Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2014 NuclearPlantJournal.com
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that the future standards of nuclear plants
will be toward full passive safety due
to these lessons learned. At the same
time, the plant design also uses proven,
standardized technology, which is based
on 50 years of operating pressurized
water reactor experience.
The AP1000 design is the only
Generation III+ commercial nuclear
power reactor to receive Design
Certification from the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. In Europe
specifically, the European Utility
Requirements organization has certified
that the AP1000 design complies with its
requirements, thereby confirming that the
AP1000 can be successfully deployed in
Europe. Additionally, regulators in the
United Kingdom have granted interim
approval to the AP1000 design.
Contact: Sheila Holt, telephone:
Argentina
The pouring of first concrete has
marked the official start of construction
of Argentina’s prototype CAREM-25,
a domestically-designed and developed
small integral reactor.
A ceremony on February 8, 2014
marked the formal start of construction
work at the reactor. It was attended by,
among others, chairman of Argentina’s
National Atomic Energy Commission
(CNEA) Norma Boero, CAREM area
manager Osvaldo Calzetta and Jose
Luis Antunez, president of utility
Nucleoeléctrica Argentina SA.
CAREM - the name is taken
from Central ARgentina de Elementos
Modulares - is a domestically-designed
and developed 25 MWe small pressurized
water reactor. The prototype of the
design, CAREM-25, is being built at
a site adjacent to the Atucha nuclear
power plant in Lima, 110 km northwest
of Buenos Aires. At least 70% of the
components and related services for
CAREM-25 are to be sourced from
Argentine companies.
According to the CNEA, the unit
- being built at a cost of some ARS3.5
billion ($446 million) - is currently
scheduled to begin cold testing in 2016
and receive its first fuel load in the second
half of 2017.
As well as relying on passive safety
systems, CAREM’s entire primary
coolant system is contained within the
single self-pressurized vessel and uses
free convection to circulate the coolant.
This eliminates the need for devices such
as pumps within the primary circuit and
decreases the extent and complexity of
the piping system required, as well as
reducing the possibility of accidents
involving a loss of coolant.
Contact:
World Nuclear News
,
website:
Hongyanhe 2
The second unit at the Hongyanhe
plant in Liaoning province in northeast
China has entered commercial operation.
Two further units at the site are scheduled
to begin operating by the end of next year.
The 1080 MWe Chinese-designed
pressurized water reactor officially
entered commercial operation on
February 25th, 2014, China Power
Investment Corp (CPI) announced.
The unit is a CPR-1000 pressurized
water reactor, which started construction
in 2008. Hongyanhe 2 reached criticality
on October 24, 2013 and was successfully
synchronised to the grid on November
23, 2013.
Hongyanhe 1, also a 1080 MWe
CPR-1000, has been operating on a
commercial basis since June 2013. Two
further CPR-1000 units are currently
being built at Hongyanhe and are
expected to start up by the end of 2015.
The Hongyanhe plant is the first to
be built in the northeast of China. The site
incorporates a seawater desalination plant
producing 10,080 cubic metres of potable
water per day.
The plant is owned and operated by
Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Co,
a joint venture in which China General
Nuclear Power Co (CGNPC) and China
Power Investment Corp (CPI) each hold
a 45% stake, with the Dalian Municipal
Construction Investment Co. holding the
remaining 10%.
Contact:
World Nuclear News
,
website:
Watts Bar 2
The board of the Tennessee Valley
Authority has approved a $160 million
contract to order additional steam
generators for Watts Bar 2. The plant is
expected to start up in two years using its
previously-supplied steam generators.
According to a presentation to
the TVA’s board, the contract with
Westinghouse would cover the supply
of more corrosion-resistant 68AXP-
model steam generators. Identical steam
generators have already been supplied to
TVA’s Watts Bar 1 and similar ones have
been supplied to its Sequoyah units 1 and 2.
TVA resumed construction of Watts
Bar 2 in 2007 after a 22-year hiatus in
the project. The Westinghouse-designed
pressurized water reactor (PWR) is
expected to have a net capacity of some
1177 MWe and is currently on course
for a likely startup in December 2015.
Most of the USA’s operating PWR units
have already carried out replacement of
their steam generators with more modern
ones which use more corrosion-resistant
alloys than those used at the time that the
original components for Watts Bar 2 were
supplied.
The TVA board gave its approval to
a contract for the “eventual replacement”
of Watts Bar 2’s steam generators
because of the long lead-time for such
components, although it has not said,
when it envisages, installation will take
place.
Contact:
World Nuclear News
,
website:
