1) New Literature Research "Climate Change and the Power Industry"
3) Cooperation with the Nuclear Power Plants in the Moscow Regional Centre of WANO (WANO-MC)
6) Power Plants, Power Plant Operation - VGB PowerTech Journal 6/2007
VGB has issued an actual literature research "Climate Change and the Power Industry". The objective of this study is a fundamental representation of the scientific contexts and the current level of the scientific climate discussion. The development of the global, national and local climate-relevant emissions, as well as the possibilities for reducing the carbon dioxide emissions caused by the power industry will also be dealt with extensively. A lot of publications in scientific journals and reports of different institutes were analysed for this literature research.
http://www.vgb.org/climate_change2007.html
In order to continuously guarantee the component integrity of light water reactors during operation the "leak-before-break concept" is applied in Germany. This has been developed in the past 25 years on the basis of the safety criteria of the guidelines for damage precaution, of the German Reactor Safety Commission guidelines (RSK-LL) and the basis safety concept.
A new paper demonstrates that the German "leak-before-break concept" has been proven successfully for the last 25 years and reflects the state of the art of science and technology. The implementation in the plants and its incorporation in the KTA rules contribute to the safety of German nuclear power plants within the sense of precautionary damage prevention.
http://www.vgb.org/news_integrity.html
In the framework of Twinning program the this year's exchange of experience between Directors of Nuclear Power Plants associated in VGB and WANO-MC was held May 14 - 16, 2007, at Kruemmel NPP (Germany). In this meeting participated 26 directors of NPPs and executives of generating companies from Armenia, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Hungary, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Germany. In addition to the overviews about operating results of NPPs in 2006, implementation of indicators using for the purpose of assessments and decision making processes and plant operation with long-time fuel cycles were the general topics of the meeting.
The participants confirmed that the annual directors' meeting provides a basis for a gain in experience that is able to relate to the shown operating results and trends in last years.
http://www.vgb.org/cooperation_wano_mc.html
The NRC has issued in May 2007 the authorization to restart the nuclear unit Browns Ferry-1, which had been off-line together with units 2 and 3 on the same site since 1985 for operational problems.
The operator Tennessee Valley Authority had started work on the three-unit plant in 1967, completing the boiling water reactors between 1973 and 1976. After extensive refurbishment, TVA had restarted Browns Ferry-2 in 1991 and unit 3 in 1995. Unit 1 is scheduled to return to service later in 2007 having been refurbished and upgrated from 1,100 MWe to 1,155 MWe. The decision was taken on grounds of steadily increasing electricity demand and improved economic performance in comparison to coal or gas.
With reconnection of Browns Ferry-1, all 104 US nuclear units with operating licences will be on the grid again.
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/bf1-recovery.html
REACH Regulation, (EC) No. 1907/2006, concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals is in force since June 1, 2007. It had been published on December 30, 2006, in the Official Journal of the European Commission No. L 396.
Power plant by-products have to be registrated otherwise they cannot be used or handled on the free market. For waste the Regulation is not applicable.
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/reach/index_en.htm
Main topics of the June issue are: EU Energy Review: State of Plans and EURELECTRIC Views; Climate Change and Power Industry - State of the Scientific Research; Assessment of Plant Concepts by the Example of Industrial Biomass-based Power Plants.
Abstracts of all articles are available here:
http://www.vgb.org/current_issue.html