From various sources, including WNN, AP, and other sources.
Nuclear continues to expand as if Fukushima never happened. Well not quite. But close. Despite rumors of it's demise, mostly by American anti-nuclear activists, nuclear is going quite strong with plans in effect to expand existing generation facilities or start new ones from countries that never had more than a small R&D reactor(s) or none at all.
It's imperative for anti-nuclear activists not to rest on their butts but to understand the actual state of the technology as it is being deployed globally. This previous sentence might sound like it's coming as a warning from an anti-nuclear activist. I am not anti-nuclear but I like to carry out discussions based on 'what is' and not what some project they would like it to be. Most, and I mean the many, many on the DK, and other US anti-nuclear sites wear rose-colored glasses with quite large side-blinders on as if what goes on in the US or Germany or Japan is the actual 'state of the nuclear industry'. It is not. And all of you better wise up.
Chinese reactor enters commercial operation
Unit 4 at China's Qinshan Phase II has begun commercial operation. The announcement marks the successful conclusion of the project to add two more indigenously-designed units at the plant in Zhejiang province.
At 9.05am on 8 April, the head of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), Sun Qin, declared to workers and officials gathered in the unit's control room that the reactor had successfully begun commercial operation, 60 days ahead of schedule. He said that the Qinshan Phase II expansion project - the construction of units 3 and 4 - is 'now fully complete and commissioned.'
The reactor, a CNP-600, is a locally-designed and constructed two-loop pressurized water reactor (PWR) design rated at 650 MWe. It has taken about five years to build, with first concrete for the unit poured in January 2007. The unit was connected to the grid on 25 November 2011, becoming China's 15th operating nuclear power reactor.
Full:
http://world-nuclear-news.org/...
Turkey, China sign agreements
Turkey and China signed two nuclear cooperation agreements during a visit by Turkish prime minister Recep Erdogan to Beijing. The first was a bilateral agreement on cooperation on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, while the second was a letter of intent for further nuclear cooperation between China’s National Energy Administration and the Turkish energy ministry. Turkey is currently seeking a partner for its second planned nuclear power plant.
New Kozloduy unit gets government nod
The process to build a new reactor at Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant has started with an agreement in principle to go ahead with the project from the country's cabinet. The move comes two weeks after the government scrapped plans for a new plant at Belene.
Full: http://world-nuclear-news.org/...
Lithuanian project makes progress
* Lithuania signs nuclear plant concession deal with Hitachi
* Political situation unclear as elections approach
* Lithuania wants to reduce dependency on Russia
VILNIUS, March 30 (Reuters) - Lithuania took a significant step forward on Friday toward realising plans for Japan's Hitachi to build a new nuclear plant by 2020-2022, as the country seeks to reduce its dependence on Russian energy.
Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius was upbeat after the government initialled a concession agreement with Hitachi Ltd. , saying it would boost energy security as Lithuania seeks to wean itself off from energy imports from its former Soviet master, Russia.
"Today we concluded negotiations with the strategic investor, Hitachi, to open the door for the biggest investment in Lithuania ever," he told reporters about the nuclear plant expected to cost 17 billion litas ($6.54 billion).
The concession agreement provides the contractual framework for the nuclear plant including rights for the project company to design, construct and operate and later decommission the facility. It also sets out host country and investor rights and obligations and agreed timeline for delivery.
Full:
http://www.reuters.com/...
Back to Turkey:
Turkey expecting nuclear bids from China, Japan, S Korea: minister
Turkey is expecting to receive separate bids from China, Japan and South Korea for the construction and operation of its second planned nuclear power plant at Sinop on the Black Sea coast, energy minister Taner Yildiz announced Monday.
Speaking in a live interview on Turkish state news channel TRT Haber during an official visit to China accompanying Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Yildiz said talks are ongoing with all three countries and that he was expecting to receive three separate bids to construct and operate the plant using three separate models.
"We will sign an agreement with whichever country makes the best offer," he said, adding that he expected an agreement to be signed within the next couple of months.
Previously Turkey has held exclusive talks separately with South Korea and Japan on the basis of the plant being constructed by a conortium of companies from each country and then operated by a single company with lengthy experience of operating nuclear power plants.
Full:
http://www.platts.com/...
And more on China:
China's goal of 1500 GWs of fast breeder nuclear energy is on course for 2100, albeit 'sightly' scaled back for this "5 Year Plan" from an expected 80GWs by 2020 to 70GWs due to actually building the and training the needed operators, engineers and safety regimen.
But lets review:
* Mainland China has 14 nuclear power reactors in operation, more than 25 under construction, and more about to start construction soon.
* Additional reactors are planned, including some of the world's most advanced, to give a five- or six-fold increase in nuclear capacity to at least 60 GWe by 2020, then 200 GWe by 2030, and 400 GWe by 2050.
* China is rapidly becoming self-sufficient in reactor design and construction, as well as other aspects of the fuel cycle.
So they will start the approval process this month or next for new nuclear beyond 2020.
Lastly, Korea, S. Korea that is: err...we could call this "Kepco aims to double UAE nuclear plant sales" from Reuters article.
SEOUL — Korea Electric Power Corp, or Kepco said it will begin talks next year with the UAE on a new deal for four nuclear power plants, and plans to spend 800 billion won ($706.06 million) this year on overseas resources development including acquisitions.
A Kepco deal for an additional four nuclear power plants in the UAE, taking the total to eight, would cement its reach in the Middle East market.
Kim said the state-run utility would start construction on an initial four nuclear power plants on July 1, advancing the start date by four months, pending regulatory approval by June 30, with completion scheduled for 2017-2020.
But what about S. Korea itself??
Here is what the WNA says about it:
# South Korea is set to become a major world nuclear energy country, exporting technology. It won a $20 billion contract to supply four nuclear rectors to UAE.
# Today 23 reactors provide over 31% of South Korea's electricity from 20.7 GWe of plant. The aim reaffirmed in mid 2011 is to provide 59% of electricity from 40 units by 2030.
# Nuclear energy remains a strategic priority for South Korea, and capacity is planned to increase by 56% to 27.3 GWe by 2020, and then to 43 GWe by 2030.
OK...so, like, what about the Fukushima?
After the Fukushima accident there was immediate assessment of each site followed by a MEST special safety review of all plants (with special attention to Kori-1) and then IAEA Integrated Regulatory Review Service check of the whole South Korean situation. A number of measures were initiated: the coastal barrier at Kori 1 was raised to 10m, watertight doors were fitted to emergency diesel generator buildings, battery power supplies were secured form possibility of flooding, a vehicle with portable diesel generator was situated at each site, pumps were waterproofed, passive hydrogen removal systems not dependent on electricity were installed, exhaust and decompression equipment was improved, and the seismic performance of automatic shutdown and cooling systems was improved. All this represents an investment of about US$ 1 billion over five years.
I think the U.S. and
every country ought to follow the above actions by the Koreans in terms of safety. They are not perfect...in fact my last diary was about serious problems there, but overall it seems an example...one the Japanese ought to follow specifically.