The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Tuesday delayed approving a recommendation made by technical staff that calls for upgrades or replacements of "hardened" venting systems at the nation’s 31 Mark I and Mark II boiling water reactors (BWRs), giving staff a year instead to assess other options and produce a "technical evaluation" on the proposal.

In a letter to President Obama last week, four Senate Democrats expressed "continued concern" about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plans to issue greenhouse gas (GHG) new source performance standard (NSPS) rules for new fossil fuel-fired power plants. The proposed rules could ban "new state-of-the-art" plants from being built and hamper advancements that could benefit the nation’s coal power sector, the senators argued.

An explosion caused by a steam pipe rupture at the natural gas-fired AES Alamitos Generating Station rocked a neighborhood in Long Beach, Calif. on Wednesday morning. No injuries were reported.

Responding to a recent claim by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that the Entergy’s Palisades nuclear power plant is at risk of pressurized thermal shock., the Louisiana-based company said the plant "is a safe and secure facility [and has a] license to operate … through 2031."

Southern California Edison (SCE) on Friday released a new technical evaluation that concludes steam generators at its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) Unit 2 can safely be operated at 100% power. The evaluation reinforces a more conservative plan proposed by the company to federal regulators to operate the unit, which has been shut down since January 2012, at 70% for five months.

A dozen environmental groups on Wednesday called on the U.S. Trade Representative to reconsider a World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge to domestic content rules and subsidies in India’s national solar program, urging it instead to agree to a solution that allows India to support and build its domestic solar industry.

Despite a sharp decrease of Chinese solar module shipments that are now subject to U.S. tariffs, solar photovoltaic (PV) prices continued to fall and installations nationwide grew 76% over 2011 to reach a total nameplate capacity of 3,313 MW in 2012 and an estimated market value of $11.5 billion, a new report from industry group Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) shows.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Monday denied a petition from Unistar Nuclear Operating Services to review an August 2012 decision by the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) that found the company was ineligible to obtain a construction and operation license (COL) for its proposed—and then abandoned—Calvert Cliffs 3 EPR because it was completely foreign-owned.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the U.S. Coast Guard within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate with each other on the development of projects that generate power from waves, tides, ocean currents, and the flow of rivers. A group of bipartisan senators, meanwhile, introduced a companion bill to a recently passed House bill that seeks to expand hydropower in the U.S.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) on Wednesday approved three major renewable energy projects in California and Nevada that have a total nameplate capacity of 1,100 MW.

On the second anniversary of the 9.0-magnitude Great Tohuku Earthquake that killed more than 25,000 people and set off the worst nuclear disaster in 25 years, Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s (TEPCO’s) devastated Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 through 4 were in cold shutdown and set to be abolished. All Japan’s nuclear reactors remain shuttered for safety inspections, and the rattled nation has yet to finalize a future energy roadmap. Meanwhile, as panelists at the IHS CERAWeek noted, the world’s global nuclear sector seems to have made a slow but determined recovery.

A new draft carbon-pricing bill that solicits feedback on how much industrial sources burning fossil fuels should pay per ton of carbon dioxide emitted was released by a bicameral group of Democrats on Tuesday. The bill diverges from a previously introduced measure to levy carbon taxes at the point of production or sale of a fossil fuel and applies instead at the “point of emissions”—which includes coal, oil, and natural gas generators.

The commercial license agreement for a frequency-responsive technology that tells an electric vehicle’s (EV’s) battery charger when to start and stop charging based upon existing conditions on the electric grid has been reached between developer Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and AeroVironment Inc. The technology could boost widespread adoption of plug-in EVs and support the integration of variable renewable sources while alleviating concerns about grid stability.

On Monday, the Department of Energy issued a new funding opportunity announcement designed to help U.S. industry design and certify innovative small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). This follow-on solicitation to the cost-share agreement with Babcock & Wilcox for its mPower SMR technology, announced in November 2012, is open to other companies and manufacturers and is focused on furthering SMR efficiency, operations, and design.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates final regulations curbing greenhouse gas (GHG), mercury, and air toxics emissions from new sources could appear in the Federal Register over the next six weeks. Also forthcoming are final cooling water intake rules and proposed effluent guidelines. The coal ash rule, which has no target date for a final rule, may not be issued this year, the agency said.

Taking an activist stance in favor of unions,  the National Labor Relations Board recently ruled that employers must continued to withdraw union dues from paychecks even after a collective bargaining agreement has expired. But another court ruling may place this NLRB decision—and many others—in doubt.

It’s easy to say utilities need to show their customers the value they receive for their money. It’s much harder to define exactly what that means or how to do it.

Attention to the potential risks of solar storms to the power sector continues, as the NRC issues a highly unusual grant to a citizen’s rulemaking petition on how solar storms could affect spent fuel powers at nuclear plants.

Selling the value of good customer communications to upper management is not always easy. Positioning it as CEO pain avoidance can go a long way toward that goal.

The news for nuclear the past few years has not been good. But forces lurking in the background are moving to rekindle the nuclear renaissance, as the long-term cost advantages seem certain to beat out much of the competition from renewables.

The increasingly advanced American economy is increasingly in need of a wide variety of minerals—many of which must currently be imported. But regulatory reform and a better understanding of their importance could lead to a renaissance in domestic mineral production.

It’s all well and good to suggest the U.S. needs to be open to all solutions in the pursuit of its energy future, but at some point "try everything" needs to give way to a well-thought plan implementing the best, most cost-effective options.

It’s time to banish a few common terms that are hindering good thinking and obstructing progress in the power sector.

A variety of factors have exerted downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices the past few years. EIA data suggest this may be a long-term spiral, not just a temporary hiccup.

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., March 10, 2013 – What if Congress scheduled a hearing on global warming, then had to cancel it at the last minute because of a severe late winter snow storm? A scene from a bad Hollywood farce? No, that’s what really happened last week. And yes, you are allowed to […]

Bill Gates didn’t mince words last night when sharing with the IHS CERAWeek crowd his thoughts about public support for basic scientific research in the United States.

China will reduce the nation’s carbon emissions and energy use per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by at least 3.7% this year and perform trials for a carbon-trading program, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said in a report on Tuesday. The country would also make "greater efforts to conserve energy" and "reduce the discharge of major pollutants," it’s top economic planner said.

President Obama this week nominated Gina McCarthy, the current assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Air and Radiation, to head the EPA. He also nominated Dr. Ernest Moniz, currently a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for secretary of energy. Both are expected to face a difficult confirmation process.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last week reopened and set a relatively expedited briefing schedule for a case in which several states and nuclear utilities have claimed collection of a nuclear waste fee by the Department of Energy (DOE) is unlawful.