atw Vol. 63 (2018) | Issue 8/9 ı August/September
Nuclear Energy: The Dead Live Longer or
the Summer of 2018
Dear Reader, Although nuclear energy offers both comprehensive technical potential with further development
prospects for use in power generation and attractive economic conditions, both for existing plants and for new plants –
assuming a reliable regulatory and political environment – there was no visible impetus for this for a long time.
Nuclear energy has also been or is facing serious market
challenges. There are two reasons why it cannot exploit its
economic advantages: On the one hand, there are hardly
any free electricity markets left; regulated markets with
subsidy systems, some of which are excessive and barely
manageable, prevent any market development towards
efficient systems as a whole. On the other hand, plants
with long depreciation periods, as is the case with nuclear
energy at around 20 years, are not very attractive.
Remarkable developments in spring/summer 2018 set
clear signals for future impulses, especially with their
technical accents:
1. At the end of April 2018, the Akademik Lomonosov was
launched in St. Petersburg, Russia. The lighter is
equipped with two KLT-40S type nuclear reactors,
which have been successfully used in icebreakers for
many decades. Each reactor can supply up to 35 MW of
electricity and 200 GJ/h of district heating, sufficient to
supply around 100,000 people in polar regions. After
the launch, the lighter was towed through the Baltic
and North Sea to Murmansk, where it is loaded with
nuclear fuel. Next year, the Akademik Lomonosov will
be towed to the Chukchi region in eastern Russia to its
final location.
2. On 6 June 2018, the Taishan 1 nuclear power plant unit
in the province of Guangdong in southern China
achieved first criticality. This is the first active EPR type
plant in the world and thus the second Generation III+
reactor type to go into operation after the Russian
VVER-1200 in Novovoronezh, which went into operation
in 2016. With a gross nominal output of 1750 MW, it is
the world's most powerful type of nuclear power plant.
Construction of the plant began in 2009. 2 blocks of the
same type have been under construction in Europe
since 2005 (Olkiluoto 3, Finland) and 2007 ( Flamanville
3, France). Originally, EPR reactors were developed
for a Western European expansion program and are
supplied by Framatome. A second unit is currently being
commissioned at the Taishan site in China. French
President Emmanuel Macron and Indian President
Narenda Modi signed a contract in March 2018 to build
six EPRs in India.
3. On 21 June 2018, the Sanmen 1 nuclear power plant
unit in the Chinese province of Zhejiang achieved first
criticality. This is the first AP1000 plant worldwide
and thus the third Generation III+ reactor type in
operation. Construction of the plant began in 2009 and
on 8 August 2018 the identical Haiyang 1 block in the
Chinese province of Shandong also achieved first
criticality. A further block is under construction at each
of the two sites. The AP1000 with a gross output of
around 1250 MW is a development of Westinghouse. In
the USA, four units are under construction at the Vogtle
and Summer sites; construction of the two Summer
units was suspended in August 2017, partly because the
Westinghouse Electric Company, as the manufacturer,
had to initiate Chapter 11 insolvency procedure.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Brookfield Business Partners
has taken over the nuclear technology company. Among
others, the Indian government is confident of signing a
contract for the construction of 6 AP1000s in India in
the near future.
These start-ups not only mark the fact that, despite all the
challenges and the associated delays, new technical
ground can be successfully broken in nuclear technology.
EPR, AP1000 or VVER-1200 can now provide impetus for
the marketing of nuclear energy in the new markets
available - even if these markets are not necessarily located
in Europe at present.
Oh yes, Europe ... two sentences about the Old World:
1. Nuclear energy, and thus the reactors at the Belgian
sites of Tihange and Doel, which are almost prayer- milllike
in some media, have so far this year covered around
60 % of the country's electricity requirements. In April
2018, the current Belgian government had confirmed
an “energy pact” for the country's nuclear power plants,
which intends for the plants to be decommissioned
between 2022 and 2025. This is about the seventh exit
announcement by a Belgian government.
2. The UK government is promoting the development
and construction of small modular reactors (SMR). A
£ 200 million investment programme as part of the
country's long-term industrial strategy is to accelerate
the construction of a pilot plant at Trawsfynydd in
northern Wales.
So it is not only exciting with regard to the future of nuclear
energy worldwide, there are now also future prospects for
expansion worldwide with currently 454 commercial units
in operation, as many as never before.
Christopher Weßelmann
– Editor in Chief –
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EDITORIAL
Editorial
Nuclear Energy: The Dead Live Longer or the Summer of 2018
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