atw - International Journal for Nuclear Power | 04.2019

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atw Vol. 64 (2019) | Issue 4 ı April 236 NEWS * The Loviisa nuclear power plant consists of two pressurized water reactors with an installed net capacity of 507 megawatt each. It is situated on the south coast of Finland. Loviisa 1 started commercial operation in 1977, Loviisa 2 followed in 1980. upgraded with the latest technology and monitored for optimal performance. By the time a facility seeks to extend its operating license with the NRC beyond 40 years – because of improvements to turbines, pumps, instrumentation and other components – the plants are extensively updated. Through equipment upgrades, many plants have been able to raise the amount of power they produce. These improvements, along with other efficiencies, have helped plants spend more time generating elec tricity. The average capacity factor for all nuclear plants in 2018 was 92.3 percent, which means that the plants were almost always up and making electricity. In contrast, in the 1970s, reactors on average operated less than 60 percent of the hours in a year. The industry has not stopped improving either, as it continues to develop advanced technology like accident-tolerant fuels, which could further boost plant performance, increase safety and reduce costs. Nuclear plants are prepared for the worst The operators at every nuclear plant prepare detailed plans with one goal in mind: to protect their communities and employees. These plans meet requirements set by the NRC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Plant workers conduct training and drills every month, and every two years they test their plans with state and local government agencies and the NRC. Emergency plans are also updated based on emerging issues. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the industry re-evaluated its plans to cover a broader array of unforeseen events. Additionally, after the Fukushima accident in 2011, the industry stationed more backup safety equipment at plants and regional depots. The FLEX strategy made about 1,500 pieces of additional equipment, from nozzles to generators, available to every nuclear plant in case of an emergency. Nuclear plants don’t just provide more than 55 percent of carbon-free electricity in the United States. They also are among the safest and most secure industrial facilities in the country. And 40 years after the accident at Three Mile Island, nuclear energy remains the safest and cleanest form of baseload power generation. | | www.nei.org | | Framatome. Innovation: Robotics Company News Framatome. Innovation: Robotics (framatome) They go by names such as Charli, Eloise, Pelican or Forerunner and they’ve joined the ranks at Framatome to lend their iron hands to our teams and our customers’ teams. These robotic collaborators significantly improve safety in the field and enhance the performance of operations. They are the illustration of our innovation approach, aiming to offer safe and increasingly competitive nuclear energy. Driven by major technological advances, these robots represent years of productive, collective research and development. Experience some of this innovation in action: from the Saint- Marcel plant, where operators use robotic arms to facilitate strenuous work and reduce occupational risk, through to dismantling of the Superphénix reactor, where the laser robot Eloise has become quite simply… indispensable. Available in a variety of models, SUSI can examine most reactor coolant system components as well as reactor pressure vessel, reactor pressure vessel head, pumps, pressurizers and piping in nuclear power plants worldwide. SUSI also performs visual ultrasonic inspections of baffle bolts. Plus, it can serve as a gripping device to retrieve foreign objects. In addition, the robot can be calibrated under water at any time during the inspection. A separate satellite camera system can be deployed with SUSI or on its own to further enhance inspection results in hard-to-reach areas. | | www.framatome.com Finland: Framatome successfully completes modification of Loviisa nuclear power plant’s Control rod instrumentation & control system Framatome has successfully modified the Preventive Protection System (PPS) at the Loviisa* nuclear power plant, operated by the Finnish utility Fortum. The Preventive Protection System uses control rods to monitor the reactor power and contributes to the safe operation of the plant. Implemen tation of the PPS is part of the modernization of the plant’s I&C system. The project started in 2016 when Fortum awarded Framatome the contract for the PPS and included the modification of the TELEPERM XS technology, originally delivered by Framatome in 2008 (Unit 1) and 2009 (Unit 2). Framatome’s I&C teams prepared the required documentation, designed and engineered the system modification and performed the final testing, installation and commissioning on site during the 2018 outage. These tasks are essential for the functionality of the entire system and are also mandatory for obtaining the licensing by the Finnish safety authority STUK. A joint team approach and close cooperation between Framatome and Fortum at all stages of the project were key to ensuring successful completion on time and to budget. “This successful modification project proves Framatome’s ability to provide I&C upgrades to different reactor types worldwide. Our TELEPERM XS I&C system is well known to Finnish operators and the authority STUK which is a perfect basis for further projects”, said Frédéric Lelièvre, Senior Executive Vice President in charge of Sales, Regional Platforms and the Instrumentation and Control Business Unit at Framatome. | | www.framatome.com GNS: Package design approval for CASTOR® MTR3 (gns) On 17 January 2019, the German Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (Bundesamt für kerntechnische Entsorgungssicherheit/BfE) issued the package design approval certificate for the transport and storage cask CASTOR® MTR3 as type B(U)F packaging. The cask was developed by GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service mbH especially for spent fuel elements from research reactors. The approval complies with the internationally valid regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the safe transport of radioactive materials. The CASTOR® MTR3 will initially be used for the transport and storage of spent fuel elements of the research reactor FRM II of the TU Munich. In addition, the cask will be able to News
atw Vol. 64 (2019) | Issue 4 ı April accommodate further fuel assembly types from other research reactors (e.g. TRIGA, MTR) with the use of individually adapted fuel baskets. The casks, which are about 160 cm high and weigh 16 t, essentially consist of a body made of ductile cast iron, a basket for accommodating the fuel elements and a double lid system with metallic sealings. These design features ensure safe containment the radioactive materials both during transport and subsequent storage. The comparatively small CASTOR® MTR3 casks are made of the same materials and have the same design features and safety functions as the CASTOR® casks from GNS for fuel assemblies from commercial power plants, which are up to four times larger and have already proven their reliability well over 1000 times. | | www.gns.de Uranium Prize range: Spot market [USD*/lb(US) U 3 O 8 ] 140.00 120.00 100.00 80.00 60.00 40.00 20.00 0.00 Year Yearly average prices in real USD, base: US prices (1982 to1984) * 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2019 * Actual nominal USD prices. Sources: Energy Intelligence, Nukem; Figure: atw 2019 Separative work: Spot market price range [USD*/kg UTA] 180.00 160.00 140.00 120.00 100.00 80.00 60.00 40.00 20.00 | | Uranium spot market prices from 1980 to 2019 and from 2008 to 2019. The price range is shown. In years with U.S. trade restrictions the unrestricted uranium spot market price is shown. 0.00 Jan. Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 * Actual nominal USD prices. Sources: Energy Intelligence, Nukem; Figure: atw 2019 ) 1 Uranium prize range: Spot market [USD*/lb(US) U 3 O 8 ] 140.00 120.00 100.00 80.00 60.00 40.00 20.00 0.00 Jan. Year ) 1 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 * Actual nominal USD prices. Sources: Energy Intelligence, Nukem; Figure: atw 2019 Conversion: Spot conversion price range [USD*/kgU] 16.00 14.00 12.00 10.00 8.00 6.00 4.00 2.00 0.00 Jan. Year ) 1 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 * Actual nominal USD prices. Sources: Energy Intelligence, Nukem; Figure: atw 2019 237 NEWS Market data | | Separative work and conversion market price ranges from 2008 to 2019. The price range is shown. )1 In December 2009 Energy Intelligence changed the method of calculation for spot market prices. The change results in virtual price leaps. (All information is supplied without guarantee.) Nuclear Fuel Supply Market Data Information in current (nominal) U.S.-$. No inflation adjustment of prices on a base year. Separative work data for the formerly “secondary market”. Uranium prices [US-$/lb U 3 O 8 ; 1 lb = 453.53 g; 1 lb U 3 O 8 = 0.385 kg U]. Conversion prices [US-$/ kg U], Separative work [US-$/SWU (Separative work unit)]. 2014 pp Uranium: 28.10–42.00 pp Conversion: 7.25–11.00 pp Separative work: 86.00–98.00 2015 pp Uranium: 35.00–39.75 pp Conversion: 6.25–9.50 pp Separative work: 58.00–92.00 2016 pp Uranium: 18.75–35.25 pp Conversion: 5.50–6.75 pp Separative work: 47.00–62.00 2017 pp Uranium: 19.25–26.50 pp Conversion: 4.50–6.75 pp Separative work: 39.00–50.00 2018 January to June 2018 pp Uranium: 21.75–24.00 pp Conversion: 6.00–9.50 pp Separative work: 35.00–42.00 February 2018 pp Uranium: 21.25–22.50 pp Conversion: 6.25–7.25 pp Separative work: 37.00–40.00 March 2018 pp Uranium: 20.50–22.25 pp Conversion: 6.50–7.50 pp Separative work: 36.00–39.00 April 2018 pp Uranium: 20.00–21.75 pp Conversion: 7.50–8.50 pp Separative work: 36.00–39.00 May 2018 pp Uranium: 21.75–22.80 pp Conversion: 8.00–8.75 pp Separative work: 36.00–39.00 June 2018 pp Uranium: 22.50–23.75 pp Conversion: 8.50–9.50 pp Separative work: 35.00–38.00 July 2018 pp Uranium: 23.00–25.90 pp Conversion: 9.00–10.50 pp Separative work: 34.00–38.00 August 2018 pp Uranium: 25.50–26.50 pp Conversion: 11.00–14.00 pp Separative work: 34.00–38.00 September 2018 pp Uranium: 26.50–27.50 pp Conversion: 12.00–13.00 pp Separative work: 38.00–40.00 October 2018 pp Uranium: 27.30–29.00 pp Conversion: 12.00–15.00 pp Separative work: 37.00–40.00 November 2018 pp Uranium: 28.00–29.25 pp Conversion: 13.50–14.50 pp Separative work: 39.00–40.00 December 2018 pp Uranium: 28.50–29.20 pp Conversion: 13.50–14.50 pp Separative work: 40.00–41.00 2019 January 2019 pp Uranium: 28.70–29.10 pp Conversion: 13.50–14.50 pp Separative work: 41.00–44.00 | | Source: Energy Intelligence www.energyintel.com Cross-border Price for Hard Coal Cross-border price for hard coal in [€/t TCE] and orders in [t TCE] for use in power plants (TCE: tonnes of coal equivalent, German border): 2012: 93.02; 27,453,635 2013: 79.12, 31,637,166 2014: 72.94, 30,591,663 2015: 67.90; 28,919,230 2016: 67.07; 29,787,178 2017: 91.28, 25,739,010 2018 I. quarter: 89.88; 5,838,003 II. quarter: 88.25; 4,341,359 III. quarter: 100.79; 5,135,198 IV. quarter: 100.91; 6,814,244 | | Source: BAFA, some data provisional, www.bafa.de News
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