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UK-based Rolls-Royce SMR and Czech state power company ČEZ Group have announced they will join forces in a bid to deploy Rolls-Royce SMR’s small modular reactor (SMR) technology.

ČEZ, which owns and operates the Czech Republic’s six commercial nuclear plants, will make an equity investment into Rolls-Royce SMR as part of a partnership to deploy up to 3,000 MW of electricity in the Czech Republic using Rolls-Royce SMR power plants, which have a capacity of 470 MW.

Reports said that under the agreement, ČEZ will acquire a 20% share in Rolls-Royce SMR for which it will pay several billion Czech crowns (hundreds of millions of dollars).

ČEZ plans to build the first small modular reactor at the existing Temelín nuclear power station site in the first half of the 2030s.

The agreement strengthens Rolls-Royce SMR’s ability to deploy SMR technology in Europe and globally, and puts ČEZ, Rolls-Royce SMR at the forefront of SMR deployment, a statement said.

“These efforts further support the UK and Europe to reach their ambitious net zero goals and contribute solutions to address the challenges of climate change,” the statement added.

Tufan Erginbilgic, chief executive of Rolls-Royce SMR parent company Rolls-Royce, said the partnership represented a significant opportunity to deploy the company‘s SMR technology in the Czech Republic.

“We have a shared vision and ČEZ further strengthens our ability to build stable, secure, low-carbon power – delivering on our promise as a leading SMR business.”

Daniel Benes, chief executive officer of ČEZ Group, said the Czech Republic hosts some of the world’s leading nuclear supply chain companies and the collaboration in the deployment of Rolls-Royce SMR units offers “a unique opportunity for growth and prosperity to the nuclear sector”.

The Czech Republic’s trade and industry minister Lukas Vlcek told state broadcaster Radio Prague International recently that Prague was planning to take part in Rolls-Royce SMR’s reactor programme with a decision on “significant” investment to be made in several weeks.

Vlcek said in an interview that being involved in the SMR sector presents “a huge window of opportunity” and “we are in a situation where we have a very broad window of opportunity, not only in nuclear energy but also in other sectors such as chip and semiconductor technologies”.

Last month Czech prime minister Petr Fiala said ČEZ would establish a partnership with Rolls-Royce SMR for the development of SMRs.

Fiala said Prague is not interested in only building new SMR plants, but wants to participate in their production on a global scale.

ČEZ has chosen South Korean state-owned group Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power as the preferred bidder for the construction of two large-scale reactors at the Dukovany nuclear site.

The Czech Republic’s six commercially operational reactor units are four Russia-designed VVER-440 units at Dukovany and two larger VVER-1000 units at Temelín.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, in 2023 the six units provided 40% of the country’s electricity production.

Japan’s Tohoku Electric Power has restarted Unit 2 at its Onagawa nuclear station after additional safety construction work delayed the process.

The long-delayed restart of the 796-MW boiling water reactor unit, confirmed on Tuesday (29 October), takes the number of Japan’s operational reactors to 13, with a combined capacity of about 12,500 MW.

The station, in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, is about 180 km north of the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power station. It was hit by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that resulted in meltdowns at Fukushima-Daiichi, but survived with its cooling system intact, saving its reactors from the threat of meltdowns. Onagawa has been offline since the Fukushima disaster.

Tohoku Electric received a de facto regulatory approval to restart Unit 2 in 2020, but has seen a delay in the completion of safety constructions that needed to be introduced under post-Fukushima rules.

One of the measures that needed to be implemented was the construction of a 29-metre-high, 800-metre-long seawall along the Pacific coast to guard against a tsunami as high as 23.1 metres.

For Tohoku Electric, the Onagawa restart follows a total investment of $3.7bn (€3.4bn) on safety measures to meet the tougher rules adopted after the Fukushima disaster.

There are three BWR units at the Onagawa site. Onagawa-1, the oldest of the three plants and a smaller unit at 498 MW, has been permanently shut down. The 796-MW Onagawa-3 is offline, but could be restarted.

The 13 nuclear plants that have now resumed operations after meeting post-Fukushima safety standards are: Sendai-1 and -2, Genkai-3 and -4, Ikata-3, Mihama-3, Ohi-3 and -4, Onagawa-2 and Takahama-1, -2, -3 and -4. Business Backs ‘Maximum Use Of Nuclear’

The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, recently called on the government to clearly spell out a policy to make the maximum use of nuclear power, which it said contributes to the country’s energy security and decarbonisation.

“Concerns over future power shortages cannot be wiped out and there will be no choice but to reduce domestic capital spending as a result if the government fails to clarify a path toward expanding the use of such energy sources,” Keidanren said.

Keidanren – considered to be the voice of big business in Japan – noted that Japan has been facing the toughest energy challenges since the oil crises in the 1970s and 1980s.

It said unstable international situations, decarbonisation and progress in digital industries will boost demand for electric power. Securing cheap and stable clean energy sources such as nuclear power is “essential”, it said.

Earlier this month 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.

The 24 months since commercial production of the medical isotope began at the Candu unit have seen Bruce Power and its partners expand production capabilities to match growing global demand.

In October 2022, Bruce Power became the first commercial nuclear operator to produce lutetium-177 (Lu-177), used in targeted radionuclide therapy to treat cancers like neuroendocrine tumours and prostate cancer, in an international collaboration with Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON), Isogen (a Kinectrics and Framatome company) and ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM).

The partnership uses an innovative Isotope Production System (IPS) installed in Bruce 7 to irradiate ytterbium-176 to produce Lu-177. The isotope is then transported to ITM's manufacturing facility in Germany for processing of pharmaceutical-grade, non-carrier-added Lu-177. Operations at Bruce 7 have been reliable and stable, and no shipments of the isotope to ITM have been missed since the start of commercial production.

The past two years have seen the partners expand capacity to match rapidly increasing global demand for the isotope, through system innovations in 2023 and the introduction of a second production line this year.

SON and Bruce Power set up the Gamzook'aamin aakoziwin partnership - it translates to Fighting Cancer Together - in 2019, to jointly market new medical isotopes while creating new economic opportunities within the SON territory by establishing new isotope infrastructure. Their partnership has expanded in step with the increasing output of the IPS.

"SON is proud to play a role in the fight against cancer and looks forward to continuing our success in the years to come," said Chief Conrad Ritchie, Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation.

"Isotopes are an essential part of health care, and the cancer-fighting isotopes produced through our Gamzook'aamin aakoziwin partnership with Bruce Power are opening doors for researchers and doctors to provide patients with cutting-edge tools in the fight against cancer," said Chief Greg Nadjiwon, Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. "Today, we celebrate two years of commercial isotope production, playing a leadership role in the global fight against cancer while also helping build economic opportunities for our Territory, people and communities."

The process of loading fuel assemblies into the core of unit 2 at the Shimane nuclear power plant ahead of its planned restart in December began today, Chugoku Electric Power Company announced. It is set to become the second Japanese boiling water reactor (BWR) to be restarted.

The process of moving a total of 560 fuel assemblies from the unit's fuel pool to the reactor and loading them into the core is expected to take about a week to complete, the utility said.

Revised regulations were announced by Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) in July 2013, which must be met before reactors can receive permission to restart. These set out requirements for plants to be able to respond to a variety of natural phenomena as well as establish new measures to mitigate the effects of severe accidents, such as reactor core damage caused by beyond design basis events. Chugoku applied to the NRA in December 2013 for inspections to verify whether measures taken at Shimane unit 2 - which has been offline since 27 January 2012 - meet the new safety standards.

In June 2021, Shimane 2 became the 17th Japanese reactor to pass the regulator's safety screenings and the fifth 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 789 MWe BWR to resume operation.

Earlier this month, Chugoku released a revised schedule for the restart of the unit. The reactor is expected to restart in early December, with power generation scheduled to begin in late December. The reactor will resume commercial operation in January 2025.

"With safety as our number one priority, we will steadily proceed with each and every preparation for restarting operations, including carrying out fuel loading work and inspection and testing of equipment related to reactor startup," the company said.

Unit 2 at Tohoku Electric Power Company's Onagawa nuclear power plant is schedule to restart on Tuesday 29 October, becoming the first BWR in Japan to be restarted. The loading of fuel assemblies into that reactor began on 3 September and was completed on 9 September.

France's Framatome has signed a contract for the long-term supply of fuel to the four VVER-440 reactors in operation at Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant, starting from 2027.

The fuel supply contract is based on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the Ministry of Energy of Hungary and Framatome in September 2023 for the development of a strategic relationship in the nuclear field. That MoU - which builds upon a long-standing relationship and cooperation between Hungary and Framatome - laid the foundation to facilitate the extension of the cooperation between Framatome and Hungary in various domains of interest in nuclear. These include education and competencies, R&D, the implementation of new technologies, fuel supply and related nuclear materials, as well as long-term operation.

"Framatome is strongly committed to supporting Hungary's nuclear industry and energy policy and we are pleased to contribute to the diversification of the fuel supply for Paks," said Framatome CEO Bernard Fontana. "This first fuel contract for the Hungarian VVER reactors bears witness to the trust they have in our expertise and solutions."

“The strategic objectives of the MVM Group cannot be achieved without the extension of the operating time of the Paks nuclear power plant," said Péter Horvath, CEO of MVM Paks NPP. "The continuous development of the nuclear power plant is crucial for long-term and predictable operation.

"With today's agreement, the first supplier contract has been concluded that extends beyond the duration of the extended operating time extension already implemented. It will provide us fuel for the production of environmentally-friendly, clean electricity, which means stability and affordable prices for households and corporations."

Hungary's Energy Minister, Csaba Lantos, added: "The nuclear power plant, which provides half of the domestic electricity production and covers 36% of the inland consumption, plays an indispensable role in ensuring the security of electricity supply to Hungarian families and enterprises, and in fulfilling climate commitments. With this agreement, we will extend energy diversification to nuclear production, and with this responsible decision we will further strengthen the energy sovereignty of our country."

In recent years, especially since the war with Ukraine began, nuclear power operators in EU countries who had previously relied on Russian-supplied fuel have sought alternative suppliers.

Nineteen VVER reactors - developed during the time of the Soviet Union and historically reliant on Russian fuel supplies - are currently in operation in the EU, including four VVER-1000 reactors in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, and 15 VVER-440 reactors in the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary and Slovakia.

Framatome said it has "a dual-track approach" to supplying fuel to VVER reactors in operation in the European Union. In the short term, it will fabricate fuel identical to the proven design currently used by the reactors. In parallel, Framatome is developing and qualifying European sovereign fuels of its own design for VVER 440 and 1000 reactors.

In June this year, Framatome was awarded a EUR10 million (USD10.7 million) contribution from the EU under the Euratom Research and Training Programme for development and deployment of a European fuel solution for VVER reactors. The SAVE (Safe and Alternative VVER European) project for VVER-440 fuel led by Framatome brings together 17 stakeholders, including utilities operating VVER reactors in the EU.

The project follows the Westinghouse-led Accelerated Program for Implementation of Secure VVER Fuel Supply (APIS) project launched in July 2023 to develop safe fuel designs for VVER-440 and next generation fuel designs for VVER-1000 reactors.

"Hungary can count on Framatome to provide a safe and robust alternative fuel solution for its VVER reactors," said Lionel Gaiffe, senior executive vice president of the Fuel Business Unit at Framatome. "For the past number of years, we have been developing a solution to support both the short and mid-term fuel diversification needs of VVER nuclear operators in the European Union. In the mid-term, Framatome is the only fuel supplier able to guarantee a sovereign European solution, with a fully European design, manufacturing and component supply chain."

France has injected €300m ($330m) into state-controlled uranium producer Orano as it seeks to relaunch the country's uranium industry, the company and the economy ministry said Thursday.

The company issued new shares which were bought entirely by the French state, bringing its stake to 90.3%, the company said.

“This operation demonstrates the willingness of the French state as a shareholder to contribute to the implementation of the strategic plan of Orano and its development,” Orano said in a statement.

“It reflects a promising environment with new perspectives for nuclear energy in France and around the world to meet climate and sovereignty issues,” the statement said.

The money will finance projects such as an extension of the Georges-Besse II enrichment plant in the south of France, which will increase the group's capacity by a third.

The uranium enrichment market is dominated by four players: Russia's Rosatom with a 43% stake, European group Urenco (31%), China’s CNNC, and Orano (12%).

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine led European countries to seek to cut their reliance on Rosatom.

Urenco has announced expansions for its production facilities in the US, Germany, and the Netherlands, seeking an additional 1.8 million separative work units (SWU) per year globally across the projects.

Orano said last week it is halting its uranium production in Niger from 31 October, citing a “highly deteriorated” situation and its inability to operate.

The Nigerien government, whose leader Abdourahamane Tiani seized power in a July 2023 coup, has previously made clear it would overhaul rules regulating the mining of raw materials by foreign companies.

Orano-owned mining subsidiary Somair’s worsening financial difficulties have “compelled the company to suspend its operations”, in the Artlit region of north Niger where Orano has operated since 1971, the French group’s Paris spokeswoman said.

French engineering group Assystem and micro-reactor developer Naarea have announced the creation of a joint laboratory, dedicated to exploring emerging and advanced digital technologies and integrating them into Naarea's digital twin.

Naarea - formally established in November 2021 - says its ultra-compact molten salt fast neutron reactor will use "the untapped potential of used radioactive materials, and thorium, unused mining waste". Once it develops the eXtra Small Modular Reactor (XSMR) design, the company intends to target applications in areas such as transportation, agriculture and smart buildings. Naarea says that, because of the compact size of its reactor and because there is no need for it to be grid-connected, the XSMR can "be deployed as close as possible to regions, to match energy demand as closely as possible and allow the control of security of supply, at the service of industries and communities". It expects the first units of XSMR - which can generate 80 MWt/40 MWe - to be produced by 2030.

In December 2021, Naarea announced it had signed a cooperation agreement with Assystem to build the XSMR. Under the agreement, Assystem is developing a digital twin of the reactor - an ecosystem of digital tools that incorporates 3D models and advanced simulation capabilities - to model and simulate its behaviour. This twin will enable rapid convergence towards the optimal design, provide critical elements for validating the design and enable the rapid launch of the construction of the physical prototype, Naarea said.

"In just 18 months, Naarea reached a key step in the development of its microreactor by finalising the first stage of the digital twin of its XAMR in partnership with Assystem," Naarea said. "Developed on Dassault Systèmes' 3DX platform, Naarea's digital twin centralises all of the data pertaining to the reactor, and will be used throughout the project's lifecycle, from its design through to operation and reprocessing."

Naarea and Assystem have now announced the creation of a joint laboratory that will aim to meet future challenges related to the development of Naarea's XAMR microreactor. It will bring together the technical and professional expertise of Naarea and Assystem, in collaboration with universities, research centres and public institutions.

"As digital technologies are constantly evolving, Naarea and Assystem decided to create a joint laboratory to evaluate, analyse and integrate all of the emerging technologies that could contribute to the deployment, optimisation and ongoing improvement of Naarea's XAMR digital twin, such as large language models, substitution models, the dynamic reliability of passive safety systems, and the Internet of Things," the partners said. "To do so, NAAREA and Assystem developed a five-year strategic roadmap in three areas: the integration stages for the main nodes of system tree structures; the main groups of processes to be integrated into the digital twin; and the main technological building blocks likely to be integrated into the digital twin."

The joint laboratory will be led by a strategic steering committee made up of Naarea's and Assystem's senior management, who will approve the roadmap and funding. A management committee will provide operational oversight for its R&D activities and may be assisted by Naarea's Scientific Board to guide the scientific and technological aspects of the laboratory.

"This joint laboratory for digital innovation, born of a proposal from Assystem's and Naarea's teams, aims to bring together their skills and expertise to explore the most promising digital technologies that could contribute to improving our digital twin," said Naarea founder and CEO Jean-Luc Alexandre. "Beyond the exceptional knowledge we'll gain from it, and state of the art digital technologies, this laboratory embodies the spirit of innovation that drives all of the teams involved in the design and development of our XAMR."

Christian Jeanneau, executive vice president International, Project Management & Digital at Assystem, added: "We are delighted to continue and expand our partnership with Naarea to contribute to the enrichment of their digital twin. Thanks to our expertise and the use of artificial intelligence, this joint laboratory represents a tremendous opportunity to innovate together. It will allow us to develop new solutions to continuously improve this large-scale project and address the energy challenges of the future."

The nationwide referendum due to be held in Slovenia on 24 November about proposed new nuclear power units has been called off and may now be staged later in the project process, in 2028, instead.

The decision by Slovenia's parliament to cancel the vote - just days after the elected members had voted for it to happen - followed challenges to the wording and allegations that it was not being properly conducted.

The question for the referendum had been due to be: "Do you support the implementation of the JEK2 project, which together with other low-carbon sources will ensure a stable supply of electricity?"

Slovenia's JEK2 project is for a new one or two-unit nuclear power plant, with up to 2400 MW capacity, next to its existing nuclear power plant, Krško, a 696 MWe pressurised water reactor which generates about one-third of the country's electricity and which is co-owned by neighbouring Croatia.

Prime Minister Robert Golob has committed to hold a referendum on the project before it goes ahead, with a number of key studies and documents to be published beforehand to "enable citizens to make an informed decision". The current timetable for the project is for a final investment decision to be taken in 2028, with construction beginning in 2032.

Among a raft of reviews and documents published over the past few months, was an economic review of the estimated cost of the project which put the cost, depending on the power-generating capacity selected, at EUR9.5 billion to EUR15.4 billion (USD10.3 billion to USD16.7 billion).

The opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) - which along with all other parties had been keen on the referendum because "such a large project cannot be successfully completed without broad social consensus" - said it now opposed the referendum because, they say, Energy Minister Bojan Kumer had requested, and not published, an analysis of the costs if there was no nuclear energy and up to 100% renewable energy instead.

SDS MP Zvone Černač said if media reports were true "and Minister Kumer hid the study from the public for two months, he should resign". Černač accused the minister of using the "rhetoric of renewable energy activists" and said that in the current circumstances carrying out a referendum "would be irresponsible".

Prime Minister Robert Golob's Freedom Movement said that "misleading media reports" and other accusations meant "a well-founded doubt has arisen as to whether, in the new circumstances, voters can make an informed, autonomous and responsible decision on such an important issue of national importance as the supply of electricity".

It said that the cancellation of November's referendum does not mean the end of the JEK2 project and work would begin on a "special law for the more effective implementation of this by far the largest planned investment in the history of independent Slovenia ... the cancellation of the referendum also does not mean that there will not be a referendum on JEK2 in the future. The referendum vote will be held in 2028 at the latest, when all the details for the final investment decision will be known".

The party said the new law "will contain provisions on the establishment of a project company, define strategic decision-making procedures on the project, provisions on project control, including civil control, and provisions related to the specifics of the project" and will enable public participation.

Freedom Party MP Miha Lamut said: "We witnessed non-objective and incomplete media reporting, which created the impression in the public that all the decisions made regarding the procedures for adopting both the resolution on the long-term peaceful use of nuclear energy and the decree for the referendum were the result of arbitrary decision-making by the people's representatives."

The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy issued a statement saying it had "never hidden anything" and said the accusations about the reasons for the report not being published were "unfounded". It added: "We reject the accusations that the current non-publication of the document, which is the author's analysis of one energy expert and has not been peer-reviewed, could significantly improve citizens' information about the JEK2 project, since it was not even fundamentally intended for that."

The ministry, which has now published the report and the original letter commissioning it, said it was now going to launch a public procurement process to obtain new expert analyses which would be published in 2025.

The Governor of South Gyeongsang Province has signed agreements with TerraPower and Seaborg for cooperation in the design and production of next-generation nuclear power plants and research and development in the region.

The agreements were signed at the Gyeongnam Small Modular Reactor International Conference, with the province saying it hoped the agreements would strengthen the region's position in the sector and provide opportunities to participate in technology development.

Governor Park Wan-soo said in his opening remarks, at what was the first such conference: "Recently, cutting-edge industries such as artificial intelligence and big data are developing rapidly, and the demand for electricity is increasing worldwide. In the midst of these changes, small modular reactors, or SMRs, a carbon-free energy source that is stable and sustainable, are attracting attention from around the world. Last June, our province established a comprehensive plan to foster nuclear power ... and announced that it would invest KRW2.6 trillion (USD1.8 billion) by 2032 and foster the nuclear power industry, including the development of SMR technology.

"The government's will to revitalise the nuclear power ecosystem and Gyeongsangnam's efforts to foster SMRs will combine to make Gyeongsangnam a true global centre of the SMR industry. I hope that this international conference will serve as an opportunity for the development of all industries, including SMRs, in Korea, and that Korea and Gyeongnam will become leaders in the global SMR industry through cooperation with leading global companies."

Seaborg's design is for modular compact molten salt reactor (CMSR) power barges equipped with between two and eight 100 MWe reactors, with an operational life of 24 years. Instead of having solid fuel rods that need constant cooling, the CMSR's fuel is mixed in a liquid salt that acts as a coolant, which means that it will simply shut down and solidify in case of emergency. In May, it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute "to combine their research and development strengths" to advance nuclear technology.

TerraPower, whose chairman and founder is Bill Gates, broke ground in June in the USA on its first Natrium project, for a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system - which can boost the system's output to 500 MW of power when needed, allowing it to integrate seamlessly with renewable resources. The is being built near a retiring coal-fired plant.

More than 300 people from a wide range of global and Korean firms and organisations attended the event. South Gyeongsang Province is investing a total of KRW16 billion (USD11.5 million) from 2023 to 2026 to build the 'Gyeongnam Nuclear Industry Comprehensive Support Centre' to foster the nuclear power plant manufacturing industry and support companies within the energy industry as part of the aim of becoming a hub for the SMR industry.

The MK60 small modular reactor design, developed specifically to provide power and cooling to data centres, has been unveiled by Deep Atomic.

The MK60 is a light water small modular reactor (SMR) incorporating multiple passive safety systems. Deep Atomic says it is "compact, scalable, and built on a foundation of proven technology". Each unit generates up to 60 MWe and provides an additional 60 MW of cooling capacity through its "integrated data centre-centric design approach".

The company - headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland - says the reactor is well-suited to various types of data centres, including those supporting traditional cloud services, cryptocurrency operations, and AI applications.

"Data centres are the backbone of digital innovation, but their massive energy needs have become the critical bottleneck blocking growth," said Deep Atomic founder and CEO William Theron.

The MK60 is said to offer data centre operators a scalable power solution that can be deployed in various locations, including areas with limited grid access, and can be sited closer to urban areas due to its advanced safety features.

"It's designed to be installed on-site at data centres, delivering reliable zero-carbon electricity and energy-efficient cooling, thereby significantly reducing carbon footprints, and helping data centres meet their increasingly stringent sustainability goals," Theron said.

Deep Atomic's Head of Engineering Freddy Mondale noted that many regions were struggling to provide the amounts of power that new data centres require. "Our on-site reactors bypass these grid limitations, allowing DCs (data centres) to be built in optimal locations without straining existing infrastructure."

Mondale says that a 60 MWe reactor with additional 60 MW of cooling capacity "hits a sweet spot for data centres. It's large enough to power significant compute infrastructure, yet small enough to allow for modular deployment and scaling".

He added: "The MK60 can be deployed in multiples, allowing scalability from 60 MW up to over 1 GW to meet growing energy demands."

Deep Atomic says it has already begun to engage with regulators and potential customers as it moves forward with development. The company is seeking partnerships with data centre operators and other investors "looking towards the future of sustainable digital infrastructure".

Deep Atomic's announcement of the MK60 comes on the heels of several announcements by global tech giants related to nuclear energy.

Microsoft announced in September it had signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation that will see Three Mile Island unit 1 restarted. Google announced last week it had agreed to purchase energy from Kairos Power under a deal that would support the first commercial deployment of its fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature advanced small modular reactors by 2030 and aim for a fleet totalling 500 MW of capacity by 2035. The following day, Amazon announced a series of agreements that will see it taking a stake in advanced nuclear reactor developer X-energy and rolling out its Xe-100 advanced SMR initially at a project in Washington State.

Meanwhile, the head of Japanese cloud-based gaming services provider Ubitus KK has said it is planning to construct a new data centre and is specifically looking at areas with nearby nuclear power plants to provide the required power.

Radioactive waste management company Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB can begin preparatory work for the final repository for used nuclear fuel in Forsmark and the encapsulation facility in Oskarshamn after Sweden's Land and Environment Court granted an environmental permit for the construction and operation of the facilities.

Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB) applied in 2011 to the Land and Environmental Court in Nacka district court for permission to dispose of used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. The court then prepared the application, held a longer main hearing in 2017 and submitted its opinion to the government in 2018. The government decided on 27 January 2022 that the activity was permissible according to Sweden's Environmental Code.

The court has now granted SKB permission and determined the conditions that will apply to the business. An enforcement order also issued by the court means SKB can start initial work at both sites even if the judgment is appealed to the Land and Environment Court at the Svea Court of Appeal.

The permit applies to radioactive waste from the 12 reactors (six reactors in operation) that are part of the ongoing Swedish nuclear power programme. The permit does not apply to waste from a possible new nuclear power programme, the court noted. SKB may deposit approximately 6000 canisters with approximately 12,000 tonnes of nuclear waste at a depth of about 500 metres in the final repository. The business is estimated to last for around 70 years, but it can last longer if, for example, the operating time of the existing reactors is extended.

The court's conditions for the permit aim to limit the activity's impact on the environment through protective measures against noise, groundwater lowering, discharge to water, etc. Several conditions are aimed at protected species and natural areas in Forsmark.

According to a condition in the environmental permit, SKB must conduct environmental monitoring regarding information preservation for future generations and monitoring after closure.

SKB said the works that are within the scope of the permit - and which can start once the County Board of Uppsala County approves the control programme - include protective measures and preparatory work. In Forsmark, where the repository is to be built, it involves forest felling, excavation work for the operational area, construction of an area for rock storage, construction of a bridge over the cooling water channel, filling of the operating area and facilities for nitrogen purification.

"We need to establish the necessary infrastructure above ground and get started with ground work and protective measures," said SKB CEO Stefan Engdahl. "SKB has proposed conditions that take nature and the surroundings into account. We adapt to the birds' nesting periods, move species worthy of protection so that they can continue to live on the site and build bioreactors that purify process water from nitrogen."

In order for SKB to be able to start the tunneling itself, an approved safety report from the Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) is required. SSM will continue the step-by-step examination of the final repository according to the Act on Nuclear Activities.

SKB said the construction of the nuclear fuel repository in Forsmark will begin two years before that of the encapsulation facility in Oskarshamn, as the construction times are of different lengths. Both facilities are expected to be put into operation in the mid-2030s.

A similar geological repository for used fuel is being built at Olkiluoto in Finland. The Finnish government granted a construction licence for that project in November 2015 and construction work on the repository started a year later. Posiva has applied for an operating licence for the facility to the end of 2070.

Taiwan has said it is “very open” to using new nuclear technology to meet rising demand from chipmakers using electricity to provide power for the AI boom, according to premier Cho Jung-tai.

“As long as there is a consensus within Taiwan on nuclear safety and a good direction and guarantees for handling nuclear waste, with this strong consensus, we can have a public discussion,” Cho said in an interview with Bloomberg News.

His comments were one of the strongest signs yet that the government is rethinking its opposition to commercial power reactors. Cho appeared to be referring to advanced reactors, potentially including small modular reactors that are being developed in a number of countries.

The comments came as state nuclear operator Taipower temporarily shut down the nation’s last remaining reactor, Maanshan-2, for 41 days for scheduled maintenance, leaving the island without any nuclear generation.

The shutdown is for equipment maintenance and fuel replacement in preparation for the power plant’s next operating cycle, Taipower said in a statement.

Earlier this year, Taiwan shut down the Maanshan-1 nuclear power plant, leaving the island nation with just Maanshan-2 unit in commercial operation.

The closure of Maanshan-1, a 936-MW pressurised water reactor unit in southern Taiwan, came amid a continuing debate among lawmakers about whether to extend the lives of the island’s nuclear facilities.

The Taipei Times said there is a continuing debate among ruling and opposition parties as well as within society about whether to extend the service life of the Maanshan plant amid fears about potential power shortages.

In 2023, nuclear accounted for about 6.9% of Taiwan’s electricity production, which is dominated by coal and liquified natural gas.