EIA process starts for BN-1200
An environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the construction and operation of Russia’s first BN-1200 fast neutron reactor has begun, Rosatom announced. The reactor would be built as the fifth unit at the Beloyarsk plant in Sverdlovsk Region, where a smaller BN-800 fast reactor is already under construction and an even smaller BN-350 unit has been in operation since 1981. OKBM Afrikantov expects to complete the engineering design of the BN-1200 in 2014.
Town approves Japanese restart
The town assembly of Ohi in Fukui prefecture has approved the restart of Kansai's Ohi 3 and 4. Nuclear regulators have endorsed the results of the units' stress tests and the government has already voiced its approval, but the plant needs approval at the local level before it can restart. Ohi mayor Shinobu Tokioka has indicated that his final decision on a restart will take into account the opinions of the assembly and the findings of an expert panel set up by the prefectural government.
Duke requests McGuire uprate
Duke Energy has applied to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to increase the licensed thermal power output of each of the two reactors at its McGuire nuclear power plant by 1.7%. A licence amendment would allow the company to raise the authorized core power level of each reactor from 3411 MWt to 3469 MWt. This would increase the gross electrical capacity of each unit - currently rated at 1305 MW - by about 30 MWe.