May-June 2019 NPJ

12 NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, May-June 2019 Industry... ( Continued from page 11) of information and emulation of best practices. WANO has evolved significantly from its inaugural meeting in Moscow on May 15, 1989. It now represents more than 120 members who operate more than 430 civil nuclear power reactors around the world. Today, WANO looks back on 30 years of collaboration, mutual support and a collective strive for excellence with pride, but also with a strong sense of continued personal and collective responsibility from members and staff alike. The journey towards excellence in nuclear safety and reliability is continuous, and although today is a special day for the organisation, WANO’s focus today remains as unswerving as it was at the historical inaugural meeting in Moscow in 1989. Contact: WANO, website: www. wano.info Corporation NSCE Bechtel established the Nuclear Safety Center of Excellence (NSCE) to support current projects and to develop top talent for future challenges in the fields of nuclear safety and operations. The NSCE provides nuclear engineering expertise in the areas of nuclear facility hazard evaluation, accident analysis, radiation protection, and safety basis development. Bechtel’s experts have extensive experience supporting licensing, safety analysis, and radiation protection for both existing reactor and advanced reactor technologies, including Gen III+/IV light water gigawatt and small modular reactors, as well as non-light water designs. The NSCE can quickly and flexibly deploy experienced resources to address emergent nuclear engineering issues identified by customers. The staff works with project teams to integrate nuclear safety into all phases of a project’s lifecycle. NSCE experts understand the unique hazards of nuclear power plants and utilize cross discipline approaches to develop innovative, cost effective safety measures to address these hazards. Contact: Fred deSousa, Bechtel, telephone: (703) 429-6435, email: tfdesous@bechtel.com . Waste Retrieval System A Bechtel -led team has delivered a waste retrieval system, under budget and ahead of schedule, that will help the UK clean up a structure known as one of Europe’s most hazardous buildings. Following final commissioning, the robotically operated system will help scoop up and package radioactive debris from a vertical compartment in the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo at the Sellafield Site in northwest England. The retrieval modules are now installed on a platform against the side of the silo structure nearly 60 feet above ground level. The system includes an extending, remote-operated retrieval arm, heavy doors with airtight seals, a waste loading area, and air quality monitoring. The system is very complex because oxygen must be kept to a minimum to prevent a fire in the silo. Inert argon gas has been pumped into the PFCS for decades. Once repackaged, the waste will be taken to long-term, safe storage. Bechtel Cavendish Nuclear Solutions Ltd designed, made, tested, and installed the retrieval system for customer Sellafield Ltd as part of the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s cleanup programme. Building and initial testing took place at a shipyard in Rosyth, Scotland so that changes could be made without interrupting work at the crowded Sellafield Site. Contact: Fred deSousa, Bechtel, telephone: (703) 429-6435, email: tfdesous@bechtel.com . GAIN Voucher Framatome received a voucher from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) program to support development of Lightbridge Fuel™ in collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This is Framatome’s third GAIN voucher and its first supporting the Lightbridge Fuel design conducted by Enfission LLC, the joint venture between Framatome and Lightbridge Corporation (NASDAQ: LTBR). Framatome’s collaboration with INL under this GAIN voucher will leverage the laboratory’s experience in fuel and material development, as well as its performance knowledge, to facilitate Framatome’s understanding of phenomena unique to uranium-zirconium metallic fuel. Over a period of 12 months, Framatome and INL will work under the voucher to generate Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and a Phenomena Identification Ranking Table (PIRT) based on the Lightbridge Fuel concept. Both the FMEA and PIRT are important steps in licensing an advanced fuel product in the U.S. and will be required inputs to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Contact: Framatome, telephone: (434) 856-6560, email: media.relations@ framatome.com. Vendor Design Review GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) announced that it has initiated a Vendor Design Review of its BWRX-300 small modular reactor with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). The Vendor Design Review is an optional service provided by the CNSC to provide early feedback to the reactor vendor during the design process with the objective of verifying, at a high level, whether a plant design meets Canadian nuclear regulatory requirements and expectations. The combined Phase 1 and 2 review by the CNSC will focus on identifying any issues that could become fundamental barriers in a licensing process for a new build project in Canada while assuring that a resolution path exists for any issues that may be identified. The BWRX-300 leverages the design and licensing basis of the U.S. NRC-certified ESBWR. Through dramatic design simplification, GEH projects the BWRX-300 will require up to 60 percent less capital cost per MW when compared to other water-cooled SMRs or existing large nuclear reactor designs. By leveraging the ESBWR design, utilizing proven components and