Carnival of Nuclear Energy 338

1. Forbes James Conca – Oops! – Rick Perry Chosen To Head Energy Department

The former Texas Governor is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to become the next Secretary for the Department of Energy (DOE). This is amazing given that Governor Perry wanted to kill the Department completely. Everyone seems fixated on shifting DOE away from renewable energy and toward oil and the other fossil fuels, but DOE doesn’t have a whole lot to do with energy. It’s all about nuclear weapons and nuclear waste.

2. Neutron Bytes – Dan Yurman – Nuclear Energy Development Groups Refresh their Vision

* Nuclear Matters, CASEnergy and NAN unite to form single coalition
* Third Way updates its advanced reactors advocacy effort
* X-Energy and Transatomic set their sights on Idaho lab for first of a kind units

3. Neutron Bytes – Dan Yurman – Investors Line Up for UK’s Next Big Nuclear Reactor Projects

With Hinkley Point underway the UK government is lining up investors for the next massive project which is to build twin 1380 MW Hitachi-GE ABWRs at Wylfa Newydd on the Welsh Coast.

4. Nuclear Advocacy blog – Meredith Angwin – Joy and Celebration: Part of the Activist Toolkit

We won in Illinois! The two plants that were in danger of shutting down will keep operating, thanks to bill that was passed at the last hour of the early-December legislative session. While there are undoubtedly lessons-to-be-learned with this victory, Meredith Angwin recommends that we start by celebrating.. Success is fun, and it increases our motivation. Celebration is part of the activist toolkit.

5. Nextbigfuture – China fixing Pakistan energy infrastructure could boost GDP growth to 7% per year and enable a new Asian Tiger economy by 2018

Pakistan has a small nuclear power program, with 1040 MWe capacity, but is moving to increase this substantially with Chinese help. In July 2013 the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved 3.5 GWe of new power projects totalling Rs 1303 billion ($13 billion), comprising 2200 MWe nuclear, 425 MWe gas combined cycle, and 969 MWe hydro. These are designed to reduce the high reliance on oil and to reduce power costs.All depend on Chinese support.

Pakistan depends heavily on ​China, which​ is translating its long-term strategic ties with Pakistan into an economic partnership, part of a broader infrastructure push across Eurasia. China is financing many plants as commercial investments. But to expedite projects, the Pakistani government is funding ​some​ power stations in the run up to the election, including three gas-fired plants in Mr. Sharif’s home province of Punjab. The eventual aim is to more than double Pakistan’s current output of around 16,000 megawatts.

6. Nextbigfuture – Russia planning to build up to 38 small 300 MW cogenerating nuclear reactors to reduce fossil fuel usage

Four Russian cities have expressed an interest in using small reactors to supply heat and power, according to Yuriy Kuznetsov of NA Dollezhal Research and Development Institute of Power Engineering (NIKIET). A Rosatom feasibility study has concluded that up to 38 cogeneration reactors could potentially be deployed at 14 sites for this purpose.

In many Russian cities district heating is a common feature that sees a local power plant supply up to around 250 MWe to the grid, as well as process heat to a communal system to warm homes, schools, factories and offices. These systems have traditionally relied on fossil fuels but will need to change in line with incoming goals to gain in efficiency and to decarbonise, as set out by a Presidium of the State Council which specifically mentioned nuclear as a potential technology.

In response, NIKIET has completed the detailed design of the VK-300 reactor.

VK-300 is a boiling water model with 750 MW thermal capacity and 150-250 MW electric depending on the required mix of heat and power. It uses proven components, including similar fuel elements to the large established VVER pressurized water design. Kuznetsov said VK-300 features fully passive cooling and safety features and has no need for operator action in an emergency or for offsite electricity or water supply. VK-300 has two containments and the consequences of any accident should not extend beyond the site boundary, he said.