POWER

The fundamental design principles and process for modern steam desuperheating, or the attemperation of superheated steam in the power generation industry, have been evolving since the early 1930s. Meeting the requirement for steam quantity, quality, and temperature consistency is the foundation of traditional attemperator component design, particularly for fast-response combined cycle plants.

The Climax LM5200 and LM6200 portable milling machines are designed with a split rail system to easily perform both linear and gantry milling with a minimum of changeovers. A rigid, modular bed design allows shorter bed sections to be combined to fit the length of the work area, without losing rigidity, and to extend the […]

With the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) issuance of a final rule regulating cooling water intake structures at existing facilities potentially less than a year away, facilities should be paying close attention to the proposed rule’s provisions, data requests, and study requirements as they evaluate their compliance options and begin to formulate their compliance […]

Location, location, location. This has long been the guiding principle for selling real estate. Now, due to a recent appellate case, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has learned this concept’s importance in determining under what conditions multiple facilities can be aggregated as a single source under the Clean Air Act (CAA) Title V permitting […]

Intelliport Corp.’s newly introduced self-loading OmniLoader can safely and efficiently move nuclear spent fuel using proven fluid suspension technology. Licensed to Wheelift Systems, the vertical cask transporter is a self-loading pneumatic-tired carrier that engages the cask at the bottom, to then lift and carry, allowing for more efficient movement within and between independent spent fuel […]

In 2007, Dominion Resources contracted Alstom to perform steam turbine retrofits on two generating units at its North Anna nuclear power station. The Unit 1 retrofit, with its ongoing instrumentation upgrade, was the second to be completed at the North Anna plant and the fourth overall for Dominion. Completion of this project marked a significant milestone in terms of both technical achievement and investment in providing clean, safe, and reliable baseload electricity for Dominion customers.

The new 1E-qualified CL86 Plus Spent Fuel Pool Multi-Monitor System from Fluid Components International (FCI) integrates three critical measurements: continuous level, point level, and temperature into a multi-variable solution designed specifically for spent fuel pool (SFP) applications in nuclear power plants. Maintaining water levels within spent fuel pools is of vital importance to ensure that […]

The bill for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government’s knee-jerk decision to close all 17 of its nuclear plants by 2022 is coming due. Merkel’s energy plan is to radically expand the use of renewable energy to 35% of total power consumption by 2020 and to 80% by 2050. Currently, renewables represent 20% of the country’s energy mix.

With license extensions for its three units in hand, Duke Energy’s Oconee Nuclear Station began a digital controls upgrade program in 2006, and in January 2010, AREVA became the first supplier to receive Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval for a safety-related digital instrumentation and controls system.

Germany-based solar mirror maker Flabeg has developed an anti-soiling coating for solar mirrors used in solar thermal power plant applications, duraGLARE, which can repel dust and sand from the surface of mirrors. Dirt on mirrors can be reduced up to 50% compared with panels that are not coated, the company claims. As well as an […]

As the book title Too Dumb to Meter: Follies, Fiascoes, Dead Ends, and Duds on the U.S. Road to Atomic Energy implies, nuclear power has traveled a rough road. In this POWER exclusive, we present the sixth and seventh chapters, “The Bomber to Nowhere” and “The Road to Jackass Flats,” which begin the “Up in the Air: Flights of Radioactive Fancy” section.

No other country has been as frequently cited as an example of exploiting the virtues of a nuclear-heavy energy policy as France. Deriving more than 75% of its electricity from 58 operational nuclear reactors with a total capacity of about 63 GW, France has one of the lowest costs of generation and is the world’s largest net exporter of power, earning €3 billion ($3.9 billion) a year from sales of surplus power to buyers beyond its borders. But that is all about to change.

On August 23, 2011, at 1:51 p.m., a magnitude 5.8 earthquake knocked both units at Dominion’s North Anna Power Station off-line—the first time such an event has occurred in the U.S. After 80 days of extensive evaluation and inspection by plant staff and representatives from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, both units were back online. What occurred during those days is a remarkable story.

Measurement technology specialist Testo announced the new Testo 875i thermal imager, a professional quality and versatile thermal imager with very high thermal sensitivity, outstanding image quality, and simplified ease of use. With the device’s high thermal sensitivity of less than 50 mK, and the outstanding image quality of 160 x 120 pixels (which can be […]

The back-to-back collapse at the end of July of India’s Northern, Eastern, and Northeastern grids that slashed power to more than 60% of India’s population of 1.24 billion has impelled the country into a spending frenzy to upgrade its rickety power network, which, a government inquiry revealed, was one cause of the unprecedented blackouts.

Data detailing plans for new nuclear reactors worldwide show few effects of the March 2011 Fukushima accident. China and Russia in particular continue to be hot spots for nuclear development, but cost overruns, construction glitches, and ongoing safety reviews are slowing construction projects elsewhere.

ESAB introduced a new, improved line of combination cutting torches as part of the new Purox Elite Series of gas apparatus products. The Purox Elite Series Combination Torch includes the WH-4200 welding handle and the CA-4200 cutting attachment. The torch welds material up to 1 inch thick and cuts up to 8 inches in thickness. […]

Germany’s E.ON this August began construction of a new pilot plant in Falkenhagen in northeast Germany that will convert excess wind energy into synthetic natural gas that can then be fed into the regional gas grid, where it can be used to produce heat and power.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has opened a formal investigation into the extended outages of Units 2 and 3 at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The investigation will determine whether to remove all costs related to SONGS from the rates of Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) going forward, and whether to refund SONGS-related costs already collected in rates back to Jan. 1, 2012.

A massive blackout spanning 11 states in northeastern Brazil plunged nearly 53 million residents into the dark early on Friday morning. The event, caused by a "total collapse" of the northeastern grid, has raised concerns about electric reliability in South America’s largest economy, which is gearing up to host the World Cup soccer tournament in 2014 and the 2016 Olympic Games.

By Kennedy Maize (@kennedymaize) Washington, D.C., 24 October 2012 – Here’s one for climate science and policy wonks. Remember the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill? Among the community of the climate alarmed, there was much gnashing of teeth, tearing of hair, and sack cloth and ashes when the legislation that passed the Democratic House in 2009 died […]

A task force appointed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Monday released a plan that calls for 3,200 MW of new power generation and transmission capacity funded with up to $5.7 billion in private investments.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week proposed to require new standards addressing the impacts of a geomagnetic disturbance (GMD), saying that, though it recognized the strong disturbances that result in distortions to Earth’s magnetic field are infrequent, current mandatory reliability standards do not adequately address vulnerabilities.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) on Tuesday awarded NRG’s Delaware-based unit Bluewater Wind a lease for commercial development of a 450-MW offshore wind farm on 96,430 acres of federal waters about 11 nautical miles off the coast of Delaware. But NRG last year put that project on hold and has considered selling it.

A 750-MW coal gasification plant with carbon sequestration proposed to be built in in Linden, N.J., is no longer under development, owner SCS Energy says on its website. The company said it has moved the commercial structure and process design for the PurGen project to the Hydrogen Energy California project, a fossil fuel gasification plant with carbon storage proposed for Kern County, Calif.

Duke Energy last week said that testing was under way in preparation for commercial operation next year of its 630-MW integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) Edwardsport power plant in Knox County, Ind.

The Kewaunee Power Station—a 556-MW nuclear facility in Carlton, Wis.—will be shut down and decommissioned starting in the second quarter of 2013, its owner Dominion said on Monday. The company said the decision to shutter the plant was based “purely on economics.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) extended until Nov. 29 an administrative stay of a federal implementation plan to address regional haze under the Clean Air Act at PNM Resources’ 1,800-MW San Juan Generating Station near Farmington, N.M. The agency’s action last week  gave the utility 45 more days to consider an alternative proposed by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), but did  not extend the current September 2016 compliance date of the federal implementation plan.

The owner of one of Victoria’s largest coal-fired power stations announced on Wednesday it would cut output at the Gippsland-based Yallourn power station, saying the July 1-implemented carbon tax is driving up operating costs and that Australia’s renewable energy target is squashing wholesale power prices to uneconomic levels.