Nuclear

  • SCE Seeks License Amendment to Hasten San Onofre Restart

    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.

  • Arc Flash Injures Three at Callaway Energy Center

    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.

  • Shifting Sands

    The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is made up of seven emirates, yet two dominate the demographic, economic, and geopolitical landscape. Download the report.

  • Too Dumb to Meter, Part 10

    As the book title Too Dumb to Meter: Follies, Fiascoes, Dead Ends, and Duds on the U.S. Road to Atomic Energy implies, nuclear power has traveled a rough road. In this POWER exclusive, we present the 18th and 19th chapters, “The Great Uranium Conspiracy” and “Breeding at the Turkey Farm,” the final two chapters of the “False Scarcity and Fools for Fuels” section.

  • Nuclear Waste Disposal Sites Still Rare After All These Years

    Nuclear power generation is well established, but efforts worldwide to develop permanent disposal sites for highly radioactive waste remain nascent at best. If this were a horse race, you’d have to say the smaller horses are winning.

  • NuScale to Seek Federal Funding for Small Modular Reactor

    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.

  • ASLB Upholds Environmental Impact for Proposed Levy County Reactors

    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.

  • New SONGS Evaluation Concludes Unit 2 Can Be Operated at 100% Power

    Southern California Edison (SCE) on Friday released a new technical evaluation that concludes steam generators at its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) Unit 2 can safely be operated at 100% power. The evaluation reinforces a more conservative plan proposed by the company to federal regulators to operate the unit, which has been shut down since January 2012, at 70% for five months.

  • NRC Delays Action on Vent Plan, Directs Staff to Study Options

    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.

  • Entergy Responds to NRC Claim that Palisades Nuclear Plant at Risk of Pressurized Thermal Shock

    Responding to a recent claim by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that the Entergy’s Palisades nuclear power plant is at risk of pressurized thermal shock., the Louisiana-based company said the plant "is a safe and secure facility [and has a] license to operate … through 2031."