Plant was under the 1st refueling operation. Under the reactor vessel situation of 30 deg. C in coolant temperature and 115 feet in coolant level, reactor protection system was tested according to the schedule of overhaul. Soon after removal of the power supply of train "B", Engineered Safety Feature Actuation Signal was generated. All the components related to this signal were actuated. Twelve valves of the safety injection system were opened as designed. Borate d water stored in refuelling water storage tank was flowed into reactor coolant system by gravity and made coolant level increase to 117 feet. As reactor vessel was de-tentioned to prepare refueling, borated water leaked through the flange of reactor vessel. leaked water collected in cavity and returned. In the course of testing, worker has not pushed the reset relay because the step was not contained in the test procedure. There was no evidence of radioactivity increase in containment and no unplanned exposure to employees. Even though this kind of event should be rated as "below scale" according to user's manual part III-3.1.1 we gave some concern in this event because it was related with procedures. So, we rated this event as level "0" finally.
A vast subsea nuclear graveyard planned to hold Britain’s burgeoning piles of radioactive waste is set to become the biggest, longest-lasting and most expensive infrastructure project ever undertaken in the UK. The project [UK's nuclear waste dump] is now predicted to take more than 150yrs to complete with lifetime costs of £66bn in today’s money...The […]
Last year, the Dutch Province of Limburg started an alliance in which, besides the local government, research institutes, small nuclear reactor (SMR) developers, utilities, industrial customers and funders cooperated. With this "Limburg SMR alliance" Limburg tried to lead the way towards an SMR in Limburg. The preferred site for a first SMR would be Chemelot, […]
From the IPFM: During a visit to the Civaux nuclear power plant on 18 March 2024, France's Minister of the Armed Forces unveiled a plan to use the plant to produce tritium for the French nuclear weapons program. Civaux is a civilian power plant that belongs to and is operated by Electricité de France. According […]
An analysis by the Norwegian NGO Bellona of transborder trade operations with the customs code 840130 (irradiated fuel assemblies or fuel elements) show a more than twofold increase of import to EU countries of fresh nuclear fuel in cash terms – from 280 million Euros in 2022 to 686 million Euros in 2023. In physical […]
The French government has said it is "seriously" studying the option of building a plant to convert and enrich reprocessed uranium to cut its reliance on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. The only plant in the world that currently converts reprocessed uranium for use in nuclear power plants is in Russia. "The option of […]