atw - International Journal for Nuclear Power | 05.2021

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atw Vol. 66 (2021) | Issue 5 ı September 64 NEWS US: $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Includes Plans for New Reactors and Credits for Existing Plants (nucnet) President Joe Biden’s $1.2tn infrastructure bill, passed this week by the Senate, lays out plans for the development of new nuclear reactor technology and a credit programme for existing reactors that face closure because of economic reasons. The bill, which still needs approval from the House of Representatives, says energy secretary Jennifer Granholm will submit a report describing how the Department of Energy could improve energy resilience and reduce carbon emissions with the use of small modular reactors and microreactors. The report should be submitted to the Senate’s committee on energy and natural resources and the House of Representatives’ committees on energy and commerce, and science, space and technology not later than 180 days after the legislation becomes law. The bill says the DOE will offer financial and technical assistance to entities to conduct feasibility studies to identify suitable locations for the deployment of SMRs, microreactors and advanced reactors in isolated communities. The bill includes a proposal to develop at least one regional clean hydrogen hub to demonstrate the production of clean hydrogen from nuclear energy. Another key element of the bill for the nuclear industry is its call for a credit programme for commercial nuclear reactors. It calls on Ms Granholm to evaluate nuclear reactors that are projected to be permanently shut down because of economic factors and to allocate credits to those that qualify. In order to qualify for credits, the owner or operator of a nuclear plants will need to file an application with the DOE. The bill says the application will need to incorporate information including “the average projected annual operating loss in dollars per megawatt-hour, inclusive of the cost of operational and market risks, expected to be incurred by the nuclear reactor over the four-year period for which credits would be allocated”. The application should also include an estimate of the potential incremental air pollutants that would result if the nuclear reactor were to cease operations. Press reports in the US have said the legislation will come too late to prevent the Byron and Dresden nuclear power plants in Illinois from being shut down this year. Operator Exelon said proposed Illinois legislation, separate from the federal infrastructure bill, that would provide state subsidies is “the only solution that can pass in time to provide the certainty we need”. Exelon, the nation’s largest operator of nuclear plants, has filed plans to decommission its Byron and Dresden units, citing a lack of action from state lawmakers on clean energy legislation that would help save the facilities. The company said that without a legislative solution, these same market inequities will also force it to close its Braidwood and LaSalle nuclear facilities sometime in the next few years. The US feet of 93 nuclear plants, which provides about 20 % of the nation’s electricity, have been facing revenue shortfalls because of declining energy prices and market rules that the nuclear industry says favour fossil fuel plants. The Washington-based Nuclear Energy Institute has said a combination of policy and economic factors has led to the premature closure of several highly reliable plants with high capacity factors and relatively low generating costs. It said additional plants will face the prospect of early closure unless policies that value the benefits of nuclear energy are put in place. Europe United Nations: Europe Needs ‘Consistent Policies And Clear Market Frameworks’ For New Nuclear (nucnet) Decarbonising energy is a significant undertaking that will require deployment of all available low-carbon technologies, including nuclear power, but governments must provide positive, long-term policy signals for new reactor development, according to a new technology brief from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)*. The brief says consistent policies and clear market frameworks will enable investment in new nuclear power projects and support stable supply chains. In an apparent reference to Europe’s sustainable finance taxonomy, it says “green finance classifications should be based on scientific and technology-neutral methodologies”. Multilateral banks and international finance institutions should consider nuclear projects as part of their “sustainable lending activities”. The sustainable finance taxonomy is a package of regulations that governs investment in activities that the EU says are environmentally friendly. The European commission decided not to include nuclear energy in the taxonomy, which entered into force last summer, but said it would include it under a complementary delegated act in 2021. The act would carry the technical screening criteria for determining the conditions under which nuclear could qualify as contributing to sustainability and climate change mitigation. The commission asked the Joint Research Centre, its scientific expert arm, to assess nuclear power against the taxonomy’s “do no significant harm” criteria. When the report was ready in April, the commission asked two other expert groups – the Euratom Article 31 expert group on radiation protection and the scientific committee on health, environmental and emerging risks (Scheer) – to review the JRC’s report and provide additional opinions. The EC then said it would need to take into account the three reports before it makes a decision about the inclusion of nuclear in delegated acts in the taxonomy. Delegated acts are legally-binding rules which will supplement the taxonomy. The UNECE brief calls for governments to accelerate the development and deployment of small modular reactors and advanced reactor technologies, with technical, financial and regulatory support “essential” for the deployment and commercialisation of these new nuclear technologies. International harmonisation of licensing frameworks is also needed if new nuclear projects are to succeed. The policy brief also says securing the long-term operation of existing nuclear plants will avoid unnecessary CO 2 emissions and decrease the costs of Europe’s energy transition. UNECE, set up in 1947, is one of five regional commissions of the United Nations. Its main aim is to promote pan-European economic integration. UNECE includes 56 member States in Europe, North America and Asia. News
atw Vol. 66 (2021) | Issue 5 ı September Uranium Prize range: Spot market [USD*/lb(US) U 3O 8] 140.00 ) 1 Uranium prize range: Spot market [USD*/lb(US) U 3O 8] 140.00 ) 1 120.00 120.00 65 100.00 100.00 80.00 80.00 60.00 40.00 20.00 Yearly average prices in real USD, base: US prices (1982 to1984) * 60.00 40.00 20.00 NEWS 0.00 1980 Jan. 2009 Jan. 2010 1985 Jan. 2011 Jan. 2012 * Actual nominal USD prices, not real prices referring to a base year. Year 1990 Jan. 2013 1995 Jan. 2014 Jan. 2015 2000 Jan. 2016 2005 Jan. 2017 Jan. 2018 2010 Jan. 2019 2015 Jan. 2020 2020 2021 Year * Actual nominal USD prices, not real prices referring to a base year. Sources: Energy Intelligence, Nukem; Bild/Figure: atw 2021 * Actual nominal USD prices, not real prices referring to a base year. Year Sources: Energy Intelligence, Nukem; Bild/Figure: atw 2021 | Uranium spot market prices from 1980 to 2021 and from 2009 to 2021. The price range is shown. In years with U.S. trade restrictions the unrestricted uranium spot market price is shown. Separative work: Spot market price range [USD*/kg UTA] Conversion: Spot conversion price range [USD*/kgU] 180.00 26.00 ) 1 ) 1 24.00 160.00 22.00 140.00 120.00 100.00 80.00 60.00 40.00 20.00 0.00 Jan. 2021 Jan. 2022 Sources: Energy Intelligence, Nukem; Bild/Figure: atw 2021 0.00 Jan. 2009 Jan. 2010 Jan. 2011 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2013 Jan. 2014 * Actual nominal USD prices, not real prices referring to a base year. Year | Separative work and conversion market price ranges from 2009 to 2021. 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. * Actual nominal USD prices, not real prices referring to a base year Sources: Energy Intelligence, Nukem; Bilder/Figures: atw 2021 20.00 18.00 16.00 14.00 12.00 10.00 8.00 6.00 4.00 2.00 0.00 Jan. 2009 Jan. 2010 Jan. 2011 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2013 Jan. 2014 Jan. 2015 Jan. 2015 Jan. 2016 Jan. 2016 Jan. 2017 Jan. 2017 Jan. 2018 Jan. 2018 Jan. 2019 Jan. 2019 Jan. 2020 Jan. 2020 Jan. 2021 Jan. 2021 Jan. 2022 Jan. 2022 Sources: Energy Intelligence, Nukem; Bild/Figure: atw 2021 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)]. 2017 p Uranium: 19.25–26.50 p Conversion: 4.50–6.75 p Separative work: 39.00–50.00 2018 p Uranium: 21.75–29.20 p Conversion: 6.00–14.50 p Separative work: 34.00–42.00 2019 p Uranium: 23.90–29.10 p Conversion: 13.50–23.00 p Separative work: 41.00–52.00 2020 January to March 2020 p Uranium: 24.10–27.40 p Conversion: 21.50–23.50 p Separative work: 45.00–53.00 April 2020 p Uranium: 27.50–34.00 p Conversion: 21.50–23.50 p Separative work: 45.00–52.00 May 2020 p Uranium: 33.50–34.50 p Conversion: 21.50–23.50 p Separative work: 48.00–52.00 June 2020 p Uranium: 33.00–33.50 p Conversion: 21.50–23.50 p Separative work: 49.00–52.00 July 2020 p Uranium: 32.50–33.20 p Conversion: 21.50–23.50 p Separative work: 50.50–53.50 August 2020 p Uranium: 30.50–32.25 p Conversion: 21.50–23.50 p Separative work: 51.00–54.00 September 2020 p Uranium: 29.90–30.75 p Conversion: 21.00–22.00 p Separative work: 51.00–54.00 October 2020 p Uranium: 28.90–30.20 p Conversion: 21.00–22.00 p Separative work: 51.00–53.00 November 2020 p Uranium: 28.75–30.25 p Conversion: 19.00–22.00 p Separative work: 51.00–53.00 December 2020 p Uranium: 29.50–30.40 p Conversion: 19.00–22.00 p Separative work: 51.00–53.00 January 2021 p Uranium: 29.50–30.50 p Conversion: 19.00–22.00 p Separative work: 51.00–53.00 February 2021 p Uranium: 28.75–29.10 p Conversion: 20.00–22.00 p Separative work: 52.00–54.00 March 2021 p Uranium: 27.25–31.00 p Conversion: 20.00–22.00 p Separative work: 52.00–55.00 April 2021 p Uranium: 28.40–31.00 p Conversion: 19.00–21.00 p Separative work: 51.00–54.00 May 2021 p Uranium: 29.15–31.35 p Conversion: 19.50–21.50 p Separative work: 52.00–54.00 June 2021 p Uranium:31.00–32.50 p Conversion: 19.50–21.50 p Separative work: 54.00–56.00 | Source: Energy Intelligence www.energyintel.com News
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atw - International Journal for Nuclear Power | 05.2021

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