Nuclear

The first reactor in the second phase of an expansion at the Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant in China has entered commercial operation, with five reactors now online at the site in Liaoning Province in eastern China. China General Nuclear (CGN) on Aug. 1 announced the 1,080-MW Unit 5 at Hongyanhe is now in its steady-state […]

August 3, 2021 — Framatome today announced its acquisition of the nuclear power systems division of RCM Technologies Canada Corp. This acquisition expands Framatome’s CANDU design expertise and its presence in Canada. “We welcome our new colleagues to Framatome’s worldwide team of engineers and experts,” said Bernard Fontana, CEO of Framatome. “Framatome has been in […]

South Africa’s longstanding ambitions to expand its nuclear power capacity gained some ground this July, after the nation’s nuclear regulator announced it would convene a public hearing relating to a

Bangladesh Scraps 8 GW of Coal-Fired Projects. Bangladesh’s government on June 26 approved the Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Ministry’s proposal to scrap 10 coal-fired power plants, given their lack

Tom Fanning, CEO of Southern Company, reported during the company’s earnings call on July 29 that hot functional testing (HFT) had been completed on Vogtle Unit 3, and that the “next and final major milestone” is fuel load. “We project fuel load to occur sometime near year-end 2021 or early in 2022,” he said. The […]

Exelon Generation has filed plans to decommission its Dresden and Byron nuclear power plants in Illinois, citing a lack of action from state lawmakers on clean energy legislation that would help save the facilities. The nation’s largest operator of nuclear power plants on July 28 said it has submitted its plans to the Nuclear Regulatory […]

WILMINGTON, NC—July 28, 2021—The Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant (KKL) has awarded a long-term contract extension to GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) to provide outage services for the plant in Leibstadt, Switzerland. “We have supported KKL with outage and inspection services since it went into operation in 1984 and we are proud to continue this strong […]

What’s New? The Nuclear Energy Institute launched its “See the Light” ad campaign, which speaks to the critical role nuclear energy plays in our carbon-free future. With eye-catching bursts of light illuminating a dark room, the ad emphasizes that a brighter future must be powered by a diverse energy system championed by wind, solar and nuclear. […]

Facing a federal charge for honest services wire fraud in a corruption case related to the billion-dollar nuclear plant bailout in Ohio, FirstEnergy Corp. has agreed to abide by the terms of a three-year deferred prosecution settlement to get the charge dismissed. In court filings on July 22, the Akron, Ohio-based public utility holding company […]

Leaders in Tennessee and officials from Kairos Power announced last week that a privately funded project to establish a low-power demonstration reactor at the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge is moving forward. Alameda, California-based Kairos Power plans to invest $100 million and create 55 jobs to deploy its demonstration reactor, called Hermes. The […]

Numerous energy facilities were afflicted by the major flooding event that inundated parts of Europe last week, and at least one major power generator has said the damage will likely mount into a “mid-double-digit million euro sum.” The flooding, which was caused by a cold, low-pressure area dubbed “Bernd,” crawled slowly across the continent over two […]

Construction of Egypt’s first nuclear power plant is moving forward, and a government official said the country plans to build “several” more reactors “in various regions” to help support economic development and increasing demand for power. Hesham Hegazy, who leads the nuclear fuel sector for Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA), made the comments during […]

Stricken by repeated extreme heat events, the prospect of a worsening drought, incremental resource delays, and the “unforeseen” loss of 300 MW in thermal resources, California has set out to secure additional energy resources to ensure reliability this summer. Responding to a June 29 letter from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California […]

Taiwan’s move to end the country’s use of nuclear power continues, with Unit 1 of the Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plant being shut down. The reactor was taken offline July 1, six months ahead of its scheduled Dec. 27 retirement, with officials saying spent fuel-storage capacity constraints meant the unit could not be refueled. The closure, […]

The history books are littered with incidents that could have been prevented if people in the know had been empowered to speak up and decision-makers had acted differently based on the input. For example, the

GE Will Supply Finnish Wind Farm. General Electric (GE) in late May said it will deliver 16 Cypress onshore wind turbines for the 88-MW Puskakorpi wind farm in Finland. Each 5.6-MW-158 turbine will be

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has formally kicked off a pioneering project to partly re-power its 85-MW Abbott cogeneration plant with an Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. (USNC) Micro Modular Reactor (MMR) Energy System. UIUC on June 28 said it submitted a letter of intent to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to build […]

Utilities across the Pacific Northwest are bracing for exceptional stress on the grid as record-breaking temperatures continue to fester across the region, and at least one utility—Avista Corp.—this week began rolling outages as a measure to alleviate strain on the electric system. Despite pleas to customers to reduce their power consumption, Avista, which supplies power […]

June 30, 2021 – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Nawah Energy Company (Nawah), the subsidiary created by Joint Venture partners Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) to operate and maintain the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, signed a Maintenance and Engineering Services Agreement (MESA) with Framatome, an international leader in nuclear […]

The project will help OPG’s Darlington nuclear plant deliver reliable, carbon-free power generation for more than the next 30 years as part of its long-term refurbishment strategy Today the Darlington nuclear plant is responsible for generating over 20% of Ontario’s electricity needs, providing enough power for two million homes This latest project  builds on GE […]

Enercon Federal Services (ENERCON) was recently awarded a prime contract with Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA), to provide engineering design work in support of the National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) Demonstration of Operational Microreactor Experiments (DOME) project at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). ENERCON will be supporting the BEA’s objective to convert an unused, partially […]

June 28, 2021 – Framatome today announced a contract award with state-owned Public Limited Company for Radioactive Waste Management (PURAM) to upgrade the seismic monitoring and detaching system at its spent fuel interim storage facility in Paks, Hungary. This announcement marks the first contract signed byFramatome Kft., a subsidiary created following the acquisition of Evopro […]

Michigan’s largest energy provider Consumers Energy will stop using coal as a fuel source for power generation within the next four years—15 years earlier than previously planned. In an updated integrated resource plan (IRP) filed with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) on June 23, the CMS Energy subsidiary said the effort would lead Michigan’s […]

Nuclear energy’s future as a critical pillar in a decarbonized world will depend on its adaptability to rapid change, but the sector must focus on costs, certainty of outcome, reliability, and experience to cement its role beyond the transition, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) President and CEO Jay Wileman told POWER in an exclusive interview. […]

Duke Energy has kicked off an effort to renew the operating licenses of all its 11 nuclear reactors for 20 more years, starting with Oconee Nuclear Station, its largest nuclear plant. The utility on June 21 filed an application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a subsequent license renewal (SLR) for the three-unit 2.5-GW […]

A pioneering pilot project in Lulea, Sweden, designed to produce “fossil-free” steel has successfully completed test production of sponge iron, demonstrating it is possible to use hydrogen made with fossil-free power to reduce iron ore, instead of coal and coke. Swedish energy company Vattenfall, mining company LKAB, and steel manufacturer SSAB—companies that are collaborating under […]

This week marked two major milestones for fusion energy. On June 15, San Diego-based General Atomics (GA) said it was ready to ship the first module of the Central Solenoid—the world’s most powerful magnet—which will become a central component of ITER, the world’s largest experimental fusion facility that is under construction in France. And a […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has given its green light to a license amendment filed by Centrus Energy Corp., approving the nuclear fuel and services firm’s efforts to demonstrate High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) production at its enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio.  The approval marks a “major milestone” in Centrus’s $115 million, cost-shared contract with the […]

Engineering experts and financial consultants involved with oversight of the two-unit expansion of the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia said the project’s startup now likely will be delayed until the summer of 2022. They also said the project faces more cost overruns. In testimony filed June 7 with the Georgia Public Service Commission, the […]