We round up the recent news and updates from the world of Nuclear.
OPG applies for construction licence for Darlington SMR, by World Nuclear News: “Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has submitted an application for a Licence to Construct a small modular reactor (SMR) at the Darlington site, where it plans to build Canada’s first commercial, grid-scale SMR.”
YLE: Over half of Finnish MPs support adding nuclear power capacity, by Helsinki Times: “OVER HALF of the Finnish Parliament are of the opinion that additional nuclear power capacity is needed in Finland. YLE on Monday reported that 110 of the 129 policy-makers who responded to its poll on nuclear power expressed their support for increasing the capacity, whereas only eight said they oppose increasing it. Another 11 policy-makers were unable or unwilling to disclose their stance on the question.”
Imperial nuclear Director gives expert evidence to parliament, by Imperial College London: “Dr Michael Bluck, Director of the Centre for Nuclear Engineering, appeared in front of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee last week. Dr Bluck noted that few countries had made tangible achievements to meet Net Zero but those that had were home to substantial hydro or nuclear power. He highlighted the UK’s history in nuclear energy production and an existing skills base that make it one of the few mechanisms with a demonstrated background to help meet Net Zero.”
Poland gives details on $20B nuclear power bid, by Politico: “U.S. nuclear power technology provider Westinghouse will build Poland’s first reactor by 2033, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Wednesday. “We assume the overall cost at around $20 billion,” he told reporters, adding: “The upfront capital investment is big but once a nuclear power plant is operational, the cost of generating electricity is relatively low.” Poland is looking at nuclear power to reduce its dependence on coal, which still accounts for around 70 percent of the country’s energy mix. That also dovetails with an effort to end reliance on Russian coal, oil and gas.”
Hongyanhe district heating demonstration project starts, by World Nuclear News: “The demonstration nuclear energy heating project at the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in China’s Liaoning province has been officially put into operation. It is the first nuclear energy heating project in northeast China, benefiting nearly 20,000 local residents. The project involves a primary pipeline network of nearly 10 kilometres, a secondary pipeline network of 5.7 kilometres and four new heat exchange stations, China General Nuclear (CGN) said. The estimate is that the project will reduce the consumption of coal by 5726 tonnes, reduce CO2 emissions by 14,100 tonnes and “effectively improve the atmosphere in the heating area” providing “remarkable” environmental protection benefits.”
