The second of the two VVER-1200 pressurized water reactors at Belarusian, the sole nuclear power plant in Belarus, has entered commercial operation, Russia’s state-owned atomic energy corporation Rosatom announced last week.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management said crews at its Hanford Site in Washington state have started pouring the first molten glass from a waste vitrification melter into a stainless steel container at the site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, also known as the Vit Plant.

A team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency recently concluded an eight-day mission to Estonia, finding that the Baltic state has developed a comprehensive assessment of its nuclear infrastructure development needs, enabling the government to make an informed decision on whether to pursue a nuclear power program.

Ken Petersen
president@ans.org

There has been a lot of breathless coverage surrounding the release of mildly tritiated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi site, generated in no small part by people, organizations, and even nations with a political axe to grind. But here are the facts:

On August 24, 2023, Fukushima Daiichi began its first release of tritium-containing water, following the Japanese government’s plans to meet all international guidelines. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which has established a permanent office at the plant, provided on-site observation, online monitoring, and an independent analysis of the release. (The IAEA will continue to do so for all future releases.) Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) reported that analyses of water samples taken from the sea within three kilometers of the plant showed tritium concentrations below 10 becquerels per liter, well below the 700 becquerels per liter set by the utility for suspending the release, and substantially below the drinking water quality standard of 10,000 becquerels per liter set by the World Health Organization.

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration has published a notice of a final sitewide environmental impact statement for continued operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL SWEIS).

The notice was published in the Federal Register on November 3.

The Hanford Site’s Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) has been expanded and will be able to handle almost 7 million more gallons of wastewater per year once the site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) begins treating waste from large underground tanks.

This past January, Wilmington, N.C.–based GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Canadian firms Ontario Power Generation, SNC-Lavalin, and Aecon signed a contract for the deployment of the American firm’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor at OPG’s Darlington nuclear plant in Clarington, Ontario.

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month this year, which ran September 15-October 15, the American Nuclear Society hosted the webinar “Hispanic Excellence in the Nuclear Field” on September 20. The panelists shared insights from their accomplished careers and relayed personal anecdotes and practical advice to young nuclear professionals. They also voiced their thoughts about challenges and opportunities facing the Hispanic community in the field.

Operators of JT-60SA—a joint international fusion experiment being built by Japan and Europe in Naka, Japan—achieved the first tokamak plasma in the machine in late October, making it the world’s largest operational tokamak.

Eight new hires from Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) are taking part in the new Liquid Waste Nuclear Operator apprenticeship class at Denmark Technical College in Denmark, S.C. The goal of the class is to prepare SRMC’s new employees for positions at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, in South Carolina.

Constellation Energy announced last week that it has completed its acquisition of NRG Energy’s 44 percent ownership stake in the South Texas Project nuclear power plant.

Hanson

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in a difficult position. The commission must manage competing pressures from those who think it overburdens the nuclear industry and needs to move more quickly to respond to the changing regulatory landscape, and from those who think it is too cozy with the industry it’s tasked with regulating. This is a common theme all regulators face, and was one theme of the discussion with the NRC chair, Christopher Hanson.

Hanson was designated chair of the NRC in January 2021 by President Joe Biden and has since wrestled with this dilemma as the person responsible for conducting the administrative, organizational, long-range planning, and budgetary functions of the agency.

Candidates have been nominated for the 2024 American Nuclear Society national election. Terms will begin in June 2024, following the Annual Meeting. The six national positions open are vice president/president-elect and five seats on the Board of Directors—four U.S. members at-large and one Young Member. Ballots will be sent electronically on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, and must be submitted by 1:00 p.m. (EDT) on Tuesday, April 9, 2024.

X-energy, the Rockville, Md.–based small modular reactor/nuclear fuel developer, and Ares Acquisition Corporation (AAC), a publicly traded special-purpose acquisition company, have agreed to terminate their business combination agreement, effective immediately, the companies announced this week.

The American Nuclear Society coordinated an effort with eight nongovernmental organizations in asking Congress to update the Environmental Protection Agency’s generic standards for the safe, permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste.

Through a collaborative effort between the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management and the state of Ohio, a drone outfitted with radiation detectors underwent testing recently at the site of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant for potential future use.

Elektrárna Dukovany II (EDU II), a subsidiary of Czech utility ČEZ, has received final bids for the construction of a fifth reactor at the Dukovany plant, as well as nonbinding bids for three additional units to be sited at Dukovany and at Temelín, the Czech Republic’s other nuclear power facility. (Dukovany currently houses four Russian VVER-440/V213 pressurized water reactors, while Temelín is home to two VVER-1000/V320s.)

Safford

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced that Carrie M. Safford will be the new secretary of the commission, effective November 5. She is the fifth person in the 48-year history of the NRC to hold the position.

Safford has been serving as deputy director in the Division of Fuel Management, which has regulatory responsibility for nuclear fuel cycle activities in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.

“Carrie has served in a variety of capacities and brings extensive legal and regulatory experience,” said NRC chair Christopher T. Hanson. “Her proven executive leadership and vast knowledge of the agency’s policies and procedures well positions her to keep the Commission’s business functioning smoothly.”

Bruce Power, operator of Ontario’s eight-unit Bruce nuclear plant, has notified Canadian regulators of its intent to launch an impact assessment (IA) for Bruce C—the company’s name for potential new nuclear generation at the site.

Researchers at Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), in concert with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Florida International University, are leading the Advanced Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Systems (ALTEMIS) project to move groundwater cleanup from a reactive process to a proactive process, while also reducing the cost of long-term monitoring and accelerating site closure.