22 January 2010
Germany's Radiation Protection Office (BfS) has decided to abandon the Asse radioactive waste repository in an old salt mine. This was licensed by federal and state agencies in the 1960s and 1970s, and received wastes from 1967 to 1978. It is in poor condition and is seen to represent a failure of proper licensing process. It has been closed for several years. The 126,000 drums of mostly low-level wastes will need to be moved from it. An alternative proposal to fill it with concrete to provide a stable matrix was rejected.
Most nuclear power generation in Canada is in Ontario, though Quebec and New Brunswick have one reactor each. Now the two provinces have concluded negotiations on an energy agreement that will see Hydro-Quebec acquire most of NB Power's generation assets. The deal includes the Point Lepreau nuclear power station, for C$1.4 billion ($1.3 billion), to be paid once the current refurbishment is complete early in 2011.
Point Lepreau's single 680 MWe Candu 6 pressurized heavy water reactor provides up to 30% of New Brunswick's electricity, but was shut down in March 2008 for an extensive refurbishment outage that will extend its operation by an additional 25 to 30 years. Work includes the replacement of all 380 fuel channels, calandria tubes and feeder tubes. The initial target completion date was July 2009, but it has slipped to October 2010.
The Hydro Quebec deal includes C$1.8 billion ($1.7 billion) for NB Power's non-nuclear generation assets and also transmission rights, including those to northeastern USA through a 1300+ MWe interconnector which supplies up to 12 TWh annually to New England. This is significant in the light of tentative plans to build a new ACR-1000 nuclear plant at Point Lepreau, and possibly a third plant largely for the US power market.
