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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.

Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness calls the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Limited for the advancement of nuclear technologies adoption a pivotal moment in Jamaica's energy transformation.

Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness (third from left on the back row) and Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Minister Daryl Vaz (front row, left), watch as Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Olive Wilson Cross, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories CEO Jack Craig and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited President and CEO Fred Dermarker sign the MoU (Image: Yhomo Hutchinson/Government of Jamaica)

The partnership reflects the Jamaican government's commitment to diversify the country's energy portfolio with new, clean and sustainable alternatives, Holness said.

In an address to the signing ceremony, Holness said countries such as France and Canada "show that with proper regulation of the technology and the embrace of technological advancement, nuclear can be a game changer. In fact, today’s nuclear technology, especially small modular reactors, is far safer and more adaptable than it was in the past".

He said that small modular reactors offer enhanced safety features, reduced environmental impact and a cost-effective solution for small countries like Jamaica, and taking advantage of such technology could provide long-term benefits.

"Of course, there are those who are going to say, why not wait until this technology is mature," Holness said. "The problem is that anything that has to do with nuclear requires a long period of time and it requires the development of local capabilities. If you don’t do it now, then not only will you have to import the capital and the actual small modular nuclear reactor, you’re going to have to import the technological skills and expertise as well, which will increase the cost of deployment."

Jamaica is the home to the Caribbean’s first - and only - research reactor, the AECL-designed JM-1 pool type reactor at the University of the West Indies' Mona campus which began operating in 1984.

The collaboration with the two Canadian organisations will foster the sharing of knowledge, skills and best practices, driving innovation in research, development and practical applications, Science, Energy Telecommunications and Transport Minister Daryl Vaz said. "Together we will build out a network of expertise that will benefit both Jamaica and Canada. Through organised seminars and meetings, we will ensure that our professionals remain at the forefront of nuclear technology and its peaceful applications," he said.

Jamaica currently relies on fossil fuels for some 85% of its energy, a dependency that leaves it vulnerable to external shocks and global oil and gas price fluctuations, Holness said: "We have already made great strides in diversifying our energy mix. We have done exceptionally well in integrating solar, wind and natural gas and we do have some hydroelectric power… but there is far more to be done. Given Jamaica’s current energy demands, we are cognisant that there has to be a very well-thought-out mix… that is not subject to intermittency, and nuclear offers that as well."

Jamaica is a signatory of the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity by 2050 launched at the UN's COP28 climate change conference in 2023.

Major financial difficulties facing SOMAÏR, the operator of the Arlit uranium mine in Niger, have led to the decision to suspend its activities from the end of October.

The French company said the financial difficulties which have been facing its 63.4%-owned subsidiary since July 2023 - when then-President of Niger Mohamed Bazoum was deposed in a coup d'état - have continued to grow.

Niger's border with Benin, through which uranium concentrates produced at Arlit are exported - has remained closed since the events of July 2023. Since the closure of this main supply and export corridor, Orano and SOMAÏR "have made every effort to maintain dialogue with the Nigerien authorities" and implemented "offsetting measures" to ensure industrial facilities and equipment are maintained and to preserve and pay the workforce at the mine while waiting for production to resume at full capacity, Orano said.

"In spite of Orano's efforts to find alternative possibilities to export the uranium produced by SOMAÏR and to relaunch commercial activities, all the proposals made to the Nigerien authorities have remained unanswered," the company said.

"Moreover, SOPAMIN, the shareholder representing the State of Niger with a 36.6% stake in SOMAÏR, has not paid any of its debts to the mining company for the past 15 months.

"The major financial difficulties facing SOMAÏR have forced the company to suspend its activities, as an interim measure, as of the end of October. The limited remaining financial resources will be used in priority to pay employees’ salaries and to maintain the industrial facilities until the end of the year."

Orano said it "deeply deplores the negative impact" of the worsening situation on SOMAÏR's employees and subcontractors and is concerned about the potential damaging repercussions on the region’s economic, social and societal development.

In an earnings update earlier this year, Orano said production at the Somaïr ore processing plant had resumed during the first quarter, and that ore extraction at the mine had continued, but sales had not been able to resume because of the logistical situation.

Arlit is Orano's only currently operational uranium mine in Niger. The company is carrying out remediation of the former COMINAK underground uranium mine, where more than 40 years of production came to an end in 2021. Earlier this year it announced that it had started preparatory activities for uranium production at the Imouraren project, where development had been suspended since 2015, but days later the State of Niger had decided to withdraw Imouraren SA's licence to exploit the deposit, placing it back in the public domain. The government also withdrew Canadian company GoviEx Uranium's mining rights for the Madouela uranium project.

Like SOMAÏR, COMINAK and Imouraren SA are majority-owned by Orano and partially owned by the state of Niger.

Slovenské elektrárne says that the Mochovce 4 nuclear unit has passed tests of its active and passive emergency safety systems.

Slovakia's nuclear power operator said the passive safety systems tests were designed to verfiy that the water coolant, in the event of a pressure drop in the reactor, would flow into the reactor vessel " in the right way, at the right time and in the right volume".

Martin Mráz, director of completion and commissioning of the Mochoviec 3 and 4 systems, said: "Tests have confirmed that the emergency systems of Block 4 are functional and will ensure safety in the event of an emergency."

Construction of the first two VVER-440 units at the four-unit Mochovce plant started in 1982. Work began on units 3 and 4 in 1986, but stalled in 1992. The first two reactors were completed and came into operation in 1998 and 1999, respectively, with a project to complete units 3 and 4 beginning ten years later.

Mochovce 3 entered commercial operation in October 2023 and unit 4's schedule has been to follow about one or two years behind unit 3. Each of the units will be able to provide 13% of Slovakia's electricity needs when operating at full capacity.

The Schleswig-Holstein Ministry for Energy Transition, Climate Protection, Environment and Nature has issued the first decommissioning and dismantling permit to PreussenElektra for the Brokdorf nuclear power plant. Brokdorf is the last German nuclear power plant to receive this approval and begin dismantling.

PreussenElektra - a subsidiary of EOn Group - applied for approval to decommission and dismantle the 1410 MWe pressurised water reactor in December 2017. The plant was shut down on 31 December 2021.

Phase 1 of the plant's decommissioning and dismantling has now been approved. This includes the decommissioning and dismantling of the plant components that are no longer required and subject to nuclear regulatory supervision, with the exception of the reactor pressure vessel and the biological shield.

Since Brokdorf's closure, the conditions for dismantling the plant have been created in close coordination with the authorities. These include the decontamination of the primary cooling circuit, systems and plant components that are no longer required have been taken out of service, and the workforce has been adjusted. A large proportion of the fuel elements still present in the plant have already been moved to the interim storage facility on site and replacement systems for the plant's energy supply have been installed.

"Over the past seven years, numerous colleagues have worked together to ensure that we can now hold the permit in our hands," said plant manager Tammo Kammrath. "It is important that we get started now and put our preliminary planning work into practice, after all, we still have a lot to do here at the site."

The next steps will be to create new logistics routes within the control area and set up a waste processing centre for the dismantled masses. In addition, systems and plant components that are no longer required will be prepared for dismantling.

A second dismantling permit is required to dismantle the reactor pressure vessel and the biological shield. This requires the removal of all fuel elements and special fuel rods, which are expected to be transported to the interim storage facility at the site in 2025. PreussenElektra submitted the application for the second dismantling permit on 30 August this year. This is currently being examined by independent experts.

"We are pleased that we now have the dismantling permit ... and can begin dismantling our plant," said PreussenElektra CEO Guido Knott. "We want to be finished by the mid-2030s in order to be able to complete the largest battery storage facility in the EU. This remains ambitious, but it is still feasible. Despite all of our ambitions, the highest safety standards also apply to dismantling in Brokdorf, as at all other PreussenElektra dismantling sites. We are now counting on the fact that, in close and proven cooperation with our authorities, we will also master the safe and speedy dismantling together."

In December last year, PreussenElektra, together with EOn group companies, announced plans for the construction at the Brokdorf site of the largest battery storage facility in the EU to date. The facility - to store electricity from renewable sources - is to be expanded in two stages to up to 800 MW of power and a storage capacity of up to 1600 MWh. Commissioning could begin as early as 2026.

Framatome’s GAIA fuel assemblies with PROtect Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel technology have completed their third 18-month fuel cycle at Georgia Power's Plant Vogtle, having spent over four and a half years in an operating reactor. This concludes the assessment of the lead fuel assemblies.

The assemblies - the first full-length PROtect Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel fuel rods with both pellets and cladding to be placed in an operating pressurised water reactor - were inserted into Vogtle unit 2 in April 2019. Plant operator Southern Nuclear removed and inspected the four assemblies with Framatome's assistance following the completion of the operating cycle. It was determined that the fuel demonstrated expected results and excellent performance, Framatome said.

Accident tolerant fuels employ advanced cladding materials and fuel pellet designs to increase the safety and performance of nuclear fuels. As well as enduring the loss of cooling in a reactor core for longer than current fuel designs and widening the existing safety margin for nuclear plants, and they can also improve the performance of existing nuclear plants with longer-lasting fuel as well as paving the way for licensing fuels for advanced reactors.

The US Department of Energy has been supporting the development of accident tolerant fuels by Framatome, Westinghouse and GE Hitachi/Global Nuclear Fuels through its Accident Tolerant Fuel programme, which was launched in 2012. The programme aims to see advanced fuel concepts being brought to market by 2025.

"This is a significant milestone for our programme and through our collaboration with the US Department of Energy and Southern Nuclear we bring this new and innovative technology one step closer to commercial operations," said Lionel Gaiffe, senior executive vice president, Fuel Business Unit at Framatome. "The success of this project demonstrates accident tolerant fuel readiness for the safe and reliable generation of our clean energy future."

The four GAIA lead fuel assemblies loaded into Vogtle 2 were fabricated at Framatome’s manufacturing facility in Richland, Washington. Each assembly included four lead test rods, for a total of 16 lead test rods with the company's advanced chromium coating added to the M5 Framatome zirconium alloy cladding, and chromia-enhanced fuel pellets were included in all fuel assembly rods. The chromium-coated cladding improves high-temperature oxidation resistance and reduces hydrogen generation in the event of loss of cooling. The innovative coating also offers increased resistance to debris fretting, reducing the likelihood of a fuel failure during normal operations.

The outer steel dome has been installed at unit 3 of the Changjiang nuclear power plant in China's Hainan province, China National Nuclear Corporation has announced.

The dome - measuring 53 metres in diameter, 13 metres in height and weighing about 415 tonnes - was hoisted into place on top of the containment building using a 3200-tonne crane on 18 October. The process of raising the outer dome into position 58.8 metres above the ground took just under 2 hours.

The Hualong One reactor design features a double-layered containment building, the main function of which is to ensure the integrity and leak tightness of the reactor building, and it plays a key role in the containment of radioactive substances.

The steel dome for Changjiang unit 3's inner containment - measuring more than 46 metres in diameter and 23 metres in height - was raised by crane and placed on top of the walls of the double containment structure in February 2023. The inner containment dome has since been concreted.

First concrete was poured for the base slab of unit 3's nuclear island in March 2021, with that of unit 4 being poured in the December of that year. Changjiang Phase II - units 3 and 4 - represents a total estimated investment of CNY40 billion (USD6.4 billion), according to China Huaneng, which holds a 51% share in the project. The construction period is expected to be 60 months. Both units are scheduled to be fully operational in early 2027.

CNNC said the installation of the outer dome of unit 3 "marks the completion of the construction of the main structure of the unit and lays a solid foundation for the subsequent installation, cold test and grid-connected power generation".

The Changjiang nuclear site is already home to two operating CNP-600 pressurised water reactors (PWRs) - Changjiang 1 and 2 - which entered commercial operation in 2015 and 2016, respectively. In 2021, CNNC also began construction of a demonstration ACP100 small modular reactor at the site. The multi-purpose 125 MWe PWR - also referred to as the Linglong One - is designed for electricity production, heating, steam production or seawater desalination.

The island province of Hainan is China's southernmost point. Energy policies published in 2019 by Hainan Province Development and Reform Commission specify that nuclear power will become the primary source of electricity for the island, which has a population of close to 10 million.

"As a major energy project in Hainan province, the Hainan Changjiang Nuclear Power Phase II Project is an important measure for CNNC to deeply integrate into the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port and actively promote the construction of Hainan Clean Energy Island," CNNC said. "The successful installation of the outer dome of the No.3 nuclear island will further promote the green and low-carbon process of Hainan Free Trade Port and inject strong momentum into the country's active, safe and orderly development of nuclear power and the construction of a new energy system."