Floating nuclear power plant set for first refuelling : Uranium & Fuel

Nuclear fuel has been delivered to Russia's floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov with the landmark refuelling set to begin before the end of the year.The fuel was delivered by TVEL, Rosatom's fuel division, via the Northern Sea Route to the site, in Pevek, in the Chukotka region, in northeast Russia. The fuel was manufactured by TVEL's Elektrostal Machine-Building Plant, which is in the Moscow region.The Akademik Lomonosov, which supplies heat and power to the town, is based on two KLT-40S reactors generating 35 MWe each, which are similar to those used in a previous generation of nuclear powered icebreakers. The fuel for the second reactor is due to be supplied and loaded during 2024.TVEL said that unlike land-based large reactors which generally require replacement of a proportion of their fuel rods every 12-18 months "in the case of these reactors, the refuelling takes place once every few years and includes unloading of the entire reactor core and loading of fresh fuel into the reactor". It says this means there can be up to 3.5 years between refuellings.Akademik Lomonosov,...

Read More........ → October 26, 2023

At G-20, Biden announces ambitious corridor connecting India, Europe

President Biden with PM Modi at Raj Ghat Sept. 10, 2023. PHOTO: X @narendramodiNEW DELHI – President Biden and several other world leaders announced plans here Saturday afternoon for a new rail and shipping corridor that would connect India and Europe through the Middle East, an ambitious proposal aimed at further connecting a volatile region and countering China’s years-long backing of massive infrastructure projects around the world.The announcement solidified a preliminary agreement among a range of participants – including the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the European Union – and came as leaders of the world’s largest economies tried to work through divisions on a range of thorny issues.By midafternoon, the leaders here had reached consensus on a 37-page joint declaration on 83 points, several of which referred to Russia’s war in Ukraine. The debate over the war led some to predict that such a statement would prove elusive, particularly given that Russia is a member of the G-20. But they arrived at language that stated that “all...

Read More........ → September 11, 2023

Brics+ and the Tricky Business of Balancing Global Geopolitics

By Priyal Singh: Will an expanded BRICS precipitate a new international order, or collapse under the weight of its internal contradictions? The words of 13th century Persian poet Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, 'As you start to walk the way, the way appears,' certainly found new resonance in Johannesburg last week at the 15th BRICS Summit. Apart from expanding the diplomatic club to include Iran, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the summit revealed the global south's growing disillusionment with the current structure of the international system. These frustrations have bolstered BRICS' appeal as a counterweight to leading Western countries, such as those composing the G7. More significantly, an expanded BRICS represents a resounding call for international reform by global south states, exclusive from, and in opposition to, traditional Western powers. This unprecedented moment reflects the shifting locus of global power, and has propelled an expanded BRICS to chart a way into unknown territory. Decisions over the nature and trajectory of global order...

Read More........ → August 31, 2023