Nuclear

Oklo, the developer of the much-watched 1.5-MW Aurora microreactor, has submitted a recharged licensing project plan (LPP) with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), launching a renewed effort that could help the advanced nuclear reactor developer set the stage for “effective and efficient” application reviews by the federal regulator. The move is a significant step for […]

A new study from business and environmental researchers at Oxford University disputes the notion that a strategy to transition global power generation toward renewable energy and away from fossil fuels is too expensive to pursue. The study, released Sept. 13 and published in the journal Joule, reports that decarbonizing the world’s energy systems would save […]

The nation’s coal power plant sites that helped build the U.S. economy during the country’s electrification could play a huge role once again in helping the nation transition to clean energy. A new U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) study finds that hundreds of coal power plant sites across the country could be converted to nuclear power plant […]

NuScale has signed a first task order and a statement of commencement with Polish mining and processing firm KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., kicking off early work for a VOYGR nuclear power plant of up to 924 MWe that the partners could deploy as early as 2029 to support KGHM’s copper and silver production in Poland. […]

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico announced they completed a successful test of a new power-generating technology, delivering electricity to the local grid using an energy conversion system that they say could drive a major increase in efficiency for power plants across the U.S. and perhaps the world. The researchers, in a news […]

Michigan’s governor has asked the Department of Energy (DOE) to support Holtec International’s efforts to “save” the 800-MW Palisades nuclear power plant, marking a potential turnaround for the facility in Southwest Michigan, which was taken offline for the final time on May 20, 2022, after 50 years of operation. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s in a […]

Germany plans to keep two of its three last nuclear power plants on standby until mid-2023—beyond their year-end closure deadline—to bolster its energy security through the winter. However, the declaration has prompted confusion within Germany’s nuclear industry, which says nuclear plants aren’t suited to perform as operating reserve. Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action […]

The Biden administration has laid out a comprehensive roadmap to help five energy-intensive manufacturing sectors reduce their fuel- and power-related carbon emissions and achieve net-zero by 2050. The pathways proposed for the iron and steel, cement and concrete, food and beverage, chemical manufacturing, and petroleum refining sectors may have substantial implications for future power demand. […]

California’s grid operator issued a Stage 3 energy emergency alert (EEA) at 5:17 p.m. PST on Sept. 6, warning it would order rotating power outages to lower soaring power demand and stabilize its grid, if necessary. The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) cautiously raised the emergency alert from Stage 2, which it had declared earlier […]

California’s lawmakers have passed Senate Bill 846, effectively offering Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) a pathway to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open until at least 2030. The bill, authored by Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham, a Republican from San Luis Obispo, and Democratic state Sen. Bill Dodd of Napa, passed the California Assembly by 69–3 […]

CORE POWER announced that it and its partners, the MIT Energy Initiative and the Idaho National Laboratory, were granted funding by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) for a three-year study into the development of offshore floating nuclear power generation in the U.S. “It is an important step forward for […]

Nuclear power plant outages are filled with intense work and tight schedules. A feedwater heater replacement project at Duke Energy’s Oconee station in South Carolina shows how teamwork coupled with

Again, this year, Experience POWER will be co-located with the Distributed Energy Conference (DEC) and HydrogeNext, giving attendees the opportunity to learn from and network with trailblazers from the power industry, who are leading the way in the world’s energy transition. These three events cover the full energy value chain for the power industry, delivering […]

New Transformer Improves Power System Reliability for Zimbabweans. An Emergency Power Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project funded by ZimFund reached the last leg of implementation on July 10 with the delivery

An expert team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has arrived in Kyiv and is readying to inspect Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) for damage from weeks of shelling. The development marks a significant breakthrough for the agency, which has for the past month pleaded with Russia and Ukraine to allow it to […]

Hungary’s nuclear energy agency has issued a license for construction of two reactors for Paks II, a power generation project first launched in early 2014 as part of an inter-governmental agreement between Hungary and Russia. Officials said Paks II would be the first nuclear plant in the European Union to use Rosatom’s Generation III+ VVER-1200 […]

Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. has opened a pilot fuel manufacturing facility that will produce TRi-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) coated fuel particles and the company’s proprietary fuel for use in its high-temperature gas reactor (HTGR). The Pilot Fuel Manufacturing (PFM) facility, located at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is one of the […]

Agreement to explore how NuScale’s innovative technology can benefit Estonia’s carbon-free energy goals PORTLAND, Ore. – NuScale Power (NuScale) announced today that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Fermi Energia, an Estonian energy company that is looking to adopt clean energy power sources to meet the country’s ambitious climate goals. Under the […]

Japan’s prime minister said the country is prepared to restart more of its idled nuclear reactors, and look at building more power generation facilities with next-generation nuclear technology. The comments from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during an Aug. 24 news conference in Tokyo signal a shift in Japan’s thinking about nuclear power after the country […]

Chair of House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Observes Fusion Experiment and Speaks with Early Career Scientists San Diego, August 18th – Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, visited General Atomics (GA) and toured the DIII-D National Fusion Facility. While at DIII-D, Rep. Kaptur met […]

Germany’s government is weighing how the closure of the country’s last three nuclear power plants in December 2022 will affect its grid this upcoming winter as the country scrambles to secure sufficient energy supplies amid a decline in Russian gas deliveries. A formal decision on whether or not to keep  Isar 2, Emsland, and Neckarwestheim […]

President Biden’s signing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) should provide further impetus for growth of U.S. renewable energy, coming on the heels of a report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that installations of solar and wind power accounted for more than two-thirds of new domestic utility-scale generation in the first six months […]

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed a plan that would keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open into 2035, a decade beyond the facility’s current closure date. The proposal, which in part includes giving plant owner Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) a forgivable $1.4-billion loan, was included in a draft legislative package sent to […]

A Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) survey suggests U.S. utility members expect to add up to 90 GW of new nuclear generation by the 2050s, including more than 300 new small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S. over the next 25 years. The nuclear industry group’s survey, unveiled on July 29, sought to gather input from […]

August 9, 2022 – Framatome announced it has been selected by a U.S. utility to provide a wide range neutron flux monitoring system at a South Carolina nuclear plant. The company will provide the system to all three units of the plant along with a spare system. The project will help enable owners of the […]

(Updated): The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is growing increasingly alarmed by military action at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, warning that artillery shelling at the plant site on Aug. 5 underlines a “very real risk of a nuclear disaster.” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in a statement on Aug. 6 said new information about […]

High temperatures in river water are reportedly forcing Electricite de France SA (EDF) to cut power generation at some of its nuclear plants. The news is particularly troubling as several European nations struggle to cope with an energy crisis caused by gas cuts made by Russia in retaliation against sanctions placed on it due to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has given Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) the green light to load fuel and begin the operation of an AP1000 nuclear reactor at Vogtle Unit 3. The authorization moves Vogtle 3 out of the NRC’s construction reactor oversight program and into the operating reactor oversight process—effectively making Vogtle 3 the first […]

A new contractor has been named to finish construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant. Russia’s state-owned energy giant Rosatom on July 30 said it had chosen TSM Enerji, a company owned by three Russian groups and incorporated in Turkey, as the project’s new engineering, procurement, and construction lead. The Turkish government has said it […]

Atlanta-based energy giant Southern Co. has rapidly evolved to keep in step with the evolution of power. As part of its corporate growth, the company has notably pioneered technologies that have reshaped