Uranium conversion facility to reopenNuclear NewsFuelFebruary 11, 2021, 3:03PM|Nuclear News StaffThe Metropolis Works plant. Photo: HoneywellHoneywell plans to resume production at its Metropolis Works uranium conversion facility in 2023 and will begin preparations for the restart this year, the company has announced. The plant is in Metropolis, Ill.Honeywell, based in Charlotte, N.C., said in a February 9 statement that it plans to hire 160 full-time employees, as well as contractors, by the end of 2022, adding, “We’re proud to bring these jobs back to the Metropolis community to meet the needs of our customers.”Idled in early 2018, the plant is the nation’s sole uranium conversion facility.Fueling the economy: State and local government leaders in Illinois welcomed the news, including State Sen. Dale Fowler (R. Dist. 59). “I know that when the facility originally shut down, we lost dozens of well-paying jobs, and the community was hit hard,” Fowler said. “Now, after experiencing yet another major hit to our economy and workforce due to the COVID-19 crisis, it’s extremely encouraging that the facility is reopening and bringing much-needed job opportunities back to the area.”Put on hold: Metropolis Works was idled following a November 2017 announcement from Honeywell. “The nuclear industry continues to experience significant challenges and is currently oversupplied with UF6 [uranium hexafluoride] worldwide,” the company stated at the time, pointing to an analysis by an energy consulting firm that found a 15 percent drop in global demand for nuclear fuel in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident. “As a result of this business outlook,” the statement continued, “Honeywell plans to temporarily idle production of UF6 at its Metropolis site while maintaining minimal operations to support a future restart should business conditions improve.”A little history: Built in 1958 to produce UF6 for the U.S. government, Metropolis Works began selling the compound on the commercial market in 1968. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff documented its review of Honeywell’s February 2017 request for license renewal in an environmental assessment and a finding of no significant impact published in October 2019 and a final safety evaluation report published in December 2019. In March 2020, the NRC renewed the facility’s license for 40 years, allowing operations at the plant to 2060.The work: The plant receives uranium ore concentrate from mills and in situ recovery facilities and converts it to UF6 gas. The gas is cooled to a liquid and drained into 14-ton storage and transport cylinders. As the UF6 continues to cool over the course of five days, it transitions from a liquid to a solid. The cylinder, with UF6 in a solid form, can then be transported to another facility for enrichment and fabrication into commercial power reactor fuel.Tags:covid-19environmental assessmentfinding of no significant impacthoneywellin situ recoverymetropolis worksuranium hexafluorideShare:LinkedInTwitterFacebook
UN partners expand use of nuclear technology to combat diseaseThe IAEA headquarters. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have worked together to address the global challenges of food insecurity, climate change, animal/zoonotic diseases, and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic over 57 years of partnership. On February 23, the directors general of both organizations signed a Revised Arrangement committing to upgrade their collaboration and increase the scope of their work.Go to Article
Canada’s Darlington-1 ends record runA view of the Darlington-1 turbine hall. Unit 1 has set a new world record for continuous operation by a nuclear power reactor. Photo: OPGIn continuous operation since January 26, 2018, Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington-1 was taken off line last Friday for an inspection and maintenance outage after a record-setting run of 1,106 days, the Canadian utility has announced.On September 15 of last year, the unit set a new world record for a power reactor, with 963 days of continuous operation, breaking the previous mark of 962, set by a reactor at India’s Kaiga plant in December 2018, according to OPG.Dependable Darlington: “Unit 1’s record-setting run highlights the excellent work carried out by our dedicated nuclear professionals throughout the pandemic to ensure Ontarians and frontline workers battling COVID-19 can count on a steady supply of power 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Sean Granville, OPG’s chief operating officer. “It also highlights the effectiveness of our preventive maintenance programs and the overall reliability of our nuclear fleet.”Go to Article
Nearly 22,000 completed IAEA courses in nuclear securityThe IAEA's In Young Suh (center) demonstrates nuclear security e-learning modules to participants of the International Conference on Nuclear Security. Photo: C. Mitchell/U.S. Oak Ridge National LaboratoryAn International Atomic Energy Agency nuclear security e-learning program is celebrating its 10 years of existence by marking a milestone with nearly 22,000 course completions by nuclear operators, regulators, policy professionals, academics, and students from 170 countriesThe IAEA launched the first nuclear security e-learning course, "Use of Radiation Detection Instruments for Front Line Officers," in 2010. Since then, the agency has developed a suite of 17 nuclear security e-learning courses, which are available online at no cost.The courses include:Overview of nuclear security threats and risksPhysical protectionInsider threat and informationComputer securityOther areas of nuclear securityThe online courses combine self-paced e-learning with virtual and face-to-face classroom learning. They are frequently prerequisites to instructor-led and classroom-based nuclear security education, training, and capacity building activities, according to the IAEA.Go to Article
Delay, cost increase announced for U.K. nuclear projectPerspex screens and reduced seating capacity in the Hinkley Point canteens help protect the workforce during breaks, EDF Energy said. Photo: EDF EnergyThe unfortunate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on nuclear new-build projects haven’t stopped with Vogtle: EDF Energy this morning reported that the expected startup date for Unit 1 at its Hinkley Point C site is being pushed from late 2025 to June 2026.In addition, the project’s completion costs are now estimated to be in the range of £22 billion to £23 billion (about $30.2 billion to $31.5 billion), some £500 million (about $686 million) more than the 2019 estimate, EDF said, adding the caveat that these revisions assume an ability to begin a return to normal site conditions by the second quarter of 2021.Go to Article
COVID-19 wake-up call: Doomsday Clock remains at 100 seconds to midnightBulletin members reveal the 2021 setting of the Doomsday Clock. Photo: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists/Thomas GaulkinCiting the mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board kept the Doomsday Clock at 100 seconds to midnight, remaining as near to midnight as it has ever been.“The mishandling of this grave global health crisis is a ‘wake-up call’ that governments, institutions, and a misled public remain unprepared to handle the even greater threats posed by nuclear war and climate change,” a press release from the Bulletin stated. The group also cited a lack of progress in 2020 in dealing with nuclear and climate perils as the reason for not moving the Doomsday Clock from its 2020 position.Go to Article
House committee spearheading “Scientific Solutions” tweetstorm todayThe U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is leading a one-day social media campaign today to highlight the importance of leading with science and scientific solutions as the committee works to provide support for science and the scientific community. The “tweetstorm” will run from noon to 5 p.m. (EST) and will involve a variety of science-related organizations, including the American Nuclear Society.Organizations are being asked to post messages on their social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) related to five categories:American leadership in STEMEnvironmental justiceCombating the climate crisisScientific integrityCOVID-19Three hashtags have been created for the campaign: #ScientificSolutions, #SolvingtheClimateCrisis, and #EnvironmentalJusticeforAll.Go to Article
Former NRC chairs issue vaccine timeline recommendation to CDCFive former chairmen of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission—Stephen Burns, Allison Macfarlane, Nils Diaz, Richard Meserve, and Dale Klein—signed a letter to José Romero, Arkansas health secretary and chair of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) immunization advisory committee, requesting that the advisory committee update its recommendation for COVID-19 vaccine allocation guidance for the energy workforce (including nuclear energy workers).Currently, the CDC has four phases for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Those phases are numbered:1a (the current phase), reserved for healthcare workers and those living in long-term care facilities;1b, reserved for people 75 years and older and frontline essential workers;1c, reserved for persons 65 to 74 years old, those aged 16 to 64 who have high-risk medical conditions, and other categories of essential workers (this includes energy workers); and2, for everyone else that was not named in the previous three phases aged 16 to 64.Go to Article
NRC issues EA & FONSI for Bellefonte construction permit extensionThe unfinished Bellefonte nuclear plant. Photo: Wikimedia CommonsThe Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued an environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) in connection with its proposed action to extend the completion dates for the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bellefonte plant reactor construction permits. If approved by the NRC, the construction permits for Bellefonte Units 1 and 2 would extend to October 1, 2021.In a notice on the EA and FONSI published in the January 19 Federal Register, the NRC explained the reason for the proposed action. “In its March 31, 2017, and August 28, 2020, letters, TVA noted that it sold the Bellefonte property at auction, the sale of Units 1 and 2 did not close, and the purchaser filed a lawsuit against TVA,” the notice said. “TVA stated that an extension is needed to allow the parties additional time to obtain a decision in the lawsuit.”Go to Article
Climate change needs an Operation Warp SpeedThe government of the United States should throw its muscle behind ramping up a mammoth, rapid rollout of all forms of renewable energy through Operation Warp Speed, similar to what is being done with COVID-19, Clive Thompson writes in an Ideas column for Wired.The rollout should include energy sources that we already know how to build—like solar and wind — but also experimental emerging sources such as geothermal and small nuclear, and cutting-edge forms of energy storage or transmission.Go to Article
More adjustments to Vogtle milestone dates likelyThe initial shipment of nuclear fuel for Unit 3 arrives at the Vogtle site in December. Photo: Georgia PowerLargely as a result of the continuing COVID-19 crisis, the Vogtle reactor-construction project team expects to further adjust dates for achieving key project milestones, including the start of hot functional testing and fuel load for Unit 3, Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power announced on January 11.The company added, however, that it continues to expect to bring Unit 3 into service this November and Unit 4 into service in November 2022. Additional updates on the project will be provided during Southern’s quarterly earnings call next month.Go to Article