At 19:46 TG-4 was being taken out of service for maintenance. When it was almost completely stopped at 20:09 spontaneous breaker closure occurred and the TG was connected to the grid. Due to this the generator was transferred to the motor regime of operation, which resulted in the loss of tightness in the generator cooling system, discharge and ignition of hydrogen and oil in the location of generator bearings. At 20:10 personnel scrammed the reactor by pressing emergency protection button and called the fire brigade. TG-3 was stopped, the oil from the TGs was drained and hydrogen in the generators was replaced by nitrogen. On the signal of reactor emergency protection deenergization the DGs started as designed. Due to hydrogen release to the turbine building and its reburn under the roof, part of the roof above TG-4 collapsed. The automatic fire-fighting systems actuated as designed. The firemen that arrived fulfilled their job successfully. By 23:30 the fire was completely extinguished. The reactor was cooled down according to Technical Specification. Nobody was injured. Radioactivity releases to environment did not occur.
A vast subsea nuclear graveyard planned to hold Britain’s burgeoning piles of radioactive waste is set to become the biggest, longest-lasting and most expensive infrastructure project ever undertaken in the UK. The project [UK's nuclear waste dump] is now predicted to take more than 150yrs to complete with lifetime costs of £66bn in today’s money...The […]
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 […]
