Atomic Energy of Canada Limited announces NRU restart – Video News Release and B-roll/Photo

Harper: Delayed N.B. reactor gets no new funds

Prime Minister Stephen Harper did not commit to any new funding to cover the delays associated with the Point Lepreau refurbishment project. (CBC)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not committed to offering any new federal money to cover the cost of overruns associated with delays on the $1.4-billion Point Lepreau refurbishment project.

Harper told a news conference in Miramichi, N.B., that he has asked the provincial government to send him more information on the delayed refurbishment of Atlantic Canada’s only nuclear reactor.

However, the prime minister did not veer from his previous position that the federal government would abide by the contractual commitments of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the federal agency that is refurbishing the reactor.

“As you know, the position of the federal government has been clear. We have and will fulfil our contractual obligations on this project through AECL,” Harper said.

When the New Brunswick government and the federal nuclear agency announced the Point Lepreau refurbishment and retubing contracts in 2005, those new agreements included penalty clauses if the project ran behind schedule.

Those clauses do not cover all of the costs associated with the escalating time setbacks. Continued…

Read more: CBC News

NRU Status Report #71 – NRU Reactor Harvests First Isotopes

Chalk River Information Bulletin

(2010 August 18) The following information bulletin is in accordance with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s (AECL) ongoing commitment to voluntary public disclosure of events related to the Chalk River Laboratories (CRL).

AECL reports that it has harvested the first Molybdenum-99 isotopes from the NRU and that the reactor is in steady operation.

AECL has issued a video news release and photo available via CNW’s Broadcast On-Demand to provide more information on the NRU Return to Service.

The production of medical isotopes is a key element of AECL’s core mission. Returning the NRU to service diligently and safely, to support Canadian patients and healthcare practitioners has been our top priority.  The startup also allows NRU to continue to provide important research support to scientists and universities from across Canada and around the world.

AECL will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available.

-30-

Contact:

Robin Forbes
Manager, External Communications
AECL, 1-866-886-2325

Source: AECL News Room

Delays at Point Lepreau forces Quebec to postpone work at Gentilly

Refurbishment | Move could bolster N.B.’s push for compensation

Mounting delays to the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear reactor have prompted a postponement of similar work at the Gentilly 2 station in Quebec.

Hydro-Quebec announced Monday that it’s putting off the $1.9-billion project until 2012. It was to begin next year.

The electricity giant said it made the decision so it can benefit from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.’s solutions to problems that have put the Point Lepreau work more than 21/2 years behind schedule.

It’s a move that could bolster New Brunswick’s argument that the lessons learned from delays at Lepreau will help AECL’s efforts elsewhere.

Problems involving seals on joints in calandria tubes have been encountered during AECL’s work at Lepreau and the Wolsong reactor in South Korea, which like Gentilly 2 are Candu-6 reactors.

Officials with Hydro-Quebec expect the lessons learned from those two projects will benefit the work at their plant by avoiding those same delays.

“We hope that by looking at what’s been learned, we will be able to come up with a schedule and a work plan that can be met because solutions have been found for the problems encountered at Point Lepreau and Wolsong,” Hydro-Quebec spokeswoman Marie-Elaine Deveault said Monday, speaking in French. “We want to develop a schedule that is realistic and will be respected.”

In the meantime, Gentilly 2 will continue to churn out 675 megawatts of electricity every hour. That means Quebec may be able to avoid additional costs of generating replacement power.

That’s likely to add ammunition to the New Brunswick government’s arguments for federal compensation because of the lengthy delay.

Premier Shawn Graham and Energy Minister Jack Keir have been pressing AECL and the federal government to compensate New Brunswick for the delays. New Brunswick has been saddled with the cost of buying replacement power during the refurbishment, something that’s expected to drive up costs close to $1 billion.

Keir, who was unavailable for comment Monday, has said he believes AECL is responsible for the extra costs that will otherwise have to be carried by NB Power.

“The sand on the beach changed in September 2009 when Hugh MacDiarmid, the president of AECL, said ‘I look at that schedule in the contract and it never had any chance for success,’ ” Keir said in an interview last week.

Part of the rationale Keir and Graham have put forward is that AECL will apply the lessons learned on Lepreau to other nuclear reactors, which will benefit the Crown-owned nuclear power company.

AECL and NB Power have been exchanging information in order to assess the delays and costs.

To date, federal leaders have indicated only that “AECL will honour its contractual obligations to complete the project.”

According to the agreement, NB Power is to cover the cost of replacement power.

Deveault said an inspection conducted during an annual maintenance shutdown earlier this month found that the state of equipment at Gentilly 2 was satisfactory to continue generation.

Hydro-Quebec said the postponement will also give it time to secure assurances about who might eventually own AECL.

The Becancour, Que., nuclear power plant is that province’s only nuclear reactor. The 25-year-old plant produces enough energy to power 270,000 homes.

Norm Rubin, director of nuclear research for Energy Probe, an energy issues think-tank, said he isn’t surprised by Quebec’s decision.

“I don’t expect it to go ahead, but then I was surprised when New Brunswick decided to go ahead,” he said. “I think the message is pretty clear: The next time you get a report from your own utilities board that says it’s a loser to invest in something nuclear that has a track record that looks like the underside of a rock, the next time you get that advice, take it.”

In a 2002 decision, the former New Brunswick Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities recommended against the refurbishment, saying there was “no significant economic advantage to the proposed refurbishment project.”

Hydro-Quebec isn’t facing the same problem as New Brunswick in terms of buying replacement power. While Lepreau accounts for about 30 per cent of New Brunswick’s power generation, Gentilly 2 accounts for about three per cent of Quebec’s total production.

Source: The Daily Gleaner

Chalk River reactor set to restart

The world’s oldest operating nuclear reactor is poised to restart after a 15-month breakdown that threatened the global supply of life-saving medical isotopes and Canada’s dominance in nuclear medicine.

Refuelling of the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor at Chalk River, testing of its main heavy-water cooling system and all 35 auxiliary systems are complete.

Now comes low-power testing, then returning the reactor to high-power operation.

If all goes as planned, the NRU is expected to resume isotope production as early as next week, with isotopes to roll out for processing and distribution within 10 days, says Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL).

“It’s been a complex project and a challenging job,” said Robin Forbes, a spokeswoman for the Crown corporation, which operates the Chalk River Laboratories, northwest of Ottawa. “The goal has always been, we want it up and running safely and as quickly as possible.”

The reactor, which will be 53 years old Nov. 3, was placed in an extended shutdown May 15, 2009 to repair a pinprick leak of radioactive heavy water and other corroded spots at the base of the unit’s 65,000-litre heavy-water containment vessel. Continued….

Milestone for Bruce A Retart Project

Workers on the Bruce A Restart Project have successfully completed the installation of new calandria tubes in the Unit 2 reactor, marking an industry first for CANDU reactors worldwide.

Final seal tightness testing over the weekend concluded the work sequence, which saw 480 new calandria tubes installed, their end joints connected and sealed. The calandria tubes are installed horizontally in the reactor vessel and house the fuel channel assemblies that hold uranium fuel during operation. Each tube is approximately six metres long by 13 centimetres in diameter and manufactured from a zirconium alloy.

“The quality of workmanship, attention to detail and ability to deliver results in a tough work environment are a credit to the tradespeople, technicians and engineers who worked on the calandria tubes,” said John Sauger, executive vice president, project management and construction.

The installation by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) began June 8, 2009. The last calandria tube was secured in the reactor on July 28, 2010 and the final seal tightness test was successfully concluded just after midnight last Tuesday. To reach this milestone, AECL crews first spent more than two years removing the reactor’s original core components and preparing the vessel for new installation.

“Much of the work was completed with first-generation, remote-controlled tools to minimize worker exposure to radiation inside the reactor’s containment vault,” Sauger said.

Workers are now setting up equipment to install new fuel channel assemblies in the Unit 2 reactor. Ninety assemblies were installed in the upper portion of the reactor earlier in the project, but 390 remain to complete the task.

Reactor rebuild is also underway in Unit 1 with crews alternating between calandria tube installation and fuel channel assembly installation. The work in Unit 1 follows Unit 2 by about four months.

The four 750 megawatt units at Bruce A were laid up in the mid-1990s by former operator Ontario Hydro. Units 3 and 4 were restarted by Bruce Power earlier this decade; Units 1 and 2 are expected to synchronize with Ontario’s electricity grid in mid to late 2011 for another 25 years of production.

Source: Shoreline Beacon

NRU reactor getting ready for startup

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) is reporting significant progress in returning the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor to service.

Replacement and testing of the reactor monitoring equipment, which contributed to a delay in the restart of NRU, has been successfully completed, AECL said in a release.

Four assessments were recently used to verify fuelling calculations and the refuelling of the reactor, and now technicians are currently conducting tests on the main heavy water system in order to verify system performance following a long period of maintenance and layup. These tests are expected to be completed over the next several days.

“It’s a significant milestone,” said AECL corporate communications director Dale Coffin. “Now we can start to work towards the start-up procedures.”

The restart schedule has been challenging, with more than 3,000 different restart activities required to return the reactor to service, said Mr. Coffin. To date approximately 95 per cent of these activities are complete.

Before going off-line, the NRU was one of the top suppliers of medical isotopes to the world, producing between 30 to 40 per cent of the globe’s supply. Once activated to full power, it will take the NRU some 10 days to begin producing isotopes.

While it is estimated that the NRU will resume production by mid-August, unforeseen delays could extend the return-to-service schedule, he added.

“We’re cautiously optimistic and hopeful we’ll be up and running very soon,” said Mr. Coffin.

The National Research Universal reactor has been out of service since a small leak of heavy water was detected during routine maintenance in May 2009. An initial investigation found that the leak had occurred at the base of the reactor vessel.

Source: Sean Chase, The Daily Observer

New Brunswick asking the parliament for mediation following delay announcement

The provincial government of New Brunswick has asked the Canadian federal government for mediation over cost overruns for the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear power station, after receiving confirmation that the project will not be completed before 2012.

NB energy minister Jack Keir (left) and NB Power president Gaëtan Thomas call for mediation (Image: Government of New Brunswick)

According to New Brunswick energy minister Jack Keir, the provincial government is proposing that the issue of project delay costs for the refurbishment be put to a mediation process in order to determine a “fair outcome” for local ratepayers.

Point Lepreau is the first Candu 6 reactor to undergo major refurbishment, including replacement of all of its 380 fuel channels and associated feeder tubes. When the reactor was shut down for refurbishment in March 2008 the project was expected to take 16 months to complete. However, the first-of-a-kind work has been beset by overruns, and general contractor Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) subsequently pushed back the completion date to October 2010, then to February 2011. Now, according to NB Power president and CEO Gaëtan Thomas, AECL has confirmed that the refurbishment will take at least another year to complete, pushing the restart back to February 2012 at the earliest.

Over 90% of the AECL scope of the work on the project is at a fixed price, but Keir said that unless the federal government agrees that AECL must shoulder its share of the extra costs associated with the unanticipated delays, the extra financial burden will fall on the province’s consumers. “New Brunswick ratepayers should not have to bear the burden of AECL’s learning curve on re-tubing Candu 6 reactors,” Keir said.

Although retubing has been completed on earlier model Candu reactors, the refurbishment process is much more complex for the Candu 6 as it involves the replacement of all calandria tubes, steam generators and instrument and control systems. Future Candu 6 refurbishment projects both in Canada and overseas will benefit from the experience built up at Point Lepreau.

AECL recently said that the work, which should extend the reactor’s operating life by 25-30 years, was about 75% complete. However, it had encountered “challenges” with the seal tightness of some of the new tubes.

Source: World Nuclear News

Point Lepreau repairs delayed another year

Work on the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant is delayed again, putting the refurbishment project at least two-and-a-half years behind schedule.

The delay leaves the province facing an even larger bill to cover the cost of replacement power.

It costs N-B Power about one (m) million dollars a day for replacement power.

Energy Minister Jack Keir says he wants a mediation process with the federal government to settle the question of who pays for the cost overruns.

N-B Power president Gaetan Thomas says officials with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited confirmed the latest delay today.

It says the delay is due to problems sealing the ends of calandria tubes inside the reactor.

The refurbishment was originally budgeted at 1.4 (b) billion dollars, including 400 (m) million dollars for replacement power.

The upgrade is expected to extend the life of the plant by about 25 years.

Work on Point Lepreau was scheduled to take 18 months when it began in March 2008.

Source: News 91.9

Romania plans to reduce its stake in new Cernavoda reactors

The Romanian government plans to cut its stake in a project to construct two new reactors at Cernavoda. Meanwhile, Romania has asked Areva to participate in building the country’s second plant in Transylvania.

In November 2008, representatives from the seven companies investing in the construction of units 3 and 4 at Romania’s Cernavoda nuclear power plant signed an agreement specifying what share in the project they will each hold.

How Cernavoda would look with four units (Image: AECL)

The partners agreed to establish a project company, EnergoNuclear SA, to construct, commission and operate the two new units. Under the agreement, the share held by each investor in the project company had been agreed, and, correspondingly, what proportion of financing and share of the power generated each will take.

Romania’s state-owned Nuclearelectrica SA holds a 51% stake in EnergoNuclear, while Czech utility CEZ, France’s GDF-Suez, Italy’s Enel and Germany’s RWE Power each hold a 9.15% stake. In addition, Spain’s Iberdrola and global steel producer ArcelorMittal each hold a 6.2% stake in the project company. In April 2009, construction costs were expected to be about €4 billion ($5.2 billion), but by September it was evident that SNN could not raise its share of the funds.

Romania’s energy minister, Adriean Videanu, has now said that the government will reduce its stake in EnergoNuclear. In an interview published on the ministry’s website Videanu said: “The Romanian state will never have sufficient resources to finance 51% of the project. We therefore plan to renegotiate the holdings.”

He noted that the current agreement with the investors is valid until 25 September. Videanu said that the agreement may be extended to other investors.

The Cernavoda plant was originally intended to host five Canadian Candu pressurized heavy water reactors of 633 MWe each. Construction on units 2-5 was halted in 1991 in order to concentrate on unit 1, which entered commercial operation at the end of 1996. It now provides 10% of the country’s electricity. The government decided to resume work on unit 2 in 2000. After some upgrades during completion, unit 2 is rated at 655 MWe and began commercial operation in October 2007.

Cernavoda 3 and 4, both 720 MWe Candu reactors, will be a similar design to Cernavoda unit 2. The new units are scheduled to start up in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

In February 2010, EnergoNuclear signed an agreement with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) to assess the viability of the project and define what is required to complete and commission units 3 & 4.

Second plant

Meanwhile, in an interview published in Romania’s Adevarul newspaper, Videanu said that during a visit to Paris in early June he invited Areva to participate in the construction of a second nuclear power plant in Romania.

The second plant is planned for Transylvania in northwest Romania and is expected to be completed between 2020 and 2030. The exact location of the plant has yet to be identified.

Videanu said: “We need the expertise of French specialists concerning the location study. In addition to the evaluation that we conducted ourselves, we need to validate these studies in relation to French partners and then try to establish a project company that will form the investment pool for the second nuclear power plant.”

He declined to say whether Areva would actually build the second plant.

Source: World Nuclear News

Next Page »