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The deputy prime minister of Serbia, whose government is keen to overturn a ban on nuclear energy projects in the country, has held discussions with Rosatom about expanding cooperation in non-energy applications of nuclear technologies.

Rosatom said that during Director General Alexei Likhachev and Serbia's Deputy PM Alexandar Vulin's meeting (see picture above) they also discussed the involvement of Russian companies in projects in Serbia as well as the involvement of Serbian companies in projects taking place in third countries.

The construction of nuclear power plants, nuclear fuel production plants and plants for used nuclear fuel processing for nuclear power plants in Serbia has been forbidden since 1989 - in the wake of the Chernobyl accident - predating the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. That ban has stayed in place, although the current government is aiming to reverse it.

In March, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić told the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels that Serbia's government was aiming to win public support for an end to the nuclear energy ban and was seeking support from other countries on nuclear know-how and financing towards its goal of getting 1200 MW of capacity from small modular reactors.

Since then, France's EDF and French engineering consultancy Egis have been awarded a contract by Serbia's Ministry of Mining & Energy to conduct a preliminary technical study on the potential use of nuclear power in the country and the Serbian ministry has also gathered together experts and institutions from within the country and abroad to consider establishing a programme for nuclear energy with "the use of nuclear energy foreseen in one of the scenarios of the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan".

Talks have also been held with the International Atomic Energy Agency about cooperation in the development of a nuclear energy programme.

France-based small modular reactor (SMR) startup Blue Capsule Technology has chosen CSTI Group for the design and construction of a test qualification loop, to be used in testing all thermo-hydraulic aspects of the reactor’s various components.

Blue Capsule said it is developing a high-temperature sodium-cooled 150-MWt SMR that can produce industrial-grade heat to 750°C, vapour to 650°C, and 50 MWe of electricity.

The company said its reactor design is targeting hard-to-abate sectors, such as ammonia and soda ash production, and industries that require industrial-grade heat and steam for hydrogen production.

The reactor optimised for deployment in arid environments, as it doesn't require water cooling, and its modular nature allows for cost-effective manufacturing and deployment, the company has said.

The Blue Capsule experimental loop will be built in 2025, with a series of tests planned for the end of 2025, a statement said.

The operation of this loop will take several years, before the commissioning of Blue Capsule’s non-nuclear prototype, expected by the end of 2028.

According to Alexey Lokhov, co-founder and chief technology officer at Blue Capsule, the project will serve as a demonstrator for the company’s concept as this first loop is expected to provide “valuable data not only for our project but for the nuclear sector more broadly”.

Domnin Erard, Blue Capsule's nuclear architect, said the loop tests will involve the natural circulation of liquid sodium at high temperatures and will be followed by a second phase testing the sodium-air heat exchangers and various materials.

Blue Capsule Technology was founded in November 2022. The company is a spin-off from France's Alternative Energies & Atomic Energy Commission (CEA).

In May 2024, Blue Capsule agreed with CEA to extend the support to fields including equipment and components, materials, and Triso (tristructural-isotropic)-based fuel.

In July 2024, the company announced new investment of €2m ($2.1m) in its high-temperature SMR project.

Investment in nuclear power must rapidly increase to $125bn (€115bn) a year by 2030 meet global climate targets, according to a new report, Climate Change and Nuclear Power 2024, by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The report says that nuclear power investment, both in nuclear new-build and long-term operation of existing reactors, needs to rise from the current average of $50bn a year to $125bn a year by 2030 to support ambitious projections to reach a 2.5-fold increase in nuclear capacity by 2050.

Last month, the IAEA released its forecast for a significant increase in global nuclear power capacity by 2050 by 2.5 times current levels.

The agency said a “more aspirational goal” would require more than $150bn in annual investment to triple global nuclear capacity – a pledge made by 22 countries in December 2023 at the Cop28 United Nations (UN) climate conference in Dubai.

The new report highlights the financial challenges and opportunities in scaling up nuclear energy, underlining the need for innovative financing mechanisms to meet the growing demand for clean energy.

A main focus of the report is the financial complexity surrounding nuclear projects, particularly the large upfront costs and long construction timelines. The report said these two aspects “exacerbate the perception of investment risks.”

According to the report, costs for new nuclear power plants can be highly project-specific, varying across countries and reflecting not only differences in technologies, labour costs, project scope and financing mechanisms but also different recent experiences in plant construction. The UN agency based its report on financing and cost estimations by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The IAEA said “reported” capital costs (excluding financing costs) for a first-of-a-kind (Foak) reactor unit after many years in the EU, UK and US range between US $8,000-11,000 per kW or more.

In countries with ongoing experience in nuclear plant construction and “mature expanded” nuclear energy supply chains, and often lower labour and regulatory costs, construction costs and construction times have been comparatively lower, the agency said.

The IAEA gave examples recent new-builds in China, South Korea and Russia where reported capital costs have been closer to $2,500-5,000 per kW.

According to the report, quoting IEA estimates, by rebuilding nuclear supply chains, scaling up deployment volumes, and reusing the same design from one project to the next China and India will be able to deliver nuclear projects for less than $3,000 per kW, while in the EU and the US, new build costs could be reduced to around $4,500 per kW by 2050.

Government Backing Is Essential

The report calls for governments to play a role in ensuring financing availability for nuclear power projects. This includes providing loan guarantees, subsidies, and regulatory support to attract private investors. Public-private partnerships are seen as a potential model for distributing financial risks while making nuclear energy projects more bankable.

According to the IAEA, nuclear power projects have the potential to be attractive to private investors because of their long-term stability and predictability in energy generation, which can translate to consistent revenue.

Despite private investors having been “historically averse” to engage in nuclear energy projects due to their specific risks, various financial instruments can help mitigate these risks and make nuclear ventures more appealing to private capital.

Government backing is essential for nuclear expansion, particularly in managing the risks of new-build projects. Such support is important also for emerging markets and developing economies which can be “newcomers” to nuclear power.

The report says government backing can also come though export credit agencies, with export credit having become increasingly important for all parties involved in nuclear energy projects. “For technology exporters, the ability to provide financial solutions has become a critical competitive advantage, especially in new or emerging markets that lack the access to the large funding required in nuclear energy projects,” says the report.

Innovative financing mechanisms, including green bonds and sustainable finance, could be used to unlock the required capital. The inclusion of nuclear energy in sustainable investment taxonomies, such as in the European Union, is seen as a potential catalyst for drawing commercial banks into the sector.

The IAEA also sees a growing role for multilateral development banks, especially in emerging markets, to bridge financing gaps in countries with less developed financial systems.

“The IAEA is engaging multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, to highlight their potential role in making sure that developing countries have more and better financing options when it comes to investing in nuclear energy,” says the report.

The Potential Of Small Modular Reactors

The report highlights the potential of small modular reactors (SMRs) to attract new types of financing. Although these reactors promise lower initial capital costs and reduced construction risks, no large-scale commercial deployment of SMRs has yet provided a clear picture of their cost competitiveness.

“The cost structure of SMRs in many ways mirrors that of their larger counterparts,” the report said adding that “both have relatively high upfront capital investment requirements and stable and predictable operating expenses.”

“However, SMRs offer the potential for simplification, standardisation and predictability that holds the key to unlocking their economic competitiveness, overcoming their main disadvantage compared with traditional large reactors, which have evolved towards larger units to take advantage of economies of scale.”

The timeframe for investors to see returns is expected to be shorter for SMRs because of their faster construction period, says the report.

The report concludes that collaborative efforts between policymakers, regulators and the nuclear industry could facilitate the broader financing and deployment of SMRs.

The creation of the Nuclear Energy Platform is intended to share experience and support the development of nuclear technologies among BRICS+ member countries.

The intergovernmental BRICS organisation's members are currently Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the UAE, with more than 20 other countries also expressing an interest in joining the organisation which is widely seen as a counterbalance to the G7 grouping of industrialised nations.

The presidency of what is now sometimes referred to as BRICS+ since its expansion from 5 to 10 members this year, is currently held by Russia, with its annual summit taking place in the city of Kazan next week. But ahead of that event, the BRICS+ Business Forum has been taking place, with the issue of collaboration in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear technology discussed at a meeting at Moscow Atom Museum.

Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom director general, said that nearly all the organisation's members were implementing projects in the field of nuclear energy: "Today, many BRICS members are the technological drivers of the international nuclear market. The common experience can and should be used and replicated throughout the BRICS space and on the planet as a whole. Therefore, we propose to join forces within the framework of the BRICS nuclear platform, a voluntary alliance of companies, professional nuclear communities and NGOs supporting the development and implementation of nuclear technologies."

BRICS member countries currently have 390 GWe of operable nuclear power units with a further 66 MWe under construction. One of the platform's aims is to help companies, if required, with persuading their governments to see nuclear as a clean energy source, and also share assistance for dealing with other issues which may be hampering nuclear energy projects.

According to Russia's official Tass news agency, Likhachev told reporters that the process of legal formalisation of the Nuclear Energy Platform had started and that its main aim was to develop and implement best practices relating to energy and non-energy use of nuclear technologies for peaceful purposes in BRICS and BRICS+ markets and to develop incentivising mechanisms and models of projects’ implementation in member countries.

It reported him as saying that the platform was intended for companies, nuclear power plants and related organisations - "those capable of contributing to development of the nuclear power sector" - and the plan had been backed unanimously.

Orpet Peixoto, deputy chairman of the Brazilian Association for the Development of the Nuclear Industry, said: "I am very happy with the progress in the formation of the Platform. I believe that it will prove fruitful for BRICS countries and BRICS associate member-states ... we are one of the very few countries in the world with all the elements of nuclear fuel cycle but we need support, we need financing, and we know that we can get them through cooperation with the BRICS countries. So, I see Brazil has a lot to gain from the cooperation within the platform."

Meanwhile, speaking at the BRICS business forum on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that BRICS members now had a bigger share of global gross domestic product than the G7 members, saying its members were "in fact the drivers of global economic growth" and with the development of "communication channels, technological and educational standards, financial systems, payment instruments and, of course, mechanisms for sustainable, long-term investment ... the economic growth of BRICS members in the future will increasingly depend less on outside influence or interference".

Member countries of the European Nuclear Alliance have called upon the next European Commission to recognise the contributions of both nuclear and renewables in Europe's decarbonisation in its upcoming programme, covering the period 2024-2029.

The Alliance met on 15 October in Luxembourg in the margins of the Energy Council with ministers and high-level representatives from 14 EU member states (including the upcoming Polish presidency) as well as the European Commission.

In a joint statement, the Alliance said: "In a changing global geopolitical context, the upcoming 2024-29 Commission's mandate must ensure the competitiveness and resilience of our economies towards reaching climate-neutrality by 2050 and to address the 'existential challenge' that Europe is facing.

"Nuclear energy, alongside renewable energy, is a cost-competitive solution to meet the growing demand for fossil-free electricity and mitigate climate change, thanks to its low-carbon footprint. Nuclear energy is the ready-available fossil-free technology able to produce consistent baseload dispatchable power, ensuring both our collective security of supply and the necessary flexibility in our electricity market."

In March, the European Nuclear Alliance outlined four pillars of action to set "an enabling European framework to foster a robust European nuclear industry and guarantee the security of supply of nuclear materials, particularly nuclear fuel, for power and non-power uses". These included: developing access to private and public financing, and exploring the possibilities and benefits of European financing instruments; developing a skilled and diverse nuclear workforce for all civil nuclear applications; scaling-up industrial, research and innovation collaboration across a European value chain through concrete projects; and respecting the national choices of all member states with regards to the decarbonisation of their energy mix to strengthen our unity.

"We commit to intensify our cooperation within the Alliance, with all other like-minded EU member states and with the European Commission on these four pillars," the Alliance said in their latest statement.

"The benefits of existing and future nuclear power plants go beyond the borders of member states which opt for nuclear energy," they continue. "Indeed, low-carbon baseload energies such as hydro or nuclear power stabilise our common grid and the entire European electricity market.

"Nuclear energy as well as renewables are true collective assets for the European Union. Due to its baseload profile and low operating costs, nuclear power production creates less volatile market conditions. Without such energies, there is no path for the EU to provide to its citizens affordable, reliable and abundant low-carbon energy while achieving net-zero by 2025."

The 103 nuclear power reactors currently in operation in the EU provide it with about one-quarter of its electricity.

The current Commission's term of office runs until 31 October 2024. Between 6 and 9 June, EU citizens voted to elect the 720 members of the next European Parliament. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was elected for a second mandate.

The European Nuclear Alliance comprises Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden, plus Belgium and Italy as observers.

The head of cloud-based gaming services provider Ubitus KK has said the Tokyo-based company is planning to construct a new data centre in Japan and is specifically looking at areas with nearby nuclear power plants.

Ubitus already has two data centres for gaming - located in Tokyo and Osaka to be close to gaming clients - which are operated in partnership with Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation.

The company is now looking to build a third data centre to serve generative artificial intelligence. For generative AI, the priority becomes more about the size of energy supply and electricity price, Ubitus CEO Wesley Kuo told Bloomberg.

Kuo said the company is looking to acquire land in Kyoto, Shimane or a prefecture in Japan's southern island of Kyushu, primarily because of the availability of nuclear power in the region. Setting up a data centre in these areas would allow access to a grid with cheap and stable electricity thanks to the nuclear facilities, he said.

Kyoto is close to several nuclear power plants operated by Kansai Electric Power Company, while Kyushu is home to four units managed by Kyushu Electric Power Company. Chugoku Electric Power Company is scheduled to restart unit 2 of its Shimane plant in Shimane Prefecture in December.

"Unless we have other, better, efficient and cheap energy, nuclear is still the most competitive option in terms of cost and the scale of supply," Kuo said. "For industrial use - especially AI - they need a constant, high-capacity supply."

Ubitus expects to select a location for its new data centre in early 2025, Kuo told Bloomberg. The centre will initially have power-receiving capacity of 2-3 MWe, with plans to potentially expand to up to 50 MWe.

In March, Ubitus announced that it had received new investment from California-based software and fabless company Nvidia Corporation, which it said "underscores the immense potential and accelerating demand for generative AI and cloud gaming across Asia and beyond".

Earlier this week, online shopping and web services giant Amazon announced it was investing USD500 million in developing nuclear technologies to power its data centres. That announcement came two days after fellow online giant Google signed a Master Plant Development Agreement with Kairos Power for the development and construction of a series of advanced reactor plants. And last month Microsoft announced it had signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation which would see Three Mile Island unit 1 restarted, five years after it was shut down.

Core Power announced it has signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Research Institute to study market conditions for a maritime civil nuclear programme in Japan. The UK-based company is also nearing completion of its Series B funding round of USD500 million.

Core Power said it signed the agreement with Mitsubishi Research Institute to "further strengthen its operations".

"Japan will play a major role in the development of the specially designed ships as it is a world leader in innovative engineering and shipbuilding," said Core Power CEO Mikal Bøe. "Core Power is also working to build continued support from Japanese, European and American end users in shipping, finance, industry and trading houses."

In May last year, it was reported that more than a dozen Japanese companies - including Onomichi Dockyard and Imabari Shipyard - had invested a combined total of about USD80 million in Core Power, which is helping develop a floating molten salt reactor nuclear power plant and other maritime applications. The British company is now reportedly majority-owned by Japanese companies.

Core Power said its technology will "power large ocean-going ships with dramatic improvements in energy efficiency and true zero emissions, an estimated USD3 trillion market for large ships by 2060". It also plans to provide reliable, clean floating nuclear energy to coastal customers, on time and on budget. Estimates are that the floating nuclear power market will reach USD2.6 trillion by 2060.

Once the first ships and floating power plants are built, Core Power will co-own and operate 'turnkey' floating nuclear power solutions with customer investors. The company said it aims to build an order book of critical mass by 2030 worth up to USD10 billion.

"We are entering an exciting period in the development of maritime nuclear technology, as we move from the drawing board to building technology which will change the face of shipping for good," Bøe said.

The shipping industry consumes some 350 million tonnes of fossil fuel annually and accounts for about 3% of total worldwide carbon emissions. In July last year, the shipping industry, via the International Maritime Organization, approved new targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions, aiming to reach net-zero emissions by or around 2050.

The US has announced initial contracts to four companies hoping to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium, or Haleu, for an expected new generation of high-tech nuclear power reactors, the US Department of Energy (DOE) said on Thursday (17 October).

Russia is currently the only country that makes Haleu in commercial volumes. Funds to make the fuel domestically in the US were included in a May 2024 law to ban uranium shipments from Russia by 2028.

The four companies awarded contracts are US-based Centrus Energy subsidiary American Centrifuge Operating; Urenco USA, which is a British, Dutch, German company with operations in New Mexico; Orano USA, based in Maryland with global headquarters in France; and a company called General Matter.

“All contracts will last for up to 10 years and each awardee receives a minimum contract of $2 million [€1.8m], with up to $2.7 billion available for these services, subject to the availability of appropriations,” the DOE said.

Energy secretary Jennifer Granholm said the announcement represents the Biden-Harris administration’s latest efforts to build a secure domestic Haleu supply chain, which is essential to bringing advanced nuclear reactors online and meeting the growing demand for clean, reliable electricity.

Haleu is uranium enriched between 5 and 20%, which increases the amount of fissile material to make the fuel more efficient relative to lower-enriched forms of uranium.

Many advanced reactors – likely to be deployed from the 2030s onwards – will use Haleu to achieve smaller designs, longer operating cycles, and increased efficiencies over current technologies.

Under the DOE contracts, the four companies will bid on future work to produce and store Haleu in the form of uranium hexafluoride gas to eventually be made into fuel for advanced reactors.

Centrus president and chief executive officer Amir Vexler said the award could facilitate the potential expansion of Centrus’ first-of-a-kind Haleu production capacity in Piketon, Ohio, to help meet the needs of the advanced nuclear industry and the nation.

“It represents a critical piece of the public-private partnership we are working to build so that we can restore a robust, American-owned uranium enrichment capability to power the future of nuclear energy.”

Advanced Reactors ‘Key To Clean Energy Future’

The DOE said advanced nuclear reactors are key to the US’s clean energy future and meeting ambitious clean energy and climate goals.

“The United States currently lacks commercial Haleu enrichment capabilities to support the deployment of advanced reactors,” it noted.

“These contracts support the buildout of a robust Haleu supply chain in the United States and complement last week’s announcement of contracts to support Haleu deconversion services.”

That announcement was of six companies chosen as awardees under an $800m DOE contract to provide Haleu deconversion services for advanced nuclear power reactors.

The six companies were BWXT, Centrus, Framatome, GE Vernova, Orano and Westinghouse.

President Joe Biden’s administration believes nuclear power, which generates virtually emissions-free electricity, is critical in fighting climate change, ensuring energy security and to meet rising power demand from the growing number of data centres and other consumers. Smaller reactors can be used for power generation, but also for district heating, and industrial applications such as oil refining, desalination, and steel production.

The US Department of Energy has opened applications for funding to support the initial domestic deployment of Generation III+ small modular reactor technologies. Up to USD800 million will go to two "first-mover" teams, with USD100 million to address so-called gaps that have hindered plant deployments.

The Department of Energy (DOE) estimates the USA will need some 700-900 GWe of additional clean, firm power generation capacity to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and nuclear power is a proven option that could be deployed to meet this growing demand. As well as looking to operating life extensions, reactor capacity uprates, reversing plans to close reactors, and even restarting formerly closed reactors, utilities are "are earnestly exploring building new reactors to meet the fast-growing demand for carbon-free energy", the agency said. Small modular reactors (SMRs) can be used for multiple applications included power generation, process heat, desalination, and Generation III+ (Gen III+) SMRs "may be able to revitalise and leverage the expertise, workforce, and supply chains supporting the existing fleet of large light-water reactor designs, thus providing a near-term path for new nuclear deployments and operation", it said.

According to the solicitation documentation, a Gen III+ SMR is defined as a nuclear fission reactor that uses light water as a coolant and low-enriched uranium fuel, with a single-unit net electrical power output of 50-350 MWe, that maximises factory fabrication approaches, and the same or improved safety, security, and environmental benefits compared with current large nuclear power plant designs.

The funding aims to assist the private sector in establishing a "credible and sustainable pathway" to deploying a fleet of Gen III+ SMRs that "advances environmental protection and community benefits, creates new, good-paying, high-quality jobs, and reinforces America’s leadership in the nuclear industry".

The funding will be offered in two tiers. Tier 1 - First Mover Team Support - is managed by the DOE Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and will provide up to USD800 million for milestone-based awards to support up to two first mover teams of utility, reactor vendor, constructor, and end-users/off-takers committed to deploying a first plant while facilitating a multi-reactor, Gen III+ SMR orderbook and working alongside the US National Nuclear Security Administration to incorporate safeguards and security by design into the projects. Teams who wish to apply for Tier 1 funding must include a US utility, reactor technology vendor, and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company.

Tier 2 - Fast Follower Deployment Support - is managed by the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, and will provide up to USD100 million to spur additional Gen III+ SMR deployments by addressing key gaps that have hindered the domestic nuclear industry in areas such as design, licensing, supplier development, and site preparation.

"Revitalising America's nuclear sector is key to adding more carbon free energy to the grid and meeting the needs of our growing economy - from AI and data centres to manufacturing and healthcare," Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said.

The funding is created by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 and uses funds from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The deadline for applications is 17 January 2025.

Orano has inaugurated a new fully-automated manufacturing plant in the port of Cherbourg, Normandy, for the fabrication of its TN Eagle casks for the transport and dry storage of used nuclear fuel.

The opening ceremony was held in the presence of Claude Imauven, chairman of the Orano board of directors and Frédéric de Agostini, senior executive vice president in charge of nuclear packaging and services, together with customers, elected officials and economic stakeholders from the region.

Construction of the 6600-square-metre TN Eagle 4.0 factory began in February 2023, with the support of the France Relance investment fund. Equipped with manufacturing processes featuring disruptive technology compared with market standards, the fully-automated factory can assemble weld-free packages in 15 months, compared with an average of more than 40 months for previous-generation products. The TN Eagle factory has a production capacity of up to 30 packages per year.

"Implementation of these new processes has been made possible thanks to a design that is innovative in itself," Orano said. "With up to ten times fewer parts than similar packaging, zero welding and exceptional modularity, the TN Eagle design optimises manufacturing while benefiting from greater robustness."

The TN Eagle cask design - 5 metres long, 3 metres in diameter, weighing 150 tonnes - was approved by the French Nuclear Safety Authority in 2020 and by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in November last year.

Orano said it had already received numerous orders for several dozen TN Eagle casks from French and international customers.

"I am proud today to inaugurate our TN Eagle factory, the result of the commitment of the Orano teams who, in just six years, have designed new packaging and commissioned a factory featuring breakthrough technology compared with existing standards, while contributing to more reliable, safer and more competitive manufacturing," Agostini said. "I would like to thank our French and international customers for their trust in us."

Orano CEO Nicolas Maes added: "This project reflects the group's desire to develop innovative solutions, combining Orano's historical expertise in the field of nuclear packaging and cutting-edge technologies. This new industrial facility, located in the area of Nord-Cotentin, allows us to maximise our support for the needs of our customers all over the world."

Orano NPS - a subsidiary of the Orano group - provides global logistics solutions to its customers throughout the world, ranging from the design of packages, together with their approval and manufacture, through to nuclear materials transport operations. Orano NPS carries out more than 6000 transport operations annually worldwide.

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority on Wednesday (16 October) approved the Takahama-1 nuclear power plant to continue operations for the next 10 years, making it the country’s first reactor to be endorsed to operate beyond 50 years.

The regulator confirmed owner and operator Kansai Electric Power Company’s assessment that the plant is safe to operate. It also approved Kansai Electric’s plan for ageing countermeasures at the unit over the next 10 years.

The 780-MW Takahama-1 pressurised water reactor unit, in Fukui Prefecture, western Japan is the oldest operational nuclear power reactor in the country. It began commercial operation in November 1974.

Kansai Electric applied to the NRA in November last year to operate the plant for a further 10 years after conducting an ageing technical evaluation and formulating a long-term facility management policy.

The Takahama station has four units, all of which have been restarted since the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi disaster. Takahama-1 was restarted in July 2023 after being offline since January 2011.

Before Fukushima, Japan’s fleet of 54 nuclear plants generated about 30% of the country’s electricity, but were all shut down for safety checks following the accident.

Among the 33 operable nuclear reactors in Japan, 12 have now resumed operations after meeting post-Fukushima safety standards. The restarted plants are: Sendai-1 and -2, Genkai-3 and -4, Ikata-3, Mihama-3, Ohi-3 and -4 and Takahama-1, -2, -3 and -4.

Earlier this week, Chugoku Electric Power Company said its Shimane-2 nuclear power plant in Shimane Prefecture, southwest Japan, will restart in early December, a move that will bring the number of reactors online to 13 and boost the nation’s power supply this winter.

Under regulations which came into force in July 2013, Japanese reactors had a nominal operating period of 40 years. One extension to this – limited to a maximum of 20 years – could be granted, bringing the maximum to 60 years.

In December 2022, the NRA approved a new rule that would allow reactors to be operated for more than 60 years. The rule effectively extended the amount of time reactors can remain operational beyond 60 years by excluding time spent on inspections and other periods they are offline from consideration when calculating their total service life. Japan’s cabinet formally adopted the new rule in February 2023.

Amazon has announced it has taken a stake in advanced nuclear reactor developer X-energy, with the goal of deploying up to 5 GW of its small modular reactors in the USA by 2039.

Online shopping and web services giant Amazon's Climate Change Pledge Fund was described as the anchor investor in a USD500 million financing round for X-energy, alongside Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, Ares Management Corporation, private equity firm NGP and University of Michigan.

The funding is designed to pave the way to completion of the reactor design and licensing, and the first phase of its TRISO-X fuel fabrication facility at Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The first project

The first project looks set to be in Washington State, with Amazon announcing it had signed an agreement with Energy Northwest, a consortium of state public utilities, for an initial four advanced small modular reactors (SMRs) generating about 320 MWe, with an option to treble that number, which would be able to power 770,000 homes.

Amazon will fund the initial feasibility phase for the SMR project which is planned for a site near the energy company's Columbia Generating Station nuclear energy facility in Richland. Under the agreement Amazon would have the right to purchase electricity from the first phase, while Energy Northwest will have the option to build the eight extra modules, with the additional power being available to Amazon and utilities in the area.

Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services, said: "One of the fastest ways to address climate change is by transitioning our society to carbon-free energy sources, and nuclear energy is both carbon-free and able to scale - which is why it’s an important area of investment for Amazon. Our agreements will encourage the construction of new nuclear technologies that will generate energy for decades to come."

Greg Cullen, Vice President for Energy Services & Development at Energy Northwest, said: "We've been working for years to develop this project at the urging of our members, and have found that taking this first, bold step is difficult for utilities, especially those that provide electricity to ratepayers at the cost of production. We applaud Amazon for being willing to use their financial strength, need for power and know-how to lead the way to a reliable, carbon-free power future for the region."

The advanced reactors

The Xe-100 is a Generation IV advanced reactor design which X-energy says is based on decades of high temperature gas-cooled reactor operation, research, and development. 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. The Xe-100 uses tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel, which has additional safety benefits because it can withstand very high temperatures without melting,

X-energy says its design makes it road-shippable with accelerated construction timelines and more predictable and manageable construction costs, and is well suited to meet the requirements of energy-intensive data centres.

Clay Sell, X-energy CEO, said: "Amazon and X-energy are poised to define the future of advanced nuclear energy in the commercial marketplace. To fully realise the opportunities available through artificial intelligence, we must bring clean, safe, and reliable electrons onto the grid with proven technologies that can scale and grow with demand. We deeply appreciate our earliest funders and collaborators, notably the US Department of Energy and Dow Inc. With Amazon, Ken Griffin, and our other strategic investors, we are now uniquely suited to deliver on this transformative vision for the future of energy and tech."

The initial Xe-100 plant is being developed at Dow Inc's UCC Seadrift Operations site on the Texas Gulf Coast, which would be the first nuclear reactor deployed to serve an industrial site in the USA.

What else has been announced?

A memorandum of understanding has also been signed with utility company Dominion Energy to look into the development of an SMR project near the company's existing North Anna nuclear power station. It is not the first move into nuclear energy from Amazon, which is co-locating a data centre facility next to Talen Energy's nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.

Robert Blue, Chairman and CEO of Dominion Energy, said: "This agreement builds on our longstanding partnership with Amazon and other leading tech companies to accelerate the development of carbon-free power generation in Virginia. It's an important step forward in serving our customers' growing needs with reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy. This collaboration gives us a potential path to advance SMRs with minimal rate impacts for our residential customers and substantially reduced development risk."

In July, Dominion Energy announced a Request for Proposals from leading SMR nuclear technology companies to evaluate the feasibility of developing an SMR at the company's North Anna plant - while it is not a commitment to build an SMR, it is an important first step in evaluating the technology and the feasibility of developing it at North Anna the company says.

Data centres and nuclear

Amazon's series of announcements confirms a recent trend of data centre operators looking at nuclear energy as a way to get reliable energy that is carbon free. Amazon noted that it is not just their data centres and web services which are going to see increasing electricity demand, but also wider developments such as electrifying its vehicle fleet.

On Tuesday, a fellow online giant, Google, signed a Master Plant Development Agreement with Kairos Power for the development and construction of a series of advanced reactor plants.

And last month Microsoft announced it had signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation which would see Three Mile Island unit 1 restarted, five years after it was shut down.