. Green Energy- Nuclear Power for Switzerland & Japan (C)

. Green Energy- Nuclear Power for Switzerland & Japan (C)



Second article in this series explain how worlds most environment conscious nations Switzerland and Japan are planning to step up Nuclear Power generation.



Currently Switzerland has 4 (IAEA) /5 reactors operational of 3000 MWe rating. With the introduction of two 1600 MWe reactors replacing three aging reactors of around 1000 MWe rating Switzerland will have 5,000 MWe of own generation for a country of Punjab state in area but a third in population thus producing over 4000 units per capita of electricity. Switzerland has no thermal power plant.



Japan as per latest plans shall have 50% of its electricity needs met by Nuclear Power by 2030.



Why can’t India also plan for say 20% to 30% of its power needs met by Nuclear Power by 2030?



47% of electricity in Sweden is supplied by nuclear reactors. Sweden also has good hydro power generation.



78% of electricity in France is contributed by Nuclear reactors, with nuclear and renewables there are practically no CO2 generation to supply its electricity needs.



Germany is advocating Collaborative Enrichment Plants to ensure supply of enriched uranium to world’s nuclear reactors.



Jordon and Kazakhstan are actively involved in Nuclear Power development though developing countries 250th and 60th in population than India.



Why India is out of major Nuclear Technology Collaborations Groups?



Ravinder Singh

July10, 2008



New Swiss Joint Venture Looks To Replacement Of Three Reactor Units



14 Dec (NucNet): Swiss utilities the Axpo group and BKW FMB Energie (BKW) have created a joint venture company to develop plans for the eventual replacement of units one and two of the country’s Beznau nuclear plant and the single-unit Muehleberg plant.



The partners, who together produce about half the electricity consumed in the country, said on 13 December 2007 that ATEL, Switzerland’s third main nuclear operator, had also been invited to take part in the project.


Commissioning of the new units is envisaged after 2020.

Axpo subsidiaries the Nordostschweizerische Kraftwerke AG (NOK) and Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke AG (CKW), together with BKW, have set up a development company under the name of Resun AG, based in Aarau. The company is jointly owned by BKW (31.25 per cent), NOK (57.75 per cent), and CKW (11 per cent).

The partners said: “In collaboration with the electricity sector, the two energy companies therefore feel obliged to offer a solution to the challenges associated with the foreseeable power shortfall. The existing nuclear power plants at Muehleberg (355 megawatts) and Beznau I and II (together 730 megawatts) will have to be replaced after 2020.”

The new venture will also look at how to close a looming supply gap when existing contracts covering electricity imports from France, comprising about 2,000 megawatts, reach the end of their respective terms.

“The establishment of the joint development company is in line with the energy policy of the Federal Council (government) which, in addition to promoting energy efficiency and the expansion of new renewables, also envisages the construction of nuclear power plants,” the partners said.

Resun AG aims to submit two outline proposals for identical power plant types with a potential electrical generating capacity of up to 1,600 megawatts by the end of 2008. The proposed locations are Beznau and Muehleberg as these will be the first of the country’s plants to be decommissioned. The country’s Leibstadt and Goesgen plants will run significantly longer.

“Faced with an emerging power shortfall across Europe, the energy policy adopted by the Federal Council will enable Switzerland to ensure an independent and reliable power supply that meets environmental and economic sustainability criteria,” the partners said.

Switzerland’s five reactor units provide around 40 per cent of domestic electricity production, with hydropower providing around 55 per cent and conventional thermal and other energy sources the remainder.

There were no automatic shutdowns at any of the units during 2006 – the first time this has happened over a one-year period since the country began supplying electricity from nuclear energy to the grid in 1969.



German Multilateral Enrichment Centre Plan To Be Presented At IAEA



19 Feb (NucNet): A German proposal for an international enrichment centre to be built that would ensure fuel supplies for countries operating nuclear power plants will be outlined at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria, later today.



The IAEA said yesterday that the proposal, entitled the ‘Multilateral Enrichment Sanctuary Project’, was initially delivered to the agency in April 2007*. Germany’s ambassador to the IAEA, Peter Gottwald, will host today’s presentation of his country’s proposal.

Germany’s proposal is one of several that aim to tackle the issue of assuring supply and services of nuclear fuel while strengthening nuclear non-proliferation.

The IAEA reported Mr Gottwald as saying: ”Germany respects the right of every country to decide on its own energy mix, including nuclear energy. We respect the inalienable right of every country to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, yet at the same time we all share a clear interest in minimising possible proliferation risks emanating from the predicted wider use of nuclear power for civil purposes.”

Germany is calling for the construction of an IAEA-supervised, “commercially-administered uranium enrichment plant based on international property, which would be donated by a host country”.

The legal status of the plant site would be like that of international organisations in host countries with the IAEA having “sovereign rights” over the site.

The plant would be operated by a private company, but the IAEA would retain control of a “buffer fuel stock to distribute when requested by a state facing political or economic blockage of shipment”.

Germany’s proposal recommends the site be in a country that does not currently have enrichment capability. The host country should also have a “reliable infrastructure, good accessibility (such as shipping access by sea), political stability, and full adherence to safeguards agreements and the non-proliferation treaty”.

Controls would be put in place to ensure that the plant would not enjoy a competitive advantage in terms of price or other benefits compared to competing firms on the global low enriched uranium market.

The IAEA said other proposals under consideration include a bid by Russia to establish an international uranium enrichment centre in eastern Siberia and a proposal by the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a US-based non-governmental organisation, that would establish a nuclear fuel bank in an IAEA-designated location.

– Compiled by John Shepherd



Japan’s Nuclear Share Could Reach 49% By 2030, Says Report



9 Apr (NucNet): The share of Japan’s electricity generated by nuclear energy could be close to 50 percent by fiscal year 2030, a report says.



The Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy report says the amount of nuclear-generated electricity could reach 49 percent if “state-of-the-art” reactor technologies are introduced and at least nine proposed units described in the national 2007 electricity supply plan are built.

Eleven new units are scheduled to start commercial operation by fiscal 2014.. These include Tokyo Electric Power’s Fukushima I-7 and -8 and Higashidori-1, Chubu Electric’s Shimane-3 and Kaminoseki-1, the Electric Power Development Company’s Ohma nuclear plant and the Japan Atomic Power Company’sTsuruga-3 and -4.

A 2006 report by the Institute of Energy Economics reached similar findings, saying nuclear energy will be a key power source in Japan, accounting for more than 40% of total electrical energy generation by 2030.

Today, nuclear energy accounts for about 30 percent of the country’s total electricity production. Japan has 55 reactors in commercial operation and one, Tomari-3, listed by the International Atomic Energy Agency as under construction. All seven units at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant remain offline following a strong earthquake last year.



Feasibility Study To Consider Candu Reactor Programme For Jordan



3 Jul (NucNet): Canada is to work with Jordan on assessing the feasibility of launching a domestic nuclear power programme.



Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) and engineering and construction group SNC-Lavalin signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Amman, Jordan on 28 June 2008 with the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission.

The MOU covers a range of areas of cooperation that could lead to construction of Jordan’s first nuclear power plant based on the Enhanced CANDU 6 (EC-6) reactor and outlines collaboration over a three-year period on engineering and economic studies aimed at demonstrating the technical and economic feasibility of a Candu programme in Jordan.

An assessment will be made of infrastructure development requirements and a site selection process will assess the feasibility of building an EC-6 reactor within Jordan’s regulatory requirements.

AECL said collaboration would also include studies on fuel fabrication facilities, technology transfer, “manpower training and ongoing support to ensure the potential use of Jordan’s uranium resources” in a Candu nuclear power program.

Ken Petrunik, president of Candu’s Reactor Division at AECL, said: “AECL's EC-6 reactor is the ideal size for compatibility with Jordan's electricity grid, and with its natural uranium fuel cycle and fuel conversion capability, the EC-6 can help Jordan become more energy self-sufficient.”

In 2007, King Abdullah of Jordan called for proposals for the launch of a nuclear power programme in his country to be "speeded up".

Jordan’s minister of energy and mineral resources said in May 2007 that Jordan faced “challenges” in launching a nuclear energy programme. The minister said consideration would also be given to the development of Jordan’s estimated 80,000 tonnes of uranium reserves – about 2 percent of known recoverable resources of uranium worldwide – with a further 100,000 tonnes that could be extracted from phosphates.

– by John Shepherd



Kazakhstan Named As Potential Member Of ITER Project



4 Jul (NucNet): Kazakhstan could become the newest partner of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project based in Cadarache, southern France.



The ITER council, the governing body of the organisation, approved the start of formal interactions with Kazakhstan as a potential new party at a meeting in Japan that ended on 18 June 2008.

Existing member countries of ITER also approved Kazakhstan’s participation as observers at future meetings before its possible accession to the organisation.

The council also approved a revised overall project schedule for ITER with a target date of 2018 for first plasma.

ITER will be the world’s largest experimental facility to demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion power. The construction costs have been estimated at five billion euro over 10 years.

Europe will contribute about half of the costs of construction, while the other parties to the venture – currently China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, India and the US – will contribute equally to the rest.

– by John Shepherd

China To Contribute USD 1. 4 Billion To ITER (News in Brief No. 3, 8 January 2008)

India Approves USD 620 Million ITER Contribution (News No. 161, 5 July 2007)