In an exclusive interview, executives from Silicon Valley–based Oklo, a company Idaho National Laboratory (INL) chose this week to demonstrate the first-of-its-kind use of recycled high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel in its full-size Aurora micro-reactor, told POWER that the project could have broad implications for the future of nuclear power. Marking a significant boost for […]

Oklo, developer of a 1.5-MW passive compact fast reactor, will be the first to receive high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) nuclear fuel from Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to aid a first-of-its-kind demonstration of its Aurora microreactor, which could begin in 2024. Marking a significant boost for advanced nuclear innovation, which industry experts are banking on to […]

Responding to a request from a Democrat-led U.S. House committee, the federal International Trade Commission (ITC) is investigating how New England’s increasing renewable targets are economically affecting the region, and what role renewable imports play in meeting those commitments. The ITC, an independent, nonpartisan and quasi-judicial federal agency that also provides fact-finding as it relates […]

February 13, 2020 Nuclear a Major Focus in Trump's Latest Budget Request—and 8 Other Takeaways Yucca Mountain, the 1987 Congressionally appointed deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel (SNF), may be officially dead; transmission assets held by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and three Power… Read More Dominion Latest to Set Net-Zero Carbon Goal Richmond, […]

Given current trends, the U.S. gas turbine industry is set to play a critically important role in power generation, aircraft propulsion, and the oil and gas industry “for decades to come,” but it could benefit from prioritized research and development (R&D) and technological leadership, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and […]

Yucca Mountain, the 1987 Congressionally appointed deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel (SNF), may be officially dead; transmission assets held by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and three Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) will be put up for sale; and hundreds of millions of dollars in unobligated balances for flagship programs like the Advanced Research […]

February 6, 2020 Cybersecurity Experts Warn of New ‘Hardened’ ICS-Specific Ransomware Variant A primitive but unique ransomware variant that emerged in mid-December can forcibly stop a number of processes, including multiple items related to industrial control system (ICS) operations, industrial cybersecurity firm… Read More After Long History, Paradise Coal Plant Ceases Operation The generator breaker […]

The past week saw interesting developments worldwide for nuclear new builds, small modular reactors (SMRs), and advanced nuclear fuel. Highlighted here: A third U.S. utility will use Framatome’s ATRIUM 11 fuel design; Barakah 1 in the United Arab Emirates is on the cusp of startup; South Africa’s Eskom said it wants to dispose of PBMR […]

Energy Storage startup SPARKZ Inc. has exclusively licensed five technologies from the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) designed to eliminate cobalt in lithium-ion batteries. The development portends a significant new direction for battery storage technology, which has been hindered by costs and availability of the rare metal. ORNL, which announced the […]

A primitive but unique ransomware variant that emerged in mid-December can forcibly stop a number of processes, including multiple items related to industrial control system (ICS) operations, industrial cybersecurity firm Dragos warned in a detailed report on Feb. 3. The ransomware known as “EKANS” (or “Snake,” which is “EKANS” spelled backwards) is “relatively straightforward” as […]

Deep decarbonization of the U.S. Northwest can be achieved at “manageable” costs by 2045, but only if utility agency Energy Northwest secures zero-emitting firm capacity, such as by relicensing Columbia Generating Station—the sole nuclear plant in the region—and building small modular reactors (SMRs), a new study suggests. The study by San Francisco-based consulting group Energy […]

January 30, 2020 Cementing Coal Power Phaseout, Germany Sets Out to Shutter 40% of Current Generation Mix Germany’s federal cabinet on Jan. 29 approved a nationwide phaseout of coal power generation by 2038, paving the way for the country, which has already initiated a nuclear phaseout, to… Read More MOX Nuclear Fuel Loaded in Russian […]

Marking another major milestone for U.S.-based small modular reactor (SMR) development, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) said it has formally begun the regulatory licensing process for its BWRX-300, a 300-MW boiling water reactor that it claims could be competitive with natural gas power. The company revealed on Jan. 30 that it submitted the first licensing […]

Germany’s federal cabinet on Jan. 29 approved a nationwide phaseout of coal power generation by 2038, paving the way for the country, which has already initiated a nuclear phaseout, to rely even more heavily on renewables. The federal cabinet’s approval of the “Reduction and Termination of Coal Power Generation” (Gesetz zur Reduzierung und zur Beendigung der […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Jan. 23 approved two new reliability standards related to transmission system planning performance and cybersecurity. However, it also proposed to retire 74 reliability standard requirements, which it deemed duplicative or unnecessarily burdensome. Among the spate of actions it took on Thursday, FERC also green-lighted retaining the North American […]

January 23, 2020 Coal Is Out as APS Sets Carbon-Free Goal Arizona Public Service (APS) announced Jan. 22 that it plans for all its power generation to be carbon-free by 2050, and also said it plans to produce nearly half its… Read More Environmental Concerns Dominate Global Risks List For the first time in the […]

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and TerraPower are jointly pursuing an opportunity to design and build the U.S. Department of Energy’s Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), an experimental fast neutron nuclear reactor that could start up by 2026. The companies on Jan. 21 announced they collaborated on a response to an expression of interest (EOI) issued […]

Deal-making in the North American power and utilities sector fell for the third year in a row in 2019, and total deal value shrank by 41% compared to 2018, indicating a sustained sluggish financial interest in the sector, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The international accounting firm’s newly released “North American Power & Utilities deals insights […]

Citing new technical information gleaned from a more modern modeling analysis, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed to withdraw a federal implementation plan (FIP) to control regional haze from four PacifiCorp coal-fired units in Utah and allow the state to revert to conditions set out in a 2015-submitted state implementation plan (SIP). The agency’s […]

January 16, 2020 Exelon Installs New Accident Tolerant Fuel at Illinois Nuclear Plant Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF), a GE-led joint venture with Hitachi Ltd. that supplies boiling water reactor fuel and fuel-related services around the world, said lead test assemblies utilizing its ARMOR-coated… Read More Tri-State Will Close Its Last Coal Units in Colorado, New […]

Sunflower Electric Power Corp. has abandoned plans to build the $2.8 billion Holcomb Expansion after its partner on the 895-MW coal-fired power plant project in Kansas, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, announced it would no longer pursue the project. Sunflower said on Jan. 15 it will allow the project’s air permit, for which it once […]

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its first forecast for 2021 suggests the share of renewables in the utility-scale U.S. power generation mix will surge to 22%, up from 17% last year, while coal and nuclear’s shares will be further diminished. According to the agency’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), released Jan. 14, coal’s […]

January 9, 2020 Deal Announced to Close Louisiana Coal Unit The Arkansas Public Service Commission on Jan. 8 approved a plan to retire the Dolet Hills power plant, a coal-fired unit in Mansfield, Louisiana that serves part of the state.… Read More PJM Stakeholders at Odds on Timing for Next Capacity Auction PJM Interconnection will […]

PJM Interconnection will not run a base residual auction (BRA) until the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approves recalculated Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) floor prices for new and existing resources as directed by the federal entity’s ground-shaking Dec. 19 capacity market order. But when that will occur is still highly uncertain. In a presentation […]

Dominion Energy’s proposed 2.64-GW Virginia Offshore Wind project—the world’s largest single offshore wind project proposed to date—will likely feature turbines supplied by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE). A Jan. 7-announced preferred supplier agreement signed by the two companies could give the wind turbine maker a stronghold in the burgeoning offshore wind U.S. market. While the […]

January 2, 2020 Why the 2010s Were a Definitive Decade for Power Every one of the 13 decades that POWER magazine has been in print has been definitive for electric generation technology, policy, and business in some significant way, but few have… Read More A Decade of Turmoil: How Nuclear and Coal Have Struggled to […]

Dec 19, 2019, 07:01 ET IRVING, Texas, Dec. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Vistra Energy (NYSE: VST) today announced it has joined the Climate Leadership Council (“CLC”) as a founding member. The CLC is an international policy institute created in collaboration with prominent business, opinion, and environmental leaders to promote a carbon dividends framework as the […]

December 27, 2019 (BARBERTON, Ohio – December 27, 2019) – Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: BW) announced today that its subsidiary, Babcock & Wilcox Construction Co., LLC (BWCC), has received a contract renewal valued at more than $4 million to provide maintenance services for Public Service Company of New Mexico’s (PNM) San Juan Generating […]

December 31, 2019 04:30 PM Eastern Standard Time TULSA, Okla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Williams (NYSE: WMB) announced today that it has successfully placed into full service its Gateway Expansion Project – approximately 11 months ahead of schedule – to meet growing natural gas demand for New Jersey tri-state area consumers in time for the 2019-2020 winter heating season. […]

Improving reliability and efficiency of renewable biogas applications since first commercial shipment in 2003  Unique chemistry of carbonate fuel cell avoids de-rating power plant when using  on-site biogas Proprietary advanced systems developed by FuelCell Energy for cleanup and monitoring of on-site biogas Proprietary cleanup skid increases the volume of biogas usable for power generation /EIN […]