atw - International Journal for Nuclear Power | 05.2019

atw Vol. 64 (2019) | Issue 5 ı May
292
NEWS
operation. The order has a volume of
well over EUR 20 million.
The casks are to be delivered from
the GNS plant in Mülheim an der Ruhr
to the two power plants in the fourth
quarter of 2020. After loading in the
reactor building with 19 fuel elements
each, the casks will be taken to the
local interim storage facilities. More
than 30 loaded casks of this type are
already stored at each of the two sites.
„The CASTOR® casks from GNS
have proven to be reliable packaging
for the irradiated fuel elements from
our nuclear power plants”, explains
Lothar Mertens, Head of Fuel Cycle
and Interim Storage at Preussen-
Elektra. “They ensure the smooth
emptying of our storage pools and
thus form an important component in
the disposal of our power plants both
during power operation and until the
reactor is completely fuel-free.”
| | www.gns.de
Science & Research
LENS launches activities to
strengthen European neutron
science
(lens) Members of a strategic consortium
of neutron research facilities
in Europe, the League of advanced
European Neutron Sources (LENS),
officially launched activities to promote
colla boration on neutron usage,
technology development, innovation,
data, education, and strategies. By
aligning policies among its partners,
LENS will advocate for the user
community and strengthen European
neutron science.
The members of LENS held their
first General Assembly and the first
Executive Board meeting on 26 March
2019 in Liblice, the Czech Republic.
The consortium adopted and signed
Statutes detailing the purpose of
LENS, guiding the work of the
statutory bodies, and laying the
framework for Working Groups responsible
for the execution of foreseen
activities. The Director of Institut
Laue-Langevin (ILL) in France, Helmut
Schober, was elected as LENS
Chair, and the Director of the ISIS
Neutron and Muon Source in the
United Kingdom, Robert McGreevy, as
Vice-Chair.
A community event to mark
the launch of LENS
The signing ceremony was followed
by a public event that celebrated the
launch of LENS in the presence of
around 80 government representatives,
national delegates to the
European Strategy Forum on Research
Infrastructures (ESFRI), the European
Commission, and the wider scientific
community.
“Research on materials will provide
the basis for technologies of the
future that are needed to achieve a
sustainable, high standard of living all
around the globe,” said the newly
elected Chair of LENS, Helmut
Schober. “LENS will help to develop
these technologies by optimizing the
use of resources for neutron investigations
through strategic coordination
among neutron facilities.”
The event also featured panel
discussions about the long-term
sustainability of neutron sources, and
the various ways in which neutrons
contribute to excellent science and
advance innovation. As a collaborative
effort that aims to benefit researchers
and address their needs, LENS seeks to
establish good working relations with
the European Neutron Scattering
Association (ENSA). LENS will be in
close dialogue with the League of
European Accelerator-based Photon
Sources (LEAPS), a strategic consortium
that brings together synchrotron
radiation and free electron laser user
facilities in Europe. Representatives of
both ENSA and LEAPS joined the LENS
launch event in Liblice.
The member base of LENS
expands
LENS was established in September
2018 with the primary goal of facilitating
discussions and decision-making
processes that have the potential to
strengthen European neutron science.
The eight founding members include
national and international neutron
facilities from France, Germany,
Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland,
and the United Kingdom.
The event in Liblice marked the
first expansion of the consortium’s
member base. Forschungszentrum
Jülich from Germany with its Jülich
Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS)
was welcomed as the ninth member.
LENS is open to new members and
other qualifying neutron facilities
which grant international access to
their experimental devices and
research services are invited to join at
any time. In this way, LENS helps to
contribute to the scientific integration
of Europe.
The LENS launch was held on the
eve of the 68 th ESFRI Forum Meeting,
which brought together senior science
policy officials representing Ministers
responsible for research in each of the
participating state. “We welcome the
launch of LENS. Coordinated efforts of
this type support a better use and
development of research infra structures
in Europe. This is well in line
with the vision that ESFRI has for
European science, “ said Jan Hrušák,
ESFRI Chair.
Shaping the future by utilising
members’ capabilities
Solving the grand challenges facing
our societies often requires the development
of new high-performance
materials. Tailor-made materials and
material systems are required for the
advancement of key technologies,
from information technology and
renewable energy concepts, to safer
and more environmentally friendly
transport systems and life-saving
medical applications. Probing materials
with neutrons stands as one of the
pillars of the analytical techniques in
this chain of discovery.
Neutron-based analytical facilities,
therefore, are used in numerous
disciplines across the entire range of
science and technology development,
and generate a high socio-economic
impact. Europe has achieved global
leadership in this field, serving a very
broad scientific community of more
than 5,000 researchers by providing
them with more than 32,000 instrument
days at neutron scattering facilities.
| | www.frm2.tum.de
Market data
(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
News