Nuclear

MONTREAL: June 9, 2020 – SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) is pleased to announce its wholly-owned subsidiary Candu Energy Inc., was awarded two contracts by Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica S.A. (SNN). The contracts are for fuel channel and feeder assembly inspections on the Cernavoda Unit 1 CANDU® nuclear reactor during the 2020 outage. These contract wins are aligned with […]

The man considered second-in-command at the former SCANA Corp. has agreed to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy fraud charges stemming from his role in the failed V.C. Summer nuclear power plant construction project. Stephen A. Byrne, SCANA’s former chief operating officer, will plead guilty for his alleged criminal actions, according to a document filed June […]

An official monitoring the progress of the Vogtle nuclear expansion project in Georgia said in testimony filed June 5 with the state’s Public Service Commission that the two new reactors are “highly unlikely” to meet state-approved deadlines, and also will probably have additional cost overruns. The expansion project involves construction of two, 1,100-MW AP1000 reactors […]

SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill., June 3, 2020 — Steel Guard Safety Corp., a leading manufacturer of Industrial Curtain & Specialty Barrier Products announced the release of Lead Wool Blanket Manufacturing with QQ-C-40 Wool. The business clients in Nuclear Power have expanded machinery with heavy duty presses and CNC quilting machine to accommodate the exact manufacturing for the […]

The joke about fusion energy is that it’s 30 years away and always will be. But significant recent advances in fusion science and technology could potentially put the first fusion power on the grid as soon

Efforts to explore whether it is feasible to permanently dispose of high-level nuclear waste in deep horizontal boreholes under next-generation nuclear reactor sites got a boost in late April as nuclear waste

Fresh off the announcement that the final module for Vogtle Unit 3 was placed at the nuclear expansion project in Georgia, Southern Company said on May 27 that it was setting “a long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.” The announcement was made during Southern Company’s annual stockholders meeting, which […]

In the first installment of POWER’s brand new video interview series, POWER Insights, Kurt Terrani, technical director of the Transformational Challenge Reactor (TCR) program, talks to POWER Senior Associate Editor Sonal Patel about the innovative microreactor program spearheaded by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and project partners, including Idaho National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and […]

ATLANTA – May 22, 2020 – The final module for Georgia Power’s Vogtle Unit 3, a massive water tank, has been placed atop the containment vessel and shield building roof at the company’s Vogtle 3 & 4 nuclear expansion project near Waynesboro, Georgia. The installation represents the final module placement for Unit 3, marking another […]

Bolstered by $230 million in Congressionally appropriated funding, the Department of Energy (DOE) has officially launched the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) to help U.S.-based private developers of advanced nuclear reactors demonstrate their technology in the U.S. Much anticipated by industry, the program formally established under the Office of Nuclear Energy program on May 14 […]

Nine projects will get $27 million in federal funding to develop digital twin technology for promising advanced nuclear reactor designs—including Kairos, Xe-100, BWRX-300, and the SSR-W—and help achieve a ten-fold reduction in their operations and maintenance (O&M) costs. The funding announced by the Department of Energy (DOE) on May 13 will be furnished under the […]

Engineer, attorney, author, and former head of some of the largest public power utilities in the U.S., S. David Freeman passed away on May 12 outside of Washington, D.C., following a heart attack at the age of 94. Freeman was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and received a degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute […]

A first-of-its-kind nuclear reactor that will use a 3D-printed core, advanced materials, and integrated sensors and controls is on track for completion by 2023. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, work is ramping up to demonstrate the Transformational Challenge Reactor (TCR), an innovative micro-reactor program spearheaded by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and project partners, to include […]

It’s spring outage season in the power industry. A time when plants of all types typically shut down and perform scheduled maintenance to ensure all essential equipment is as ready as possible to run reliably at full load for days on end during the peak summer season. This year, outages have been complicated by the […]

May 4, 2020 – Framatome and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) recently began the commercial development of uranium-molybdenum fuel (UMo) for nuclear research reactors. Framatome and TUM will design and install the fuel manufacturing production line, and develop, produce and irradiate new fuel prototypes. The project will take place at the CERCA Research and Innovation […]

“We still expect to meet the November regulatory-approved in-service dates for both Units 3 and 4,” Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning said during the company’s first quarter earnings call on April 30. The in-service dates he was referring to are November 2021 and November 2022 for Units 3 and 4, respectively, at the Vogtle nuclear […]

Earlier this year, nuclear technology giant Framatome and power sector lifecycle management service company Kinectrics launched an Ontario-based joint venture, Isogen, whose mission is to enable the use of

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) in February 2020 published capital costs and performance characteristic estimates for 25 new electric power generating technologies. These estimates come from global engineering and design firm Sargent & Lundy (S&L), which the EIA commissioned to help accurately reflect the changing cost of new power generation technologies for the Annual Energy […]

OPG Reaches First Criticality at Darlington 2, Delays Work at Unit 3. Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG’s) Darlington Unit 2 reactor, the first of four reactors the company is overhauling at the Darlington

Magnetic flow meter technology is an optimal tool for wastewater processing, which can apply across power generating facilities that require water for cooling, steam, or other applications. In recent years the

When maintenance is required on permanently installed fire protection equipment, it can jeopardize safety. One nuclear power station added additional fire pumps to ensure plant needs could be met under any

Several industry-led developments and a possible new advanced nuclear demonstration have been announced since the White House working group laid out a national strategy to revive the nuclear industry last week. Centrus Energy on April 28 signed a letter of intent with Advanced Reactor Concepts (ARC), developer of a 100-MWe sodium-cooled fast-reactor design, that potentially […]

Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), which regulates the nation’s nuclear power industry, completed a scheduled inspection of RAOS Project via Skype due to quarantine and travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. RAOS Project is a subsidiary of Rusatom Energo International, a division of Russia’s state atomic energy corporation Rosatom. RAOS Project is […]

Propelled in part by the White House Nuclear Fuel Working Group’s (NFWG’s) recent roadmap to strengthen the U.S. nuclear fuel cycle, the nation’s nuclear industry this week blazed ahead on efforts to energize a U.S. commercial fuel supply that it says will be crucial for the widespread development and deployment of advanced nuclear reactors.  At […]

General Electric (GE) on April 29 reported a steep drop in first-quarter revenue, with the industrial giant—like many companies—taking a major hit from the coronavirus pandemic. The company reported a year-over-year revenue decline of 8%, with posted revenue of $20.524 billion, and noted a $1 billion negative impact to cash flow during the quarter. The […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 28, 2020) – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced selections to receive funding to accelerate advanced nuclear technology development. There are two selections – one to support site preparation for a future domestic advanced reactor demonstration project and one for an advanced reactor regulatory licensing grant. The projects have a […]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 28, 2020) – Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) today released a pair of data-driven reports outlining the company’s recent accomplishments and path to advance its critical environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. The company’s Sustainability Report details the company’s performance in four key areas – customers, growth, operations and employees. The report also is available […]

U.S. power plant operators continue to change procedures at their facilities, including pushing back scheduled maintenance, due to lockdowns and quarantines associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The changes are impacting companies such as General Electric (GE) and Siemens, which are major service providers to power plants, at a time when these global companies already are […]

One of the two remaining operating reactors at the Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, New York, will close for good on April 30, shutting down early as part of an agreement between Entergy, the plant’s operator, the state of New York, and environmental groups who had pressured officials to close the plant. The 1,020-MW […]

Moltex Energy, a privately held nuclear power development company headquartered in the UK with an office in New Brunswick, Canada, has entered into a collaboration agreement with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) to support Moltex’s nuclear fuel development program for its Stable Salt Reactor (SSR), among the latest technology advancements for small modular reactors (SMRs). The […]