All articles by cms admin
cms admin
Hitachi buys Horizon of UK
Hitachi Limited of Japan has bought the UK’s Horizon Nuclear Power for GBP 696 million ($1.1 billion) from German utility joint-venture partners RWE npower and E.On. The transaction is expected to be completed at the end of November.
Hydraulic bolt tensioners
Just as there are many different ways to tighten a bolt on a valve, heat exchanger, reactor coolant pump, reactor pressure vessel, or steam generator, there are many different tightening tools. By Will Dalrymple
Capturing 30 years of BWR ECP experience
Electrochemical corrosion potential (ECP) monitoring has been in use since the early 1980s. It is essential in ensuring the effectiveness of chemical mitigation of stress corrosion cracking. A new EPRI Sourcebook will provide an updated reference on ECP sensor technologies, monitoring locations, and data management. By Susan Garcia
Crystal clean
A system that cleans fuel with the same operating principle as jewellery cleaners has been used for a sampling analysis of crud at Ringhals 4. By Will Dalrymple
Amine-based chemistry
Analysis of carbon steel samples in three amine solutions have found two amines that maintain favourable pH and inhibit corrosion as well, or better, than cyclohexylamine. By Maria Radulescu, Doina Stefanescu and Maria Mihalache
The world’s largest canned motor pump
A key component that circulates hot primary-circuit water is the reactor coolant pump. The AP1000® RCP is water-cooled, so it includes metallic cans to protect electrical components. Supplier Curtiss-Wright engineered the RCP design, which includes hermetically-sealed sections and dry windings, to have a 60-year design life basis. By Robert Ladefian
Memoirs of a start-up
A US government project to remove thousands of cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride from uranium enrichment facilities has finally begun. Project consortium B&W Conversion Services reflects on its experiences during start-up. By George E. Dials and Robert C. Hogg
Box: Australia greenlights ‘Mega Moly’ project
As this issue was going to press, the Australian government announced funding for a A$169 million ($175 million) plan to develop a new molybdenum-99 production plant and new radwaste facility at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s OPAL reactor site at Lucas Heights.
Molybdenum-99 market supply and demand
Reliability of supply of medical isotopes has declined over the past decade due to unexpected or extended shutdowns at the few ageing Mo-99-producing research reactor and processing facilities. These shutdowns have created global supply shortages. Here, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) updates its 2011 report on the subject to reflect recent market changes, based on information from its High-level Group on the Security of Supply of Medical Radioisotopes (HLG-R) and other key stakeholders.
Internationalization of supply – how can it grow?
Although supply chains for a new nuclear reactor can stretch all the way around the world, regulation ends at the border. New binding international rules could simplify nuclear exports and improve their oversight. By Steve Kidd