Friday 6 December 2013

B&W, Cavendish, Battelle team up in bid to manage AECL labs

The joining forces: B&W, Cavendish, Battelle team up in bid to manage AECL labs: http://www.neimagazine.com/news/newsbw-cavendish-battelle-team-up-to-manage-aecl-labs "The Babcock & Wilcox Company has partnered with UK-based Cavendish Nuclear Ltd. and US-based research and development organization Battelle in pursuit of a contract for managing Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd's Nuclear Laboratories.
The Canadian government announced in February that it would launch a competitive process for the management of the nuclear labs, principally the Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario, and the Whiteshell Laboratories in Manitoba.
It is seeking to implement a government-owned, contractor-operated (GoCo) model, as is used in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The international consortium of B&W, Cavendish and Battelle offers valuable experience from work in North American and the United Kingdom, according to George Dudich, President, B&W Technical Services Group.
In addition to its work in Canada, B&W supports the US Department of Energy in areas such as national laboratory management, nuclear operations, infrastructure modernization, and environmental restoration and management.
Cavendish Nuclear is the largest nuclear site management, engineering and support services contractor in the UK, with nuclear site licensee experience at Harwell, Winfrith and Dounreay in England and Scotland.
Battelle, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, is an international science and technology enterprise with a management role at seven national laboratories.
AECL's Nuclear Laboratories are responsible for nuclear science and technology priorities for safety, security, health, the environment, waste management and clean energy technologies, as well as the production of medical isotopes.
"Canada's Nuclear Laboratories are held in high regard by the international community, and have a rich history in the development of the nuclear industry. We're eager to partner with this team to provide a confident and secure future for Chalk River," said Dr. Ron Townsend, Executive Vice President of Global Laboratory Operations for Battelle."


Directly from the horse's mouth: http://www.babcock.com/news-room/Pages/BW-Announces-Innovation-Partners-in-Pursuit-of-Atomic-Energy-of-Canada-Ltd.%E2%80%99s-Nuclear-Laboratories.aspx

Employees at Ontario nuclear facility vote to join USW union

Employees at Ontario nuclear facility vote to join USW union: http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/general/employees-at-ontario-nuclear-facility-vote-to-join-usw-union-125918 “Our first priorities will be pending negotiations and how AECL employees will be affected by future changes in the operations.”

Floating SMR: Russia’s answer to flexible low maintenance nuclear power?

Floating SMR: Russia’s answer to flexible low maintenance nuclear power? "While the US remains the most promising market for SMR development and installation, Russia is making waves with its barge-based technology. It might just be the added-value proposition of low maintenance and no decommissioning that is the clincher. This article has been updated. Russia is quite literally pushing the boat out with small modular reactor (SMR) technology. Earlier this year, World Nuclear News reported on how Rosenergoatom, Russia’s state-owned manufacturer, had put two reactors onto a barge in Saint Petersburg after four years of testing. The barge-based plant is intended to set sail for northeast Russia’s Chukotka Peninsula, in the East Siberian Sea, to serve mining interests close to the Arctic, according to reports. But Russia, which is working on a number of SMR variants, clearly expects to be able to commercialise its floating designs abroad, too. “The Russian business model, as I understand it, is that they will simply tow in a 40MWe unit, connect it to your drop line, and provide you with power for up to three years,” says Jay Harris, an SMR consultant based in Canada. “They will either charge you a flat rate to provide the capacity and availability for the power, or use a per-kilowatt-hour fixed price model. When the unit requires service or refuelling, they tow in a new unit and disconnect the old one.” Old reactors will return to a centralised service yard in Russia, he adds, so as well as having no upfront cost the electricity customer does not have to deal with spent fuel issues or even outages." http://analysis.nuclearenergyinsider.com/small-modular-reactors/floating-smr-russia’s-answer-flexible-low-maintenance-nuclear-power#sthash.znkUKIod.dpuf

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Attack on science shows need for new parliamentary watchdog

I'd say also a science advisor or council is also a must!
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2013/12/02/attack_on_science_shows_need_for_new_parliamentary_watchdog_editorial.html

Ontario energy plan

"The government of Ontario has kept nuclear at the centre of its updated long-ter...m energy program, with major refurbishments planned for the Bruce and Darlington power stations. However, it has decided to defer the construction of new nuclear capacity." http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NP-Ontario-relies-on-current-nuclear-capacity-0312137.html