On 10th April 2003 during the annual refueling outage of unit the fuel assemblies cleaning were in progress. At 22:30 normal dosimetry systems of the exhaust stack showed a sudden increase in released noble gas activity (max. 4,14*10e13 Bq/10 min), at the same time, radiation monitors for noble gas activity in the reactor hall indicated alarm level. As a result of conducted technical actions the releases were reduced below the autorized limit. On 16th April 2003 at 20:00 after removal of the cleaning container head the video inspection revealed that most of fuel assemlies (perhaps all of them) inside the container had been damaged. After analysing of situation further actions were undertaken in order to maintain the safe cooling of the fuel assemblies. After container head removal no changes in noble gas release happened.
Last year, the Dutch Province of Limburg started an alliance in which, besides the local government, research institutes, small nuclear reactor (SMR) developers, utilities, industrial customers and funders cooperated. With this "Limburg SMR alliance" Limburg tried to lead the way towards an SMR in Limburg. The preferred site for a first SMR would be Chemelot, […]
From the IPFM: During a visit to the Civaux nuclear power plant on 18 March 2024, France's Minister of the Armed Forces unveiled a plan to use the plant to produce tritium for the French nuclear weapons program. Civaux is a civilian power plant that belongs to and is operated by Electricité de France. According […]
An analysis by the Norwegian NGO Bellona of transborder trade operations with the customs code 840130 (irradiated fuel assemblies or fuel elements) show a more than twofold increase of import to EU countries of fresh nuclear fuel in cash terms – from 280 million Euros in 2022 to 686 million Euros in 2023. In physical […]
The French government has said it is "seriously" studying the option of building a plant to convert and enrich reprocessed uranium to cut its reliance on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. The only plant in the world that currently converts reprocessed uranium for use in nuclear power plants is in Russia. "The option of […]
Jan vd Putte quickly changed from dressing as the pied piper at the protest during the IAEA nuclear power conference to warn for the Russian nuclear power conglomerate Rosatom and its role in Ukraine.
