Jacobs to Plan Dismantling of Soviet-era Nuclear Reactors

A consortium comprising Westinghouse Electric Spain, Jacobs and the Lithuanian Energy Institute was selected to plan dismantling and waste management at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) in Lithuania.

Soviet-designed Ignalina could be the first graphite-moderated reactor plant to be dismantled, making it an important test bed for methodologies that could be used to decommission the UK’s Magnox and advanced gas-cooled reactors, which also have graphite cores.

“This project, on top of the recently announced contract with Norsk Nukleær Dekommisjonering, has advanced Jacobs’ strategy to grow our decommissioning and regeneration solutions business in continental Europe. Our teams based in the UK, France and Slovakia are applying decommissioning skills acquired through work on some of the world’s most complex and challenging nuclear sites including Sellafield and Fukushima.”

Karen Wiemelt, Energy, Security & Technology Senior Vice President, Jacobs

In 2002, the Lithuanian government decided to shut down Ignalina NPP, which supplied up to 88% of the country’s electricity. Over the next 19 years, Jacobs formed part of the project management unit for a set of purpose-built facilities needed to decommission the plant, as part of a program led by the Ignalina International Decommissioning Support Fund and financed through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

GE Hitachi Submits GDA Application in the UK for the BWRX-300 Small Modular Reactor

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) has submitted a Generic Design Assessment (GDA) entry application for the BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

“We believe the BWRX-300 is the ideal technology to help the UK meet its decarbonization and energy security goals. Regulatory agencies in Canada and the US are collaborating on their licensing review of the BWRX-300. Through the GDA process we look forward to engaging UK regulators and enabling collaboration with their global counterparts.”

Sean Sexstone, Executive Vice President, Advanced Nuclear, GEH

The GDA process allows UK regulators to assess standards of safety, security and environmental protection of new nuclear power plant designs. GEH was supported in preparation of the application by Jacobs UK, which has supported licensing applications for new nuclear power plant projects in the UK since 2007, drawing on its deep understanding of the GDA process and site-specific regulatory requirements.

The UK has stated a goal of 24 GW of nuclear generation capacity by 2050 to address energy security and climate change. GEH believes that a fleet of BWRX-300 SMRs could play a substantial role in the UK meeting decarbonization and energy security goals.

There is growing global interest in the BWRX300. Ontario Power Generation and SaskPower selected the BWRX-300 SMR technology for potential deployment in Canada, and Tennessee Valley Authority also selected the technology for potential deployment in the US. In Poland, ORLEN Synthos Green Energy started the prelicensing process by submitting an application with the potential for deployment of the first unit by the end of this decade.

To support global deployment, GEH has memoranda of understanding or other agreements in place with companies in Canada, Czech Republic, Poland, UK, US and Sweden among others.

In addition to helping customers achieve decarbonisation goals, the BWRX-300 is designed to reduce construction and operating costs below other nuclear power generation technologies.

Lack of women in the nuclear sector puts net zero goals in danger

Women such as Marie Skłodowska-Curie, Lisa Meitner, Chien-Shiung Wu and Katharine Way were key pioneers in nuclear science and technology and women around the world continue to make vital contributions. But a new Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) report reveals that their visibility and numbers remain low, making up only 24.9% of the nuclear sector workforce in NEA countries.

The number of women working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and leadership roles are lower still. This lack of diversity represents a loss of potential innovation and growth and a critical threat to the viability of the field.

A new NEA report, Gender Balance in the Nuclear Sector, is the first publicly available international data on gender balance in the nuclear sector and is based on data collected from over 8,000 women in the nuclear workforce in 32 countries, as well as human resources data from 96 nuclear organisations in 17 countries.

Released on 8 March to mark International Women’s Day, the report reveals that nearly half the women surveyed in the nuclear energy sector have experienced or heard accounts of gender bias and sexual harassment at work. The publication also highlights that women are paid less (based on limited datasets) and feel as though they lack female role models, which makes it harder for the sector to attract more female talent.

The report was conducted under the mandate of the NEA’s Task Group on Improving Gender Balance in the Nuclear Sector which was formed after many NEA countries highlighted that gender balance was an increasingly important matter that would benefit from international co-operation.

The report found that women in the nuclear sector are eager to advance but face challenges such as a lack of flexible work practices for those with family responsibilities, as well as gender stereotyping. The current recruitment, attrition and promotion rates are insufficient to significantly improve gender balance in the sector.

Despite the challenges, the majority of women surveyed said that they would encourage other women to pursue a career in the nuclear sector, which offers hope for the sector as it seeks to attract and retain more female talent to meet its ambitious future targets.

New metals recycling programme for Urenco

Urenco Nuclear Stewardship is progressing its plan to site a Waste Metals Facility at its base in Capenhurst, on Urenco’s nuclear licensed site.

This will build on its capacity and capability to manage metal waste product and residues as it delivers its internal programme to refurbish and renew plant across the company. It will also provide the nuclear stewardship and waste management business with an opportunity to build its facility and offer its extensive waste management expertise to its commercial partners both in the UK and Europe. Some services which form part of the programme are only available overseas.

“We are already providing waste treatment services under the Waste Nuclear ServicesMetallic Waste Treatment Services Framework and the expansion of our metallic treatment capability strengthens our service offering of integrated waste management solutions.”

Jason Gradie, Managing Director for Urenco Nuclear Stewardship

Work has now begun on further design activities, safety case development, preliminary waste acceptance criteria and procurement of long-lead items.

Sellafield contract boosts northern economy

Two north west companies have won a share of a £249m contract to supply steelwork to Sellafield. Severfield Nuclear and Infrastructure and William Hare have been appointed key delivery partners with the Sellafield Programme and Project Partners (PPP.) The 17-year framework will see the Bolton and Bury based firms provide steelwork to major projects on the Cumbrian nuclear site. Sellafield is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the north, supporting 60,000 jobs.

The birthplace of the UK nuclear industry, the site is now focused on decommissioning and waste management. PPP was mobilised to transform Sellafield Ltd’s major project delivery. The latest contracts are part of its Multi Project Procurement model. This encourages long-term collaboration throughout the supply chain, enhancing project delivery and maximising economic and social impact.

The steelwork package is the fifth key delivery partner supplier framework to be awarded by PPP. Severfield Nuclear and Infrastructure has multiple sites in the UK and an annual capacity to produce around 300,000 tonnes of fabricated steelwork.