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Germany based radioactive waste management and nuclear decommissioning company Nukem Technologies Engineering Services has been acquired by Tokyo-based IT company Muroosystems, marking a new chapter free from Russian ownership.

The company said it had successfully closed its acquisition by Muroosystems following the signing of a purchase agreement in May. It said the move marks “a pivotal moment” for the company.

The decision to sell Nukem, based in Karlstein am Main, was made in 2022 in view of the difficult geopolitical situation and the challenges involved in continuing the company under a Russian owner, Nukem said in a statement.

Nukem Technologies had been owned by Russia’s state nuclear equipment manufacturer Atomstroyexport.

“Since then, extensive negotiations have taken place with potential buyers who recognised the immense value of Nukem’s products and its highly skilled team,” the statement said.

“The completion of the acquisition heralds a new beginning for Nukem during these turbulent times. This transition allows Nukem to re-enter markets that were previously inaccessible under the former ownership structure, ensuring that the company’s expertise and long-standing experience can once again be fully leveraged.”

Nukem said that as part of the closing process, all necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained and commitments to third parties have been diligently fulfilled. The effective date of the economic transfer of the company to the new owner is 25 September 2024.

Nukem managing director Thomas Seipolt said: “With Muroosystems, we will continue to build on our strong foundation in nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management while seeking new growth opportunities.

“We are particularly excited about expanding into innovative areas like nuclear fusion technology, which aligns with the global shift toward sustainable energy solutions.”

Nobuaki Ninomiya, an executive board member at Muroosystems, said that by integrating advanced nuclear-related technologies with Muroosystems’ expertise in IT, “we will create new synergies that will boost our competitiveness in developing next-generation energy solutions”.

He said: “In the future, we plan to solidify our business base in Europe and actively expand into the Asian market.”

Muroosystems, established in 2006, focuses on IT solutions centred around decentralized data centres and engages in power development projects primarily based on renewable energy.

First safety-related concrete has been poured for the nuclear island at Unit 4 of the Zhangzhou nuclear power station in Fujian province, eastern China, state company China National Nuclear Corporation announced.

Zhangzhou-4 is the fourth Hualong One plant under construction at the site, which will eventually house six Hualong One reactors.

Construction of Zhangzhou-1 began in October 2019, of Zhangzhou-2 in September 2020 and of Zhangzhou-3 in February 2024. Zhangzhou-1 is the first unit scheduled to begin commercial operation, potentially by the end of the year.

The Hualong One, or HPR1000, is an indigenous pressurised water reactor unit that incorporates elements of CNNC’s ACP1000 and China General Nuclear’s ACPR1000+ reactor designs.

“The Zhangzhou nuclear power plant is the starting point for the mass production of Hualong One,” CNNC said. “So far, four units have started construction, and safety and quality are all under good control.

Unit 1 is expected to be put into operation and generate electricity in 2024; unit 2 is fully advancing the relevant work before cold testing; unit 3 started construction on 22 February this year; and the preliminary work of units 5 and 6 is progressing in an orderly manner.”

The Zhangzhou project is owned by CNNC-Guodian Zhangzhou Energy Company, a joint venture between CNNC (51%) and China Guodian Corporation (49%).

China has 56 commercial reactors in operation, the same number as France and second only to the US, which has 94. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency it has 28 commercial nuclear power units under construction.

Of those 28 plants, 17 are Hualong One units under construction at eight sites – one unit each at Ningde, Shidaowan and Fangchenggang; two units each at Changjiang, Lufeng, Taipingling, Sanaocun and Jinqimen; and four units at Zhangzhou.

There are also two Hualong One plants in operation outside China, both in Pakistan at the Kanupp nuclear station, also known as Karachi.

Nuclear power still provides just about 5% of China’s electricity generation, compared to 65% in France and 18% in the US.

Nucleoeléctrica Argentina says it has secured the necessary funds to carry out the Atucha 1 life extension project.

The President of the company, Alberto Lamagna, made the announcement ahead of its planned shutdown on 29 September, after 50 years of operation.

Atucha I, a 362 MWe pressurised heavy water reactor, entered commercial operation in 1974 and had a design life in its operating licence of 32 equivalent years of full power. The first extension, with an amendment to the operating licence, began in 2018 when that 32-year mark was reached.

Argentina's Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ARN) said during this first extension phase that Nucleoelectrica "had to carry out studies and establish programmes that would ensure ... that the systems and components adequately preserve the functionalities for which they were designed, thus guaranteeing operation under the safety conditions with which the plant was licensed. The studies and maintenance tasks necessary to meet this requirement had to obtain approval from the ARN".

The duration of the amended operating licence was for the equivalent of 5 years operation at full power, or 10 years from 2014, which ends on 29 September. Following the shutdown, ARN said, the next stage of the Long Term Operation (LTO) project will see it "verify in detail the implementation of the updates and improvements required ... to raise the design bases of the facility to a higher level of security than that with which it was originally licensed".

Nucleoeléctrica Argentina put the refurbishment programme's cost at USD463 million in 2023 when it launched a fundraising round of bond sales to cover the LTO cost and construction of a dry storage facility for used fuel.

Lamagna said: "The project will allow Atucha I to operate for 20 more years, ensuring its contribution to the national energy matrix and promoting the development of technical capabilities that will position Argentina in the global nuclear services market."

Background

Atucha 1 was designed and built by KWU, which was a joint venture of Germany's Siemens and AEG. Over time, KWU was fully owned by Siemens, before being sold to the reactor business of France's Areva which is now owned by EDF and trading as Framatome. However, Argentina now has an experienced supply chain of its own for pressurised heavy water reactors, having completed and brought into operation the similar Atucha 2 reactor in 2016.

It has become common for pressurised heavy water reactors like Atucha 1 to undergo refurbishment, which typically involves replacing pressure tubes and fuel channels, to enable another two decades of operation. Nucleoeléctrica Argentina said 2000 jobs would be created as it modernised "all the processes and systems of the plant."

Iran says it has three nuclear energy reactors under construction, with site and technology selection processes under way for more - and has also outlined planned nuclear fuel cycle and research reactor developments.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran's plans for its nuclear energy sector were highlighted at a side event at the International Atomic Energy Agency's General Conference in Vienna.

A Russian-designed VVER unit with a capacity of 915 MWe is already in operation at Bushehr on the Persian Gulf coast. Two further units featuring VVER-1000 units are planned. It said unit 2, which had first concrete poured in 2019 and the core catcher installed this month, has a scheduled installation of its reactor pressure vessel "30 months later", and physical start-up scheduled for 55 months later, which would be in 2029. The plan is for first concrete for unit 3 in the last quarter of 2024.

The country's goal is to reach 20 GW of nuclear energy capacity by 2040 and the meeting heard that site selection and planning was taking place for an unspecified number of other plants. Earlier this year the AEOI announced the start of work at a site in Hormozgan province that it says will eventually be home to four new nuclear reactors.

During the series of presentations in the event 50 Years of Nuclear Technology in Iran: Success Stories, the country's history with research reactors was also highlighted, as well as plans to develop the domestic fuel cycle capabilities.

Research reactors

The Tehran Research Reactor is a 5 MW pool-type research reactor which has operated since 1967 and been used for research reactor purposes and also radioisotope production. New applications developed for it in recent years, the event also heard, include gem colouring in 2017, neutron imaging in 2019 and fuel irradiation and testing from 2020.

A replacement research reactor, the 10 MW Isfahan Research Reactor (IRR10), is being built "based on the expertise and knowledge of Iranian experts". Construction began in 2022 and the main utilisations are expected to be fuel testing and radioisotope production. There is also a plan to establish "an international nuclear science and technology training centre".

The applications of the research reactors such as for medical use, pest control, irradiation, disinfection and food safety, were also highlighted.

There are currently six irradiation sites in operation and a similar amount under construction with the aim of slashing the 30% of agricultural product currently lost and boosting food safety, with irradiation of spices specifically mentioned.

Other applications included a plant breeding department, developing cotton, soybean, rice, tangerines and ornamental plants as well as new organic fertilisers and use of the sterile insect technique to tackle pests, among other applications:

Nuclear fuel cycle

The meeting heard that the country has open pit mines at Khoshuomi, Narigan and Saghand, plus Ardakan Yellowcake Production Plant and Saghand Yellowcake heap-leaching plant. The session heard that the plan is to design and fabricate fuel for the Tehran, Isfahan and Modernised Arak Research Reactor and the "Darkhovein Power Reactor (IR-300)" in the next five years. The Darkhovein - also known as Darkhovin - reactor is a proposed Iranian-designed 300 MW power reactor.

In order to achieve the planned 20 GW of capacity by 2040, the meeting was told that a number of steps have been, or are, necessary:

• Aerial exploration of uranium mines across more than half of the surface area of Iran
• Design and construction of uranium ore processing plant and yellowcake production unit (heap leaching system)
• Design and construction of a conversion plant to produce uranium oxide and UF6,
• Design and construction of a zirconium cladding, fuel rod, and fuel assembly manufacturing plant for light water reactors and plate-type fuel for the Tehran research reactor, including quality control and pre-irradiation testing
• Design and construction of infrastructure for the irradiation of fuel samples and post-irradiation testing

The country is also developing accident tolerant nuclear fuel, and looking at the design and construction of pre-disposal and near surface disposal facility for low and intermediate level radioactive waste.

Cooperation with the IAEA and Non-Proliferation

The presentation focused on the achievements and plans Iran says it has for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and details were given of the many areas of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and World Association of Nuclear Operators over the past 50 years:

Elsewhere at the IAEA's General Conference, the status of the country's non-proliferation treaty actions was covered. IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said: "With regard to the NPT Safeguards Agreement, it is a matter of concern that significant safeguards issues remain outstanding after a number of years and that we appear to have reached an impasse. Iran’s implementation of the activities set out in the Joint Statement between myself and Iran in March last year has stopped. However, my correspondence so far with the new government has been constructive and open and I hope to visit the country in the not-too-distant future ... it is critical that the Agency is able to provide credible assurances that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful."

In his statement to the general conference, Mohammad Eslami, Vice-President of the Islamic Republic of Iran and President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said that "the realisation of a Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons in the Middle East has become more important than ever" and added "the cooperation of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the Agency continues in an honest and extensive manner. The number of the Agency's designated inspectors in Iran is incomparable to any other Member States. More than one fifth of all inspections carried out by the Agency across the world in 2023 took place in Iran over our nuclear facilities, while Iran’s nuclear facilities constitute only three percent of the total number of nuclear facilities worldwide".

The first safety-related concrete has been poured for the nuclear island of unit 4 at the Zhangzhou nuclear power plant in Fujian province, China National Nuclear Corporation announced. The plant will eventually house six Hualong One reactors.

In May 2014, the local government gave approval for Phase I of the Zhangzhou plant, comprising two AP1000 units. The National Nuclear Safety Administration gave approval in December 2015 for the AP1000 units and confirmed site selection in October 2016. Construction of Phase I had originally been expected to start in May 2017. However, CNNC subsequently decided to use the HPR1000 (Hualong One) design instead. Two more Hualong One units are planned for Phase II of the plant and a further two proposed for Phase III.

Construction of Zhangzhou 1 began in October 2019, with that of unit 2 starting in September 2020.

CNNC issued the environmental impact assessment for Zhangzhou units 3 and 4 in October 2020. In September 2022, China's State Council approved the construction of two Hualong One units as Phase II of the Zhangzhou plant.

"The Zhangzhou nuclear power plant is the starting point for the mass production of Hualong One," CNNC said. "So far, four units have started construction, and safety and quality are all under good control.

"Unit 1 is expected to be put into operation and generate electricity in 2024; unit 2 is fully advancing the relevant work before cold testing; unit 3 started construction on 22 February this year; and the preliminary work of units 5 and 6 is progressing in an orderly manner."

The Zhangzhou project is owned by CNNC-Guodian Zhangzhou Energy Company, a joint venture between CNNC (51%) and China Guodian Corporation (49%).

The first two demonstration units of CNNC's version of the Hualong One design at the Fuqing plant in Fujian province have both already started up. Unit 5 entered commercial operation on 30 January 2021, with unit 6 following on 25 March 2022. Two Hualong One reactors have also been constructed as units 2 and 3 of the Karachi plant in Pakistan's Sindh province. These entered commercial operation in May 2021 and April 2022, respectively.

In addition to Zhangzhou units 1-4, CNNC is also building two Hualong One reactors as units 3 and 4 of the Changjiang plant, in Hainan province, construction of which began in March 2021 and December 2021, respectively.

It is also preparing to start construction of Phase I of the Jinqimen plant in Zhejiang province, which will feature two Hualong One reactors.

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy announced on September 24 four new Gain vouchers to help companies advance microreactor technologies, identify potential sites capable of hosting a nuclear-powered data centre, and prevent corrosion in molten salt reactors.

Gain is the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear. Like all Gain vouchers, these – the fourth and final round for fiscal year 2024 – do not give companies direct financial awards.

Instead, they provide access to the nuclear research capabilities and expertise of the DOE’s national laboratories. All awardees are responsible for a minimum 20% cost share, which could be an in-kind contribution.

The awardees are:

Tennessee-based ANA, who will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to identify potential sites in the US that could host advanced nuclear capacity and data centres.

Antares Nuclear of California will work with ORNL to perform an independent technical audit of the company’s heat pipe–cooled microreactor, called Antares R1, to verify core neutronics and thermal hydraulics.

Nano Nuclear Energy of New York will collaborate with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to evaluate the novel heat exchanger design of Zeus, its modular microreactor, through computational modelling and sensitivity analysis.

Missouri-based Sigma-Aldrich will work with INL to begin to standardize test methods for detecting oxide impurities in salts to prevent corrosion issues in molten salt nuclear reactors and other high-temperature industrial applications.

The DOE also announced this week that it had awarded 19 Nuclear Science User Facilities Rapid Turnaround Experiment (RTE) projects totalling approximately $1m (€900,000).

The awards were granted to 19 principal investigators from different institutions including universities and industry. Each project supports the advancement of nuclear energy.

The DOE said these RTE projects aim to improve the understanding of material behaviour under irradiation, which is crucial for the development of more resilient materials for nuclear applications.

Research topics covered by the awards include irradiation effects on high entropy carbide ceramics, multi-principal element alloys, zirconium alloys, reactor pressure vessel steels, steel cladding, ceramic-based waste forms and structural characterisation of irradiated metallic fuels.

NANO Nuclear Energy's novel heat exchanger concept, intended for use in the Zeus microreactor, a technical audit of the Antares R1 thermosiphon-cooled microreactor, a study to develop purity tests for molten salts, and a screening process to identify potential sites for nuclear-powered data centres have been chosen to receive funding from the US Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy's Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) programme.

The GAIN initiative was launched in 2016 to help businesses overcome critical technological and commercialisation challenges of nuclear energy technologies through a voucher system, giving stakeholders access to the DOE's R&D facilities and infrastructure to support the cost-effective development of innovative nuclear energy technologies. All awardees are responsible for a minimum 20% cost-share, which could be an in-kind contribution.

The recipients of the final round of funding for 2024 are:

Advanced Nuclear Advisors LLC, to partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) on:

• Project SparkHub: Nuclear-Powered Data Center Development

Antares Nuclear, Inc, partnering with ORNL on:

• Independent Analysis of Antares R1 Core Design

NANO Nuclear Energy, Inc, partnering with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) on

• Independent Assessment of a Novel Heat Exchanger Concept for Open-Air Brayton Cycle

Sigma-Aldrich Inc (doing business as MilliporeSigma), partnering with INL on:

• Development of Oxygen IR Calibration Standards for High-Purity Chloride Salts

NANO Nuclear Senior Director and Head of Reactor Design Massimiliano Fratoni said the award will enable the company to work alongside INL to further refine and progress its design, adding that the partnership will be "pivotal" for its future deployment. "The heat exchanger is an enabling component of our patent-pending ZEUS microreactor design, allowing us to keep the system size compact and simplifying its design to match our vision of developing portable, secure and reliable nuclear microreactors to benefit mankind," he said.

NANO will collaborate with INL to conduct an independent evaluation of the heat exchanger design for microreactor, which is designed to fit within a 45-foot high cube container and features a power conversion unit capable of generating 1 to 2 MW of electricity without the use of fluid coolant. A key aspect of this design is its ability to dissipate heat from the reactor vessel using an open-air Brayton cycle. The collaboration with INL will involve the development of a computational model to analyse and verify critical attributes of the heat exchanger essential to reactor operations, providing a comprehensive assessment of its performance.

The Antares R1 is described by the company as a kilowatt-scale, rapidly deployable microreactor designed to power critical infrastructure capabilities in "austere and remote" locations on Earth and in space. Earlier in September, the company announced it had been awarded USD3.75 million in funding from the US Air Force to accelerate the development of their microreactor.

The first used fuel has been placed into a space-saving storage rack at the storage pond for Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor fuel at the Thorp reprocessing plant on the Sellafield site in Cumbria, UK.

The Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp) plant ceased reprocessing in 2018 after 24 years of operation. The facility is now being used to store used nuclear fuel until the 2070s.

In order to increase the storage capacity of the Thorp receipt and storage ponds, a new design of fuel can storage rack has been developed. These new racks - known as 63-can racks - are taller but have a smaller footprint than the previous design. Each rack can store 63 fuel cans, while current storage compartments can hold up to 20 fuel cans.

Fuel that was already being stored in the pond is being transferred into the new storage racks and all future fuel receipts will be stored in this way.

"Since the change of approach to managing spent fuel, it was clear we would need to innovate to be able to safely store everything we need to in the Thorp pond," said Roddy Miller, Sellafield Ltd's nuclear operations director. "These racks will increase fuel capacity from 4000 tonnes to 6000 tonnes, meaning we can accommodate all current and future arising, negating the need for a new storage facility.

"It's a great example of collaboration between ourselves, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Group, EDF Energy, and our supply chain. Everyone involved should be proud of their contribution."

Weighing 7 tonnes and standing 5.5 metres high, the stainless steel containers are being built by a consortium of Cumbrian manufacturers (including Carlisle-based Bendalls Engineering and Workington's West Cumberland Engineering) and Stoke-based Goodwin International. Between them, they will manufacture 160 racks. Another 340 racks will be needed in the future.

Because fuel will be stored for longer than was originally intended, the pond at Thorp has required other alterations including raising the pH level to avoid corrosion and installing new cooling capacity.

Three of the UK's seven AGR plants are currently in the defueling stage: Hunterston B, Hinkley Point B and Dungeness B. Four AGR plants are still in operation. Heysham 1 and Hartlepool are currently expected to operate until March 2026. Heysham 2 and Torness are currently due to generate until March 2028.

US computer technology company Oracle wants to power a new data centre through nuclear energy, according to the firm’s chief technology officer Larry Ellison.

Speaking during a recent earnings call, Ellison confirmed the cloud computing giant has “already got building permits” for three small modular reactors, without giving details.

Ellison highlighted the complexity and scale of the projects Oracle has under development, saying, “We’re in the middle of designing a data centre that’s north of a gigawatt. We found the location and the power source.

“We’ve looked at it, they’ve already got building permits for three nuclear reactors. These are the small modular nuclear reactors to power the data centre”.

Ellison gave no details of a location and timeline for the project.

With data centre power demands skyrocketing, nuclear power has become an attractive option for companies hoping to source larger amounts of energy whilst minimising carbon emissions.

In April this year, Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of the online retail giant founded by Jeff Bezos, acquired US power producer Talen Energy’s Cumulus data centre campus at the Susquehanna nuclear power station in Pennsylvania.

AWS, which provides cloud computing platforms, aims to develop a 960 MW data centre campus on the site, which gets its power from the Susquehanna nuclear station.

Last week, US-based utility Constellation Energy announced the signing of a power purchase agreement with Microsoft, a 20-year deal that will also see the restart the long-shuttered Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island nuclear power station in Pennsylvania.

Constellation said the tech company wants to use energy from the nuclear plant to fill the power consumption of its data centres with carbon-free sources.

The SMART100 small modular reactor design has been granted standard design approval by South Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission.

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-CARE) applied for standard design approval of the SMART100 in December 2019. The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) began its review of the application in August 2021.

The NSSC announced it has now granted standard design approval for the reactor at a meeting today (Thursday).

The SMART100 (System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactor 100) is an advanced version of the original SMART design, which became the world's first SMR to receive standard design approval in mid-2012.

SMART is a 330 MWt pressurised water reactor with integral steam generators and advanced safety features. The unit is designed for electricity generation (up to 100 MWe) as well as thermal applications, such as seawater desalination, with a 60-year design life and three-year refuelling cycle.

While the basic design of the SMART is complete, development has been stalled by the absence of any orders for an initial reference unit. It was developed by KAERI, which had planned to build a demonstration plant to operate from 2017.

The SMART100 builds upon the safety, economic, and operational benefits of the SMART, offering enhanced power output and safety features. SMART100's development prioritised safety improvements, including the integration of a fully passive safety system. This system is capable of maintaining reactor cooling without the need for external power, using natural forces like gravity and fluid density differences to ensure the safe shutdown and cooling of the reactor during emergencies.

Along with these safety enhancements, SMART100 also offers increased thermal output, rising from 330 MW to 365 MW, while its electrical output has been boosted from 100 MW to 110 MW, significantly improving efficiency while maintaining a compact design.

KAERI said the simplified and modular design of SMART100 also improves its economic feasibility. Key components such as the steam generator and reactor coolant pumps are integrated into a single vessel, reducing the risk of major accidents like large pipe breaks. Additionally, the reactor can maintain safe conditions without requiring emergency power generators or operator intervention during accident scenarios.

"The upgraded model is now ready for global export, particularly to Saudi Arabia, a key partner in the development of this technology," KAERI said.

KAERI President Han Gyu Joo said: "The standard design approval for SMART100 is a crucial milestone in demonstrating its proven safety and readiness for commercialisation. We are committed to advancing SMART technology and ensuring its successful export to global markets."

In September 2019, South Korea and Saudi Arabia agreed to collaborate on the commercialisation of the SMART SMR. Under the memorandum of understanding, the two countries agreed to work together to refine the design of the SMART reactor. Korea will also assist in gaining Saudi design approval of the reactor, as well as cooperating in the construction and operation of a SMART reactor in Saudi Arabia. The partners will also promote the SMART design to other Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian countries considering the use of small reactors.

Great British Nuclear has announced that there are four companies remaining in the contest to select technology for the UK's proposed small modular reactor programme, with NuScale missing out.

There were initially six companies shortlisted last year by Great British Nuclear - the arms-length body set up to oversee the UK's plans for new nuclear. The six were EDF, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy International, Holtec Britain, Nuscale, Rolls-Royce SMR and Westinghouse Electric Company UK. The six were invited to submit initial tenders by July, and EDF, whose Nuward SMR was in the running, dropped out at that stage.

In a short statement on Thursday, Great British Nuclear (GBN) said it had now concluded the initial tender phase of the technology selection process and selected GE Hitachi, Holtec, Rolls-Royce SMR and Westinghouse, with NuScale - who had put forward the VOYGR SMR - not going through. The statement said: "In the next stage of the procurement process bidders will be invited to enter negotiations with GBN."

Reaction

Among those through to the next stage, GE Hitachi's UK country leader Andy Champ said: "We have big ambitions for deploying our SMR technology in the UK, so we are proud to advance to the next stage of GBN’s competition. With site works already under way in Canada for our first BWRX-300 – the most advanced SMR project in the G7 - we are in a strong position to lead SMR deployment in the UK by leveraging our expertise in other markets."

Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce SMR CEO, said: “Rolls-Royce SMR is the UK’s only SMR company and is already 18 months ahead of competitors in the regulatory approvals process. Today’s news that we will progress to formal negotiation with GBN will help us to maintain this important first-mover advantage. Rolls-Royce SMR has been chosen by the Czech Republic to deploy their fleet of SMRs and is in the final two in Sweden’s SMR selection process. Success in the UK will further strengthen our position as the leading SMR company and ensure the UK is able to capitalise on this transformational opportunity for the domestic supply chain."

Patrick Fragman, Westinghouse President and CEO, said: "We are pleased that GBN recognises the advantages of the AP300 SMR design, which is based on an operating reactor that is already licensed in the UK. With proven technologies and regulator familiarity, the AP300 can get to market quickly, economically and with certainty. We look forward to working with GBN through the final review and selection process."

The background

GE Hitachi is putting forward its BWRX-300, a boiling water reactor, Holtec's SMR-300 is a 300 MWe pressurised water reactor, the Rolls-Royce SMR is a 470 MWe pressurised water reactor and Westinghouse's AP300 is a 300 MWe/900MWth pressurised water reactor. They all stress that their designs are based on existing technologies and will be able to be constructed at speed and benefit from modular production techniques.

In an interview earlier this year for the World Nuclear News podcast, GBN Chairman Simon Bowen said the planned timeline was for the SMR selection shortlist to be cut to around four after the submission of responses to the tender, with the goal of placing contracts by the end of the year with two or three technology providers - this would be for co-funding the technology all the way through to completion of the design, regulatory, environmental and site-specific permissions process, and the potential to place a contract for the supply of equipment. Each selected technology would have an allocated site with the potential to host multiple SMRs.

The aim is then for a final investment decision to be taken in 2029.

There has since been a change of government, but it has pledged to continue with the process - in its election manifesto Labour said it would "end a decade of dithering that has seen the Conservatives duck decisions on nuclear power. We will ensure the long-term security of the sector, extending the lifetime of existing plants, and we will get Hinkley Point C over the line. New nuclear power stations, such as Sizewell C, and small modular reactors, will play an important role in helping the UK achieve energy security and clean power while securing thousands of good, skilled jobs".

US uranium production continues to grow, with 2024's year-to-date production already more than triple that recorded for the whole of 2023, according to the latest figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Meanwhile, as press reports suggest US concern that its ban on Russian uranium might be being circumvented, the Office of the United States Trade Representative has announced increased tariffs on Chinese imports including uranium.

US uranium production in the second quarter of 2024 was 97,709 pounds U3O8 (37.58 tU), the EIA said in its quarterly update. This is an 18% increase from first quarter production of 82,533 pounds U3O8, bringing production for the first half of the year to 180,242 pounds - far more than 2023's total production of 49,619 pounds, and close to 2022's full-year production of 193,945 pounds U3O8.

Production in the second quarter was from five facilities - Nichols Ranch, Ross, Lost Creek and Smith Ranch-Highland, all in Wyoming, and Rosita in Texas.

The EIA's quarterly report appeared in the same week the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced in the Federal Register modified tariffs for various goods imported into the USA from China. These tariffs were originally imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to address Chinese imports related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation that the USA considers to be unreasonable or discriminatory, and which burden or restrict US commerce. The newly announced rates follow a statutory review process.

The tariff on "Actinium, californium, curium, einsteinium, gadolinium, polonium, radium, uranium & their compounds, alloys, dispersions, ceramic products & mixtures", which currently stands at 7.50%, will increase to 25%. The new tariff will apply to products that are "entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after September 27, 2024".

According to the EIA's Uranium Marketing Annual Report, US utilities purchased 49.239 million pounds U3O8 in 2023, meaning that imports made up most of the 51.625 million pounds purchased in the year. Sources for all but around 957,000 pounds of those imports were disclosed, but the agency withheld the actual amount of uranium purchased from several countries including China to avoid disclosure of individual company data.

Although US imports of Chinese uranium have been small, there now appears to be concern in the USA that Chinese imports may be used to circumvent the ban on the import of Russian-produced unirradiated LEU into the USA which has been in place since the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act came into force in August.

The US Department of Energy "along with other relevant agencies is closely tracking imports from China to ensure the proper implementation of the recently enacted Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act", a department spokesperson told Reuters. US officials are monitoring imports from China and other countries to "ensure they are not importing Russian uranium as part of a scheme to export material produced domestically that they would otherwise have used in their own reactors", the spokesman added.

The Chinese foreign ministry told Reuters that "China has always opposed any illegal unilateral sanctions and 'long arm jurisdiction'" and that cooperation between China and Russia is "an independent choice made by two sovereign countries based on their respective development needs, openly and honestly, without targeting any third party, and without being interfered or obstructed by any third party".

China is willing to continue "normal economic and trade cooperation" with countries around the world, including Russia, it added.