Nuclear Energy

Electric cables in decommissioned nuclear power plants which were previously incinerated can now have their copper recovered using a new technique successfully trialled by Veolia.

The company says it has developed a method to safely handle the wires to dispose of the plastic coating which surrounds and protects the copper wire within it from radiation.

Veolia says that "standard thin gauge to heavy duty electrical cables will make up hundreds of tonnes of waste during the planned decommissioning across various projects" and an initial trial of 12 tonnes of cable that were stripped of their contaminated plastic coating found that the exposed cores of the wires were tested for radioactivity and found to be safe, producing four tonnes of copper for recycling.

Copper is used in many domestic appliances, computers, pipework, construction and numerous other places including musical instruments and statues. It is plentiful within the earth's crust but the amount which is currently deemed to be economically viable to be mined is about 60 years' worth, Veolia said.

It estimates that using the recycled copper from decommissioned nuclear power plants saves around 85% of the carbon emissions associated with copper sulphide extraction from large open pit mines.

Nicola Henshaw, Managing Director Hazardous at Veolia UK, said: "Utilising our expertise in decontamination, depollution and hazardous waste, part of our global GreenUp strategy, we’ve helped the nuclear industry significantly reduce its waste and salvage valuable materials. As more end of life nuclear facilities are decommissioned this new process represents a new way of capturing valuable resources from this industry. With pressure on the earth’s copper reserves, more demand from industry, and the need to reduce carbon emissions, this latest innovation marks an advance towards a circular economy."

The Veolia group has operations in 57 countries and employs more than 210,000 people across waste management, water management and energy services. Its operations in the UK include the decommissioning programme for Magnox nuclear reactors where its work ranges from initial surveys through decontamination to appropriate disposal.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has officially ruled that unit 2 of the Tsuruga nuclear power plant in Fukui prefecture cannot be restarted as it does not comply with regulatory safety standards.

New regulatory standards announced in June 2013 prohibit reactor buildings and other important facilities being located above any active fault.

On two occasions - in May 2013 and March 2015 - a Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) panel of experts concluded that an active fault lies under the Tsuruga 2 reactor building. However, owner Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC) has maintained that its own analysis has shown that the fault is not active and does not extend under the unit. In November 2015 it applied to the NRA for a review to restart the operation of Tsuruga 2.

An NRA review team presented the results of their confirmation of the activity of the fault at a meeting on 31 May this year, and the continuity of the fault at a meeting on 26 July. The team concluded that the possibility of an active fault running directly underneath the reactor building "cannot be denied". The regulator adopted the team's draft screening report in August.

Following a public comment period, the NRA has now ruled that the unit does not comply with the regulatory safety standards and can therefore not be restarted. It marks the first instance that such a decision has been made under the new regulations.

NRA Chairman Shinsuke Yamanaka was quoted by Jiji Press as saying "it was a big decision", adding that the decision "is not different at all from those made so far, in that we conducted strict screening from scientific and technical standpoints".

In a statement, JAPC said it was "disappointed" with the NRA's decision. "It did not recognise that the activity and continuity of the K fault found in the D-1 trench on the site of Tsuruga nuclear power plant unit 2 are in conformity with the new regulatory standards," it said.

"We will work toward reapplying for permission to change the installation of Tsuruga nuclear power plant unit 2 and starting operation," the utility added. "We will specify the content of the additional investigation required for the application, taking into account the opinions of external experts."

The US International Development Finance Corporation has signed a letter of interest with Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe to provide more than PLN4 billion (USD980 million) in financing for Poland's first nuclear power plant.

"The involvement of this important entity has more than just a financial dimension for us. It confirms the US administration's interest in our project," said Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) Finance Division Director, Wojciech Rosiński.

He added that the letter of interest (LOI) signed by the US International Development Finance Corporation reflects the outcome of months of talks held by PEJ with the institution as well as with other leading institutions from the US market interested not only in Poland but also in the global energy transition.

Agnes Dasewicz, head of investments at US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), added: "DFC is committed to enhancing regional energy security throughout Central and Eastern Europe. This LOI is a step toward reducing regional reliance on Russian energy exports while also seeking to bolster economic growth and create jobs."

The DFC - the USA's development bank - works in partnership with the private sector to finance solutions to challenges facing developing countries, and invests across a range of sectors, including energy, healthcare, critical infrastructure, and technology. In July 2020, DFC lifted its legacy prohibition on funding nuclear energy projects overseas.

PEJ - a special-purpose vehicle 100% owned by Poland's State Treasury - said the letter of interest received from DFC "is another document regarding the financing of the Lubiatowo-Kopalino nuclear power plant project". A similar declaration, for the equivalent of about PLN70 billion, was made earlier by the US Export-Import Bank, as a result of years of talks with Westinghouse, supported by PEJ and Bechtel since last year. Westinghouse and Bechtel jointly form a US consortium that implements the PEJ investment project in Pomerania.

In November 2022, the then Polish government selected the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor technology for construction at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in the Choczewo municipality in Pomerania in northern Poland. An agreement setting a plan for the delivery of the plant was signed in May last year by Westinghouse, Bechtel and PEJ. The Ministry of Climate and Environment in July issued a decision-in-principle for PEJ to construct the plant. The aim is for Poland's first AP1000 reactor to enter commercial operation in 2033.

Under an engineering services signed in September last year, in cooperation with PEJ, Westinghouse and Bechtel will finalise a site-specific design for a plant featuring three AP1000 reactors. The design/engineering documentation includes the main components of the power plant: the nuclear island, the turbine island and the associated installations and auxiliary equipment, as well as administrative buildings and infrastructure related to the safety of the facility. The contract also involves supporting the investment process and bringing it in line with current legal regulations in cooperation with the National Atomic Energy Agency and the Office of Technical Inspection.

In September, the Polish government announced its intention to allocate PLN60 billion to fund the country's first nuclear power plant.

A new jobs map published by EDF Energy shows the nuclear industry now supports 3500 jobs in the city of Bristol in southwest England. Many of these jobs have been supported by the Hinkley Point C project, with further new build projects expected to provide more.

The Bristol, nuclear city jobs map shows the extent of the jobs in dozens of businesses involved in engineering, manufacturing, logistics, training and research. Across the region, 27,000 jobs are now supported by nuclear - three times more than in 2014.

Engineering centres with hundreds of engineers have been developed at Aztec West business park in Bristol. They are due to expand to support Sizewell C in Suffolk, the UK's next nuclear project after Hinkley Point C in Somerset, EDF Energy noted. Plans to develop the Oldbury and Berkeley sites in Gloucestershire for small modular reactors offer further potential for growth in skilled jobs.

The figures show that more than 300 Bristol-based companies have won contracts at Hinkley Point C, worth more than GBP2 billion (USD2.6 billion). Framatome and construction firm Laing O'Rourke and have opened new factories in Avonmouth, employing 150 people, building modular parts for the Hinkley Point C project, while 650 engineers at the UK EPR Engineering centre based at Aztec West are designing Hinkley Point C and the next large nuclear power station project at Sizewell C.

The University of Bristol supports world-leading nuclear research and training, while training is also supported by the University of the West of England Bristol also benefits from facilities to support nuclear skills and the National College for Nuclear in Somerset, Bridgwater and Taunton College and South Gloucestershire and Stroud College.

"The South West went first with new nuclear at Hinkley Point C and Bristol is reaping the rewards," said Andrew Cockcroft, Head of Social Impact at Hinkley Point C. "The project has been a catalyst to attract new businesses and growth to the city, supporting thousands of highly skilled, well-paid jobs and making Bristol a national centre of nuclear expertise."

Phil Smith, Managing Director of Business West, added: "Bristol, the economic engine of the South West, sits at the centre of the region's new era of exciting expansion into the production of low-carbon energy. Tackling the UK's critical challenges of energy prices, energy resilience, and achieving net-zero, the region's burgeoning developments in offshore wind, EV batteries, and in particular new nuclear projects, will be dependent on Bristol's powerhouse of academia, engineering, and professional services.

"Business West is supporting the much-needed supply chain that new nuclear will rely on, including the critical component of an available and skilled workforce."

The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is considering support for Poland’s project to build its first commercial nuclear power station with a loan of 4 billion zloty (about $979m, €920m).

The interest was confirmed in a letter of interest signed by the DFC, the US government’s development finance institution, on 12 November.

The DFC letter of interest is another key document related to the financing of the Polish project to build three Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plants at a site near the villages of Lubiatowo and Kopalino in Choczewo commune, Pomerania, a province in the north of Poland.

A similar declaration, for the equivalent of about $17bn, was made by the US Export-Import Bank (Exim Bank), following years of talks with Westinghouse, supported by PEJ and Bechtel.

Westinghouse and Bechtel jointly form a US consortium that will implement the nuclear project.

In March, Robert Rudich, energy attaché at the US embassy in Warsaw, said Exim Bank had sent a letter of interest for “a very large number of billions of dollars”. He said: “That is probably the lowest-cost debt financing available and it is an immensely powerful tool that we are bringing to this strategic project.”

“The involvement of the DFC has more than just a financial dimension for us,” said Wojciech Rosiński, finance division director at Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ), the state company set up to implement the nuclear project, including securing financing. “It confirms the US administration’s interest in our project,”

Nuclear LOI Follows ‘Months Of Talks’

Rosiński said that the letter of interest was the outcome of months of talks held between PEJ and the DFC.

Agnes Dasewicz, head of investments at DFC, said DFC is committed to enhancing regional energy security throughout Central and Eastern Europe

“This LOI is a step toward reducing regional reliance on Russian energy exports while also seeking to bolster economic growth and create jobs,” Dasewicz said.

DFC partners with the private sector to finance solutions to the most critical challenges facing the developing world. It invests across sectors including energy, healthcare, critical infrastructure and technology.

In November 2022, Warsaw chose US-based Westinghouse to supply its AP1000 pressurised water reactor technology for the construction of three units in Pomerania.

At the COP29 UN climate change conference taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, six more countries - El Salvador, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Nigeria and Turkey - have added their support for the tripling of global nuclear energy capacity by 2050.

During COP28 - held in Dubai, UAE, in December last year - 24 countries backed a Ministerial Declaration calling for the tripling of global nuclear energy capacity by 2050. The heads of state, or senior officials, from Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ghana, Hungary, Jamaica, Japan, South Korea, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, the UAE, the UK and the USA signed the declaration on 2 December, with Armenia and Croatia also signing up during the summit.

The declaration says the countries recognise the need for a tripling of nuclear energy capacity to achieve "global net-zero greenhouse gas/carbon neutrality by or around mid-century and in keeping a 1.5°C limit on temperature rise within reach". It also recognises that "new nuclear technologies could occupy a small land footprint and can be sited where needed, partner well with renewable energy sources and have additional flexibilities that support decarbonisation beyond the power sector, including hard-to-abate industrial sectors".

On Wednesday, in an event co-organised by the COP29 Presidency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the USA and World Nuclear Association, a further six countries signed the declaration. This brings the total number of countries endorsing the declaration to triple to 31.

"We warmly welcome these six new countries to the Coalition of the Ambitious," said World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León. "Today's announcement highlights the essential role of nuclear energy in meeting the Paris Agreement goals in a cost-effective and equitable manner.

"Leadership requires a clear-eyed assessment of the here and now, but also the foresight to prepare for what the world will need not only in 2050, but in the decades after. The signatories to this declaration are making a long-term commitment. But it is a long-term commitment with a long-term pay off, providing energy certainty and reliability in an uncertain world."

World Nuclear Association noted the announcement "is the latest moment of recognition for the essential role of nuclear energy in achieving net-zero emissions". On Tuesday at COP, the US Administration issued a roadmap outlining plans for the deployment of 200 GW of nuclear capacity by 2050. Other recent developments have included the recognition of nuclear energy - for the first time in a major COP decision - among the solutions needed to keep the 1.5-degree goal within reach, as part of last year's Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement. In March, the IAEA and Belgium co-chaired the first Nuclear Energy Summit, in which countries highlighted the role of nuclear energy in reducing the use of fossil fuels, enhancing energy security, and boosting economic development. In September, at New York Climate Week, 14 of the world's largest banks and financial institutions from five countries signalled their support for tripling global nuclear capacity.

"Nuclear can now count on the world's biggest banks to back the growth of the nuclear industry," Bilbao y León said. "Nuclear has attracted the interest and investment of the world's largest and most advanced technology companies. And nuclear has ever-increasing support from the public, who recognise that in nuclear they have an answer to their demands for energy security, reliable supply and prices, and a response to climate change. This is truly a global coalition of the ambitious. And thank you all for being part of it."

World Nuclear Association and the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, with support from the IAEA's Atoms4NetZero and the UK government, launched the Net Zero Nuclear initiative in September 2023 seeking "unprecedented collaboration between government, industry leaders and civil society" ahead of COP28. The Net Zero Nuclear Industry Pledge, has been endorsed by more than 130 companies.

US president Joe Biden’s administration is setting out plans for the US to triple nuclear power capacity by 2050, with demand climbing for the technology as a round-the-clock source of carbon-free power.

Under a roadmap unveiled on 12 November, the US would deploy an additional 200 GW of nuclear energy capacity by mid-century through the construction of new reactors, plant restarts and upgrades to existing facilities. This would at least triple the current US capacity of about 97 GW.

The White House said it wants to “jump start the nuclear energy deployment ecosystem” with 35 GW of new capacity by 2035 that will be operating or under construction in the US.

It then wants to ramp up to a sustained pace of producing 15 GW per year in the US by 2040.

The strategy is part of a concerted push by the Biden administration to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a goal the incoming Trump administration is likely to abandon.

However, increased deployment of nuclear power has bipartisan congressional support and president-elect Trump has signalled support, calling for the construction of new nuclear reactors during his 2024 campaign.

The roadmap relies on existing federal authorities, but would require new funding, leaving nuclear power’s bipartisan supporters in Congress to allocate that money.

In July, bipartisan support led to the enactment of a law giving the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission new tools to regulate advanced reactors, licence new fuels and evaluate breakthroughs in manufacturing that promise faster and cheaper buildouts.

The White House said: “These targets reflect ambitious but achievable goals to serve as a call to action for the nuclear energy industry and signal that the US government is working and will continue to work to facilitate the safe and responsible deployment of nuclear energy and related infrastructure and job creation.”

Ali Zaidi, the White House national climate adviser, said: “Over the last four years the United States has really established the industrial capacity and the muscle memory across the economy to carry out this plan.”

The roadmap says that during the 1970s and 1980s, the US successfully deployed approximately 100 GW of domestic nuclear power. The US nuclear energy industry continues to “lead the world” in nuclear power safety, security, innovation, operational performance, and non-proliferation, but has since fallen behind in deploying new nuclear power plants and faces increasing competition in the global marketplace for reactor exports.

Plans Call For Large-Scale Reactors And SMRs

A significant “potential deployment pathway” for new large reactors is using existing nuclear sites, the roadmap says. Adding new units to existing sites can reduce costs and construction times because site characterisation work is at least partially complete, a workforce is already in place, physical security is in place, and support from the local community is often present.

Among the 54 sites with operating reactors and 11 sites where reactors have retired, a recent Department of Energy study identified that 41 sites have the land, water, and other conditions to site up to 60 GW of new large reactors. Several of the 54 sites were originally designed for two or more reactors but only have one operating.

The roadmap also points to small modular reactors (SMRs), which it says have strong potential for resilient electricity and for industrial heat and hydrogen production.

Demand for nuclear is increasing as nations aim to accelerate the addition of low-emissions power sources, and as a result of rising electricity consumption by energy-intensive industries including data-processing for artificial intelligence.

Microsoft struck a deal in September for electricity that would be generated from a restarted Three Mile Island-1 nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. Google, Amazon and billionaire financier Ken Griffin are all among those to have recently expressed new interest in the development of nuclear energy.

Japanese regional utility Chugoku Electric Power has told the Nuclear Regulation Authority that it plans to restart Unit 2 at its Shimane nuclear power station in Shimane Prefecture, southwest Japan, on 7 December.

If the restart goes ahead, it will bring the number of reactors able to operate to 14 and boost the nation’s power supply this winter.

Shimane-2, the second boiling water reactor (BWR) unit to restart in Japan since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, was set to resume in August, but the restart was rescheduled due to essential safety upgrade work.

Shimane-2 is a 789-MW BWR unit of the same type as those that suffered meltdowns at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power station following the massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. The plant began commercial operation in 1989.

Unit 2 at Tohoku Electric Power Company’s Onagawa nuclear power station in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, was restarted on 29 October, becoming the first BWR in Japan to be go back online.

However, it was taken offline on 3 November due to an equipment malfunction. While a generator test was being carried out, an incident occurred in which a device for calibrating the detector that measures neutrons inside the reactor was stopped in the middle of the process.

Tohoku Electric said it had identified the cause of the incident, but has not yet said when it plans to restart the plant.

Before the Fukushima disaster Japan’s fleet of 54 nuclear plants generated about 30% of the country’s electricity, but were all shut down for safety checks following the accident.

Among the 33 operable nuclear reactors in Japan, 13 have now resumed operations after meeting post-Fukushima safety standards. The restarted plants are: Sendai-1 and -2, Genkai-3 and -4, Ikata-3, Mihama-3, Ohi-3 and -4, Onagawa-2 (temporarily offline) and Takahama-1, -2, -3 and -4.

In October, Japan’s new economy minister said the country will need to maximise the use of existing nuclear power plants because AI and data centres are expected to boost electricity demand.

Yoji Muto said the new administration will plan restarting as many reactors as possible so long as they are safe.

Muto’s comments point to a continuation of former prime minister Fumio Kishida’s policy that moved Japan back towards nuclear energy as a major power source.

Newly appointed prime minister Shigeru Ishiba, who succeeded Kishida on 1 October following the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, had said during his election campaign that Japan should reduce its dependence on nuclear energy, but later said that he would support the restart of existing plants.

Texas A&M University is beginning the licensing process for potential sites at Texas A&M-RELLIS in Bryan, Texas, for multiple companies to test and construct the next generation of nuclear reactors - and says it will be the only higher education institution with a commercial reactor site licence in the USA.

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents has agreed to notify the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission of the plan by submission of a letter of intent, which it says marks the beginning of a licensing process. "Reactor companies will benefit from the A&M System taking on the licensing burden," the university said. "The result will be a shorter path to getting their reactors up and running."

This "test-bed" supporting multiple reactors from various companies, could put additional power into the state's energy grid at a time of high demand, said John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M System. He described the Texas A&M System - a statewide network of 11 universities - as "the missing piece of the puzzle" for the development of small modular reactors (SMRs).

The Texas A&M System has already gathered proposals from nuclear reactor companies that hope to construct reactors at Texas A&M-RELLIS, and said negotiations are expected to begin soon. There might also be additional opportunities for organisations "to take advantage of the A&M System's site for nuclear testing and the manufacturing of modular reactors", it said. It will announce the companies that are selected to carry out testing at Texas A&M-RELLIS "after negotiations are complete".

Texas A&M University is home to the largest nuclear engineering department of any university in the USA and the A&M System helps manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Pantex nuclear weapons plant. The TRIGA research reactor at the university's Nuclear Engineering & Science Center's celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2021

"From the people, to the land, to the enthusiasm to innovate, the Texas A&M System has everything we need to help the country meet its clean energy needs," Sharp said.

Chugoku Electric Power Company has announced that it plans to resume operation of unit 2 at its Shimane nuclear power plant on 7 December. The 789 MWe boiling water reactor has been offline since January 2012.

In June 2021, Shimane 2 became the 17th Japanese reactor to pass the regulator's safety screenings and the fifth boiling water reactor (BWR) - the same type as those at the Fukushima Daiichi plant - to receive regulatory approval to restart.

Following approvals by the cities of Matsue, Izumo, Yasugi and Unnan, in June 2022 the governor of Shimane prefecture approved the restart of Shimane 2. His approval marked the completion of the process to gain the consent of local communities for the unit to resume operation.

In early October, Chugoku released a revised schedule for the restart of the unit. It said the reactor was expected to restart in early December, with power generation scheduled to begin in late December. The reactor will resume commercial operation in January 2025.

The utility has now specified that the unit will be restarted on 7 December.

Chugoku began loading fuel into the core of Shimane 2 on 28 October. The process of loading the 560 fuel assemblies was completed on 3 November.

Unit 2 at Tohoku Electric Power Company's Onagawa nuclear power plant was restarted on 29 October, becoming the first BWR in Japan to be restarted. However, the unit was taken offline on 3 November due to malfunctioning equipment. While a generator test was being conducted, an incident occurred in which a device for calibrating the detector that measures neutrons inside the reactor was stopped in the middle of the process.

Today, Tohoku said that it had identified the cause of the incident - "the connection between the expansion joint inside the reactor containment vessel and the guide pipe used to feed the detector cable into the reactor had become detached" due to a nut not being sufficiently tightened.

The utility has not yet said when it plans to restart the reactor again.

Great British Nuclear (GBN) said it had started detailed negotiations on 11 November with the final four shortlisted bidders into the UK’s small modular reactor (SMR) programme.

The four companies, GE Hitachi, Holtec, Rolls-Royce SMR and Westinghouse, have been shortlisted following two rounds of assessment by GBN, the government’s nuclear delivery body.

GBN will negotiate with all four before final tenders are submitted, with final decisions to be taken in the spring.

The government said in a statement that to reach this stage, each of the four designs was subject to a “robust analysis”. GBN has evaluated each technology, including aspects such as safety, deliverability, and their ability to support development of a fleet of SMRs.

“GBN considers the designs, each of which is proceeding through the UK’s regulatory process, are viable options for development,” the statement said.

“Subject to negotiations, GBN consider any one of these designs would be fit to use in the UK nuclear programme.”

GBN’s chair, Simon Bowen said: “This is a significant moment for the SMR programme. Our technical experts have assessed each design in detail and are very confident these SMRs could play a key role in the UK’s future energy mix.

“The negotiation phase will enable us to select the absolute best technologies on the best terms for the UK.”

The two companies that were on an initial list of six, but were not included in the list of four, were EDF and US-based NuScale Power.

French state-owned utility and nuclear operator EDF said in July that it had pulled out of the competition after deciding to shift away from its indigenous Nuward technology to a design based on proven technology only.

The UK government gave no reason for NuScale’s failure to make the list of four. In November 2023, NuScale cancelled its first SMR project, in the US, as costs increased.

An initial assessment technical report summary that includes an economic analysis and mineral resource estimate for Uranium Energy Corp's project in Northern Saskatchewan envisages production of 61.2 million pounds U3O8 (23,540 tU) over nine years of underground operations.

Corpus Christi, Texas-based Uranium Energy Corp (UEC) acquired the project from Rio Tinto in 2022, for USD150 million. The company has now filed an updated S-K 1300 Technical Report Summary for the project with total resources of 27.86 million pounds U3O8 at an average grade of 1.81% U3O8 in the indicated category and 33.38 million pounds U3O8 at 2.45% U3O8 in the inferred category.

Annual average production is expected to be 6.8 million pounds U3O8 of 61.2 million pounds U3O8 9 years of high-grade operations, with a 2.36% U3O8 life-of-mine feed grade. Initial capex is estimated at USD545 million including a mill and underground mine.

The newly completed studies position Roughrider as an underground development project with one of the one of the lowest capex profiles in Canada, UEC President and CEO Amir Adnani said: "This Initial Economic Assessment marks a pivotal milestone for Roughrider, validating it as a top-tier, high-margin operation with a clear path to development into a world-class mine and mill. With a post-tax estimated net present value of USD946 million, today's results underscore the strength of our 2022 decision to acquire Roughrider from Rio Tinto for $150 million," he said.

"Additionally, we see significant potential for further value creation as we advance the project through the prefeasibility stage, supported by recent exploration drill results and the discovery of the Roughrider North Deposit," he added.

The project's location in the Eastern Athabasca Basin means that future development will benefit from proximity to power, roads, and the Points North Landing airport and construction facility.

"Given UEC’s capabilities as an established uranium producer, we are uniquely positioned to leverage our operational expertise and financial strength to advance and de-risk Roughrider," Adnani said.

UEC's portfolio includes in-situ leach (also known as in-situ recovery) uranium mining projects in the USA as well as its high-grade conventional projects in Canada, with the company beginning production at its Christensen Ranch project in Wyoming in August.

Argentina's National Atomic Energy Commission is planning to release 80,000 sterilised male mosquitos per week to combat dengue and other diseases.

The male mosquitoes are being coloured with a fluorescent orange or green powder, with the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) saying that the released mosquitoes do not bite or infect and "it is important not to kill them". The colours are said to be almost imperceptible to the human eye, but allows them to be identified with UV light.

Germán Guido Lavalle, CNEA President, said: "This technique consists of irradiating male insects to make them sterile and prevent reproduction. It is effective against a lot of pests and, with the capacity we have at CNEA, we adapted it for Aedes aegypti (yellow fever mosquitoes). We have been doing tests and they have worked well."

The first area to benefit is the region around the Ezeiza Atomic Centre, starting in Barrio Uno where 25,000 mosquitoes were released last week for a marking, release and recapture trial supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Aline Macedo, from the IAEA, said: "Diseases caused by mosquitoes, mainly Aedes aegypti, have a high incidence in South America. With this technique we want to help countries reduce the populations ... to cut the transmission of diseases. It is an environmentally very safe technique. The IAEA has been working with it for a long time to control fruit flies."

The CNEA has been taking part in a project with the IAEA to adapt the Sterile Insect Technique to reduce the Aedes aegypti population in South America.

At the Ezeiza Atomic Centre, there is a mosquito breeding laboratory, where males are separated for marking and then sterilisation with ionising radiation. The sterile males are then released, and when they mate they do not produce offspring, so the total population declines.

The test release includes setting up traps to collect both sterile and wild mosquitoes to determine the survival and distance travelled by the sterile males.

Mariana Malter Terrada, head of the Department of Agricultural Applications at CNEA, said that the first releases of the insects and the tests "will allow us to adjust the parameters so that future releases are a success".

The plan is to release batches of 80,000 per week for a year, with the positive impact expected to be noticeable after about four months.

Dengue is most common in tropical and subtropical climates and its symptoms include a high fever, severe headaches, swollen glands and rashes. According to the World Health Organization there have been more than 500,000 cases reported in Argentina this year.

Ontario Minister of Energy and Electrification Stephen Lecce announced plans for a new hot cell facility to process medical radioisotopes during a visit to the plant which will enter its Major Component Replacement outage on 1 February. Meanwhile, Ontario's Green Party has passed a resolution reversing its blanket opposition to nuclear energy.

Major Component Replacement - or MCR - involves removing and replacing key reactor components including steam generators, pressure tubes, calandria tubes and feeder tubes and adding 30-35 years to the reactor's operating life. Bruce unit 4 will be the third of six Candu units at the Bruce site in Ontario to undergo the process, which is currently under way at Bruce 3. Bruce 6 returned to commercial operation last September after completing its MCR. Units 5, 7 and 8 will also be refurbished over the next 10 years.

In 2025 alone, Bruce Power said, it will invest CAD3 billion (nearly USD2.2 billion) in Ontario through MCR and Asset Management investments, and the start of unit 4 MCR will double the construction activities on site. "In terms of number of activities per day, no utility has ever taken on a project of this magnitude on an operating site", the company said.

'The sky's the limit'

Last week, Bruce Power set out its plans to expand production of medical radioisotopes using its Candu reactors, increasing long-term production capacity for lutetium-177 (Lu-177) as well as exploring the production of other isotopes.

The hot cell - a shielded facility where initial processing of Lu-177 produced in Bruce Power’s unit 7 using the proprietary Isotope Production System (IPS) will take place - will play a key role as the Bruce Power and its partners explores the possibility of producing other medical isotopes and expands its Isotope Production System (IPS) to other units, the company said. The hot cell will be installed either on the Bruce site or at one of its partner Isogen’s local facilities (Isogen is a joint venture between Kinectrics and Framatome).

Lecce described medical isotopes from Ontario's nuclear generating stations as "one of the most consequential tools doctors have available" to diagnose and treat cancer. "As someone who has been impacted by cancer in my family like so many Canadians, I know that this initiative will save lives and further cement Ontario's place as a global leader in the production and processing of cancer-fighting medical isotopes," he said.

"The exciting part of this is that when we have all of the infrastructure in place with our IPS and the new hot cell fully operational, the sky is the limit on our production and research of new medical isotopes for doctors and patients around the world, allowing a breakthrough in cancer treatment," Bruce Power President and CEO Eric Chassard said.

Green turn-around

Nuclear energy was at the core of the Government of Ontario's plans to build critical infrastructure and spur economic growth set out in its latest economic statement in October. One of Ontario's opposition parties - the Green Party of Ontario - has now passed a motion at its 2024 Annual General Meeting reversing a blanket opposition to nuclear energy. The Society of United Professionals - a union representing more than 10,000 professionals from Ontario's energy and legal sectors, and an advocate for the expansion of Ontario's Candu nuclear fleet - said the resolution "explicitly calls for the use of made-in-Canada Candu reactors".

"There is scientific consensus that a significant increase in nuclear energy, in tandem with hydro, non-hydro renewables, storage and other ultra-low emission energy sources, is necessary in order to power the electrification of our economy required to reach net-zero emissions," said Michelle Johnston, President of the Society of United Professionals. "Given the Green Party's long-standing opposition to nuclear energy, we were pleasantly surprised to see this resolution pass. As a party genuinely invested in the fight against climate change, it makes sense to see them recognize that nuclear energy is one of the most potent tools in that fight."

Two of the provincial government's 124 seats are currently held by the Greens. The New Democratic Party of Ontario, which holds 28 seats, still maintains anti-nuclear policy positions, but with its policy conference scheduled for January 2025 the Society said it is "hopeful that we will see similar resolutions passed in support of made-in-Canada nuclear technology, and that the next election will be the first where all parties are running on platforms that recognise the environmental, economic and jobs benefits of nuclear energy".

Construction workers at the Akkuyu nuclear power station being built by Russia’s state nuclear corporation in Turkey have completed the concreting of the dome of the outer containment shell of the Unit 1 reactor building.

Two tower cranes, six concrete distribution booms and 34 concrete mixer trucks were used in the work, Rosatom said.

The work was carried out in four stages and took 104 days using 3,511 cubic meters of high-strength self-compacting concrete mixture.

The concreting follows installation of the top section of the dome in September and means contractor Rosatom can now prepare for installation of the passive heat removal system, a safety feature which, in the event of a loss of onsite power supply, provides long-term heat removal from the reactor core to the atmosphere using natural circulation.

Rosatom is supplying four of its Generation III+ VVER-1200 pressurise water reactor units for Turkey’s first nuclear power station, on the country’s southern Mediterranean coast.

Construction of Akkuyu-1 began in April 2018. The unit was originally scheduled to be online in 2023, but latest projections have this is now likely to be 2025. A further unit at the site is expected to start every year afterwards.

Rosatom signed agreements with Turkey to build the Akkuyu units in 2010 and 2013. The cost of the station has been reported at $20bn (€18.7bn).

A nuclear advisory group created by the legislature in the US state of South Carolina is pushing for a study into restarting construction on a pair of nuclear power plants mothballed seven years ago as part of a failed nuclear power plant expansion.

Members of the governor’s Nuclear Advisory Council discussed the idea after two of them made a trip to the abandoned reactors and parts left on site at the Summer nuclear station in Fairfield County.

The site looked much better than expected, said Rick Lee, the council’s chairman. “We went with the assumption that what we were going to see was in keeping with the public perception of V.C. Summer, and that is a site with tumbleweeds and coyotes and apocalyptic buildings all falling down,” Lee said.

In a report to the council, Lee and fellow councilman Jim Little said the site was instead in “excellent condition”, minus “surface rust” on some of the rebar and equipment. They said excess parts stored and inventoried in 14 warehouses on site remain in “pristine” condition.

“There’s not a lot of decay or anything like that. It’s actually in pretty good shape,” said Little.

The two legislators think the site has potential, “if somebody will just ring the bell and get it started”, Lee said.

It could be the answer, Lee said, to South Carolina’s possible power shortage as the state’s population grows, industry expands and federal environmental regulations mandate the closure of coal-fired power.

The project to build two new Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at Summer had cost nearly $10bn (€9.3bn) before it was shut down in 2017, sparking multiple lawsuits involving investors and ratepayers.

Mounting delays and losses had led Westinghouse, then a unit of Japan’s Toshiba Corp, to file for bankruptcy.

Scana and Santee Cooper, the owners of the Summer station, then announced they were abandoning the project after Santee Cooper voted to cease all construction.

In January 2018 Dominion Energy, the largest utility in the US state of Virginia, announced it would buy Scana, a subsidiary of South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G), in a $14.6bn deal that would include $1.3bn in refunds to SCE&G utility customers.

In July 2018, Scana shareholders voted to merge the company with Dominion Energy and SCE&G was rebranded under the name Dominion Energy South Carolina.

Dominion operates seven large-scale reactors at four sites: Millstone in Connecticut, North Anna and Surry in Virginia and Summer in South Carolina.

The commercial viability of small modular reactors (SMRs) needs to be improved with partnerships between the public and private sector needed to help move projects to deployment, according to a report from the World Economic Forum (WEF), in collaboration with nuclear industry experts.

The report, A Collaborative Framework for Accelerating Advanced Nuclear and Small Modular Reactor Deployment, was published by WEF, a Switzerland-based thinktank, with management consultancy Accenture.

WEF said the report provides a framework to support the deployment of SMRs and other types of advanced of nuclear reactor.

The framework, according to WEF, “is a tool that can align stakeholders on key actions and strategies within nine priority areas to accelerate deployment”, and was developed by “stakeholders from across the nuclear ecosystem”.

The report said small modular reactor and microreactor developers highlight their freedom to rely entirely on private capital, thereby shielding taxpayers from financial risk. But it warned: “Public-private partnerships are crucial for developing enabling policies, driving modernisation of regulations and building a supply chain to deliver advanced nuclear and SMRs at scale.”

WEF’s framework has a three-part process for accelerating the deployment of SMRs and advanced reactors.

Part one is the “emergence” of the advanced nuclear and SMR market, part two is the delivery of advanced reactors and SMRs at scale, and part three is the financing of the reactors.

Under part one, WEF called for the modernisation of regulation, the automation of regulatory processes and aligning of regulatory bodies.

Part two, covering the delivery of the reactors at scale, suggests actions including the repurposing of existing infrastructure, colocation of reactors with current energy systems, engagement with communities throughout projects, and the preparation of supply chains.

It also suggests identifying skills gaps and partnerships between industry and educational institutions.

Part three on catalysing investment calls for the creation of “innovative financing mechanisms”, the use of public-private partnerships and for the inclusion of nuclear in clean investment taxonomies, such as environmental, social and governance classifications.

WEF noted that at the Cop28 climate conference in Dubai, 22 countries committed to triple global nuclear power capacity by 2050 and since then, they have been joined by 14 major banks and additional countries.

“To meet net-zero commitments and growing energy demand, nuclear new builds of multiple sizes and types will be needed,” WEF said. “Small modular reactors and other advanced nuclear technologies represent clean energy solutions that, when built at scale, could deliver cost-effective carbon-free energy.”

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.

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.

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.