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10kBq jaro

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Galena opens the door to nuclear project
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Galena opens the door to nuclear project
Alaska Journal of Commerce December 26, 2004

Galena's city council unanimously approved a resolution Dec. 14 tentatively accepting an offer by Japan's Toshiba Corp. to install a small-scale 10
megawatt nuclear power plant in the community as a demonstration project.

That is provided Toshiba can secure licensing from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the project, according to Galena city manager Marvin Yoder. Galena is a small community west of Fairbanks, on the Yukon River.

The resolution directed Yoder to work with the community's Washington, D.C.-based attorney and Toshiba in developing the application to the NRC.

The 4S reactor unit is referred to as a battery because it does not have moving parts, and once installed, its fuel will not need to be replaced as in conventional nuclear reactors.

        Small Modular Reactor news March 18, 2004
        Alaskan village offered prototype "nuclear battery" by Toshiba
        http://www.nuclear.com/n-plants/index-Small_modulr_reactr.html
        for more info

The reactor unit is 50 feet to 60 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet in diameter. It will be built outside of Alaska, installed in the Yukon River community, encased in several tons of concrete and not be opened during its operating life, which is now estimated at 30 years.

Licensing will be an involved process that will take several years and substantial funding by Toshiba, Yoder said. It will also include development of a federal environmental impact statement.

"It is in the public interest to pursue the siting of a Toshiba 4S nuclear battery in Galena," the resolution said. The council further directed Yoder to "establish a process and timeline leading to evaluations, industrial partners, and financial and contractual arrangements necessary to bring the economic and environmental benefits of the 4S to Galena."

Toshiba has offered to install the reactor at Galena free of cost if the licensing is approved as a commercial demonstration of the "nuclear battery" in a remote location.

Once the technology is approved for use in the United States, Toshiba believes there will be opportunities for sales worldwide, and elsewhere in rural Alaska, according to Robert Chaney, a researcher with Science Applications International Corp.

SAIC coordinated a U.S. Department of Energy study of long-term energy supply options for Galena, including the Toshiba battery. The University of Alaska and Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory worked with SAIC in the study.

The study showed the Toshiba battery can supply electricity to the community for about one-fourth of the cost of conventional diesel fuel.

Chaney said the DOE study weighed the cost benefits of nuclear against other ways of providing Galena with improved energy, including more efficient diesel generation, a small coal-fired power plant, and wind, solar and hydro-power from the nearby Yukon River.

Wind, solar and hydro-power were taken off the list as primary power sources when it was determined that site conditions in Galena did not make those options practical, Chaney told an Alaska Miners Association group in a Dec. 17 briefing on the project.

The analysis showed that, presuming the nuclear battery went into operation in 2010, by 2020 it could supply electricity to Galena for 5 to 14 cents a kilowatt hour (kWh), assuming the reactor is a gift from Toshiba and the community pays only operating costs.

In comparison, improved diesel generation could provide Galena power for 25 cents to 35 cents per kWh. Coal-fired power comes in as a serious alternative in the study, at 21 cents to 26 cents per kWh, Chaney told the mining group. A small coal-powered plant could use coal extracted from a thick coal seam about 12 miles from the community.

The nuclear option looks good even if Galena were to pay for the reactor. In that case the power costs were estimated at 15 cents to 25 cents per kWh in the study, Chaney said. Toshiba has estimated the cost of the 4S reactor at $25 million. Galena's power is now 28 cents per kWh.

However, the nuclear costs vary so much because of uncertainty over the number of security guards the federal NRC may require at the site, Chaney said. Toshiba told SAIC that if the NRC's current regulations are followed, 34 security guards would be needed at the Galena site.

Chaney said a terrorist attack in a small, isolated rural community like Galena is unlikely because an unknown outsider would quickly be recognized.
The 4S unit would be encased under several feet of concrete, "and if people show up with jackhammers, everyone in town will be aware of it."

A more appropriate staffing for security might be 4 guards, augmented by a state trooper and Galena city police who are nearby, Chaney said. If the NRC accepts that, the operating costs will be low enough to deliver electricity for 5 cents, according to the study.

The 4S unit will supply far more electricity than Galena now uses, but if it is installed there will be ample, inexpensive power available for local residents to convert homes from heating with expensive fuel oil to more affordable electricity.

Even then, there will be substantial excess power, enough to operate greenhouses that can grow vegetables and fruit year-around for the community, Chaney said.

There are, however, always risks with new technology, according to Ron Johnson, a professor of engineering at University of Alaska Fairbanks who is working with engineering aspects of the DOE study. One issue with the Toshiba 4S reactor is the use of liquid sodium as a heat transfer medium, Johnson said. And as with any nuclear power plant, long-term disposal of radioactive waste is always an issue, although the nuclear materials would not be removed from a unit in Alaska.

Johnson was also cautious on whether the 4S is a total solution for rural village power needs. "If the technology is successfully deployed in Galena, its economic viability in other Alaska villages and elsewhere depends on the actual life-cycle costs, which are yet to be quantified," he said.

Chaney said that if the 10 megawatt design for the 4S is approved and works as expected, Toshiba or other companies should be encouraged to work on smaller versions of it. A 2 megawatt or 4 megawatt version might be sized more appropriately for small, remote communities in Alaska.

Alaska miners are interested in the Galena project because if the NRC approves Toshiba's proposal, larger nuclear batteries could provide power to remote mines. Toshiba does have a 50 megawatt version of the 4S design, which would be useful at an operating mine in a remote location.

The cost and difficulty of supplying power are currently major obstacles to two large but remote mining projects now being studied - the Donlin Creek gold project near the Kuskokwim River and the Pebble gold-copper prospect on the Alaska Peninsula.

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10kBq jaro

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 further on this topic....


(check out the linked pdf -- especially Toshiba's graphic presentation in the annex)


NUCLEONICS WEEK JANUARY 6, 2005
Alaska village could be site of Toshiba liquid sodium reactor
Elected officials in a remote Alaska village agreed last month to allow
Toshiba Inc. to license and site a 10-MW sodium-cooled nuclear power reactor
in their community, perhaps as early as 2010.
Toshiba said the unit would become its "reference" plant for licensing and
constructing commercial versions of the self-contained reactor, which is
designed to never need refueling, in other remote areas.
Although the city council of Galena, Alaska accepted Toshiba's offer, which
would cover the estimated $25-million capital costs, there is a provision in the
resolution the council adopted that would require the council to reaffirm
the project every two years. The local government would have to pay the
operating and maintenance costs of the reactor, which would supply power in
excess of the village's needs.
Galena City Manager Marvin Yoder said the council could kill the project
simply by taking no action at any of the biannual review points. Even
though there is very little out-of-pocket expense for the city, there are some
"unknowns" that must be addressed, Yoder said. Those include determining
the disposal of the sealed reactor core at the end of the unit's 30-year life and
answering questions about the plant's operational and safety risks, he said.
The city council did not want to be tied to the project if it did not appear to be
progressing, Yoder said.
Galena, which had a population of 675 in 2000, is approximately 17.9 square miles in size and sits on the
north bank of the Yukon River. There are no roads into the
village, and the nearest electrical grid is about 200 miles
away, Yoder said. Galena is accessible by plane or by boat
from about mid-May through mid-October. In the winter,
residents and visitors have to use snow vehicles to leave by land, Yoder said.
The community now gets its electricity from a plant with
six diesel electric generators. Built in the late 1980s, a few of
the plant's diesel generators have been replaced and are
expected to be overhauled every 10 years. The plant itself is
expected to last another 30 years. But the biggest expense
the community faces in the years ahead is the cost of replacing
the diesel fuel holding tanks, Yoder said.
The cost of power for Galena residents now ranges from
20 cents to 60 cents per kilowatt-hour (KWH), said one individual
who has examined the community's electricity needs.
Most economic option
A study funded by DOE's Arctic Energy Office, which
works with the private sector and the University of Alaska
on energy research, development, and demonstration projects,
looked at various future energy options, from solar to
municipal solid waste to wind, but focused primarily on
enhanced diesel, coal, and Toshiba's 4S nuclear reactor.
Toshiba says the 4S stands for "Super Safe, Small & Simple."
Of the three options, nuclear was "the clear economic
winner" when compared to diesel and also was cheaper than
coal, according to the DOE study, which was prepared jointly
by SAIC, the University of Alaska, and the Idaho National
Engineering & Environmental Laboratory. The study was
conducted between April and June 2004, and a final draft
report was posted Dec. 15 on the university's Web site
(http://www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu/Publications/Galena_power_draftfinal_15Dec2004.pdf). [2.1 MB]
Robert Chaney, project manager for SAIC, said the study
was done at the request of the community. He said Toshiba
approached city officials, who were interested in the proposal
but wanted to compare it to alternative power generation
systems. Chaney said the analysis was not an exhaustive
study but did home in on the most attractive options.
The Toshiba proposal bested the diesel and coal options,
except under a scenario that included requirements for a
large security guard staff at the nuclear plant. Under the
study's high-cost scenario, a staff of 42 people would be
required, which includes eight operators and 34 security
guards. The low-end assumption would have eight operators
and four security staffers.
Both Chaney and Yoder said they believe security would
not be as much of an issue in Galena as it is in other places
because of its isolation. Anyone coming into the airport or
hauling heavy equipment into the community from the
river would be noticed, Chaney said.
Toshiba's 10-MW unit would be manufactured off site
and delivered intact by barge. It would have no mechanical
systems internal to the sealed assembly, according to
Toshiba, and the cooling fluid would be moved by electro-magnetic
pumps. It would operate for 30 years without a
single refueling and would require only a few trained operators
to run efficiently. Toshiba estimates the capital cost at
$2,500 per kilowatt for the 10-MW plant. Toshiba also is
developing a 50-MW unit.
The sealed reactor core would be sent back to the factory
for a replacement at the end of its 30-year life, according to
the study. Also, the reactor vessel would be buried 100 feet
below ground, it said.
Toshiba says that because most of the components have
already been tested, the Galena plant systems would not
have to be demonstrated as part of the licensing process. It
says critical experiments on the core and other components
have been done in collaboration with Chubu Electric Power
Co. and also with the Japan Atomic Energy Research
Institute, the Central Research Institute of the Electric Power
Industry, and Osaka University.
According to its slides from a presentation made last
April at the Alaska Rural Energy Conference, Toshiba estimates
it would take about a year and a half for the pre-application
review and that NRC could complete its review and
issue final design approval within four and a half years.
Issuing the design certification could be completed in another
year and a half by Toshiba's estimates.
William Beckner, director of NRC's new, research and test
reactors program, said Toshiba has not officially contacted
the agency about licensing the reactor.
The Galena power study assumed the reactor could be
ready for operation in 2010, although it acknowledged its
estimate could be off by three to five years.
-Jenny Weil, Washington



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10kBq jaro

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Alaska Town Seeks Reactor to Cut Costs of ElectricityBy MATTHEW L. WALD

NYTimes February 3, 2005

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 - The tiny town of Galena, Alaska, which pays three times as much for electricity as the national average, is considering a novel way to cut that cost by two-thirds: a tiny nuclear reactor.

On Wednesday the town manager and a deputy mayor sat down here with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to learn how a plant is licensed. They talked about their current logistics to obtain power - shipping diesel fuel in by barge during the brief window when the Yukon River is not frozen over - and their efforts to find an alternative.

There is a coal seam about 10 miles away. But no one builds coal plants that are small and clean enough, said the manager, Marvin Yoder, and the cost of permits to open a new mine might make the whole project impractical.

The town even looked at solar power, Mr. Yoder said. But demand in Galena is highest in winter, when it is dark 20 hours a day, and residents need electricity to keep cars and even diesel fuel from freezing.

But then along came Toshiba, which performs maintenance and repair work on conventional nuclear reactors around the world. The company is trying to develop a new reactor that would run almost unattended and put out 10 megawatts of power, about 1 percent as much as a typical United States plant.

It sees Galena as a test market for a product that could appeal to other isolated small towns, factories and mines.

Toshiba offered Galena a free reactor if the town would pay the operating costs, estimated at 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, about the national average for power. In December the City Council voted unanimously to take it.

Comparing oil, coal and nuclear, Mr. Yoder said, "As long as it operates as projected, it is the cleanest of the three." He called the reactor "the least expensive of the options."

Tom Johnson, the deputy mayor, said the town, 550 miles northwest of Anchorage, may have unpaved streets and only 700 people, but it is not unsophisticated. The manager of the municipal water plant once served on a nuclear submarine, he said, and he and others are attracted to the idea of a reactor.

"Anybody who's been on a sub or an aircraft carrier, they love them," he said. In good Alaskan fashion, he was dressed in short-sleeved shirt and said he was enjoying Washington's 40-degree afternoon weather. It was minus 40 back home, he said.

An Air Force base uses most of the town's electricity.

While giant corporations in the lower 48 states pursue new designs and preliminary applications for permission to build new reactors, and hope to break ground by about 2010, Galena hopes it could have a micro-reactor up and running by then.

Toshiba calls its design the 4S reactor, for "super safe, small and simple." It would be installed underground, and in case of cooling system failure, heat would be dissipated through the earth. There are no complicated control rods to move through the core to control the flow of neutrons that sustain the chain reaction; instead, the reactor uses reflector panels around the edge of the core. If the panels are removed, the density of neutrons becomes too low to sustain the chain reaction.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it knows nearly nothing about the 4S. Paul Lohaus, director of the office of state and tribal affairs, who presided at the three-hour meeting, said it cost "tens of millions of dollars" for the commission to evaluate a reactor design.

Mr. Yoder's face froze.

"But that bill goes to the manufacturer," Mr. Lohaus added.

Mr. Yoder said the town was interested in seeking early site approval, but that would cost millions of dollars. He said he hoped for a grant.

The reactor would run on uranium enriched to 20 percent. That would allow it to run for 30 years without refueling, the designers say. In larger reactors operated by utilities, one-third of the fuel is replaced every 18 months or so.

The design is described as inherently safe, but it does have one riskier feature: it uses liquid sodium, not water, to draw heat away from the core, so the heat can be used to make steam and then electricity.

Designers chose sodium so they could run the reactor about 200 degrees hotter than most power reactors, but still keep the coolant depressurized. (Water at that temperature would make steam at thousands of pounds of pressure a square inch.) The problem is that if sodium leaks, it burns.

While the town of Galena has listed a reactor as its preferred option, some of its neighbors sound a little wary. A representative of the Yukon River Intertribal Watershed Council, an organization of 58 tribal governments, was patched in to the meeting by telephone. One tribe is trying to enact a ban on transportation of radioactive material on the river. This would doom the plan.


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10kBq Jaro


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30-08-05
Closure threatens Galena nuclear plan
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner,


FAIRBANKS, Alaska  Galena's hopes for a small nuclear power generator could be threatened by the Air Force decision to end operations in the Yukon River community.


Galena officials are seeking to use a nuclear power generator being developed by Toshiba Corp. as a test case for providing cheap electricity to rural communities.


The city of 700 is involved in discussions with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about licensing a plant. Yoder said it will take at least until 2010 just to know if the plan is feasible.


On Thursday, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted unanimously to shut down the Galena Airport Forward Operation Location as part of a Pentagon plan to save $48 billion over the next 20 years, potentially robbing the city of its biggest power customer.


The Air Force buys 60 percent of the 8.5 million kilowatts of electricity produced annually by the city. Removing that demand raises the question of whether there's a need to operate a 10-megawatt nuclear power plant.


City Manager Marvin Yoder said there is. When the Air Force reduced its presence in Galena in the early 1990s, Yoder and other local officials developed a plan to fill empty military buildings with high school students. The Project Education Residential School leases a dining hall, dormitory, classrooms, gymnasium and auto mechanics shop on the base and provides 35 full-time jobs in the community.


The program last year served 85 predominantly Alaska Native high school students from 43 communities. City and tribal officials want to expand the school to 400 students and use more military buildings.


"We're going to take over as much of the base as possible," said Peter Captain Sr., first chief of the Louden Tribal Council. "We're not just going to let them mothball it and go away."


Expanding the boarding school would make power use in the community about what it is with the Air Force, Yoder said.
"If we have a redevelopment plan in place, most of the electricity load is going to continue," he said. "If we can't put a plan together, then the nuclear plant is in jeopardy."


Galena relies on burning $2.55-a-gallon diesel oil to produce electricity. The diesel oil is towed to the village 350 miles by barge, contributing to electricity prices of 33 cents a kilowatt hour.


Yoder said installing a small nuclear power plant could reduce the cost of electricity to 10 cents a kilowatt hour. The national average is 8.71 cents.


Information from: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner,



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10kBq Jaro


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NUCLEAR NEWS FLASHES - Friday, April 28, 2006


US NEWS:


--GALENA, ALASKA OFFICIALS ARE READY TO MOVE AHEAD IN THE LICENSING PROCESS for a 10-MW (electric) liquid sodium-cooled reactor. Galena City Manager Marvin Yoder told NRC that the city's technical and legal team has nearly completed a set of white papers on various topics analyzing various safety and security issues related to building the reactor. He also requested in an April 7 letter, released publicly today, a meeting with NRC staffers next month, possibly during the week of April 22. Galena is looking at possibly building Toshiba's 4S reactor, or Super Safe, Small and Simple "at a site to be selected near" the city, Yoder said. Galena has a population of about 700.



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Dusty


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I wonder how GA is progressing with the RS-MHR concept (Hmmn If I won the lottery....).


 


Dusty



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