THE WORLD'S NUCLEAR NEWS AGENCY

World Nuclear Review - week ending 12th March 2004

Libyan Nuclear Material Airlifted To US And Russia

The US has confirmed that some 55 000 pounds - around 24 948 kilograms (kg) - of "nuclear material and sensitive equipment" airlifted to the country from Libya will be shipped to the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio, after examination by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors.

A US-led team of technical and policy experts, including representatives of the UK and the IAEA, removed the material from Libya on 27th January with the cooperation of the Libyan government. The material was flown to McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee, and transported overland to the US Y-12 nuclear weapons facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where it is currently stored. The shipment included four cylinders of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) of varying enrichment levels, according to the US Department of Energy's (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

In a related development, the IAEA announced on 8th March that, together with the US and Russia, it had helped Libya remove weapons-grade HEU stored at a research reactor facility on the outskirts of the capital, Tripoli. According to the IAEA, the HEU, 80% enriched and in the form of fresh fuel, is in fuel assemblies containing about 13 kg of fissile uranium-235, as well as about 3kg of uranium. This material was airlifted from Libya to Russia v which was the original supplier in the 1980s for the 10 megawatt reactor and critical facility at the Tajoura Nuclear Research Centre near Tripoli. Russia intends to blend down the HEU into LEU.

Source: NNSA / USEC / IAEA

Full report: NucNet News No. 53, 9th March

Plans For Japan's Maki N-Plant Cancelled

Plans to build the Maki boiling water reactor (BWR) unit in Japan's Niigata prefecture have been abandoned by Tohoku Electric Power.

Company president Keiichi Makuta informed the government of what he said was Tohoku's "bitter decision" on 24th December 2003, according to an article in February's edition of the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum journal, 'Atoms In Japan'.

Plans to build the unit in the town of Maki had been part of Japan's national power development plan since 1981, and Tohoku last year reaffirmed that it would commission the plant in fiscal 2012. It is understood to be the first time that a project included in the national plan has been cancelled.

Source: Atoms In Japan

Full report: NucNet News No. 55, 9th March

Davis-Besse Restart Under Way Following NRC Approval

The restart of the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in the US is under way after a two-year outage to replace the reactor head and make other equipment and performance improvements, FirstEnergy Operating Company (Fenoc) announced 8th March.

The restart of the single-unit pressurised water reactor (PWR) unit, located near Oak Harbor, Ohio, follows approval by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), announced the same day. The NRC also issued an order requiring independent assessments and inspections at Davis-Besse "to provide reasonable assurance that the long-term corrective actions remain effective" - and including visual inspection of the reactor head and lower vessel during the plant's mid-cycle outage, scheduled to take place in about one year.

Davis-Besse was shut down in February 2002, when it was discovered that boric-acid corrosion had led to the deterioration of the unit's reactor pressure vessel (RPV)

Source: Fenoc / NRC / International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Full report: NucNet News No. 54, 9th March

Belgian N-Power Holds Steady In 2003

Belgium's seven nuclear power units generated a total of 45.072 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in 2003.

The figure maintained the upturn of 45.1 TWh generated in 2002 compared to 44.1 TWh in 2001. Overall electricity production in Belgium totalled 80.435 TWh in 2003, representing a 2.9% increase over the 2002 total of 78.143 TWh. Nuclear's share of overall electricity generation totalled 56% in 2003, compared to 60.1% in 2002 and 58.2% in 2001.

The average load factor for all seven units in 2003 was 88.8%, down from 89.8% in 2002 and up from 87.7% in 2001. The load factor was affected during last August, when the Belgian government imposed regulations affecting discharges of cooling water to rivers during the European heat wave.

Source: Electrabel

Full report: NucNet News No. 52, 8th March

Russia Discusses Supplying India With Floating N-Plants

Russia is considering leasing to India small nuclear power plants based on floating platforms, according to a statement by Vladimir Asmolov, deputy minister of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom), during a visit to India last week.

At an estimated construction cost of 180 million US dollars, and an average pay-off period of eight years, the floating power plant is designed to produce 70 megawatts of electricity - sufficient to supply a population of 50 000.

Mr Asmolov said: "The issue of providing India, on leasing terms, with small nuclear power plants based on floating platforms, and which could be used for electricity or potable-water production, is being discussed," adding, such cooperation "doesn't contravene nuclear-technology transfer limitations on the international level".

Source: Rosenergoatom / Nuclear Society of Russia (NSR)

Full report: NucNet News No. 56, 10th March

New International Nuclear Yearbook Launched By NucNet

NucNet, the world's nuclear news agency, last week officially launched its first yearbook - 'World Nuclear Year Review' - and international distribution of the publication is already under way.

Copies of the full-colour 36-page publication will be made available to NucNet's world wide network of national member organisations and subscribers, as well as being sold through NucNet Central Office.

The yearbook also provides a platform for the nuclear industry, its representative organisations and nuclear societies, and gives a taste of the authoritative news and information network provided by NucNet for those who may not be familiar with the agency's news services.

World Nuclear Year Review is on sale for 50 euros per copy, plus postage/packing (an order form can be obtained through the NucNet website or by writing to info@worldnuclear.org). NucNet member organisations and subscribers qualify for a 10% discount.

Source: NucNet Central Office

Full report: NucNet News No. 48, 2nd March

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