Uranium Industry Headlines
Below are news items that appeared in the Nuclear Market Review.
Extract Resources to Start Production at Rössing South in 2014
Australia’s Extract Resources expects to start production at its Rössing South uranium mine in 2014, according to CEO Jonathan Leslie.
The definitive feasibility study for the Namibian project should be completed before year end and construction at Rössing South is scheduled to begin in the latter part of 2013, Leslie told participants at the African Downunder conference in Perth, Western Australia, on September 2.
The mine, which is expected to be the second largest uranium mine in the world, has the potential to produce up to 15 million pounds U3O8 annually over a 20-year operating period. [top]
TEPCO’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa 5 Approved for Restart
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has received approval from Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission to restart operations at one of four reactors still shut down since a major earthquake hit northern Japan in July 2007.
TEPCO still needs approval from three local authorities before it can begin restart tests on the 1,100 MWe Unit 5 at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear station. The utility was granted approval to restart Units 6 and 7 at the station last year. [top]
NRC Finalizes License Transfer for Zion Nuclear Station
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has finalized the transfer of the possession license for the Zion nuclear station from Exelon Generating Co. LLC to ZionSolutions LLC.
The license transfer, which became effective on September 1, is for the two-unit station located about 40 miles north of Chicago, Illinois, which has been shut down since 1998. The NRC modified the original operating and possessing of radioactive materials license to a possession-only license so that storage and decommissioning activities can begin at the site.
ZionSolutions, a subsidiary of EnergySolutions, Inc., will construct a dry cask storage facility and transfer the spent fuel to dry cask storage as part of the decommissioning plan. Following decommissioning, which is expected to take 10 years to complete, the license for the spent fuel will be transferred back to Exelon. [top]
JNFL to Delay Rokkasho Reprocessing Facility
Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. (JNFL) will reportedly postpone by about two years the completion of its Rokkasho nuclear fuel reprocessing facility in Aomori Prefecture.
The delay is due to a series of problems that have occurred during the final commissioning test phase. Construction of the plant is expected to be completed in October, but tests have been running about eight months behind schedule, according to a Kyodo News report. [top]
Uranium Equities, Cauldron Energy Form Exploration JV
Uranium Equities Ltd. has concluded a A$5 million (US$4.5 million) farm-in agreement with Cauldron Energy, which covers a large uranium exploration project and a portfolio of adjacent tenements in South Australia’s Frome Basin.
The farm-in joint venture with Cauldron is to earn up to an 80 percent interest in the West Lake Frome Project. There are additional 100 percent-owned tenements secured to the west and east of Lake Frome, which increase Uranium Equities’ holding to more than 2,000 square kilometers (700 square miles).
The properties acquired by Uranium Equities is considered to have exploration potential similar to the nearby Beverley, Four Mile, and Honeymoon sediment-hosted, roll-front uranium deposits. [top]
NRC to Enhance SMR License Review Framework
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has taken steps to further improve the licensing reviews of potential applications to license small modular reactors (SMRs).
The proposal, advanced by Commissioner George Apostolakis and Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko, directs the NRC staff to produce a plan within six months on how to “more fully integrate the use of risk insights into pre-application activities and the potential review of small modular reactor applications,” a September 1 agency statement said.
In recent years there has been growing interest related to design certification, a manufacturing license, or a Combined Operating License for smaller reactors. Reactor vendors are now working on several designs, including for PWRs and sodium-cooled fast reactors. The US Department of Energy’s advanced reactor program is placing increased emphasis on molten salt reactors, according to the NRC. [top]
China & Russia to Expand Nuclear Cooperation
China and Russia have agreed to expand nuclear power cooperation in several areas, including construction of floating nuclear power plants, uranium exploration, and the development of markets abroad, according to the China Atomic Energy Authority.
The two nations also agreed on Russia’s involvement in building two fast-neutron reactors in China, while a contract to add two reactors at China’s Tianwan nuclear station may be signed before year end or in early 2011, according to Sergey Kirienko, CEO of Russia’s state-controlled nuclear company Rosatom. [top]
USEC, Toshiba, B&W Close on First Phase of Strategic Investment
On September 2, USEC Inc. closed on the first phase of a strategic investment in the company by The Babcock & Wilcox Co. (B&W) and Toshiba Corp.
The investment of US$75 million will be used for continued progress on activities related to the American Centrifuge Plant (ACP) in Piketon, Ohio, and general corporate purposes. Closing on phase two of Toshiba’s and B&W’s investment of $50 million will occur when USEC secures a conditional commitment on a loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy (DOE). The balance of the investment—$75 million—in phase three is conditioned on closing on a $2 billion loan under DOE’s loan guarantee program for the ACP. [top]
Turkey to Sign Reactor Deal with South Korea
South Korea is reportedly expected to sign contracts by November to build a US$10 billion nuclear power project in Turkey.
Reports indicate that a site at Sinop, on Turkey’s Black Sea coast, could become home to at least two 1,400 MWe reactors built by South Korea. Turkey already has one nuclear plant deal in place, signed in May 2010, for two reactors on its Mediterranean coast to be built by Russia’s Atomstroyexport. [top]
