NEI Weekly Newsletter

Nuclear Engineering International

NEI has been providing technical insight behind the news headlines for the entire civil nuclear sector for over 60 years

Published Sep 1, 2025

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Check out the last week's top stories below.

Analysis

Core borescope abilities laid bare

For the personnel conducting borescope inspections on nuclear facilities, managing time and distance is crucial to maintaining a safe working environment and minimising exposure to radiation. By increasing inspection efficiency, operator safety in high-radiation environments can be improved. By Ryan Sterling, RVI Product Manager, Evident

Borescope inspections are vital to help ensure the safety, reliability, and regulatory compliance of nuclear power plants. These inspections are key to preventive maintenance, root cause analysis, and maintaining operational efficiency. However, for those carrying out boroscope inspections there is the potential for radiation exposure. Minimizing any exposure for inspectors in nuclear plants is critical to protect their health, ensure compliance with regulations, and facilitate safe and effective inspections and maintenance activities.

For example, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the key US nuclear regulatory body, imposes stringent guidelines to monitor and regulate nuclear facilities. They ensure compliance with safety protocols to minimise potential risks associated with nuclear materials and radiation. Workplace radiation exposure is meticulously regulated in accordance with these safety standards, and the annual effective dose limit is established at 5 rem (0.05 sievert (Sv)).

To provide context, the average person typically encounters less than 0.003 Sv of naturally occurring radiation annually. Workers in nuclear plants generally experience exposure levels of less than 0.01 Sv per year, a threshold deemed reasonably safe by prevailing standards. Adhering to these guidelines ensures a controlled and secure environment for individuals operating in nuclear facilities.

State electricity company PT PLN has revealed that Indonesia plans to build NPPs with a total capacity of up to 7 GWe by 2040 as stipulated in the draft of the Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL – Rencana Usaha Penyediaan Tenaga Listrik).

“This is still a draft, so the modelling is still in progress,” PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo told the Energy, Mineral Resources & Environment Commission of the House of Representatives. He said the 7 GWe projection is an extension of the 2025-2034 RUPTL, which already includes plans for two nuclear plants of 250 MWe each.

He stressed that the larger plan requires comprehensive discussions on nuclear power in Indonesia’s energy legislation under the Energy & Mineral Resources Ministry. “The state must be involved here. PLN is only the executor of government policy. The 500 MWe in the 2025-2034 RUPTL is just the first step before we move toward a broader plan of around 7 GWe by 2040,” he explained. The RUPTL specifies that the two 250 MWe NPPs will be built in South Sumatra and West Kalimantan, with both plants expected to be on-grid by 2032.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has signed a business agreement with the Zimbabwe Centre for Education Innovation Research & Development (CEIRD) at the KHNP Radiation Health Centre to undertake a preliminary feasibility study for the possible deployment of Korea’s Innovative Small Modular Reactor (i-SMR) in Zimbabwe. The agreement also covers training of nuclear experts and sharing of nuclear technology information.

The i-SMR is being developed according to a development roadmap, with the goal of obtaining standard design approval in 2028. It is a 190 MWe integrated pressurised water reactor NPP. KHNP has built a simulator at its Central Research Institute to verify the operational suitability of the i-SMR. The concept and basic design of the i-SMR was completed at the end of 2023, and standard design should be ready by December 2025.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has made conditional commitments to provide high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) to three more US companies to meet near-term fuel needs. This second round of HALEU allocations will support the testing of two advanced reactor designs and jumpstart a new domestic advanced fuel line.

“President Trump has prioritised jump-starting a true nuclear energy renaissance, and the Department of Energy is doing everything within its power to achieve this ambitious agenda, including increasing access to materials needed to fabricate advanced nuclear fuels,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. “We’re reducing our dependence on foreign-sourced minerals while giving the private sector the boost it needs to succeed. The HALEU allocation programme is a win for the economy, energy security, and the American people.”

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FAST REACTOR PASSIVE HEAT REMOVAL TEST

The China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) has recently conducted the simulation of a passive heat removal system for fast nuclear reactors. Residual heat removal systems are designed to dissipate the decay heat produced by a reactor even after the nuclear chain reaction is stopped. The systems are necessary to prevent fuel from overheating and causing a meltdown.

“This is the first proof-of-principle test in China for a new passive residual heat removal technology for integral fast reactors,” the institute said. Integral fast reactors use liquid metal as a coolant, typically sodium as part of a closed-loop fuel cycle in which the used fuel is reprocessed within the same facility as the reactor.

The nuclear reactor core waste heat removal capability is essential for the basic reactor safety, said CIAE. “The passive removal of core waste heat by the natural cyclic flow of coolant is an important manifestation of the inherent safety performance of fast reactors. How to effectively implement and validate natural cycles in fast reactors is currently a hot and difficult issue internationally.”

PALISADES OPERATIONAL STATUS SWITCH

The US Palisades NPP in Covert Township, Michigan, officially transitioned from decommissioning to operational status under the oversight of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). This milestone follows the agency’s July 24 approval of Holtec’s licensing package to reauthorise power operations, making Palisades the first nuclear plant in US history to move from decommissioning back to operations.

The single-unit 800 MWe pressurised water reactor on the shores of Lake Michigan began commercial operation in 1971. In 2016 operator Entergy announced plans to close the plant. In 2021 NRC approved transfer of the licence from Entergy to Holtec in preparation for its decommissioning. The reactor was removed from service by Entergy in May 2022, and defueled, and its sale to Holtec completed in June 2022. However, Holtec then announced that it was applying for federal funding to allow restart of the plant.

US General Atomics has announced a $20m, ten-year strategic investment in Canada’s Fusion Fuel Cycles (FFC. This collaboration aims to accelerate the development of UNITY-2, FFC’s tritium fuel cycle test facility, which General Atomics says is “poised to play a pivotal role in clearing the path towards commercialising fusion energy”.

FFC is a joint venture between Japan’s Kyoto Fusioneering (KF) and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL). This extended the Strategic Alliance formed between KF and CNL in September 2023, which aims to develop and deploy deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion fuel cycle technologies. Kyoto Fusioneering was spun out of Kyoto University as Japan’s first fusion start-up in 2019. By leveraging the advanced technological and operational capabilities of the two organisations, FFC represents a strategic consolidation of expertise dedicated to engineering and delivery of large-scale fuel cycle systems for global fusion development programmes.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors have returned to Iran some two months after Tehran ended cooperation with the IAEA. Iran suspended inspections in July, following the US and Israeli bombing of key nuclear facilities in June and banned inspectors from entering Iran. Iran cited the IAEA’s failure to condemn the Israeli and American strikes on its nuclear facilities as the reason for its decision, following the passing of new legislation by parliament.

Following criticism in parliament, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reassured the MPs that the return of IAEA inspectors to Iran is solely to oversee the scheduled refuelling of the Bushehr NPP, stressing that any cooperation with IAEA will fully comply with Iranian law.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump had “meaningful” discussions on nuclear energy cooperation during their summit meeting in Washington, according to Lee’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac. He told reporters that the two leaders “shared a consensus on significantly expanding cooperation in shipbuilding and held meaningful discussions on nuclear energy cooperation”. The two countries also agreed to establish a non-binding agreement to press ahead with $350bn of investment funds proposed by Seoul in July as part of a trade deal to reduce threatened US tariffs on Korean goods.

Électricité de France (EDF) has been awarded a contract worth €175m ($205m) to refurbish the turbogenerator at unit 1 of Romania’s Cernavodă NPP. The agreement was signed between Romanian nuclear utility SN Nuclearelectrica (SNN) and two EDF subsidiaries – Arabelle Service France and its Romanian branch, Arabelle Solutions Romania.

The Cernavodă site houses two Candu 6 pressurised heavy water reactors (units 1&2) on a site originally constructed for five. Unit 1 went into commercial operation in 1996 and unit 2 in 2007. Construction of three more units began but was stopped in 1990 when unit 3 was 52% complete and unit 4 30% complete. The two 720 MWe operating units provide about 20% of Romania’s power.

Sweden’s Vattenfall has selected two small modular reactor (SMR) designs for new nuclear capacity at the Ringhals NPP on the Värö Peninsula. Vattenfall has decided to proceed with US GE Vernova Hitachi’s BWRX-300 and the UK’s Rolls-Royce SMR.

In June 2024, Vattenfall had shortlisted Rolls-Royce SMR and GE Hitachi from six potential SMR suppliers for ongoing evaluation. Four other possible suppliers were not identified. Vattenfall also continued to investigate the construction of large-scale reactors on the site considering Westinghouse, EDF or Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (which withdrew in December 2024).

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