ANS Nuclear Cafe

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Nuclear Society.

To provide a place for constructive conversation and exchange of ideas, I have built the website lmfbr.com. There, interested persons will find a description of the liquid metal fast breeder reactor technology and an outline of its history. The site is intended for an audience already generally familiar with light water reactors—but most particularly, it is meant to encourage comments so that the community can identify a pathway for deployment of LMFBRs through a conceptual design and institutional approach that draws upon collective experience, recent innovation, and re-visitation of approaches previously considered that have been long lying dormant. The website is also intended to suggest areas where further creative thought could be directed to improve the economic and operational performance of the LMFBR concept to make it highly competitive with LWRs.

The European energy data-analysis company EnAppSys has released its second quarter (April–June 2022) electricity market reports: GB Electricity Market Summary and European Electricity Generation Summary. A major focus of both publications is the considerable effects of the war in Ukraine on the European energy markets. The reports also describe how the nuclear energy market in Europe during the second quarter was forced to adapt to reductions in supplies from France due to corrosion and cracking problems that prompted shutdowns in the French nuclear fleet.

The 26th Annual Nuclear Generator and Supplier Executive Summit, hosted by Utilities Service Alliance (USA), was held at the Coeur d’Alene Golf and Spa Resort in Idaho from June 28 through July 1. About 375 attendees were present for this year’s meeting, themed “Nuclear’s Next Wave” which featured presentations and discussions on emerging nuclear technologies and designs, as well as an integrated tradeshow with about 50 industry suppliers exhibiting products, services, and ideas.

The Nuclear Innovation Alliance (NIA), a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit, has released a new report, Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technology: A Company Compendium, along with an update to its Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technology: A Primer, first published last September.

Both reports are meant to serve as resources for investors, reporters, policymakers, regulators, and others wanting to learn more about the different technologies and key players involved in the design, licensing, construction, and operation of advanced nuclear reactors.

Moore

“Nuclear energy is the safest of all the electricity technologies we have.” This statement by Patrick Moore, former director of Greenpeace in a recent interview on NewsNation’s “Special Report,” is at odds with the position of the environmental organization he helped found.

New EU taxonomy: Moore did the interview in the wake of the European Parliament’s controversial action to support the addition of nuclear energy and natural gas to the European Union’s taxonomy of environmentally sustainable, green technologies. In response to that action, Greenpeace announced that it would submit a formal request to the European Commission to review the move and, if necessary, mount a legal challenge to the action with the European Court of Justice.

New Mexico State University is collaborating with TerraPower, Idaho National Laboratory, and Savannah River National Laboratory on a three-year project to develop a plan to recycle spent nuclear fuel. The project is being funded by an $8.5 million grant from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E), under the Optimizing Nuclear Waste and Advanced Reactor Disposal Systems (ONWARDS) program. ONWARDS is designed to increase the use of nuclear power as a reliable, clean energy source, as well to as limit the amount of waste generated by advanced nuclear reactors.

Iran has begun enriching uranium to a purity level of 20 percent using advanced IR-6 centrifuges at its Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, a pilot facility located underground near the city of Qom. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran made the public announcement on June 10, although it reported the news to the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency two weeks before, according to NBC News.

Nesbit

Steven Nesbit, ANS’s immediate past president, is among the nuclear industry leaders quoted in a recent New York Times article about the renewed interest in nuclear power in the United States. The article explains that the challenges of meeting clean energy goals and surging electricity demands are prompting many government officials to take “a fresh look at nuclear power—both extending the life of existing reactors and building new ones.” The article also presents the views of some nuclear critics.

Much of the article focuses on the fate of California’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, which is currently scheduled for shutdown in 2025. Several of the state’s lawmakers who previously supported the shutdown, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Diane Feinstein, are now considering supporting the extended life of the plant. A joint study by Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has concluded that a 10-year extension of Diablo Canyon could substantially reduce carbon emissions, lessen reliance on natural gas, cut electricity costs, and minimize the risk of brownouts.

Mazzucchi

Another call on the Western world to use nuclear power as a way to achieve energy independence from Russia has been sounded, this time by Nicolas Mazzucchi, a research fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris.

As readers of Nuclear Newswire know, several such arguments have been made since the Russian invasion of Ukraine prompted tough sanctions against Russia by Western governments, including restrictions on imports of Russian oil and natural gas. Although designed to harm the Russian economy, these sanctions have also contributed to high energy prices and other economic problems in Western Europe and the United States.

In a recent issue of Nature, Mazzucchi builds on the point that more nuclear power—especially from advanced technologies—offers a way to “avoid another situation like that in Ukraine.” However, he also argues that increased international cooperation is needed to commercialize these technologies.

The prospects for new nuclear energy construction in the Western world is the subject of a recent The Economist article, “Energy security gives climate-friendly nuclear-power plants a new appeal.” The article also explores the difficulties that EDF Energy has been experiencing in constructing its EPRs in Europe.

The National Atomic Testing Museum is hosting the “Women in Science Panel Discussion” today, June 30, from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (PST). This free event can be attended in person at the museum in Las Vegas, Nev., or online via Zoom. Advance registration is required.

A new lecture series launched by Purdue University and Duke Energy is designed to educate the public about small modular reactors and other advances in nuclear energy. The series stems from an ongoing comprehensive joint study by Purdue and Duke, announced in April, which is investigating the feasibility of using SMRs to meet the campus’s energy needs.

Nuclear energy will have an unusually prominent platform in December, when the new Miss Wisconsin, Grace Stanke, competes in the Miss America 2023 competition at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Stanke, who is a nuclear engineering student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an ANS student member, was crowned on June 18. For her social impact initiative speech, Stanke, expressed a desire to advocate for the use of green energy—especially nuclear energy—during her one-year reign as Miss Wisconsin.

John Ibson

In an era where being openly gay could get you blacklisted, how was one scientist able to keep his high-security clearance level with the Manhattan Project and beyond? To find out, attend the virtual event “A ‘Lavender Lad’ with a Security Clearance: A Gay Scientist and Homophobia in Midcentury America” on June 24 at 4:00 p.m. (EDT). The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History is sponsoring the event and the featured speaker is John Ibson, professor emeritus of American studies at California State University–Fullerton.

The webinar, which requires advance registration, is free for members of the museum. Members can obtain a promo code by emailing the museum’s membership associate, Jennifer Thompson. For others, the registration fee is $10.

Legislation known as the Thorium Energy Security Act, introduced in Congress last month by U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R., Ala.), would put a halt to the destruction of U.S. stockpiles of uranium-233 and instead would foster its integration into the development of thorium molten salt–cooled reactors, Newsweek reported last week. The act has been referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Modern Physics are making strides with their China Initiative Accelerator-Driven System (CiADS) technology, which is being developed to get more life out of used nuclear fuel. Defense One, an online news source that focuses on “the future of U.S. defense and national security,” describes the prototype system as a step in moving China toward energy independence and advancing that nation’s “global leadership in climate-friendly technology.”

The Illinois Institute of Technology and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory are hosting a two-day online workshop exploring overlapping interests in radiation damage and characterization among the nuclear energy and high-energy physics communities. The workshop, titled “Radiation Damage in Accelerator Materials and the Potential Use of the Versatile Test Reactor for the Study of Accelerator Materials,” is scheduled for Monday, June 20, and Tuesday, June 21, beginning at 9:00 a.m. (EDT) each day.

Registration is free and can be completed by emailing IIT professor Jeff Terry.

The nuclear waste management market is expected to reach a value of nearly $7 billion by 2027, according to a new research report published by Market Research Future. This value would represent a compound annual growth rate of 2.8 percent between 2021 and 2027.

Feinstein

Although previously a supporter of Diablo Canyon’s early closure, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein took to the pages of the Sacramento Bee yesterday to endorse life extension for the state’s sole operating nuclear power plant.

Citing projected electricity shortfalls in California due to the effects of climate change, Feinstein writes that “Pacific Gas and Electric Company should reconsider its decision to close Diablo Canyon by 2025. The utility should get the plant relicensed instead, retiring it once the state can replace its production with clean sources.”

The senator continues: “I remain concerned about the lack of long-term storage for spent nuclear fuel and am working to develop better solutions. But at this point, keeping Diablo Canyon open and producing carbon-free energy is more important.”

A new survey conducted by Bisconti Research shows strong numbers for public support of nuclear energy and for the building of additional nuclear power plants in the United States. Unlike other surveys on nuclear energy, which have yielded varying results over time, the Bisconti survey—known as the National Nuclear Energy Public Opinion Survey—is the only poll that has consistently asked the same questions in the same context for the past four decades, making its findings especially noteworthy for the nuclear industry.