Inside NIRMA Fall 2019 FINAL

More documents

Info

Andrew Yang Loves Thorium Nuclear Reactors, But What Are They? Lately an unfamiliar type of advanced reactor has been getting more attention, because one Democratic presidential candidate has been talking about it. Andrew Yang, a tech entrepreneur, has put development of thorium reactors into his climate change platform. But what is a thorium reactor? Thorium is an abundant, lightly radioactive metal (named by its Swedish discoverer after the Norse god, Thor) that can be used in certain types of nuclear reactors. It isn’t really fuel, because it can’t be split like uranium can. But when thorium is placed in a reactor, it absorbs some of the neutrons that are given off by fission. A thorium atom that picks up a neutron becomes a new element—uranium 233, which is a reactor fuel. So, a reactor can cook thorium into reactor fuel, and then consume the fuel to make electricity. Thorium is about three times more abundant than uranium. It’s already produced by mining companies as a byproduct, and it has a variety of non-nuclear uses. Plus, used fuel from thorium reactors contains minimal amounts of very long-lived radioactive materials compared to current uranium fuel, so disposing of waste is easier. There are no thorium reactors running today, but Flibe Energy Inc., a startup based in Huntsville, Alabama, has an advanced reactor design that uses thorium and molten salt. Employing molten salt in place of water (to transfer heat from the fuel) allows a reactor to operate at a higher temperature and at lower pressure, which means it doesn’t need a super-strong and expensive reactor vessel and piping. Heat from a high-temperature thorium reactor—whether molten salt or other—could be used in a variety of applications to displace fossil fuels, such as producing hydrogen for transportation or industrial use. Like all reactors, a thorium reactor would be carbonfree. And it would be dispatchable, meaning that it would run when needed and not simply when weather conditions permitted. Thanks to work done in the U.S. national laboratories in the 1960s, the molten salt that Flibe proposes for a thorium reactor is already familiar to engineers. Still, deploying thorium reactors will require additional research and development, which is why Yang has proposed $50 billion dollars for thorium research (along with fusion). Article reprinted with permission of NEI. Read full article here. Rolls-Royce Group Wins Funding as UK SMR Race Gathers Pace The UK SMR Consortium has received financial backing from the UK government to advance its small modular reactor programme, as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. The consortium, led by Rolls- Royce, comprises Assystem, SNC Lavalin/Atkins, Wood, Arup, Laing O’Rourke, BAM Nuttall, Siemens, National Nuclear Laboratory, and Nuclear AMRC. “The £18 million [US$22.3 million] government funding for phase 1 of the programme (from the ISCF Wave 3 bid we were recommended from by government) is being matched by industry funding in the consortium,” Ben Todd, Rolls- Royce Communications Business Manager – Nuclear, told Nuclear Energy Insider. “It’s a really big boost to the project, however we have a conservative outlook and realise there remains a significant amount of work still to do and many hurdles to overcome. Phase 2 will be a further circa £500 million [US$618 million] total (matched Continued on next page. 30 Fall 2019 NIRMA.org Inside NIRMA
to generate high-value products such as hydrogen. Rolls-Royce Group Wins Funding as UK SMR Race Gathers Pace, continued The MMR-REM design is advanced and has undergone the Vendor Design Review (VDR) Phase 1 with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). from government, industry and possibly equity providers) to take through to the completion of the GDA process.” The initiative was launched in November 2015, as a range of measures to support the next generation of nuclear power plants. It included investing £250 million [US$310 million] in nuclear R&D over five years and launching the competition to identify the most cost effective SMR design. “We are waiting for the government award of the grant offer letter forecast in mid-October to enable industry commitment to the next phase,” said Todd. “We have a power station design that is ready to be prepared for the UK licensing process and just as importantly, we have a business case that has been rigorously reviewed by the UK Government, UKRI, and the independent Expert Finance Working Group. Together this is already creating a lot of interest in the market place which gives us belief and confidence that we have a great power station.” Feasibility studies and funds for non-LWR In June 2018, the UK government's £200 million Nuclear Sector Deal was announced to cut the cost of nuclear power and bolster the UK skills base, at a time when fears were rising over scientists leaving the UK due to Brexit. That deal included £56 million towards the development and licensing of advanced modular reactor designs – and £32 million pounds towards advanced manufacturing research – against stiff competition from Canada in the SMR race. Eight non-light water reactor (non-LWR) vendors each received £4 million to perform detailed technical and commercial feasibility studies. Those vendors are Advanced Reactor Concepts, DBD, LeadCold, Moltex Energy, Tokamak Energy, U- Battery Developments, Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC), and Westinghouse Electric Company UK. USNC said that its MMR-REM plant, being developed for Canada, may not be the best solution for the UK market and is identifying a specific UK application that is best suited to launching a UK-MMR reactor. USNC expects that this will be in the delivery of high temperature process heat that can be used to replace fossil fuels and Moltex Energy, which is also focussing in Canada, is working on its Stable Salt Reactor (SSR) design. Moltex chose not to pursue the licensing process in the U.S. due to low gas prices and the number of U.S.-based developers competing for early-stage funding. Design review processes in the UK and Canada are also seen as more supportive for new technology licensing as the national regulators use a principles-based analysis rather than prescriptive approach. Moltex has used conventional components and materials already qualified in the nuclear sector where possible to benefit from quick deployment timelines. It says licensing of the SSR plant could be completed in five years and that construction time for a FOAK 300 MW plant would be three years. The Westinghouse Lead-cooled Fast Reactor is a 400 MW plant which uses liquid lead as primary coolant and uranium oxide (or U- Pu oxide) as fuel, while LeadCold is proposing a lead-cooled reactor using uranium nitride fuel. A single SEALER-UK unit produces up to 40 MW of electricity in a vessel that can be transported by rail rail. Article reprinted with permission of Nuclear Energy Insider. Read full article here. Inside NIRMA NIRMA.org Fall 2019 31
Page 1 and 2: Inside Leading the way in Nuclear I
Page 3 and 4: Scenes from the 2019 NIRMA Conferen
Page 5: Three Mile Island Unit 1 began comm
Page 8 and 9: software displays the entire RAW da
Page 10 and 11: A Retrospective on Information Mana
Page 12 and 13: To CRM or Not to CRM? That Could Be
Page 14 and 15: The 2019 New Conference Attendees N
Page 16 and 17: Vendors NIRMA greatly appreciates o
Page 18 and 19: Conference Welcome Reception 18 Fal
Page 20 and 21: Conference Welcome Reception 20 Fal
Page 22 and 23: Exhibitor EXTRAVAGANZA 22 Fall 2019
Page 24 and 25: From the President Michelle M. Smit
Page 26 and 27: MEMBERSHIP & MARKETING (M&M) Busine
Page 28 and 29: News from the Regulatory Informatio

Inside NIRMA Fall 2019 FINAL

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?