreds of artisans annually.

▪ Significant improvements in safety and security performance at Necsa.

▪ Converting the SAFARI-1 Reactor to operate on low enriched uranium (LEU) reactor fuel and LEU target plates for the production of medical radioisotopes,

▪ Necsa consistently obtaining unqualified audit reports from the Auditor General.

▪ Securing major international commercial partnerships such as with France, the USA, Australia and Algeria.

▪ The conceptualization of sweeping new initiatives, such as a replacement reactor for SAFARI‐1 and the anti-retroviral project, which redirects Pelchem’s fluorine technology competence towards the pharmaceutical industry.

In addition, Adam has exhibited great personal leadership qualities, which have been recognized, for example, by his being elected President of the Nuclear Industries Association of South Africa (NIASA) for four consecutive years, being awarded a Lifetime Achievers Award by the South African National Energy Association (SANEA) and recently being bestowed the National Order of Merit by the Government of France, in recognition of his achievements in promoting France‐South Africa scientific cooperation .

The Necsa Board takes this opportunity to wish Dr Rob Adam well in this new phase of his career.

Dr Manne Dipico (Chairperson)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Chantal Janneker 

Group Executive: Marketing and Communication

South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa)

Tel:      +27 12 305 5750

Fax:      +27 12 305 5751

Cell:     +27 83 488 3850

E-mail: chantal.janneker@necsa.co.za

Or

Elliot Mulane

Manager: Communication & Media Liaison

South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa)

Tel:      +27 12 305 5006

Fax:      +27 12 305 5062

Cell:     +27 78 803 5569

E-mail: elliot.mulane@necsa.co.za

2 Nov (NucNet): Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has confirmed that it has detected signs of nuclear fission reactions in unit number 2 at the shut-down Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan.

Tepco said particles from melted fuel in unit 2 at Fukushima-Daiichi might have “temporarily triggered a criticality incident”. This means the particles were of a configuration that could have led to a self-sustaining chain reaction.

In a statement the company said it began spraying boric acid on unit2 at

02:48 Japan time today to prevent accidental chain reactions. Tepco said it may have found xenon, which is associated with nuclear fission, while examining gases taken from the reactor.

Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said there have been no drastic changes in the reactor’s temperature and pressure level, and the reactor itself is stable overall.

Saying that criticality might have occurred temporarily or partially, Tepco said one hundred thousandth of a becquerel per cubic centimetre of

xenon-133 and xenon-135 was detected in gas samples.

Xenon-133 and xenon-135 are materials created through nuclear fission.

They are not usually detected even when a reactor is in operation because fuel rods are enclosed in gas-tight zirconium metal tubes. This means fission might have occurred in the melted fuel, or corium.

Corium, also called fuel containing material (FCM) or lava-like fuel containing material (LFCM), is a molten mixture of portions of nuclear reactor core, formed during a nuclear meltdown. It comprises of uranium fuel, fuel clads, and other core-internal material.

Yoshinori Moriyama, a NISA spokesman, told NucNet there is a possibility fission started from some small pieces of melted fuel. However, the fission was probably small and partial, he said, adding, “large-scale fission was unlikely”.

http://www.worldnuclear.org/

This statement was made here by Rob Adam, CEO of the Nuclear Energy Corporation of SA (Necsa), while answering questions during the presentation of the corporation's annual report to parliament's Portfolio Committee on Energy. Citing I-Net Bridge, Fin24 reported that in his presentation Adam pushed the idea that nuclear power was the cleanest and most cost effective form of energy.

"If you take the simple arithmetic, a 1,600MW nuclear reactor would cost around R50 billion, and so the total cost of the programme would not amount to more than R300 million to R400 billion at the top," he said.

The Department of Energy's integrated resource plan that aims to build the country's power generation over the next 20 to 30 years proposes construction of three new nuclear power stations with two 1 600 MW generators each. However, no firm plans have been disclosed about the details of the proposed nuclear build programme.

"The economics of a nuclear power plant are also very simple," Adam said. "One pays for it over 20 to 30 years and then it has a lifespan of between 40 to 60 years. The electricity can be sold for a long time after it has been paid off. There is a reason why Koeberg is Eskom's cash cow."

In answer to a question from MPs about Necsa being consulted on the nuclear build programme, Adam said it had not, but that this was understandable.

"It is human nature to believe that one has not been consulted as much as one should have, and we have been partly consulted. However, the information around the programme is being quite closely guarded within government," he explained.

Adam said nuclear was still the best way to increase the country's power generation while trying to reduce carbon emissions.

25 Jul (NucNet): Stable cooling of the reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan has been achieved with a facility now in operation to treat highly radioactive water that has leaked from reactor systems at the plant.

In an update released today the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) said the facility allows the injection of treated water into the reactors without increasing the amount of accumulated contaminated water on the site.

JAIF said the water injection “appears reliable” and heat generated in the reactors is being steadily removed.

Nitrogen is being injected into the reactor containment vessels and this has prevented further hydrogen explosions, JAIF said.

The main goal of the work being carried out at the plant, which was hit by an earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011, is establishing stable cooling and bringing the reactors to a state of cold shutdown.

JAIF also said enough storage facilities have been secured to prevent accumulated highly radioactive water from flowing out of the premises.

So far more than 23,000 tonnes of the water has been treated. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has been struggling to remove the water and has been concerned it might overflow from utility trenches outside the reactor buildings.

Three of the Fukushima-Daiichi plant’s boiling water reactors were in commercial operation at the time of the earthquake and tsunami, and all three suffered damaged reactor cores and partial fuel meltdown.

Goshi Hosono, Japan’s new minister for restoration from and prevention of nuclear accidents, said another key target of the remediation work – to see a steady decline in radiation doses – had also been achieved.

He said the maximum registered dosage exposure was approximately 1.7 millisieverts a year (mSv/yr) at monitoring posts and other areas around the periphery of the plant.

The legal radiation dose limit for nuclear workers is 20 mSv/yr and in emergency situations it is 250 mSv (accumulated whole-body dose).

Mr Hosono said assuming that radioactivity measured in the reactor buildings has all been released, the level is now down to about 0.5 millionths of what it was when the accident occurred.

Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Yukiya Amano has said Tepco has made “significant progress” in containing and stabilising the situation at Fukushima-Daiichi.

Before leaving on an official visit to Japan yesterday, Mr Amano said Tepco’s plan to achieve cold shutdown by early in 2012 “could be possible”.

>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)

Japan Releases 750-Page Report Into Fukushima-Daiichi Accident (News in Brief No. 134, 7 June 2011)

IAEA Safety Meeting ‘Achieved Its Main Goal’, Says Amano (News in Brief No. 146, 27 June 2011)

Source:    NucNet

Editor:    david.dalton@worldnuclear.org

15 Jun (NucNet): Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) yesterday started transferring highly radioactive water from the unit 3 turbine building at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant to a centralised radioactive waste treatment facility.

The plant operator confirmed in a statement that the transfer had begun at 10:05 local time (03:05 central European time).

The centralised radioactive waste treatment facility is part of the process main building installations and a permanent facility shared by all reactor units on the site.

Tepco estimates that more than 100,000 tonnes of highly radioactive water has leaked from reactor systems at the plant since it was hit by an earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011.

Tepco has been struggling to remove the water and is concerned it might overflow from utility trenches outside the reactor buildings.

The overflow of water would worsen the radiological situation on the site with a risk of further contaminating groundwater and the sea.

Tepco has been pumping fresh water into the reactor pressure vessels and spraying the spent fuel ponds at units 1, 2, 3 and 4 in an effort to stop nuclear fuel overheating.

While this has so far prevented a dangerous over-heating of the reactor cores and spent fuel ponds, it has also created a large quantity of contaminated water that needs to be removed before other work can progress.

Tepco said 16,200 tonnes of water has leaked from unit 1, 24,600 tonnes from unit 2, 28,100 tonnes from unit 3 and 22,900 tonnes from unit 4.

Tepco also said it needs to find more storage facilities for the water after it has undergone treatment scheduled for later this month.

Tepco had planned to start using equipment today that can filter and treat 1,200 tonnes of highly radioactive water a day. In mid-August, workers will also install an underground storage tank that can hold 100,000 tonnes of highly radioactive water.

Meanwhile, Tepco today began testing a newly installed system to treat highly radioactive water that has leaked from reactor systems at the plant.

Tepco said it was testing the French-made device for about eight hours today, using relatively low-level radioactive water.

The device uses a chemical agent to remove radioactive substances from the water.

Today’s tests follow trial runs yesterday of a US-made device that absorbs radioactive caesium.

>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)

Japan Underestimated Tsunami Threat, Says IAEA Preliminary Report (News in Brief No. 130, 1 June 2011)

More Than 100,000 Tonnes Of Radioactive Water Has Leaked, Says Tepco (World Nuclear Review No. 22, 3 June 2011)

Japan Releases 750-Page Report Into Fukushima-Daiichi Accident (News in Brief No. 134, 7 June 2011)

Source:    NucNet

Editor:    david.dalton@worldnuclear.org

7 Jun (NucNet): The Japanese government has announced its intention to implement extra nuclear safety measures and to create an independent nuclear regulatory body, breaking up the ministry that both promotes and regulates atomic energy.

A 750-page government report published today acknowledges that Fukushima-Daiichi was unprepared for a tsunami and that the government was too slow to provide information on radiation to people in the area.

The decision to separate the regulator (the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, or NISA) from the promoter (the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, or METI) came along with proposals for several major overhauls in the way Japan operates its nuclear plants and provides information about the crisis.

It was unclear, the report says, exactly who had ultimate authority for nuclear safety. NISA is a regulator, but it was a division of METI. And Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission was responsible for part of METI. Meanwhile, local governments were in charge of environmental monitoring.

“This is why it was not clear who has the primary responsibility for ensuring citizens’ safety in an emergency,” the report says. “Also, we cannot deny that the existing organisations and structures made mobilisation of capabilities difficult to promptly respond to such a large-scale nuclear accident.”

In the report the government says it is committed to separating NISA from METI, and reviewing regulatory and administrative frameworks on nuclear safety.

“In light of the lessons learned from the accident, Japan has recognised that a fundamental revision of its nuclear safety preparedness and response is inevitable,” the report says.

The report says flaws in basic plant design included the venting system for the containment vessels and the location of spent fuel cooling pools high in the buildings, which resulted in leaks of radioactive water that hampered repair work.

It says the vents lacked filtering capability, causing contamination of the air, and the vent line interfered with connecting pipes.

The report, to be submitted this month to the International Atomic Energy Agency, also cites the “possibility” that melted nuclear fuel has penetrated the reactor pressure vessels in units 1, 2 and 3 at the plant and dropped onto the floors of the primary containment vessels (PCVs).

The report says the accident at Fukushima-Daiichi was caused by a “massive” earthquake and that the government is committed to ensuring tsunami defences are improved, various sources of back-up power are available in an emergency, and so are alternative cooling functions.

Among other conclusions the report says communication between local and national offices was poor and the Japanese government did not respond appropriately to support offered by other countries.

The report also calls for clear evacuation and radiological protection guideline in the event of a nuclear emergency.

The report is online:

www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/kan/topics/201106/iaea_houkokusho_e.html

>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)

Japan Underestimated Tsunami Threat, Says IAEA Preliminary Report (News in Brief No. 130, 1 June 2011)

The NucNet database contains more than 15,000 reports published since 1991. To subscribe or ask for any further information email info@worldnuclear.org

Source:    NucNet

Editor:    david.dalton@worldnuclear.org

2 Jun (NucNet): Levels of highly radioactive water have risen by about six centimetres in the turbine building and utility trenches of unit two at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant, with increases also seen in the turbine buildings for units 3 and 4, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) has said.

JAIF said plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) is struggling to remove the water and is concerned it might overflow, particularly if recent rainfall continues.

If water overflows from utility trenches it would worsen the radiological situation on the site with a risk of further contaminating groundwater and the sea.

Tepco said water levels had risen by about six centimetres inside the unit 2 turbine building during a 24-hour period until this morning.

The water level in part of one utility trench is 24 centimetres from the top of the trench, JAIF said. In another area it is 28 cms from the top of the trench.

Tepco plans to start using a purifier to help treat contaminated water by the middle of this month.

As an interim measure, workers are preparing to remove water from the unit 3 turbine building to its turbine condenser.

The utility is also considering using two additional buildings inside the compound as storage for waste water.

With the cooling systems at units 1, 2 and 3 still out of order, Tepco has been pumping fresh water into the reactor pressure vessels and spraying the spent fuel ponds at units 1, 2, 3 and 4 in an effort to stop nuclear fuel overheating.

While this has so far prevented a dangerous over-heating of the reactor cores and spent fuel ponds, it has also created a large quantity of contaminated water that needs to be removed before other work can progress.

Tepco also said the level of highly radioactive water in the unit 1 reactor building had fallen eight centimetres during the same 24-hour period until this morning.

>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)

Japan Update: Work Begins To Remove Contaminated Water (News in Brief No.82, 27 March 2011)

Tepco Begins Transfer Of Highly Radioactive Water (News in Brief No.100,19 April 2011)

Source:    NucNet

Editor:    david.dalton@worldnuclear.org