Nuclear Energy

Poland's Ministry of Industry and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry have signed a memorandum to promote Polish-Japanese cooperation in the nuclear sector. Meanwhile, the Polish and Dutch nuclear regulators have agreed to cooperate.

A memorandum of understanding on cooperation on nuclear energy was signed by Marzena Czarnecka, Poland's Minister of Industry, and Shinji Takeuchi, Japan's Deputy Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry in Warsaw on 7 November.

"The signed memorandum confirms the interest in bilateral cooperation between both countries for the development of nuclear energy as a technology that allows achieving the goals of energy transformation and has a positive impact on energy security," the Polish ministry said. "The signed agreement also encourages cooperation at the level of economic entities and industrial technologies. Leading companies in the Japanese nuclear sector show interest in developing cooperation with European companies."

It noted the agreement includes cooperation with the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum International Cooperation Centre (JICC), which operates under Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). JICC carries out activities supporting the development of competencies of countries implementing nuclear energy through the exchange of information, expert missions and the organisation of workshops, conferences and seminars in areas such as: human resources development, social communication, nuclear safety and preparation of the necessary infrastructure for nuclear projects.

"This cooperation allows Poland to build nuclear skills and competencies, which is crucial for the implementation of the Polish Nuclear Power Programme," the Polish ministry said.

Polish, Dutch regulators to cooperate

On the same day, a cooperation agreement was signed between Poland's National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) and the Dutch Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ANVS).

The agreement - signed by PAA President Andrzej Głowacki and ANVS Chairperson Annemiek van Bolhuis - opens up the possibility of exchanging information on best practices in the field of supervision of the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes between the regulators.

It assumes joint activities in the organisation of technical meetings, training and exchange of documentation necessary to prepare the nuclear regulator for activities related to the licensing process of new nuclear technologies.

"In Poland and the Netherlands, interest in the use of new nuclear technologies is growing, causing increased challenges for national institutions supervising their safe use," PAA said.

Polish nuclear plans

Poland currently has large-scale plans to develop nuclear energy capacity. In September 2021, it was announced that six large pressurised water reactors with a combined installed capacity of 6-9 GWe could be built by 2040 as part of the country's plan to reduce its reliance on coal. According to the adopted schedule, the construction of the first nuclear power plant will start in 2026, with the first reactor - with a capacity of 1.0-1.6 GWe - being commissioned in 2033. Subsequent units will be implemented every 2-3 years. The coastal towns of Lubiatowo and Kopalino in Poland's Choczewo municipality in the province of Pomerania were named as the preferred location for the country's first large nuclear power plant.

In November 2022, the Polish government announced the first plant, with a capacity of 3750 MWe, will be built in Pomerania using AP1000 technology from the US company Westinghouse. An agreement setting a plan for the delivery of the plant was signed in May last year by Westinghouse, Bechtel and Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe.

In November last year, Poland's Ministry of Climate and Environment issued a decision-in-principle for the country's second large nuclear power plant. Two South Korean-supplied APR1400 reactors are planned in the Patnów-Konin region.

The completion of the environmental compliance process means Oklo Inc can now begin site characterisation for its first commercial advanced fission power plant in Idaho.

Completion by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) of the process addressing DOE requirements for the site and the resulting Environmental Compliance Permit, following on from the recent finalisation of a Memorandum of Agreement with the DOE, initiates site characterisation activities, Oklo said.

"These approvals represent pivotal steps forward as we advance toward deploying the first commercial advanced fission plant," Oklo CEO and co-founder Jacob DeWitte said. "With this process complete, we can begin site characterisation."

California-based Oklo received a site use permit from the DOE in 2019 to build and operate a prototype of its Aurora reactor - which will be a commercial power plant selling power to customers - at INL: according to company information, it intends to deploy its first commercial unit before the end of the decade. It also intends to build a facility to fabricate fuel for the liquid metal-cooled fast reactor plant at the same site. The DOE approved the Conceptual Safety Design Report for the Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility in September.

The memorandum of agreement finalised with DOE's Idaho Operations Office in September grants Oklo access to conduct site investigations at its preferred site, focusing on geotechnical assessments, environmental surveys and infrastructure planning.

The Aurora powerhouse is a fast neutron reactor that uses heat pipes to transport heat from the reactor core to a supercritical carbon dioxide power conversion system to generate electricity. It uses metallic fuel to produce about 15 MWe as well as producing usable heat, and can operate on fuel made from fresh HALEU or used nuclear fuel.

France's Framatome has created a branch in Italy - with offices in Milan and Turin - to support the development of nuclear energy in Europe.

The company said Italian employees will "support the existing fleet and contribute to the development of nuclear energy in Europe from their home country".

"The creation of this branch marks a new step in our long-standing cooperation with Italy," said Framatome CEO Bernard Fontana. "Framatome has been hiring talented Italian engineers in France for over 40 years. This branch offers engineers the possibility of working in Italy, while contributing to the development of low-carbon energy."

The creation of an Italian branch follows on from the cooperation agreement for scientific and technological research and training in the field of nuclear energy, signed last July by Framatome, Edison and Politecnico di Milano.

Under that agreement, the partners will pool their respective technical knowledge and expertise in order to jointly develop research, development and innovation activities for the nuclear sector. In particular, the cooperation agreement provided for joint projects through internships, master's degree and doctoral dissertations, seminars, workshops and other similar initiatives on technical topics of mutual interest. With the aim of improving the exchange of knowledge and know-how, the agreement will also provide for the organisation of meetings and training courses as well as visits for students and their respective employees to Framatome's production sites and plants and the Politecnico di Milano's and Edison's research laboratories.

"To support current and future projects, Framatome is hiring 2500 people a year around the world," said Elisabeth Terrail, senior executive vice president of human resources at Framatome. "Prestigious Italian schools such as Politecnico di Milano, Politecnico di Torino and CIRTEN universities offer excellent courses in nuclear engineering, for both training and research, and their graduates constitute an important talent pipeline to develop long-term skills for the nuclear industry."

Italy operated a total of four nuclear power plants starting in the early 1960s but decided to phase out nuclear power in a referendum that followed the 1986 Chernobyl accident. It closed its last two operating plants, Caorso and Trino Vercellese, in 1990.

In late March 2011, following the Fukushima Daiichi accident, the Italian government approved a moratorium of at least one year on construction of nuclear power plants in the country, which had been looking to restart its long-abandoned nuclear programme.

The public mood has changed since then, and in May 2023, the Italian Parliament approved a motion to urge the government to consider incorporating nuclear power into the country's energy mix. In September last year, the first meeting was held of the National Platform for a Sustainable Nuclear, set up by the government to define a time frame for the possible resumption of nuclear energy in Italy and identify opportunities for the country's industrial chain already operating in the sector.

Italy's government included potential nuclear capacity - up to 16 GW/20-22% of capacity by 2050 - in its National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan, which was submitted to the European Commission on 1 July this year.

Workers have completed the welding of the main circulation pipeline for the Tianwan-7 nuclear power plant under construction in Jiangsu province, eastern China, Russia’s state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom said.

Tianwan-7 is a Russia-supplied 1,200-MW Generation III+ pressurised water reactor (PWR) unit, construction of which began in May 2021.

The main pipeline connects the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) with the steam generators and the reactor coolant pumps and is an integral part of a pressurised water reactor system.

Rosatom said welding of the pipeline paves the way for the flushing of reactor systems and preparations for the loading of dummy fuel assemblies for further testing.

According to previous reports, the RPV for Tianwan-7 was installed in Oct 2023.

There are two Russian VVER-1200 PWR units being built at Tianwan. Construction of the identical Tianwan-8 started in February 2022.

The Tianwan station has another six PWR units in commercial operation. Units 1 to 4 were built by Russia using its VVER-1000 PWR technology. Units 5 and 6 are China’s indigenous CNP-1000 PWR design.

Bruce Power has set out its plans to expand production of medical radioisotopes in its Candu reactors. As well as increasing long-term lutetium-177 production capacity, the company also wants to explore the production of other isotopes using its proprietary system.

Following on from the completion of two years' commercial production of lutetium-177 (Lu-177) using the Isotope Production System (IPS) at Bruce 7, the company set out its intentions in a 31 October letter to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). The system has proven its safety and reliability, the company said, with no missed shipments since launch. A second production line on Bruce 7's IPS is now in service, doubling production capacity. Lu-177 is used to treat certain tumours and prostate cancer.

Bruce Power said it now plans to add an additional Isotope Production System on unit 6 in 2027 to increase long-term capacity and also maintain production when Bruce 7 is taken offline for its Major Component Replacement (MCR) outage which is scheduled for 2028-2031. The company will also evaluate the feasibility of a third Isotope Production System (IPS) at the Bruce A plant (Bruce units 1-4), to be installed in 2029.

Units 5-8 - known as the Bruce B reactors - also produce cobalt-60 which is used for sterilisation and the treatment of brain tumours and breast cancer. The MCR and outage programme at Bruce B "is both securing the supply of cobalt-60 through 2064, and installed modifications have increased production", the company told the CNSC.

Bruce Power said it is "committed to exploring additional isotope production using our system and plans to propose an amendment to its operating licence to add multiple new isotopes in a bounding approach for the IPS". It intends to submit a licence amendment for multiple new isotopes in 2025.

Investing locally

Bruce Power partnered with Isogen (a jointly owned company of Kinectrics Inc and Framatome Canada) to install the Isotope Production System on Bruce 7. Lu-177 produced at Bruce 7 is transported to ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM)'s facilities in Germany for processing. Its Gamzook'aamin aakoziwin partnership with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON), was set up in 2019 to jointly market new medical isotopes while creating new economic opportunities within the SON territory by establishing new isotope infrastructure.

In collaboration with the Southwestern Ontario Isotope Coalition, IsoGen and SON, the company said it was committed to advocating for processing facilities to be built locally to enhance the supply chain of isotopes in Ontario and improve the logistical impacts of handling short-lived medical isotopes. "In 2025, we will be investing CAD3 million (USD2.2 million) into greater localisation and will be proposing to the CNSC changes to existing licensed facilities to safely accommodate this important work," it said.

"Southwestern Ontario, the rest of the province and the country have become global superpowers in the production of medical isotopes through innovation, partnerships, investment and stakeholder support," said Bruce Power Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice-President James Scongack, adding that maximising isotope production and exploring the production of other medical isotopes "is the socially responsible thing to do for patients around the world."

The ceremonial launch of the 173-metre long Chukotka nuclear-powered icebreaker has taken place at the Baltic Shipyard. The first three of Russia's Project 22220 vessels are already operating on the Northern Sea Route.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking by video-link at the ceremony, said the construction of the nuclear icebreakers showed the country's capabilities, adding: "Our entire domestic economy should be built on our own technologies and groundbreaking scientific solutions. I want to stress again: our plans to develop the Arctic and increase cargo traffic on the Northern Sea Route depend directly on strengthening our icebreaker fleet. As you know, we have big ambitions there, and there’s a lot of work to be done."

According to the official Tass news agency, he said: "We need to significantly enhance the safety and reliability of navigation in this region. To this end, we will continue to improve the quality of satellite navigation, communications, and ice situation monitoring; [we] will upgrade the Arctic ports' infrastructure and lay the required rail lines to them."

The Chukotka is 173 metres long, 34 metres wide and with a height from the waterline to the mainmast of 57 metres. The height of its side is 15.2 metres and it is designed to break through ice up to three metres thick and has a speed of 22 knots in clear water. The Project 22220 icebreaker will be powered by two RITM-200 reactors which each have a thermal capacity of 175 MW. It already has the reactors and most of its main equipment on board.

After the launching the vessel is being moored at the Baltic Shipyard as its construction continues, with a target completion date of 2026. Three of the icebreakers are already operating - the Artika, Sibir and Ural - with the Yakutia the fourth of the series, followed by the Chukotka and Leningrad all under construction. A contract has been signed for a further icebreaker, the Stalingrad.

More than 12,000 people attended the launch ceremony and the Director General of the Baltic Shipyard Alexander Konovalov thanked the 6000 people who work there, and noted that work was already under way for the Stalingrad.

Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev, speaking about the development of the Northern Sea Route, said: "In the past 10 years, cargo traffic along the route has grown nearly tenfold and continues to set new records every year. This year, we’re seeing the same upward trend, with cargo traffic exceeding last year’s figures for the same period. Transit traffic is also increasing due to cargo redirection from west to east. So far this year, over 3 million tons of cargo has been transited, which is a 40% increase from last year."

The traditional smashing of a bottle of Champagne at the ceremonial launch was carried out by Elena Shmeleva, who said that as well as their important role in the Northern Sea Route the icebreakers "are also essential for scientists, including those from Sirius, to explore the Arctic. For instance, our university’s team has just returned from a 45-day Arctic expedition, where they researched the impact of permafrost on changes in carbon levels in the seas. They have also brought a large number of soil and water samples for further analysis. I would like to see the icebreaker’s research function develop further. This is crucial for Russia’s scientific and technological development strategy, which prioritises Arctic exploration".

The World Economic Forum has released a framework to help align stakeholders on key actions and strategies to accelerate deployment of small modular reactors and other advanced nuclear technologies.

"Small modular reactors (SMRs) and other advanced nuclear technologies represent clean energy solutions that, when built at scale, could deliver cost-effective carbon-free energy. These technologies are well suited to meet many clean power, heat and clean fuel production use cases for heavy industry, data centres and transport," the report says. "However, the commercial viability of these technologies needs to be improved.

"The ecosystem for new nuclear comprises a range of stakeholders including technology developers, financial institutions, utilities, large energy consumers and governments. Reaching commercial viability of advanced nuclear and SMRs is dependent on de-risking and improving the economics of projects through purposeful, coordinated action between these stakeholders – beyond anything seen before."

The World Economic Forum (WEF), in collaboration with Accenture, has partnered with stakeholders across the nuclear ecosystem - including experts from large energy-consuming industries, financiers, reactor vendors, supply chain businesses, utilities, government organisations, non-profits/NGOs and academia - to develop a Collaborative Framework for Accelerating Advanced Nuclear and Small Modular Reactor Deployment. It is intended to be a coordination tool for stakeholders to align on actions and strategies to accelerate advanced nuclear and SMR deployment.

The report highlights nine priority areas and actions for accelerating the deployment of these technologies.

Regarding the emergence of the advanced nuclear and SMR market, WEF says ecosystem collaboration must facilitate stronger demand signals to stimulate confidence among public and private investors by sharing risks and costs. Deployment depends on energy policies that address specific challenges, such as improving supply chain stability and creating vehicles for strategic partnerships across ecosystem stakeholders. In addition, regulation needs to be modernised by aligning regulatory bodies to streamline licensing of standard design across countries.

In order to deliver advanced nuclear and SMRs at scale, project deployment must be transformed to enhance rapid delivery of cost-competitive projects through innovative deployment models, modular construction and design for manufacture and assembly, the report says. Where possible, existing infrastructure should be repurposed and new reactors co-located with current energy systems. The maturity and scalability of advanced nuclear and SMR technologies should be increased by collaborating with regulators and energy off-takers, as well as by standardising design. The nuclear supply chain should also be prepared for large-scale deployment by boosting investment, developing nuclear fuel sources and standardising components. Meanwhile, the workforce should be developed by identifying skills gaps, retraining workers from other energy industries, facilitating skills pools and partnerships between industry and educational institutions.

WEF says the financing of advanced nuclear and SMRs needs to be addressed by developing innovative financing mechanisms, leveraging public-private partnerships, reaching target cost levels to attract mainstream investments, and including nuclear in clean investment taxonomies.

"The Framework provides a basis for locally led implementation, as priorities will vary across geographies at various stages of nuclear development," the report says. "It could also apply to other advanced clean energy technologies that require a systemic approach to unlock progress, such as geothermal and long-duration energy storage."

Microreactor technology company NANO Nuclear Energy Inc is joining privately owned laser enrichment company LIS Technologies Inc in a collaboration it says will reinvigorate the USA's domestic uranium enrichment and fuel fabrication capabilities and provide NANO Nuclear with uranium hexafluoride to fuel its reactors.

NANO Nuclear said it invested USD2 million into the recently closed LIS Technologies (LIST) USD11.88 million seed round financing.

A strategic agreement between the two companies will see NANO Nuclear and LIST collaborate on advancing LIST's enrichment technology as it continues its development and moves towards the regulatory licensing process, NANO Nuclear said. "LIST will ultimately provide NANO Nuclear with quantities of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) fuel for use in NANO Nuclear's advanced portable microreactors in development and for future sale by NANO Nuclear and LIST to third parties," it said, added that it believes the technology has the potential to be fully developed, licensed and capable of producing commercial quantities of low-enriched and high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel within ten years.

As part of the agreement, NANO Nuclear will develop "supportive capabilities", including deconversion and fuel fabrication facilities, to incorporate LIST's enriched UF6 into an integrated fuel manufacturing process. NANO Nuclear will also collaborate with LIST on joint research and development initiatives.

"The parties intend that LIST will provide NANO Nuclear with enriched UF6 at no cost to be fabricated and sold to customers, with LIST to receive compensation as part of a profit-sharing arrangement to be agreed to between the companies in the future," it said. LIST will also act as NANO Nuclear's preferred supplier of enriched UF6 in future fuel purchasing agreements.

LIST's proprietary laser-based enrichment process uses infrared wavelengths to selectively excite the molecules of desired isotopes to separate them from other isotopes, which it says is energy-efficient and can be deployed with relatively favourable capital and operational costs. It purchased CRISLA, Inc - the developer of the patented advanced laser technology - in August 2023 and describes itself as the only USA-origin and patented laser uranium enrichment company.

"This strategic collaboration with LIST is another important milestone for NANO Nuclear as we believe it provides us with a competitive edge over other advanced reactor companies in the US," NANO Nuclear founder and Chairman Jay Yu said. "The technology being developed by LIST has the potential to reshape the United States' uranium enrichment capabilities and pave the way for the next generation of advanced nuclear reactors to be a carbon-neutral and efficient solution to its growing energy demands."

Christo Liebenberg, CEO of LIST, said: "NANO Nuclear's backing in our oversubscribed financing round is allowing us to rapidly advance along a carefully planned growth strategy to potentially becoming the first true, scalable and commercialised laser uranium enrichment company in the world." Liebenberg added that the strategic collaboration "creates a substantial advantage for both companies and the broader US market, positioning us to capitalise on a novel opportunity".

NANO Nuclear and LIST are "related parties" through certain common ownership and with some officers and directors in common, but the transaction "was reviewed and approved by NANO Nuclear's independent directors who have no role with LIST", the company said.

NANO Nuclear, which is developing the ZEUS solid core battery reactor and ODIN low-pressure coolant reactor, listed publicly in May.

The presidents of Kazakhstan and France say they wish to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries and recognised the importance of cooperation in energy, including nuclear, during an official visit by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The visit also included an investment round table and formal meetings between President Tokayev and the heads of Orano and EDF.

The nations have had a bilateral strategic partnership since 2008, and this is the third consecutive year in which Tokayev and French President Emmanual Macron have visited each other: Macron visited Astana in November 2023 and Tokayev visited Paris in 2022.

In a joint declaration, the heads of state said they "welcomed the trust and regular dialogue between the two countries at all levels" and confirmed a "mutual desire to deepen, expand and diversify privileged interstate relations with a view to bringing them to the level of strengthened strategic partnership".

Energy has always been a key sector of cooperation between Kazakhstan and France, Tokayev told French industry leaders at the investment round table, and as a major supplier of oil and uranium to the European Union, Astana is ready to continue to support France's energy sovereignty. Given Kazakhstan's position as the largest producer of uranium in the world, and France's extensive nuclear industry experience, "we could cooperate in the civil nuclear energy", he said.

French company Orano is the 51% owner with Kazakhstan's national atomic company Kazatomprom of the KATCO joint venture, which it describes as the world's largest ISR (in-situ recovery, also known as in-situ leach) mine accounting for about 7% of global uranium production. At a meeting with Orano President and CEO Nicolas Maes, Tokayev stressed the "great potential" for further cooperation between Kazakhstan and Orano and "noted the importance of the partnership that will allow our country to develop high-tech industries while ensuring reliable and safe supply of natural uranium to France".

Tokayev also met with EDF Chairman and CEO Luc Remont to discuss prospects for cooperation in the energy industry. In October, the Kazakh population voted in favour of building a nuclear power plant in a national referendum, and EDF is on the short list of potential nuclear technology suppliers. Tokayev noted that Kazakhstan is considering the possibility of setting up an international consortium as a potential model for the implementation of the project.

Remont confirmed EDF's intention to continue a "mutually beneficial partnership" with Kazatomprom and also made proposals for the implementation of renewable energy projects, according to a report shared by the Kazakh presidency.

Tokayev has invited Macron to pay a state visit to Kazakhstan next year, and also invited French entrepreneurs to take part in the Astana International Forum, which will be held in May.

Seeing nuclear as a flexible energy source - producing electricity, hydrogen and heat with large-scale energy storage - rather than merely as a source of baseload power means it can complement the variability of renewables without the need for back-up natural gas power plants, a new report from the Dalton Nuclear Institute says.

The report, The road to net zero: renewables and nuclear working together, says that such a change could help the UK to achieve its goal of a net-zero power and energy system by 2050, while creating more jobs and lowering the projected costs by up to GBP14 billion (USD17.9 billion).

Zara Hodgson, Director of the Dalton Nuclear Institute, University of Manchester, says in its foreword: "The UK has been highly successful in driving forward the expansion of renewable energy to displace fossil fuel burning power plants ... yet, wind and solar are inherently variable ... the installation of backup natural gas burning power plants and energy storage technologies has so far been the proposed solution to the UK’s changeable island weather, despite drawbacks of high-cost electricity, wasted energy and continued CO2 emissions.

"So we have asked ourselves if the UK should look again at how nuclear electricity and nuclear heat could accelerate the renewable energy technology led transition to net-zero, and also underpin UK leadership in addressing climate change."

The potential fossil-free energy future scenario "to spark further discussion" is for electrification of more than 840 TWh total supply; three-quarters of which is supplied by variable renewable energy, 10% by nuclear plants and 0% from fossil fuels. That would be roughly doubling the current overall supply and also the current UK nuclear output.

In the report's “Flexible Nuclear” scenario, nuclear energy primarily delivers heat to produce hydrogen and other fuels that are essential to decarbonise the UK, with renewables delivering the bulk of the electricity generation, and when renewable output drops nuclear energy is then diverted to generate electricity for the grid, thus avoiding the need to have new gas-fired power plants designed only to be used to cover times of low renewables output.

The co-authors Juan Matthews, William Bodel and Gregg Butler say that in current official UK modelling, nuclear is seen as a baseload energy source, with gas generation to operate for "only a small percentage of the time" and note that "seemingly cheap sources of electricity become expensive when their capacity factor is reduced" as well as the potential cost of having to curtail energy production at times of maximum generation from renewable sources.

"One method of improving flexibility of nuclear power is to combine it with thermal storage. The higher temperatures produced by some AMRs (advanced modular reactors) make them particularly suited to production of hydrogen and other synthetic fuels, as well as heating for a large range of industrial applications. This potential is further exploited in several AMR conceptual designs that choose to incorporate molten salt thermal storage ... this arrangement of a reactor plus thermal store opens the prospect of broader commercial uptake by end users, through considerable availability of economic, flexible, useful energy output, and should be investigated," the report says.

It explains that the thermal storage concept follows experience with solar thermal power, "where it has been proved effective and economic in countries with abundant sunshine ... molten salts are used to store heat in large, insulated silos, and the molten salts are then run though steam generators or heat exchangers. The cooled molten salt is then stored in separate silos to be used in the next cycle ... alternatively, the heat can be stored in large, insulated masses of cheap solid materials such as sand or gravel which are heated and depleted by molten salts, but this system has a lower thermal efficiency than the two-tank molten salt option ... several AMR conceptual designs include molten salt thermal storage combined with energy conversion plants up to three times the capacity of the reactor system. At times of low electricity demand, energy is directed to the heat store; at times of high demand, this stored heat energy can be converted into electricity along with the reactor’s output. This allows continuous operation of a reactor plant while allowing unrestricted load following, including at very low levels of electricity delivery to the grid".

It recommends that the UK government should prioritise research to enable in-depth investigation of the opportunities to use reactors with thermal storage. It also recommends that government assessments of the impact of new nuclear capacity should recognise and incorporate cogeneration applications and says "government and industry should aim to reduce the need for curtailment of renewable electricity by using cogenerated nuclear heat to power high-temperature electrolysis hydrogen production, in addition to short-term storage", while "planning for future nuclear deployment should envisage an integrated system where nuclear and variable renewables work in harmony through cogeneration and energy storage, while planning around energy (not just electricity) infrastructure delivery should be fully coordinated to best ensure the UK has a functional whole system".

For potential next steps it says "further research and development into thermal energy storage technology is necessary, as the technology’s engineering feasibility is central to achieving the potential economic benefits of the Flexible Nuclear approach".

Zara Hodgson adds: "Our analysis indicates future promise for a flexible, fossil fuel free energy system that integrates the synergistic advantages of renewable energy and cogenerating nuclear energy, as the technologies become deployable in the system from now to 2030, then onto 2040, and finally full implementation by 2050. Capitalising on the flexibility of nuclear energy to contribute more than just low-carbon electricity is a key innovation opportunity for the UK and offers leadership in international net-zero initiatives and enhanced energy security."

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has granted an operating licence for an off-site interim dry storage facility for used nuclear fuel in Mutsu, Aomori prefecture. It is the first such facility in the country.

The Recyclable Fuel Storage Centre has been constructed by Recyclable-Fuel Storage Company (RFS) - a joint venture of utilities Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC).

Tepco and JAPC formed RFS in November 2005 and in March 2007 it applied to the Japanese government for a licence to construct the facility. In August 2010, the joint venture announced that it had received approval from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for the design and construction of the Recyclable Fuel Storage Centre (RFSC). A groundbreaking ceremony for the facility was held that same month.

Construction work of the initial storage building was eventually completed in August 2013. However, in December 2013, new safety standards for nuclear fuel cycle facilities based on the lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi accident were introduced by Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA). RFS was required to conduct further assessments for the facility's ability to withstand earthquakes, tsunami, volcanoes and tornadoes. The company submitted its initial design and construction programme document to the NRA in March 2016 and the regulator approved its safety plans for the facility on 11 November 2020.

The facility will store the highly radioactive fuel assemblies from the utilities' boiling water and pressurised water reactors in dry storage casks for up to 50 years until they are reprocessed at the Rokkasho plant, under construction about 50 kilometres away. A mix of recovered uranium and plutonium oxides - where the plutonium is never separated - would then be recycled into fresh mixed-oxide nuclear fuel at the J-MOX nuclear fuel manufacturing plant, alongside Rokkasho.

The RFSC was originally expected to begin operating in July 2012 with an initial capacity of 3000 tonnes of used fuel. RFS plans to later increase this capacity to 5000 tonnes.

RFS applied to the NRA for a pre-use confirmation of the Recyclable Fuel Storage Centre on 10 February 2022.

The NRA today said: "It was confirmed that the pre-operation operator inspection was properly conducted, and that the construction was carried out in accordance with the approval of the design and construction plan and conformed to the technical standards." It accordingly issued a pre-use confirmation certificate to RFS enabling operation of the facility to begin.

"We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the people of Aomori Prefecture, including Mutsu City, for their great understanding and cooperation since Mutsu City requested us to conduct a site feasibility study in 2000 and then invited us to host the facility," Tepco said in a statement. "We believe that the interim storage business for spent fuel is important and effective from the perspective of expanding the storage capacity of spent fuel, providing flexibility to the operation of the entire nuclear fuel cycle, and contributing to medium- to long-term energy security."

It added: "We will continue to support RFS so that they can proceed with their interim storage business with safety as their top priority."

On 26 September, Tepco announced that 69 used fuel assemblies from unit 4 of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture had been transported to the Recyclable Fuel Storage Centre.

China has set a target for its nuclear technology application industry to generate annual direct economic output value of CNY400 billion (USD55.7 billion) by 2026.

The target was set in an action plan - titled Three-Year Action Plan for High-Quality Development of Nuclear Technology Application Industry (2024-2026) - which was jointly released on 24 October by the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA), the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments.

"Nuclear technology, also known as isotope and radiation technology, and its related industries are characterised by high technology, high efficiency and high quality," the plan says. "The development of nuclear technology application industry is an inevitable trend to adapt to the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, expand the application field of nuclear technology, and promote the high-quality development of the nuclear industry.

"It is an important enabling means to support the transformation and upgrading of various fields of the national economy and improve quality and efficiency."

According to the plan, by 2026, China's independent innovation capability in the nuclear technology application industry "will be significantly improved, and the industry field will be further expanded".

It adds: "Focusing on the application of nuclear technology in key directions or fields such as medical diagnosis and treatment, agricultural breeding, food processing, material modification, security inspection and security, we will break through a number of key technologies, build a number of innovation platforms, and cultivate a number of specialised and new enterprises.

"We will strive to achieve an annual direct economic output value of CNY400 billion in the nuclear technology application industry, injecting strong momentum into the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries."

The plan calls for the supply capacity of key isotopes to be "significantly" increased, with the construction of new reactors and the "optimisation and transformation" of in-service reactors. It says that China should "have the ability to independently supply more than three types of radioactive isotopes, develop more than five types of radioactive isotope production technologies, and basically reverse the situation where the supply of key isotope products is controlled by others".

It notes that CNEA is "responsible for the top-level design and overall layout of the development of the nuclear technology application industry", and will coordinate the implementation of this action plan with other departments.

A remote-controlled robot has retrieved a tiny piece of melted radioactive fuel debris it collected from inside one of three damaged reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), which manages the facility north of Tokyo, said the extendable fishing rod-like robot successfully clipped a piece of gravel of about 5mm from the top surface of a mound of molten fuel debris that sits at the bottom of the Unit 2 reactor’s primary containment vessel.

The “telesco” robot returned to an enclosed container for safe storage after workers in full hazmat gear pulled it out of the containment vessel.

An earlier operation to remove a small amount of fuel debris from Unit 2 was cancelled because of technical issues.

Tepco was aiming to retrieve just three grams of fuel debris as part of a demonstration programme for the unprecedented cleanup of the station, which is expected to take decades and cost about 23 trillion yen ($161bn, €145bn).

About 880 tonnes of fuel debris remain in the three reactors that suffered meltdown following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, according to estimates by the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning.

Tepco said that in Units 1, 2 and 3, the fuel and the metal cladding that forms the outer jacket of the fuel rods melted, then re-solidified as fuel debris.

“Fuel debris” refers to this melted fuel and other substances after they cooled and re-solidified.

The first of two demonstration Guohe One (CAP1400) reactors at Huaneng Group's Shidaowan site in China's Shandong province has been connected to the grid. The 1400 MWe pressurised water reactor design is intended to be deployed in large numbers across the country, as well as for export.

The CAP1400 is an enlarged version of the CAP1000 PWR developed from the Westinghouse AP1000, with consulting input from the USA-based company.

Research and development for Guohe One began in 2008. In December 2009, the State Nuclear Plant Demonstration Company – a 55-45% joint venture company by State Power Investment Corp (SPIC) and China Huaneng Group – was set up to build and operate two demonstration unit of the CAP1400 at Huaneng's Shidaowan site at Rongcheng. SPIC officially launched the CAP1400 reactor design in September 2020.

Construction of unit 1 started in June 2019 and unit 2 in April 2020. The reactor design is expected to take 56 months to build, with later units coming down to 50 months.

The National Nuclear Safety Administration issued an operating license for the first Guohe One demonstration reactor in late July this year.

Speaking at a press conference on 31 October, Dong Wancheng, deputy director of the Development Planning Department at the National Energy Administration (NEA), announced that the first CAP1400 unit at Shidaowan had been successfully connected to the grid.

The reactor will now undergo gradual power ascension testing and trial operation verification before officially entering commercial operation.

"After it is put into operation, the annual power generation will be 11.4 billion kilowatt-hours, which can meet the electricity needs of more than 11 million residents and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 9 million tonnes per year," NEA noted.

It added: "Since 2022, several CAP series third-generation nuclear power units under the State Power Investment Corporation have been approved to start construction, and this series of nuclear power models will usher in a peak period of construction in the next few years."

In May 2016, the CAP1400 design successfully passed the International Atomic Energy Agency's Generic Reactor Safety Review. This review is not a clearance process but a review of the quality of the safety documents identifying strengths, weaknesses and gaps. International use of the CAP1400 is still dependent on meeting country-specific standards and requirements, but passing the IAEA safety review will make this process easier.

The core catcher for unit 4 at Egypt's El Dabaa nuclear power plant is expected to be installed by the end of the year. It means all four units will have passed that landmark within little more than a year.

The 6.1-metre diameter core catcher (also known as a melt trap) is a key bit of safety equipment for the VVER-1200 reactor - it is a container in the form of a cone made of thermally resistant steel which in the unlikely event of an emergency will securely hold the melt of the core and not allow radioactive substances to leave the containment of the reactor.

Manufacturing of the core catcher took about 14 months, after which it set sail from the Russian port of Novorossiysk on 28 October and was delivered on 4 November (see picture above). Egypt's Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) said that installation by Atomstroyexport, part of Rosatom, would begin on 19 November, the ninth anniversary of the signing of the Egypt-Russia intergovernmental agreement on cooperation on building and operating the plant.

The core catcher for unit 4 had been scheduled for installation in 2025, but the project is currently running ahead of schedule. NPPA called it "another major milestone" for the country's first nuclear power plant project.

Alexey Kononenko, director of the El Dabaa NPP construction project, said that the core catchers for the first two units were installed in 2023 and the aim is to have installed the two for units 3 and 4 in 2024. He added: "We are successfully working on the simultaneous construction of all four power units of the first Egyptian NPP, using advanced technologies and modern engineering solutions ... we have moved from individual unique projects to an industrial flow method of construction."

The El Dabaa nuclear power plant project - about 320 kilometres north-west of Cairo - is based on contracts that entered into force on 11 December 2017. The plant will comprise four VVER-1200 units, like those already in operation at the Leningrad and Novovoronezh nuclear power plants in Russia, and the Ostrovets plant in Belarus.

The contracts stipulate that Rosatom will not only build the plant, but will also supply Russian nuclear fuel for its entire life cycle. They will also assist Egyptian partners in training personnel and plant maintenance for the first 10 years of its operation. Rosatom is also contracted to build a special storage facility and supply containers for storing used nuclear fuel.

Work to dismantle the systems and components inside the reactor building has begun at Italy's shut down Caorso nuclear power plant, Società Gestione Impianti Nucleari SpA announced.

Caorso - an 860 MWe boiling water reactor - was closed in 1990 after just 12 years of operation and is now being decommissioned. The plant's decommissioning licence was obtained in 2014.

Società Gestione Impianti Nucleari SpA (Sogin) said workers have already begun tracing the cutting points to dismantle the systems and components into pieces. This work is necessary, it said, to ensure that each element can be easily identified and grouped based on the plant system it comes from and its possible contamination.

The activities carried out so far have included the creation of the construction site electrical system and will continue with the installation of the vehicles for handling the dismantled materials and the setting up of a plant for hot cutting, specifically designed to tackle the most complex components in terms of size and thickness.

The first systems and components to be dismantled will be those located at ground level, Sogin said. This will free up space for the passage of materials from other floors of the reactor building. At ground level there is a confined corridor, called the waste route, created by Sogin, where the cut components will be transferred to the turbine building to be decontaminated, cut and further reduced in volume to facilitate their subsequent management.

The dismantling project is divided into various areas, each of which includes a detailed dismantling plan. This planning ensures compliance with the safety criteria and requirements indicated by the National Inspectorate for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection.

A total of 3400 tonnes of material will be dismantled, of which about 88% will be releasable after the necessary treatment and decontamination operations, while the remaining 12% will be managed as radioactive waste and stored on-site pending transfer to the national repository, once available.

The largest and heaviest module - the CA20 - has been installed at unit 2 of the Xudabao nuclear power plant in China's Liaoning province, China National Nuclear Corporation subsidiary China Nuclear Power Engineering Company Limited has announced.

The CA20 module - 20.7 metres long, 14.2 metres wide and 21 metres high and weighing just over 1000 tonnes - was hoisted into place on 3 November, the company said.

The cuboid-shaped steel module will comprise of plant and equipment for used fuel storage, transmission, the heat exchanger and waste collection, among other things.

"This is another large structural module of unit 2 after the bottom head was hoisted into place on 27 October 2024, laying a solid foundation for the structural construction of the auxiliary plant of the nuclear island," CNPEC said.

The construction of units 1 and 2 of the Xudabao (also known as Xudapu) plant was approved by China's State Council on 31 July last year.

On 6 November last year, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced that the National Nuclear Safety Administration had decided to issue a construction licence for Xudabao units 1 and 2, which will both feature 1250 MWe CAP1000 reactors - the Chinese version of the Westinghouse AP1000. A ceremony was held on 15 November at the Xudabao site near Xingcheng City, Huludao, to mark the start of construction of unit 1. Construction of unit 2 began on 17 July this year.

The Xudabao project was originally expected to comprise six CAP1000 reactors, with units 1 and 2 in the first phase. However, with a change in plans, construction of two Russian-supplied VVER-1200 reactors as Xudabao units 3 and 4 began in July 2021 and May 2022, respectively. These units are expected to be commissioned in 2027 and 2028.

The Xudabao plant is owned by Liaoning Nuclear Power Company Ltd, in which CNNC holds a 70% stake with Datang International Power Generation Company holding 20% and State Development and Investment Corporation owning 10%.

China has completed pouring concrete over the outer dome of the containment building for the Zhangzhou-2 nuclear power plant under construction in Fujian province, southeastern China.

According to the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA), the move marked the completion of the main structure and paves the way for cold functional testing at the plant.

Zhangzhou-2 is a domestic 1,126-MW HPR1000, or Hualong One, pressurised water reactor (PWR).

Construction began in September 2020 and the unit is scheduled for commercial operation in 2025, according to earlier reports.

There are three other Hualong One PWRs under construction and commissioning at the site. Last month, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said it started fuel loading at Zhangzhou-1.

Construction of Zhangzhou-3 and -4 began in Feb 2024 and Sep 2024.

The Hualong One is an indigenous, three-loop pressurised water reactor. It incorporates elements of CNNC’s ACP1000 and China General Nuclear’s ACPR1000+ reactor designs.

It is Beijing’s domestic flagship reactor technology, with 17 of the 28 reactor units under construction in China being of the Hualong One design. There are also two Hualong One plants in operation outside China, both in Pakistan at the Kanupp nuclear station, also known as Karachi.

The US energy regulator’s rejection of a special deal that would have allowed an Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centre to use more power from a nuclear power station will have a chilling effect on economic development in states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New Jersey, the station’s operator has said.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc) commissioners voted 2-1 against a proposal that would have increased the amount of power supplied to an Amazon data centre next to the Susquehanna nuclear facility owned by Talen Energy.

The commissioners said the plan, which was an amendment filed by the regional grid operator on behalf of the parties, did not adequately prove why the special contract should be allowed under federal rules.

The plan would set a precedent and the issues should be reviewed more closely, they said.

Ferc chairman Willie Phillips dissented, saying that the grid operator addressed reliability issues and called the order “a step backward” for both electricity reliability and national security.

Talen believes Ferc erred and “we are evaluating our options” with a focus on commercial solutions. “We believe this ISA [interconnection service agreement] amendment is just and reasonable and in the best interest of consumers.”

In March, AWS paid Talen $650m (€596m) for a 960-MW data centre campus next to the Susquehanna station in Pennsylvania, and signed a long-term agreement to buy power from the plant.

The data center, Cumulus Data Assets, sits on a 1,200-acre (485 hectares) campus in Pennsylvania and is directly powered by the adjacent Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, which generates 2.5 gigawatts of power.

Talen Energy subsidiary Cumulus Data completed construction on the first building at the nuclear-powered data centre campus in January 2023.

In June, PJM Interconnection, which operates the eastern US grid, serving more than 65 million people, sought approval from Ferc to increase the amount of power used onsite to from 300 MW to 480 MW.

Utility owners American Electric Power and Exelon filed a complaint opposing the move, arguing that it could threaten grid reliability and raise customer rates.

Talen said its co-location arrangement with Amazon would bring service to the customer quickly and without expensive transmission upgrades necessary to serve large-load demand.

“But our direct-connect configuration is just one of several commercial solutions to the demand of large loads, and we are exploring other solutions as we move forward,” a statement said.

It said: “The data centre economy will require an all-of-the-above approach to satisfy the increased demand, including co-location such as Talen’s arrangement with AWS, hybrids that co-locate primary power behind the meter while using grid power for back-up, and front-of-the-meter connections to utility transmission. Talen looks forward to the continued dialogue.”

The federal order came on the heels of a day-long Ferc technical conference on the topic, which discussed the merits and challenges of co-locating data centres with existing power plants, also dubbed “behind-the-meter” demand.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Westinghouse and Kozloduy NPP - New Builds have signed an engineering contract for new capacity at Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant.

Bulgaria's Prime Minister, Dimitar Glavchev, speaking at the signing ceremony, said: "Bulgaria has 50 years of experience in the safe and secure operation of nuclear facilities. Today, we are building on this experience. Our work with the undisputed leaders Westinghouse and Hyundai on this project is a serious step towards the implementation of one of the government's main priorities related to the development of nuclear energy."

Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov said: "The development of nuclear energy in strict compliance with international standards for safety and environmental protection is one of the main priorities of the government. Our consistent efforts and active work together with our partners at Westinghouse and Hyundai in fulfilling this priority have led to today's result - the signing of an engineering contract for the new facilities. This is a key stage that makes the process irreversible."

He added that signing the contract meant that schedule and finance details would be firmed up within 12 months for the new capacity.

Kozloduy units 1-4 were VVER-440 models which the European Commission classified as non-upgradeable and Bulgaria agreed to close them during negotiations to join the European Union in 2007. Units 5 and 6 feature VVER-1000 reactors that were connected to the grid in 1987 and 1991, respectively. Both units have been through refurbishment and life-extension programmes to enable extension of operation from 30 to 60 years. The country's two operable reactors generate about one-third of its electricity.

The aim is for the first new Westinghouse AP1000 unit - unit 7 at Kozloduy - to be operational in 2035 and the second one - unit 8 - to be operational in 2037. The 2300 MWe capacity of the two new units would exceed the 1760 MWe capacity of the closed first four units. The Bulgarian government has also said that further units will be needed to replace units 5 and 6 by 2050.

Nuclear will play an important role in the UK achieving a clean power system by 2030 and beyond with life extensions for the current fleet and a new generation of nuclear plants, according to independent energy system planner and operator, the National Energy System Operator (NESO).

NESO has released a comprehensive and independent analysis of how to achieve Clean Power in 2030. This advice was commissioned in August by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband.

The analysis shows that overall systems costs should not increase for a clean power system. Other factors could reduce electricity bills in 2030, including a reduction in legacy policy costs (as contracts expire) and energy efficiency improvements. Government policy decisions could also reduce bills by 2030.

"Our clean power pathways see Great Britain become a net exporter of power and reduce the share of unabated gas generation to below 5%," the report says. "All our pathways involve early electrification of heat, transport and industry. A reductionist approach that slows down electrification to lessen the challenge of clean power would undermine the core objectives of cutting energy costs and supporting net-zero.

"Our clean power pathways see a four-to-fivefold increase in demand flexibility (excluding storage heaters), an increase in grid connected battery storage from 5 GW to over 22 GW, more pumped storage and major expansions in onshore wind (from 14 GW to 27 GW) and solar (from 15 GW to 47 GW) along with nuclear plant life extensions."

NESO says nuclear power will play an important role in achieving a clean power system by 2030 and beyond into the 2030s, when a new generation of nuclear plants can help replace retiring capacity and meet growing demand as the economy electrifies.

Most of the UK's existing reactors are due to retire before 2030 and these are currently being considered for life extension. A new plant is also under construction at Hinkley Point C.

"In combination, we assume these see a reduction in Great Britain's nuclear capacity from 6.1 GW in 2023 to 3.5-4.1 GW in 2030, with scope for more new build beyond 2030," NESO said. "Our baseline assumption includes Sizewell B, one unit at Hinkley Point C and a lifetime extension of one AGR unit."

It notes that small modular reactors (SMRs) could be constructed and put into operation by 2030. "Should that be possible, it could compensate for any shortfall should plant life extensions not proceed as we have assumed and/or if Hinkley Point C does not begin generation until after 2030.

"If SMRs can be built in addition to our other assumptions, that could compensate for under-delivery elsewhere in the clean power programme. Beyond 2030, it is clear that SMRs and/or other large nuclear projects provide solid base generation that delivers a large contribution to clean power. There is also the opportunity for these plants to provide heat."

NESO says that delivering Clean Power by 2030 requires "swift action from industry, regulators, government, and NESO, necessitating significant changes in approach. The right supply, demand, networks and flexibility all need to be developed. A key challenge will be making sure all deliver simultaneously, in full and at maximum pace, in a sustainable way to set Great Britain on the right path beyond 2030".

"There's no doubt that the challenges ahead on the journey to delivering clean power are great," said NESO CEO Fintan Slye. "However, if the scale of those challenges is matched with the bold, sustained actions that are outlined in this report, the benefits delivered could be even greater.

"A clean power system for Great Britian will deliver a backbone of home-grown energy that breaks the link between volatile international gas prices; that is secure and affordably powers our homes and buildings; that decarbonises the transport that we take to school and work; that drives the businesses of today and catalyses the innovations of the future."

Government will now consider the advice in developing its clean power action plan later this year.

Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, welcomed NESO's recognition of nuclear's role in helping the UK achieve a clean energy system.

"Ramping up baseload nuclear – including delivering Sizewell C, a fleet of small modular reactors and a new project at Wylfa – is particularly important during the still, cloudy periods like we're seeing this week when there's no other option than to burn lots of dirty, expensive gas," he said.

"For the system operator to be able to do their job there needs to be enough firm, clean power on the grid, both to keep the lights on and to protect consumers from paying inflated prices for the electricity they rely on."

AtkinsRéalis company Candu Energy Inc has announced it is entering into a special project with Canadian nuclear regulators to plan for a Pre-Licensing Design Review of the new Candu Monark reactor's suitability to be licensed and built in Canada.

The 1000 MW Candu Monark, a Generation III+ reactor with the highest output of any Candu technology, was unveiled in November 2023. The conceptual design phase of the reactor was completed in September, and AtkinsRéalis plans to complete the preliminary engineering by 2027.

"Reactor development is a key differentiator for us as we have the exclusive licence to deploy one of only a few large reactor technologies available worldwide, and so we have extensive experience navigating the nuclear licensing process in Canada," said Joe St Julian, AtkinsRéalis President, Nuclear. "As the world enters a nuclear market super-cycle with estimated demand for 1,000 new reactor builds, we remain on track to complete the Candu Monark's design by 2027, positioning the first Candu Monark new build to begin as early as 2029 and be completed by the mid-2030s."

The special project will familiarise Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) staff with the design and allow them to provide feedback on what will be needed in a future pre-licensing design review.

The CNSC's optional vendor design review (VDR) process enables CNSC staff to provide feedback to a vendor early on in the design process. Such a review aims to verify, at a high level, that Canadian nuclear regulatory requirements and expectations, as well as Canadian codes and standards, will be met as well as helping identify, and potentially resolve, any fundamental barriers to licensing for a new design in Canada. AtkinsRéalis said it believes completion of a VDR was an added measure that offers predictability to a purchasing utility.

A typical VDR includes three phases, but since the Candu Monark's design heavily leverages the platform of past Candu reactor models which have fully completed all three phases of the regulator's VDR, as well as those that have already been licensed and built, the company said it has asked the CNSC to consider two possible types of pre-licensing design review: either a VDR, or a preliminary regulatory design assessment.

The special project between the CNSC and AtkinsRéalis will see the regulator's experts develop a schedule and estimate for both a VDR and a preliminary regulatory design assessment, reflecting the impact of the range of improvements and modernisations made to Candu Monark technology, their variance to past Candu designs that have already gone through all three VDR phases, and any relevant changes to regulatory requirements and expectations.

"AtkinsRéalis will then be able to evaluate which of these pathways will be most suitable in supporting the Candu Monark design programme, with the goal of seeking rigorous review and feedback on the Candu Monark's design in support of ensuring that any eventual Candu Monark new build project can be undertaken with confidence in the licensing costs and timeline," the company said.

Leadership of the UK's STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) programme has transitioned to UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

The establishment of UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd (UKIFS) as a new delivery body for the UK's fusion programme was announced in February 2023 by then Science Minister George Freeman.

UKIFS will lead a public-private partnership that will design, build and operate the STEP prototype fusion plant at the West Burton power plant site in Nottinghamshire, England. The West Burton site was selected to host STEP in October 2022.

The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) - which carries out fusion energy research on behalf of the government - said it will continue to be STEP's fusion partner, working alongside two industry partners – one in engineering and one in construction – to spearhead the development of a UK-led fusion industry.

"A major procurement exercise is currently under way to select STEP's strategic, long-term industry partners, with the shortlist expected to be announced by the end of the year," the UKAEA said.

"The launch of UK Industrial Fusion Solutions demonstrates significant progress and commitment to developing fusion as a viable clean energy source, and also to creating a UK-led fusion industry," said Paul Methven, CEO of UKIFS and Senior Responsible Owner for STEP. "STEP is a national endeavour with global impact, and we will continue to work closely with public and private sector partners to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of a revolutionary sustainable new energy source that will drive economic growth."

Ian Chapman, CEO of UKAEA, said: "UKIFS brings together an experienced team dedicated to translating decades of fusion research into a functioning prototype plant that will be capable of supplying low-carbon, safe, and sustainable energy to the grid. UKIFS will integrate partners in a national endeavour to build STEP as well as focussing on delivering enormous social and economic benefits to the UK, especially for the East Midlands region where the plant will be built."

The aim for the first phase of work on STEP is to produce a 'concept design' by the end of this year. The UK government is providing GBP220 million (USD285 million) of funding for this part. The next phase of work will include detailed engineering design, while all relevant permissions and consents to build the prototype are sought. The final phase is construction, with operations targeted to begin around 2040. The aim is to have a fully evolved design and approval to build by 2032, enabling construction to begin. The demonstration plant is due to begin operating by 2040.

The technical objectives of STEP are: to deliver predictable net electricity greater than 100 MW; to innovate to exploit fusion energy beyond electricity production; to ensure tritium self-sufficiency; to qualify materials and components under appropriate fusion conditions; and to develop a viable path to affordable lifecycle costs.