CENTRUS Starts HALEU Enrichment Operations – GWC Mag

• Centrus Starts HALEU Enrichment Operations
• Rolls-Royce Inks SMR Fuel Deal with Westinghouse
• UK Sheffield Forgemasters Joins X-Energy Deployment Effort
• General Fusion and Japan’s Kyoto Fusioneering Team Up
• Construction Begins Of $700 Million Fusion Materials Test Facility in Spain

Centrus Starts HALEU Enrichment Operations

(NucNet contributed to this report)  American Centrifuge Operating (ACO), a subsidiary of Centrus Energy Corp (NYSE:LEU), has started enrichment operations for the first time at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio.

Centrus is now one step closer to producing the nation’s first commercial quantities of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) which is a crucial material needed to develop and deploy advanced reactors in the United States. The demonstration project is on track to produce 20 kilograms of HALEU by the end of 2023.

The material will be in the form of uranium hexafluoride. To make the actual fuel to be used in an advanced reactor, it will have to be run through the CoverDyn  uranium conversion facility in Illinois to be turned in powder form. Once that happens, a fuel fabrication plant can make fuel pellets for use in fuel assemblies or to make TRISO fuel pebbles from it.

ACO successfully completed its operational readiness reviews in June with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and received approval to use uranium at the facility. The Piketon plant is currently the only facility in the U.S. licensed to enrich uranium up to HALEU levels of 19.75 percent U235.

ACO is expected to produce its first HALEU material within the next few weeks. The work builds on a 3-year project with DOE to manufacture and assemble 16 advanced centrifuges into an enrichment cascade. ACO received a competitively awarded follow-on contract last November to start up and operate the cascade.

The company is on track to meet demonstration requirements by producing 20 kilograms of 19.75 percent enriched HALEU by the end of the year. ACO will then continue production in 2024 at an annual production rate of 900 kilograms of HALEU per year, with options to produce more in future years depending on funding and commercial orders. (1 kg = 2.2 lbs)

The HALEU will be used to help fuel the initial cores of two demonstration reactors awarded under DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) and will also support fuel qualification and the testing of other new reactor designs. The core ARDP projects include TerraPower’s Natrium sodium -ooled reactor and X-Energy’s HTGR.

Centrus president and chief executive officer Daniel Poneman said: “We hope that this demonstration cascade will soon be joined by thousands of additional centrifuges right here in Piketon to produce the Haleu needed to fuel the next generation of advanced reactors, low-enriched-uranium to sustain the existing fleet of reactors, and the enriched uranium needed to sustain our nuclear deterrent for generations to come.

Current Centrus Fuel Contracts

In August, Centrus signed a memorandum of understanding with US-based Generation IV reactor developer Oklo to support the deployment of Oklo’s advanced fission nuclear power plants and advanced nuclear fuel production.

The companies plan to collaborate on a range of program supporting the development and operation of Oklo’s Aurora nuclear plants, including the supply of HALEU produced by Centrus at Piketon. Centrus intends to buy energy from Oklo’s planned Ohio plants to power its HALEU production facility.

Centrus has also signed an agreement with TerraPower to significantly expand their collaboration aimed at establishing a HALEU supply for TerraPower’s first-of-a-kind Natrium reactor and energy storage system.

In December, TerraPower said a Natrium nuclear reactor proposed to replace a coal fired power plant in Wyoming could be delayed at least two years because of a lack of advanced fuel sources outside Russia.

In addition to this demonstration project, DOE is supporting several efforts to provide more access to HALEU. Current activities include recycling spent nuclear fuel from government-owned research reactors and acquiring HALEU through purchase agreements with domestic industry partners to spur demand for additional HALEU production and private investment in the nation’s nuclear fuel supply infrastructure.

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Rolls-Royce Inks SMR Fuel Deal with Westinghouse

Rolls-Royce SMR has placed a contract with Westinghouse Electric Company UK Ltd to develop a fuel design for its small modular reactor (SMR). The design specifications for the fuel for the 470 MW PWR are required as part of the ongoing Generic Design Assessment (GDA) by the UK’s Office of Nuclear Regulation.

The design work, undertaken jointly in the UK and US, includes associated core components and will be based on an existing Westinghouse PWR fuel assembly design. Westinghouse has fuel fabrication factories in Hopkins, SC, about 13 miles southeast of Columbia, SC, in the US, at the Springfields site in the UK about 45 miles north of Liverpool.

Westinghouse is a leading supplier of nuclear fuel, providing a diversified portfolio in the industry across nuclear reactor types, including PWR, BWR, AGR, and VVER. The Springfields plant has been in operation for the past 75 years.

Rolls-Royce SMR was one of six companies recently chosen by the UK government to advance to the next phase of a competition to design and build SMRs. The other five are: EDF, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Holtec Britain, NuScale Power and Westinghouse Electric Company UK, which is developing its own SMR, the AP300.

The contract supports the recent Atlantic Declaration and civil nuclear partnership between the UK and US governments – which helps facilitate the safe, secure, and sustainable international deployment of advanced, peaceful nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors. The contract is seen as part of a multi-national effort to end reliance on Russia for nuclear fuel.

NucNet reported that UK nuclear industry trade groups welcomed the contract. The London-based nuclear group the Nuclear Industry Association welcomed the contract. NIA chief executive Tom Greatrex said: “We must also ensure we are world leaders in the design and manufacture of nuclear fuel so we can establish a sovereign supply chain as the West looks to break free from reliance on Russian nuclear fuel.”

The UK, US, Canada, Japan and France recently formed an alliance to develop shared supply chains for nuclear fuel as part of ambitions to push Russia out of the international nuclear energy market.

A recent UK report said Russia’s nuclear exports have surged since the invasion of Ukraine, boosting the Kremlin’s revenue and cementing its influence over a new generation of global buyers, as the US and its allies shy away from sanctioning the industry. Too many reactors in western countries depend on Russia for their nuclear fuel.

Trade data compiled by the UK’s Royal United Services Institute, a defense and security think-tank, shows that Russian nuclear fuel and technology sales abroad rose more than 20% in 2022.

About the Rolls-Royce 470 MW PWR

According to sources cited by Wikipedia, the firm is preparing a small modular reactor (SMR) design called the UK SMR, a close-coupled three-loop pressurized water reactor (PWR) design. Power output was initially designed to be 440 MWe, and subsequently increased to 470 MWe which is well above the usual range (< 300 MW) considered to be a SMR by the IAEA. The target cost cited in 2021 for a 470 MWe Rolls-Royce SMR unit is £1.8 billion for the fifth unit built.

See also the detailed specifications for the reactor, its fuel, and major systems published in the IAEA ARIS Database of Advanced Reactors

Rolls-Royce SMR, supported by grant funding from UK Research & Innovation, has a team of more than 600 UK based people already working on the project to develop a unique ‘factory-built’ power plant, with each unit capable of generating enough low-carbon electricity to power a million homes for more than 60 years. The firm has proposed to build a fleet of 16 units at various locations across the UK. No nuclear plants will be built in Scotland or Ireland as both countries retain strong anti-nuclear sentiments in their respective governments.

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UK Sheffield Forgemasters Joins X-Energy Deployment Effort

(WNN) Sheffield Forgemasters, X-energy and Cavendish Nuclear have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) related to the deployment of a fleet of Xe-100 high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) in the UK. The effort is significant as X-Energy was not one of the six SMR reactor projects selected by the UK government to compete for future funding to build SMRs.

However, in December 2021, then UK energy minister Greg Hands announced that HTGRs had been selected as the preferred advanced reactor technology for the Advanced Modular Reactor Research, Development & Demonstration Program. The program has a budget of $210 million of government funding intended to accelerate development of highly flexible nuclear technologies.

In May 2022, Cavendish Nuclear signed an MOU with X-energy to act as its deployment partner for HTGRs in the UK. The two companies have applied to the UK’s Future Nuclear Enabling Fund to support a Generic Design Assessment of the Xe-100 SMR and also supply chain development for the first proposed project.

X-energy of the USA and Cavendish Nuclear, a UK subsidiary of Babcock International group, will leverage Sheffield Forgemasters’ decades of experience in the development of nuclear forgings and castings with plans to build up to 40 Xe-100s across the UK.

Dominic Ashmore, Head of Strategy and Business Development – Clean Energy at Sheffield Forgemasters, said, “Following the key step forward recently made by Great British Nuclear (GBN) to boost UK nuclear power generation through small modular reactor (SMR) development, GBN is also developing a route to market for other technologies, including advanced nuclear and a consultation will be published this autumn.”

“Our work with X-Energy and Cavendish Nuclear will provide specialist engineering services, support and components including forgings, to the UK Xe-100 deployment program,” he added. “Sheffield Forgemasters will undertake a detailed review of the Xe-100 forgings and look to facilitate more definitive cost estimates and production plans.”

“In delivering that fleet we want to maximize the involvement of the UK supply chain as part of our target to achieve 80% by value UK content, and the MoU with a company with the experience and capabilities of Sheffield Forgemasters is a crucial step in that journey.”

The Xe-100 is a Generation IV advanced reactor design which X-energy says is based on decades of HTGR operation, research, and development including the South Africa PBMR.

It is designed to operate as a standard 320 MWe four-pack power plant or scaled in units of 80 MWe, At 200 MWt of 565°C steam, the Xe-100 is also suitable for other power applications including mining and heavy industry.

Earlier this year X-Energy signed an agreement to begin work on delivery of a first of a kind installation to supply electricity and process heat to a DOW chemical plant in Texas.

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General Fusion and Japan’s Kyoto Fusioneering Team Up

General Fusion and Kyoto Fusioneering has announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to accelerate the commercialization of General Fusion’s proprietary Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) technology, aiming for grid integration in the early to mid-2030s. The companies will collaborate to advance critical systems for MTF commercialization, including the tritium fuel cycle, liquid metal balance of plant, and power conversion cycle.

Kyoto Fusioneering specializes in fusion power plant systems that complement the plasma confinement core, are applicable to various fusion confinement concepts, such as MTF, and are on the critical path for fusion commercialization. The complementary capabilities of both organizations will enable parallel development of key systems supporting MTF commercialization.

Initial collaboration under this MOU will focus on liquid metal experimentation and fuel cycle system development at both the General Fusion and Kyoto Fusioneering facilities, such as establishment of balance of plant and power conversion test facilities, liquid metal loops, and vacuum systems.

General Fusion’s  commercial power plant design features a proprietary liquid metal wall that compresses plasma to fusion conditions, protects the fusion machine’s vessel components, and breeds tritium upon interacting with the fusion products. Tritium, a hydrogen isotope and key fusion fuel, does not occur naturally and must be produced or “bred” in the fusion process

This design allows the machine to be self-sustaining, generating fuel for the life of the power plant while facilitating efficient energy extraction from the fusion reaction through a liquid metal loop to a heat exchanger.

Quick Facts – General Fusion

Magnetized Target Fusion uniquely sidesteps challenges to commercialization that other technologies face. The proprietary liquid metal liner in the commercial fusion machine is mechanically compressed by high-powered pistons. This enables fusion conditions to be created in short pulses rather than creating a sustained reaction. General Fusion’s design does not require large superconducting magnets or an expensive array of lasers.

General Fusion’s design will use deuterium-tritium fuel for its commercial power plant. Both are isotopes of hydrogen. Deuterium occurs naturally and can be derived from seawater. Tritium needs to be produced, which is why General Fusion’s unique and proprietary technology that breeds tritium as a byproduct of the fusion reaction is a game-changer.

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Construction Begins of $700M Fusion Materials Test Facility in Spain

(NucNet) Construction has begun in Granada, Spain of a €700M ($742M) neutron irradiation facility for the study and qualification of materials planned as part of the European roadmap to fusion-generated electricity. Spain has committed to provide for 50% of the costs.

The facility aims to solve one of the key roadblocks towards harnessing fusion for large-scale electricity production which is determining which materials are sufficiently resistant to the neutron irradiation that will be present in next-generation fusion reactors.

The main goal of the planned facility, known as the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility, is to study properties of materials under severe irradiation in a neutron field similar to the one in a fusion reactor first wall.

It is seen as a key facility to prepare for the construction of a demonstration fusion power plant by one of several current fusion reactor developers.

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