Fuel

Two Vistra Corp. subsidiaries have alleged in a complaint filed with the Texas Railroad Commission that a major pipeline firm has threatened to terminate natural gas service to five Texas gas-fired power plants—a combined 2 GW—“at any time” after Jan. 23. If escalated, the issue could pose new hurdles for the state’s electricity security as […]

The vast majority of 324 electric generation units and transmission facilities in Texas have fully met or “go beyond” new state winter weatherization requirements, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said in a final readiness report filed with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) on Jan. 18. Onsite inspections at 302 generation units […]

Japan is furnishing $500 million (59.8 billion yen) to much-watched projects that will develop and demonstrate 100% fuel ammonia combustion technology for gas turbines and 50% co-firing at coal boilers, as part of an effort to build out the nation’s supply chain for fuel ammonia. The country’s national research agency New Energy and Industrial Technology […]

January 6, 2022, Des Plaines, IL — GTI is bringing gas industry leaders and stakeholders to the table for a new research and development project that will address the technical barriers to blending hydrogen in natural gas pipelines at large scale. Led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory–along with participation […]

A leaked draft of the European Commission’s proposal to label some natural gas and nuclear power plants as “transitional” or “green” investments has prompted pushback from some European Union (EU) members. Criticism is also mounting in South Korea, where liquefied natural gas (LNG) was included in its new green taxonomy guidelines—but nuclear was left out. […]

The fog of uncertainty that hangs over the global power industry is getting larger and denser as generating companies and utilities navigate ever more complex challenges.

For all the talk about the demise of coal, it may be important to note that coal generated 35% of the world’s electricity in 2020, more than any other fuel. Even in the U.S., coal was expected to generate

TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom has launched the new fabrication facility for manufacturing of TVS-K nuclear fuel for PWR reactors at the site of Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant, one of the world’s major nuclear fuel enterprises. The new facility will enable TVEL to supply various modifications of TVS-K fuel to nuclear power plants powered by […]

As required by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Dec. 21 launched a new office—the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations—to “supercharge” its work to demonstrate hydrogen, carbon capture, energy storage, and advanced nuclear technologies. The new office will leverage $21.5 billion of the combined $62 billion allocated to the DOE […]

December 16, 2021 – Framatome and the U.S. Department of Energy secure a new 4-year cooperative agreement valued at more than $150 million to continue the development of its PROtect enhanced accident tolerant fuel (EATF) technology. These technologies increase the safety performance of commercial nuclear reactors while providing operators more flexibility during normal operating conditions. […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a request for information (RFI) on a planned temporary federal program to ensure enough high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) will be available to jumpstart deployment of a new fleet of advanced nuclear reactors.  Comments received over the next month in response to the DOE’s Dec. 14–issued RFI will inform […]

New England faces a precarious fuel supply risk that could necessitate emergency actions if a severe prolonged cold snap hits the region this winter, ISO New England (ISO-NE) has warned.  The regional grid operator expects power demand will peak at 19,710 MW during average winter weather conditions of 10F, but if temperatures plunge below 5F, […]

Potentially jumpstarting long-paralyzed efforts to address the federal management of spent nuclear fuel (SNF), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Nov. 30 issued a request for information (RFI) that could determine where the agency will temporarily consolidate and store spent fuel from nuclear reactors across the nation. Under the RFI, the DOE is seeking […]

Fusion occurs when two atoms slam together to form a heavier atom, such as when two hydrogen atoms fuse to form one helium atom. A tremendous amount of energy is released in the process. This is the same process that powers the sun. In the sun’s core, where temperatures reach 15,000,000C, hydrogen atoms are in […]

The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) is warning that much of the central U.S.—a region that stretches from the Great Lakes into southern Texas—may face critical power deficiencies during extreme winter weather conditions over the next three months. Natural gas supply disruptions and low hydropower conditions could also imperil power reliability in New England […]

The first complete accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) assembly is now operational at Exelon’s Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 in Maryland, bringing an industry-led quest to accelerate commercialization of the new nuclear technology closer to fruition. Inserted during the plant’s recent spring refueling outage, the lead fuel assembly (LFA) features a Framatome PROtect fuel design […]

Construction of the 10-MWe Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) pilot plant, a public-private collaboration to demonstrate and test supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power generating technology, is making marked progress toward a mid-2022 startup date.  Attendees from Experience POWER, HydrogeNext, and the Distributed Energy Conference, three of POWER’s annual in-person events, which took place last week in […]

Palo Verde Generating Station, a 4-GW nuclear power plant in Arizona, is gearing up to produce hydrogen from a low-temperature electrolysis (LTE) system, and that hydrogen will then be used to fuel a natural gas–fired power plant owned by Arizona Public Service (APS). The innovative power-to-power demonstration led by PNW Hydrogen is set to receive […]

Coal-fired power plant decommissioning and remediation work is not typically a utility company’s core business. That’s why having the right partner and implementing a sound plan to ensure both

The first Russian-made nuclear reactor fuel bundles with experimental ATF (Advanced Technology Fuel) rods have been loaded into Unit 2 at the Rostov nuclear power plant (NPP) in southwest Russia. The reactor resumed operations earlier this month after a scheduled maintenance and refueling outage. The Rostov site is home to four VVER-1000 reactor units (Figure […]

There are a handful of reasons why coal-fired power plant managers may want to blend fuel, but often the driving factor is economics. While the cost of the delivered coal is an important aspect, there could be

Marking a notable milestone for nuclear component additive manufacturing, four 3D-printed fuel assembly channel fasteners have been installed and are now operational at Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Unit 2 in Athens, Alabama. Channel fasteners are a type of bracket that attaches to the top of the nuclear fuel assembly to hold […]

Marking another milestone in an industry-led accelerated quest to commercialize accident tolerant fuels (ATF), nuclear fuel test rods containing Westinghouse’s EnCore technologies that completed their inaugural cycle at Exelon’s Byron nuclear plant have shipped to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). While initial visual inspections show “no signs of degradation,” the irradiated fuel will now be […]

West Virginia’s only remaining coal refuse–fueled facility, the 80-MW Grant Town Power Project, is a 2021 Top Plant winner for powering on, despite challenges, to remediate 530,000 tons of coal refuse annually while reclaiming roughly 30 acres of land per year. 

Korea Western Power’s Taean Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) Power Plant this year marked 4,000 hours of consecutive accident-free operations, setting a new world record for IGCC power plants

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has given its green light to a license amendment filed by Centrus Energy Corp., approving the nuclear fuel and services firm’s efforts to demonstrate High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) production at its enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio.  The approval marks a “major milestone” in Centrus’s $115 million, cost-shared contract with the […]

Last December, two giant Virginia-headquartered firms—energy company Dominion Energy and food manufacturer Smithfield Foods—announced completion of a novel renewable natural gas (RNG) facility in Milford

Many advocates for a hydrogen economy believe “green” hydrogen, which is produced through electrolysis using renewable energy, will eliminate the need to curtail wind and solar generation. However, there

APRIL 29, 2021 — Valmet will deliver a multifuel boiler plant to Veolia Energie ČR, a.s. in Prerov in the Czech Republic. The new boiler will replace an old coal-fired unit and strengthen Veolia’s strategy to move toward more environmentally friendly production of district heat and electricity. The order was included in Valmet’s orders received […]