Nuclear

Nothing gets your attention like a crisis. It exposes what you haven’t done to prepare for it, and what you must do so it never happens again. So it is with the war in Ukraine. We now have a clearer picture of where we’ve grown too comfortable with the status quo. Countries dependent on Russian […]

Work safeguards future of emission-free electricity generation DALLAS – Jacobs (NYSE:J) was selected alongside General Electric and Westinghouse Electric Company LLC to support preliminary phase life extension work at the Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suffolk, United Kingdom. EDF, operator of Sizewell B, is leading a Long-Term Operation (LTO) program aimed at extending the […]

Taiwan Suffers New Blackout. Another massive blackout hit major cities in Taiwan on the morning of March 3, causing disruptions in the capital Taipei, Hsinchu, and Kaohsiung in the south. State-run

BREA, CA ­­ – Curtiss-Wright’s Nuclear Division announced today that its Middleburg Heights, Ohio facility has received a Certificate of Authorization from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for the design and fabrication of ASME III Division 5, Class A & B appurtenances. Curtiss-Wright is the first organization to obtain this certification which allows […]

Company’s micro-reactor receives Government of Canada Funding, supports country’s aggressive climate goals Burlington, Ontario, Canada – March 17, 2022 – Westinghouse Electric Canada announced today, along with the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, an investment of C$27.2 million from the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF). This investment will support […]

A 7.3-magnitude earthquake caused some deficiencies at two of the three nuclear power plants (NPPs) located in relatively close proximity to the fault, but it did not cause any safety concerns, according to Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA). The quake struck about 60 kilometers off the coast of Japan on March 16 at 2:36 p.m. […]

Ukraine’s nuclear regulator informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on March 16 that eight of the country’s 15 nuclear reactors were in operation despite the ongoing Russian invasion. Of the four sites with operational units, two of six at Zaporizhzhya, three of four at Rivne, one of two at Khmelnytskyy, and two of three […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced this week that it would provide up to $48 million for a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program that could substantially reduce the disposal impact of used nuclear fuel (UNF). The program, dubbed CURIE (Converting UNF Radioisotopes Into Energy), is intended to support “a comprehensive national strategy […]

AUSTIN, Texas, March 15, 2022 — The White House will hold a Summit this Thursday, March 17, on Developing a Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion Energy. Kronos Fusion Energy is excited to be a leader in this field that will create thousands of high-paying jobs across the United States in support of the rapidly […]

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ensuing sanctions may have a limited immediate impact on the U.S. nuclear industry, despite its reliance on uranium imports. Potential implications over the longer term, however, require urgent action, officials from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) said. NEI CEO and President Maria Korsnick told reporters at the ongoing CERAWeek by […]

Tuesday, March 8, was International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The idea of an International Women’s Day (IWD) was first proposed in 1910 by Clara Zetkin, leader of the Women’s Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany, during a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The […]

Eighteen bipartisan U.S. Senators are backing a bill that would direct the president to declare a national emergency and prohibit imports of Russian energy commodities, including crude oil, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and coal. While the measure does not include Russian uranium, a senior Department of Energy official said addressing U.S. reliance on […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on March 4 that Russian forces had taken control of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) site, but that the reactors continued to be operated by the plant’s regular staff and there had been no release of radioactive material. “What we are telling you is confirmed information that […]

In its most recent update on the status of Ukrainian nuclear power plants (NPPs), issued to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on March 2, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) said it maintained communications with the country’s NPPs and that all units “continued to operate as before.” Of Ukraine’s 15 reactors, more […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission  (NRC) in a dramatic reversal on Feb. 24 threw out a key environmental review that staff applied to subsequent license renewal (SLR) approvals for units at Turkey Point and Peach Bottom nuclear plants in 2019 and 2020, deeming their applications “incomplete.” In a series of orders, the federal regulatory agency’s three […]

When it comes to hydrogen energy, the industry typically differentiates the final product in classes that correspond to the carbon intensity with a focus on “the colors of the rainbow,” such as gray, green, purple, and blue. According to The New York Times, the oil and gas industries are promoting blue hydrogen because (at the […]

Xcel Energy is exploring a role as operator of the 462-MWe Carbon-Free Power Project (CFPP), potentially becoming a key member of the first-of-its-kind small modular reactor (SMR) power plant that is under development at an Idaho National Laboratory (INL) site in Idaho Falls. The development is another sizable step for the six-module NuScale Power VOYGR project. […]

Sweden’s government in late January gave radioactive waste management company Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB) the green light to proceed with a deep geological repository (DGR) for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at a site near Vattenfall’s 3.2-GW Forsmark nuclear power plant. The milestone, which wraps up a planning process that has taken more than 40 years, makes Sweden only the second country, after Finland, to take active steps on building a permanent SNF repository.

A government agency that supports research into Brazil’s energy sector has forecast a significant jump in demand for electricity within the country over the next several years. Empresa de Pesquisa

Holtec is decommissioning the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The company has a fairly aggressive schedule that could see site restoration work completed in 2027. This article provides a current-day status

In the February 2022 issue of POWER, an overview of existing district heating systems that utilize nuclear power for their energy source was presented and best practices of successful installations were

It is not an over-reaction to state that we are in the midst of a planetary emergency. We face the combined threats of climate, nature loss, and human health pandemics. Of the nine planetary boundaries that

Oman Adds Major Solar Project. A consortium consisting of Saudi Arabia-based ACWA Power, Kuwait-based Gulf Investment Corp., and Kuwait’s Alternative Energy Projects Co. in January inaugurated Ibri 2, the

Duke Energy, the nation’s largest power producer, will dramatically slash coal generation’s share from the current 22% of total generation to 5% by 2030 and achieve a full phaseout of unabated coal by 2035. The company instead expects to deploy more than $130 billion over the next decade—$63 billion of which it will spend over […]

NuScale Power has signed a definitive commercial agreement with mining and processing firm KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. to deploy a VOYGR power plant of up to 924 MWe as early as 2029 to support KGHM’s copper and silver production in Poland. Under an “early works agreement” signed in a ceremony on Feb. 14 in the […]

The American Nuclear Society (ANS) warned the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that the continued unavailability of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel within the United States is risking “significant deployment delays” of advanced reactors. In a February 14th letter,  ANS President Steven Nesbit and ANS Executive Director and CEO Craig Piercy urged the DOE to expedite the creation of a HALEU availability […]

France, already a world leader in nuclear power generation, plans to build at least six new reactors, with President Emmanuel Macron on Feb. 10 saying the country will consider building an additional eight on top of that as it also moves forward with developing small modular reactors (SMR). Macron, who is up for re-election in […]

DAVIDSON, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE: CW) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Teledyne FLIR Defense to supply unmanned systems and integrated solutions to the U.S. nuclear power market and Department of Energy (DOE). Mobile unmanned systems (MUS), including drones, robotics, and submersibles, play a critical role in industrial and defense applications […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will invest in a major program that will explore the construction of multiple advanced nuclear reactors—starting with a GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at its Clinch River site in Tennessee. TVA Board members during a meeting on Feb. 10 unanimously approved TVA’s “New Nuclear Program,” a broad new initiative […]

Scientists and engineers working at the Joint European Torus (JET) have set a new record for sustained fusion energy. The team on Feb. 9 reported producing 59 megajoules of fusion energy, more than doubling the previous record of 21.7 megajoules set in 1997 at JET. The achievement was touted as “a major step forward on […]