China Launches Bid Process For Sanmen and Yangjiang Projects
China has launched a call for bids toward the construction of one pair of power units for
the country’s planned Sanmen nuclear power plant and a second pair of units for its
planned Yangjiang plant – and involving vendor companies Areva, Westinghouse and Atomstroyexport
of Russia.
An Areva spokesman told NucNet that the 28th September announcement by the China
National Technical Export and Import Corp followed contact by the Chinese authorities approximately
two weeks earlier. He said that Areva, along with Westinghouse and Atomstroyexport
of Russia, had been invited to make an offer for a package of two-by-two pressurised
water reactor (PWR) nuclear steam-generation systems with a generating capacity
of at least 1,000 megawatts (MW) per unit.
Areva will offer to construct four 1,600MW European pressurised water reactors (EPRs).
However, the spokesman said Areva is also prepared to provide 1,000MW PWRs similar
to what it has delivered to China’s Ling Ao nuclear power plant – while saying Areva believes
China would like to have the option of the EPRs.
Westinghouse is expected to offer its AP1000 advanced reactor design – which received
final design approval by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission last month (see News
No. 179, 14th September 2004). There are currently two Russian-designed light water
VVER-1000 reactor units under construction at the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China’s
eastern province of Jiangsu (see News in Brief No. 16, 2nd August 2004).
Meanwhile, the Areva spokesman specified that the invitation for bids within five months
was to provide only the nuclear islands for the four planned power units – while the Chinese
are considering providing the units’ conventional islands themselves.
The tender announcement was made on behalf of two utilities – the China National Nuclear
Corporation for Sanmen, in Zhejiang province, and China Guangdong Nuclear Power
Company for Yangjiang, in Guangdong province.
China’s state council (the cabinet) approved the construction of the first-phase of the
Sanmen plant this past July (see News No. 156, 28th July 2004). The Yangjiang project
was originally proposed in 1994 but was shelved for several years – and recommenced
with the beginning of preliminary works by 2003 (see News No. 255, 20th August 2003).
Source: Areva / Westinghouse
Editor: Dr Peter Bucher / Daniel MacIsaac
France Issues EPR Design Approval
The French government, through national nuclear regulator DGSNR, has issued design
approval for the 1,600-megawatt European pressurised water reactor (EPR) developed by
Framatome ANP.
DGSNR director-general André-Claude Lacoste made the announcement, on behalf of the
ministers for economy, finance and industry and for ecology and sustainable development,
in a 28th September letter to national utility Electricité de France. In part, the letter reads:
“At this stage of the examination of the EPR reactor project, we consider that the actual
safety options, including the recent developments of the containment building design, satisfy
in general the set goal for the general improvement in safety.”
In a press release, DGSNR stresses that the decision is the “definition of a technical pointof-
view” and “by no means a construction licence”.
The launch of the process leading to EPR construction in France was approved by the
EDF board this past June (see News No. 154, 23rd July 2004), and energy policy legislation
supporting the construction of a demonstration EPR unit has also been adopted by the
French National Assembly (see News No. 127, 2nd June 2004).
Source: DGSNR
Editor: Dr Peter Bucher / Daniel MacIsaac
‘Mox For Peace’ Plutonium Arrives At Cogema’s Cadarache Plant
Areva has announced that 140 kilograms of weapons-origin plutonium from the US arrived
at the Cogema Cadarache plant early this morning – transported by road under “optimum
safety conditions”.
The plutonium transport had arrived by ship at Cogema’s La Hague plant near Cherbourg
yesterday – before being transferred to a road container (see News in Brief No. 37, 7th
October 2004).
The plutonium will be used to fabricate fuel rods over a four-month period at the Cadarache
plant. Final assembly will be carried out at the Melox plant in Marcoule and the fuel
will be delivered to the US in early 2005 – and loaded as test mixed-oxide (MOX) assemblies
at unit one of the Catawba nuclear power plant, in South Carolina.
Source: Areva
Editor: Daniel MacIsaac
THE WORLD’S NUCLEAR NEWS AGENCY
Sweden’s Forsmarks Kraftgrupp Board Approves Power Increase
The board of directors of Sweden’s Forsmarks Kraftgrupp AB announced on 7th October
the decision to approve a 275 million US dollar (USD) project to increase the power of its
Forsmark nuclear power plant between 2008 and 2010.
Increasing the thermal power of the three reactors at Forsmark will raise the electrical output
by 410 megawatts (MW). The power plant’s production capacity will then increase by
3.3 terawatt hours (TWh) – corresponding to almost the entire annual electricity demand of
Uppsala County, where the plant is located.
Forsmarks Kraftgrupp said: “The decision to raise the power is based on forecasts indicating
that the demand for electricity will increase.”
Before it is possible to proceed with the project – worth 2 billion Swedish crowns (SEK)
(USD 275 million) – the authorities must grant a licence. In addition, Forsmark must consult
with local residents and other stakeholders.
Last month, Forsmark announced that recent modifications – worth approximately SEK
500 million – had increased the capacity of Forsmark-3 power unit by 30MW and its annual
output by approximately 0.245TWh (see News No. 171, 3rd September 2004). Forsmarks
Kraftgrupp also said at the time that similar modification work was also planned for
Forsmark-1 and -2.
Sweden’s 11 operational nuclear units generated a total of 65TWh of electricity in 2003 –
and a 49.2% share of Sweden’s overall electricity production (see News No. 21, 23rd January
2004).
Source: Forsmarks Kraftgrupp AB
Editor: Daniel MacIsaac
AECL Marks Start of Commissioning Process At Romania’s Cernavoda-2Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) announced yesterday that it has initiated the
commissioning process on the second Candu 6 unit at Romania’s Cernavoda nuclear
power plant.
The company said the commissioning milestone for Cernavoda-2 was celebrated with the
energising of the main service transformer and associated switchgear. A ceremony commemorating
the event was attended by Canadian senator Peter Stollery, chairman of the Canadian Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee, and Dr Ken Petrunik, AECL’s chief operating
officer – who said: “We are extremely pleased with the work and the progress that has
been made in such a short period of time.”
AECL said the current phase of the project, which began in March 2003 and is scheduled
for completion in March 2007, was approximately 74% complete by 1st October (see News
No. 334, 18th October 2002). Over the next two years, construction and commission will
be completed on numerous plant systems, including fuel loading of the 655-megawatt
Candu 6 power unit, initial start-up and connection to the grid for an in-service target of early
2007.
Cernavoda-2 is the second in a series of five third-generation Candu 6 power units that
began construction at Cernavoda in the early 1980s. Cernavoda-1 has been operating
since 1996. Completion of the plant’s second Candu 6 unit will bring Romania’s share of
nuclear power to 15%.
Earlier this year, the European Commission approved a 223.5 million-euro loan for the
completion of Cernavoda-2 and for safety-upgrade measures (see News No. 76, 31st
March 2004). Earlier this month, the Romanian government announced it is actively looking
for companies to act as a partner in completing the Cernavoda-3 project – which is
worth nearly 1 billion US dollars and which is aiming to have a 700MW-class Candu 6
power unit connected to the grid in 2011 (see News No. 190, 4th October 2004).
This weekend’s activities in Bucharest and ceremony at Cernavoda were dedicated to
Romanian-Canadian-Italian cooperation in nuclear in general. Ansaldo Energia Spa of Italy
is partnered with AECL in managing the engineering, procurement, construction and
commissioning processes of the Cernavoda-2 project – and AECL and Ansaldo have also
been selected as consultants on the Cernavoda-3 project (see Business News No. 27,
27th May 2004).
Source: AECL / Nuclearelectrica / Romanian Nuclear Energy Association
Editor: Daniel MacIsaac
Taiwanese Journalism Professor Wins ‘2004 WIN Award’
Journalism professor Dr Ying-chun Hsieh of Taiwan’s National Chengchi University has
been awarded the 2004 WIN (Women in Nuclear) Award – in recognition of her “outstanding
achievement in promoting the communication of science, including nuclear energy,
with the general public using plain, easy-to-understand language, and for her strong
and persistent support and advocate of nuclear power”.
Presenting the award during a ceremony at the Taipower Building in Taipei on 1st October
was WIN association global president Junko Ogawa, accompanied by three other delegates
from WIN Japan. A forum titled “Nuclear Power Issues and Public Education” followed – and was jointly
conducted by WIN Taiwan, a branch of WIN Global, and the Regulations and Education
Committee of the Chung-Hwa Nuclear Society.
Established in 1993, WIN Global is an international association of women and men working
professionally in the fields of nuclear energy and radiation application, and who are
willing to devote time to public information (see Insider No. 7, 3rd February 1993). The association
has more than 2000 members in 60 countries. WIN Taiwan, headed by Jenny Lai
of Taipower, and WIN Japan are two of the 26 national WIN groups under the umbrella of
WIN Global.
Ms Ogawa, executive communicator with the Japan Atomic Power Company and founder/
president of WIN Japan, was elected new WIN Global president during the 12th WIN
Global annual meeting – held in Tokyo in May 2004. She succeeded Dr. Annick Carnino,
who retired from the International Atomic Energy Agency as director for nuclear safety more
than one year ago. The two other past presidents of WIN Global are Agneta Rising, vice
president of Vattenfall AB, Sweden, and Dr. Irene Aegerter, commissioner of the Swiss
Federal Nuclear Safety Commission (KSA) (see Insider No. 30.2, 6th September 2000 and
Insider No. 12.2, 2nd June 1999).
Source: WIN Taiwan / WIN Global
Editor: Daniel MacIsaac
News in Brief / No. 40 / 12th October 2004
Russia’s Leningrad-1 Restarted
Unit one of Russia’s Leningrad nuclear power plant – stopped in December 2003 when its
30-year design operational lifetime came to an end – was restarted on 8th October at minimum
controlled power.
Leningrad-1’s restart became possible following a comprehensive modernisation process,
which took place over several years (see News in Brief No. 7, 8th July 2004). Russian utility
Rosenergoatom said: “Complex equipment maintenance was performed at the unit, along
with the installation of the newest in safety systems.”
Following inspections, Russia’s Federal Service for Ecological, Technological and Nuclear
Supervision has approved continued operation of Leningrad-1. Currently, the reactor circuit
is being heated up, after which the necessary tests and calculations will be performed
and further power increases will begin in order to connect the unit to the grid.
Leningrad-1 is a 925-megawatt RBMK-1000 power unit, which first provided power to the
grid in 1973.
Source: Rosenergoatom / Nuclear Society of Russia
Editor: Daniel MacIsaac
Slovakia Approves ENEL's Bid For Slovak Electricity Stake
The Slovak cabinet on 6th October approved Italian power utility ENEL’s bid to buy a 66%
stake in Slovak Electricity, plc (SE) – as part of the privatisation process of Slovakia’s state-
owned utility – and said negotiations with the Slovak Economy Ministry would begin.
The announcement followed the naming of ENEL last month as the “preferred strategic investor”
by the Economy Ministry’s privatisation-advisory committee – and an ENEL bid for
the stake of 33.7 billion Slovak crowns (840 million euros) (see News No. 180, 14th September
2004).
SE operates Slovakia’s six VVER-440 power units – two each at the Bohunice V-1 and -2
nuclear power plant and two at Mochovce power plant – as well as hydropower and thermal-
power plants. But the utility’s privatisation also involves the completion of the construction
of units three and four at Mochovce (see NucNet News No. 134, 17th June
2004). A related question for Slovakia and SE involves the scheduled closures of Bohunice-1 in
2006 and Bohunice-2 in 2008 – as agreed under the terms of the country’s entry into the
EU. Slovak economy minister Pavol Rusko has said that – taking shared safety systems
into account – the two units should be shut down together, and preferably in 2008.
Source: Slovak Nuclear Society
Editor: Daniel MacIsaac
UKAEA Reduces Dounreay Clean-up Timescale And Costs
The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) announced yesterday “substantial reductions”
in the forecast timescale and cost of decommissioning its former experimental reactor at
Dounreay.
Completion of the programme has been accelerated to 2036 and the undiscounted cost
reduced from 3.695 billion British pounds (GBP) to GBP 2.695 billion.
UKAEA also announced that it has cut the estimated cost of the clean-up of all its nuclear
sites across the UK by almost one-third. UKAEA said that the revised forecasts are contained
in long-range plans submitted to the UK government and regulatory bodies in
preparation for the launch next April of the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (see
News No. 324, 2nd December 2003).
UKAEA said: “Breakthroughs have been achieved by bringing forward reactor decommissioning
– avoiding the need to build new facilities by shortening the lifetimes for which existing
facilities need to operate, introducing parallel working, integrating projects into sitewide
programmes with shared facilities, and cost-effective treatment of fuels. Recent reductions
in infrastructure costs have also allowed UKAEA to put more resources into frontline
decommissioning. Staffing requirements have been revised downwards and annual
expenditure projections have been adjusted in line with revised spending guidelines set by
the government.”
In the spring of 2004, UKAEA announced it was accelerating the decommissioning of its
sites by up to two-thirds than previously planned (see News No. 81, 5th April 2004).
Source: UKAEA
Editor: Daniel MacIsaac
