The LongOps project will develop innovative robotic technologies
Britain and Japan have signed a research and technology deployment collaboration to help automate nuclear decommissioning and aspects of fusion energy production.
A world-leading alliance, it will see new robotics and automation techniques applied to both fusion research and to decommissioning nuclear facilities in Japan and the UK.
The £12M UK-Japanese robotics project, called “LongOps”, will support delivery of faster and safer decommissioning at TEPCO’s Fukushima Dai-ichi reactors in Japan and at Sellafield in the UK, using long-reach robotic arms.
This four-year research collaboration will be funded equally by UK Research and Innovation (“UKRI”), the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (“NDA”) and Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company (“TEPCO”).
The process of removing melted fuel was to begin at the No. 2 reactor in 2021, but the spread of the virus has stalled tests in the U.K. of a robot arm that is to be used.
Jan 6, 2021
The government is investigating if any speculative actions are accelerating the record-breaking surge in wholesale power prices, along with a winter supply crunch.
Spot power prices hit a historic high for the fourth straight day on Tuesday. The Electricity and Gas Market Surveillance Commission is investigating whether inappropriate actions are driving up rates, according to a spokeswoman.
Prices began to rally last month as colder-than-normal winter weather boosted demand for heating. To make matters worse, utilities were forced to curb generation at gas-fired power plants due in part to lower-than-normal inventories of the fuel.
Japan’s power surveillance commission, which sits under the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, is also investigating if any electricity producers are purposefully withholding capacity from the market, the spokeswoman said. The commission hasn’t yet discovered any evidence of wrongdoing, she said.
Fukushima nuclear debris removal to be delayed due to pandemic Sorry, but your browser needs Javascript to use this site. If you re not sure how to activate it, please refer to this site: https://www.enable-javascript.com/
A substance considered to be nuclear debris lies at the bottom of a reactor containment vessel of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant s No. 2 unit. | KYODO
Kyodo Dec 23, 2020
The operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which suffered core meltdowns in 2011, has decided to delay the removal of nuclear debris by about one year from 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, sources said Wednesday.
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Tokyo, Dec. 17 (Jiji Press) The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan told the central government on Thursday that it will consider joint use by power suppliers of a temporary storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in northeastern Japan.
Kazuhiro Ikebe, chairman of the power industry group, had talks with industry minister Hiroshi Kajiyama and informed him of the plan to consider having member power suppliers with nuclear power plants jointly use the nuclear facility under construction in Mutsu in Aomori Prefecture. The shared use is very meaningful for the promotion of the nuclear fuel cycle policy, Kajiyama replied, suggesting that the government plans to support the joint use initiative.