News

Nevada Senators Harry Reid (D) and John Ensign (R) last week introduced a bill to create a national commission to study long-term alternatives to Yucca Mountain for managing nuclear waste in the U.S.

South Africa, a country that holds the sixth-largest coal reserves in the world, will need to invest up to 110 billion rand ($10.52 billion) in coal mining and dig at least 40 new mines by 2020 to meet growing demand, a coal specialist at the state-run utility Eskom said last week.

Georgia’s Public Service Commission (PSC) on Tuesday voted 4–1 in support of plans by Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power to build two reactors at the Vogtle nuclear power plant site.

In response to last year’s massive coal ash spill at a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) facility in Kingston, Tenn., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week ordered electric utilities with surface impoundments containing coal combustion residuals to review the structural integrity of those units and respond to agency questions about their condition.

Upgrades to the UK power grid to accommodate 45 GW of new power generation by 2020 will require an investment of about £4.7 billion ($6.51 billion), according to a report released last week by the Electricity Networks Strategy Group (ENSG).

The U.S. has signed an accord with Jordan to help the kingdom construct a modern facility to store radioactive waste for a nuclear plant the country is planning to build by 2015 and additional plants by 2030.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday proposed the first rule that mandates reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from large sources in the U.S.—including electricity-generating facilities.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley last week introduced to the state Legislature a blueprint that would partially reregulate the state’s energy markets and reverse a deregulation law that has been widely thought a failure.

Alliant Corp. last week shelved plans to construct its proposed $1.8 billion coal-biomass hybrid power plant in Marshalltown, Iowa, while LS Power “indefinitely postponed” construction of the 1,590-MW White Pine Energy Station near Ely, Nev. Both companies cited a combination of factors—including the economic climate, and environmental, legislative, and regulatory uncertainties—as the reason for their decisions.

Geothermal power projects in the U.S. continue to gain steam, a new report from the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) shows. Between August 2008 and March 2009, the number of new projects jumped 25% while overall production potential surged 35%.