News

In a preliminary finding released on Wednesday, staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) found that Southern California Edison’s (SCE’s) request for a license amendment that would allow limited operations at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) this summer, does “not involve an increased risk of an accident or create the possibility of a new or different accident from those previously evaluated for its license.”

More than two years after an earthquake and tsunami caused catastrophic damage at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), still struggles to ensure stability at the site. In the latest unwelcome development, the site has experienced leaks of contaminated water from storage pools and is running out of space to store radioactive water.

On Monday, NRG Energy Inc. announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the Gregory cogeneration plant in Corpus Christi, Texas. The transaction with a consortium of affiliates of Atlantic Power Corp., John Hancock Life Insurance Co. (U.S.A.), and Rockland Capital LLC is expected to close in the third quarter.

The increasing cost of natural gas relative to coal is expected to increase coal’s share of total generation from 37.4% in 2012 to 39.9% in 2013, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) April release of its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). Though that would leave coal’s percentage below its 42.3% share in 2011, it indicates that gas may not be on an inevitable path to overtake a significantly greater share of the generation pie.

Polish utility PGE scrapped plans to build two 900-MW coal-fired power units worth $3.6 billion at a plant near the southwestern city of Opole, citing falling electricity prices and weak demand.

An accident at Entergy’s Arkansas Nuclear One station near Russelville, Ark., left one worker dead and eight injured Sunday morning. The accident involved the 836-MW Unit 1, which was in a refueling and maintenance outage at the time. The 987-MW Unit 2 was operating but tripped offline and was reported to be in a stable mode. No nuclear material was released.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Monday that Dominion Energy has agreed to pay a $3.4 million civil penalty and spend approximately $9.8 million on environmental mitigation projects to resolve Clean Air Act (CAA) violations.

The Wyoming state Industrial Siting Council has approved an amended permit for the $800 million, 300-MW Two Elk coal-fired power plant, which was first proposed in 1996 but has yet to break ground.

The 3,600-MW Vuhlehirska Thermal Power Plant in Svitlodarske, Ukraine, was heavily damaged on Mar. 29 by a fire that killed one worker and seriously injured at least eight others. Four units at the seven-unit coal-fired plant were destroyed, and the region was temporarily without power and heating.

In its 2013 report on the state of U.S. infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gives the energy sector a grade just shy of failure. In its previous report, in 2009, the ASCE also gave energy a D+.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on March 28 finalized updates to emission limits for new power plants under the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). The rule includes emission limits for mercury, particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), acid gases, and certain individual metals.

Apparently, deciding that half a loaf is better than none, Southern California Edison (SCE) on Monday submitted a draft proposal for a voluntary license amendment to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the troubled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), in hopes of salvaging its plan for a five-month limited-power restart test. The move appeared to be in response to pressure from local groups seeking to keep the reactor shut down.

Three workers were injured by an arc flash while working in the switchyard at the Callaway Energy Center in Missouri on April 2. Ameren Missouri said the accident, which happened outside the nuclear plant’s protected area, did not affect power generation.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) canceled plans to buy power from two planned BrightSource Energy Inc. 250-MW solar thermal plants on the same day that BrightSource asked regulators to suspended permitting for the $2.7 billion project in California’s Inyo County.

Southern Co. has withdrawn plans to seek a $1.5 billion federal loan guarantee for the 582-MW lignite-fired integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant its Mississippi Power Co. unit is building in Kemper County.

Nevada power company NV Energy Inc. has proposed a plan to accelerate the retirement of its coal-fired generating facilities and the construction of natural gas and renewable power plants.

LUDECA released a new version of its “Laser Align” mobile application. The application provides a free reference tool for shaft alignment of rotating equipment. It allows users to access important reference material and learn about key laser shaft alignment concepts, and it now has an interactive “Tolerance Table.” When users input their machine’s revolution per […]

Pentair Valves & Controls’ newly introduced Crosby HCI ISOFLEX is a high-capacity safety valve to help power plant operators reduce lifecycle costs and minimize shutdown periods. The valve ensures cost-effective power plant operation with a unique full-nozzle, flanged design and adjustable lift option that reduces maintenance costs while maximizing plant efficiency. Specifically designed for 300 […]

The new Garlock 204 EPS (extreme pressure service) abrupt arched expansion joint is now available for applications where necessary rated pressures exceed those of the Garlock Style 204 and 204 HP designs. Fully customizable and available in concentric or eccentric designs, the expansion joint features a seamless tube to ensure a reliable seal from flange […]

Larson Electronics announced the release of a boiler inspection light with folding boom designed to provide versatile deployment capabilities and high-output illumination. The WALBL-2X1000WMH Boiler Light features a right-angle extension arm, wheeled base, and a pair of 1,000-W metal halide lamps for effective illumination during the servicing and maintenance of boilers and tanks. The boiler […]

The ABB Low Voltage Products division released a line of OVR PV UL 1449 3rd Edition, pluggable DC DIN Rail surge protection devices (SPD) specifically designed for photovoltaic (PV) applications. The new SPDs protect solar panels from damage from direct and indirect lightning strikes, which solar panels are especially susceptible to because of their large, […]

The familiar Red State–Blue State map is a symbolic means of quickly communicating political preferences. The maps aren’t meant to be predictive of job, economic, or population trends, yet a recent think tank’s report suggests the metaphor may have broader significance.

The ATC DigiTec Division of Marsh Bellofram Corp. launched its highly compact 758-GF86/XF86 series of industrial open-face AC tachometer generators, part of its WESTCON product family. The tachometers are designed primarily for use on shaft ends to measure speeds of up to 100,000 rpm and extremely low torque burdens of less than 1 ounce-inch. Designed […]

Seven European Union (EU) member states exceeded the EU National Emissions Ceiling (NEC) Directive air pollutant limits in 2011, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said last week. The European Commission is reportedly considering initiating infringement proceedings against the countries for exceeding emissions limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide, volatile organic compounds, and ammonia.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last week directed San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) to procure up to 298 MW of local generation beginning in 2018, and authorized the utility to enter into a purchase power tolling agreement with Wellheads’ Escondido Energy Center. It declined, however, to let the utility enter into similar agreements with two gas generators, because they were bound to be delayed.

NuScale on Wednesday announced it would seek federal funding to accelerate deployment of the company’s small modular reactor technology, saying it would submit a letter of intent in response to a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) announced by the Department of Energy (DOE) earlier this month.

A reliability plan approved by the board of directors of the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) on Friday concludes that additional transmission and generation resources will be needed during the study period (2013–2022) to meet system reliability criteria, but several factors could raise new impacts on reliability. These include retirement of more generation units for economic or environmental reasons, or if the Indian Point reactor’s licenses were not renewed.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) on Tuesday rejected challenges by environmental groups to Progress Energy’s application to license two new nuclear plants in Levy County, Fla.

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.