POWER

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 20th and 21st chapters, “Out of Sight and Mind” and “Holey Kansas,” the first two chapters of the “Waste Is a Terrible Thing to Mind” section.

In a milestone for the fledgling marine power sector, Alstom’s 1-MW tidal turbine (Figure 6) generated power for the first time at the European Marine Energy Centre’s tidal test site in Orkney, Scotland.

Mexico’s Federal Electrical Commission needed a safe way to train new operators at its Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant in Veracruz, so it developed a stand-alone process simulator that allows trainees to practice a wide variety of plant operations and responses to incidents without putting the plant itself at risk.

Cuadrilla Delays UK Fracking Project to Conduct More Assessments. The UK’s largest shale gas explorer, Cuadrilla Resources Holdings, on March 14 said it would delay hydraulic fracturing operations at its Anna Road project until 2014, after data it had gathered from exploration of the Bowland Basin Shale in Lancashire confirmed assessments that the 1,200-square-kilometer license […]

The number of regulated air emission constituents is increasing while the acceptable amounts for release are decreasing. In the long run, picking the most flexible multipollutant technology is surely the least cost option.

My career began as a results engineer testing large utility boilers. Ever since that first assignment, I have remained interested in the details of how the measurement and control of the furnace fuel and air inputs can make a huge difference in overall boiler performance. Given that plant operations and maintenance (O&M) budgets are slimmer today than in recent memory, my experience is that targeted performance testing can provide important feedback for prioritizing maintenance expenditures. The combination of plant testing and targeted O&M expenditures provide the best opportunity for efficient and reliable plant operations. I call this approach to plant efficiency improvement “performance-driven maintenace.”

Victor, a Victor Technologies brand, has launched its new 400 Series of oxy-fuel torches. The 400 series is a two-piece torch that incorporates innovative handle and cutting attachment designs that offer better ergonomics, a clearer view of the cutting path, visual cues for easier use, and enhanced safety. The new torch is available in medium- […]

The proliferation of battery technologies in modern industry is presenting fire professionals with new sets of challenges. Confusion exists as to the correct approach for protecting industrial batteries from fire, whether that be in battery manufacturing, battery storage, or battery-powered applications.

SKF has launched SKF Insight, intelligent wireless technologies that are integrated into SKF bearings, enabling them to communicate their operating conditions continuously, with internally powered sensors and data acquisition electronics. The miniaturized packaging of sensor technologies enables measurement of parameters such as rpm, temperature, velocity, vibration, load, and other features so that damage can be […]

If you were hoping that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) defeat last summer on aggregating small emissions sources under Title V of the Clean Air Act (CAA) meant a less-aggressive stance going forward, the agency has some bad news for you.

“Safety is as Safety Does” and “Ignoring a Warning Can Cause Much Mourning” are two of the more creative safety slogans I’ve heard. Such inventive catch phrases and workplace safety posters are just part of what helps us achieve our ultimate goal, which is to ensure our employees return to their homes and loved ones in the same condition they left.

By the end of 2013, one year ahead of its goal, the province of Ontario will be virtually coal-free—a first for a North American jurisdiction. How did the most populous part of Canada go from 25% to 0% coal-fired generation in just a decade, and what does this phaseout mean for the rest of the world?

Germany has chosen to transform its energy system within a few decades—an ambition that has evoked equal admiration and confusion. Has Europe’s largest economy embarked on a rational path to an energy future that will make it the bellwether for global acceptance of renewables, or will the complex array of current challenges encumber its grand transformation?

The challenges of running a coal plant are many and varied. But putting one to bed for good can be just as big a job.

With the ink barely dry on Version 4 of NERC’s critical infrastructure protection (CIP) standards, a new iteration is on the way, bringing with it some major changes in the way the standards will work.

Small-scale hydro generation stands to benefit from recent congressional action aimed at streamlining what historically has been a challenging federal approvals process. That action, along with technology innovations, could make it easier to develop hydro generating capacity in sources as diverse as navigable rivers, man-made conduits, and water distribution systems.

The potential of offshore wind generation in the U.S. is being held back by a regulatory no-man’s-land.

Historic low prices for natural gas and slow demand recovery are the principal barriers to new nuclear power construction in the U.S. Small modular reactors (SMRs) may break through those barriers, but only if installed cost targets are met.

The experience of telecommunications giant Verizon shows why taglines that promise clear, relevant benefits to customers can be invaluable, as long as the company follows through.

The Boxer-Sanders “Climate Protection Act” and its sister bill, the “Sustainable Energy Act” are the latest, and perhaps the most onerous, in a series of legislative proposals that seek to tap the immense revenue stream promised by taxing carbon.

Is bigger better for the energy business? Says a veteran energy lawyer, it depends more on why and how a utility choose to grow. Unfortunately, few regulators are thinking much about it.

The global energy sector will need to invest half of current world gross domestic product over the next two decades in order to address a number of critical issues and expand and adapt the energy infrastructure, the London-based World Energy Council (WEC) says in its recently released World Energy Issues Monitor. Here are the most […]

Christofer Mowry, president of Babcock & Wilcox mPower Inc. and CEO of Generation mPower LLC, a joint company of Babcock & Wilcox and Bechtel to design and build the mPower small modular reactor that won a competition for a Department of Energy cooperative funding agreement, discusses the machine and the market.

Finding the right people to work with is critical to success, but getting there is no accident.

India’s Reliance Power in March synchronized the first of six 660-MW units of its Sasan Ultra Mega Power Plant (UMPP) in the state of Madhya Pradesh, readying it to supply power to 14 distribution companies across seven states. The plant (Figure 1) has been hailed as India’s first supercritical project to integrate a coal mine—an important achievement in a country that is battling chronic coal shortages. Though India has large coal reserves, domestic mining companies are struggling to keep up with demand needed to sustain its existing coal plants, which account for 55% of its generation.

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., April 29, 2013 – Last week, a bipartisan group of Senators, all of them mired in a failed paradigm, proposed a solution to the nation’s long-festering problem of what to do with what comes out of the back end of nuclear power plants. It’s nasty stuff, that’s for sure. But […]

By David Wagman Denver, April 25, 2013 — Southern Company said the 582-MW Kemper County integrated gasification combined cycle power plant under construction for its Mississippi Power utility will cost as much as $333 million more than the $2.88-billion cost cap state regulators are allowing for the project. The company said during an April 24 […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week proposed a rule that it says could strengthen cybersecurity for the bulk electric system. The rule intended to improve the security posture of responsible entities was submitted in January 2013 by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), and it constitutes version 5 of the Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Reliability Standards.

A settlement between the federal government, the Sierra Club, and Wisconsin Power and Light Co. (WPL) on Monday could require the Madison-based Alliant Energy subsidiary and other defendants to invest more than $1 billion in pollution controls and retire and refuel at least four units at three Wisconsin coal-fired power plants to resolve alleged Clean Air Act New Source Review violations.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week voted 21-1 to approve the nomination of Dr. Ernest Moniz to be Secretary of Energy. Moniz, a physicist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is expected to win full Senate approval this week—with some minor hurdles.