News

This week, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reinstated construction permits for Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) Bellefonte units while it rescheduled its review of a construction and operating license of a planned UniStar project. The Canadian government, meanwhile, approved the first-phase design review of an advanced CANDU reactor, and a Japanese safety commission approved the restart of a major quake-hit generating facility.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Thursday authorized the $4.5 billion purchase by EDF Development of nearly half of Constellation Energy’s nuclear generation and operations business.

It’s here—the 59th annual event to encourage students to consider engineering careers while building public understanding and appreciation of engineers’ contributions to society. Created in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, National Engineers Week is backed by more than 100 professional societies, major corporations, and government agencies, with the goal of ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday agreed to reconsider a memorandum issued by the Bush administration’s EPA chief that directed agency officials not to consider carbon dioxide emissions when weighing applications for new coal power plants. The decision could portend the potential reversal of that Bush policy.

The industry last week saw the postponements of several more fossil-fueled power plants. Subsidiaries of American Electric Power (AEP) reportedly delayed construction of two integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) plants in West Virginia and in Ohio, NV Energy stalled plans for a 500-MW coal-fired facility in Nevada, and Consolidated Energy put off construction of a 109-MW pet coke power plant in Utah.

Nuclear energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment can help the U.S. reduce carbon emissions and bolster energy security, a new report coauthored by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the Idaho National Laboratory has shown.

A new study says that a climate action plan promoted by several U.S. Western governors could prolong the economic recession, weaken already overburdened Western power grids, and deliver a temperature “benefit” of only one ten-thousandth of a degree Celsius even after a century of operation.

The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday heard the testimony of five witnesses in its review of a draft federal renewable electricity standard that could require that 20% of the nation’s power be produced by renewable energy sources by 2021.

Sweden has proposed to lift a nearly 30-year-old ban on nuclear power and annulled its nuclear phase-out. The country said on Thursday that nuclear power would be an important source of electricity while it acts on a new sustainable energy and climate policy.

Kentucky Utilities (KU) last week agreed to pay a $1.4 million civil penalty and spend approximately $135 million on pollution controls to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).