Nuclear

  • Piloting Boiler Startup at Lightspeed

    Many combined cycle power plants are being operated as peaker plants, rather than as baseload units. That can pose a problem for economizer safety valves. Pilot-operated safety valves offer several advantages

  • Wireless Monitoring Improves Power Plant Operations

    Wireless pressure gauges keep nine continuous emissions monitoring systems operating reliably, and wireless position monitoring helps close the loop on 90 control valves. Existing operations in power plants

  • Innovative Fabric Structures Offer Power Plants Options

    The design of a power plant often revolves around efficiency and mapping out operations in a manner that decreases unnecessary expenditures, while increasing productivity. This challenge produces the need for

  • Equipment Showcase: Valves, Pipes, and Fittings

    Proper valves, pipes, and fittings are important for the successful operation of power generation facilities. This equipment includes products with versatile designs to establish effective joining and sealing

  • Moonshots and Megaprojects

    Fifty years ago this July, NASA successfully landed men on the moon and safely returned them to Earth. In this year’s documentary about the mission, Apollo 11 , director Todd Douglas Miller draws on a

  • Harrington Hoists, Inc. Introduces Model HFH Fork Truck Hook

    Manheim, PA – Harrington Hoists, Inc. introduces their HFH Fork Truck Hook which is designed to lift and carry loads on the fork of a fork truck using a single latched hook or swivel hook. It is available to fit fork widths of 5¼ to 7 inches and 3¼ to 3 inches in height with […]

  • Nuclear Power Needed for Clean Energy Future

    “Without action to provide more support for nuclear power, global efforts to transition to a cleaner energy system will become drastically harder and more costly,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), wrote in his foreword to the IEA’s recently released report titled Nuclear Power in a Clean Energy System. The report […]

  • Framatome receives US Department of Energy GAIN voucher to support development of Lightbridge Fuel

    Framatome received a voucher from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) program to support development of Lightbridge Fuel™ in collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This is Framatome’s third GAIN voucher and its first supporting the Lightbridge Fuel design conducted by Enfission LLC, the joint venture between Framatome […]

  • NuScale, Sargent & Lundy Announce Strategic Relationship

    PORTLAND, Ore. (May 23, 2019) —NuScale Power LLC and Sargent & Lundy today announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a strategic relationship to support deployment of NuScale Plants worldwide. Sargent & Lundy, a global leader in power engineering with more than 60 years of experience in nuclear unit design, will bring its expertise to […]

  • Xcel Sets Closure of Minnesota Coal Plants

    Xcel Energy on May 20 announced it would close its two remaining coal plants in Minnesota over the next decade, and the utility said it also wants to operate its Monticello nuclear plant in the state until at least 2040. Xcel, which is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and serves electricity and natural gas customers in […]

  • Atom Power Introduces First Digital Circuit Breaker

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 21, 2019) — Atom Power, inventor of the world’s first and only digital circuit breaker, today announced its technology is listed by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the governing standard for consumer safety. This is the first time in the history of commercial power distribution that a digital solid-state circuit breaker has been listed […]

  • The POWER Interview: CleanSpark’s Bryan Huber Talks Microgrids, C&I Installations

    Commercial and industrial (C&I) sites increasingly are looking for ways to increase the reliability and resiliency of their power supply, along with controlling their energy costs. These C&I projects include distribution centers, data centers, office parks, hospitals, college campuses, and also military bases. CleanSpark, a San Diego, California–based technology company which specializes in the optimized […]

  • Judge: TVA Deal for Bellefonte Nuclear Plant Stays in Place

    A federal judge this week ruled the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) must continue to honor an agreement to sell the unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant to a real estate developer who has said he would complete construction of the long-idled project. U.S. District Court Judge Liles C. Burke, in a 17-page opinion issued after a […]

  • Dispute Flares About Equipment at Abandoned V.C. Summer Nuclear Project

    The fight about who owns equipment at the now-abandoned V.C. Summer 2 and 3 AP1000 reactors in South Carolina intensified on May 14, as key stakeholder Santee Cooper sued lead contractor Westinghouse for certification documentation related to that equipment.  The lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division, […]

  • NuScale Power and Enfission Sign MOU to Explore Use of Next Generation Nuclear Fuel Technology

    Agreement could spur new improvements in core design, performance, and levelized electricity cost of NuScale’s small modular reactor PORTLAND, Ore.—Today, NuScale Power and Enfission, LLC, a joint venture of Lightbridge Corporation (NASDAQ: LTBR) and Framatome, announced a memorandum of understanding to explore the use of next generation nuclear fuel technology in NuScale’s small modular reactors. […]

  • Utility Group Under Congressional Investigation Will Disband

    A utility industry coalition that has often challenged stricter air pollution and climate rules for power generation said it will dissolve. The Utility Air Regulatory Group (UARG), which has been under investigation from the House Energy and Commerce Committee due to its relationship with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) top air policy official and his […]

  • EIA: Gas, Renewables Outpacing Coal for Power Generation

    The percentage of coal-fired generation in the U.S. electricity mix will continue to decline, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said May 9, with gas-fired generation accounting for at least 40% of the nation’s power this summer and output from renewables continuing to rise. EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) said coal-fired units will produce only […]

  • Last Reactor at Three Mile Island Will Shut by End of September

    The remaining nuclear reactor at the Three Mile Island Generating Station (TMI) in Pennsylvania will shut down by the end of September. Exelon made that official May 8, setting the closing date for Unit 1 at the financially struggling plant that it first announced it would shutter two years ago. Exelon in 2017 said the […]

  • NuScale Gains Potential Financial Backing for Worldwide SMR Deployment 

    NuScale Power, the front-runner in the race to commercialize small modular reactors (SMRs), has bagged another major backer that could broaden its nuclear supply chain base and expand its financial standing.  On April 29, NuScale signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction (DHIC), a South Korean–based engineering, procurement, and construction […]

  • NRC Certifies South Korea’s APR1400 Nuclear Reactor Design for U.S. Use

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has certified the Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR1400), a third-generation design developed by deployed by South Korean state-owned companies Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP). The U.S. nuclear regulatory body on May 1 said it will issue a direct final rule certifying the reactor […]

  • Advancements in Water Ultrafiltration Technology

    Strained water resources across the world necessitate innovative ways for power plants to more efficiently use, and reuse, the water that is available. At the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National

  • Pitfalls and Promises: Power Sector Decarbonization

    Decarbonization is becoming firmly entrenched in utility business strategies to address risks and opportunities posed by climate change. But setting out a sound plan amid so many uncertainties poses a number

  • The Dark Side of the Smart Grid

    The smart grid offers great promise to transform the electric system, enabling two-way communication between providers and consumers over the network, and allowing new services that can save electricity and

  • A Thorium Molten Salt Reactor When and Where You Need It

    ThorConIsle is an offshore 500-MWe thorium molten salt reactor constructed inside a ship’s hull, ready to provide power from navigable waterways. The ThorCon “pot” operates at a pressure of 3 bar gauge

  • Double-Tube-Sheet Heat Exchangers: A Solution to Cross Contamination

    Heat exchangers are vital equipment for power plant operation. Many different types of heat exchangers exist, but for applications that cannot afford cross contamination of shell-side and tube-side fluids

  • Utility Business Model Reform and the Role of Big Data

    Stories about seismic changes ready to hit utilities and transform their century-old business models fill power industry newsletters and media. But rarely do I see any purveyors of industry news provide a

  • Iran Expands Plans for Nuclear Power

    Nuclear power in Iran has struggled to gain a foothold, with the country dogged by political power struggles, international sanctions, and significant scrutiny of its nuclear program for decades. The country

  • POWER Digest [May 2019]: News Briefs From Around the World

    MHPS Receives Order for UAE Power Plant. Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) has been tabbed to build a 1,026-MW gas turbine combined cycle power plant for the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab

  • Iraq Chooses Siemens as Partner in $15 Billion Power Deal

    Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and Germany-based Siemens on April 30 confirmed reports that Iraq has chosen Siemens as its main partner in what it calls a “roadmap” agreement to develop power generation projects in the country. Siemens in a news release Tuesday confirmed that the document was signed by Joe Kaeser, president and […]

  • PURE SAFETY GROUP UNVEILS LATEST SELF-RETRACTING LIFELINES

    HOUSTON (Apr. 22, 2019) — Pure Safety Group (PSG), the largest company dedicated solely to fall protection, has unveiled a new lineup of three self-retracting lifelines (SRLs). The SRLs are part of the company’s robust schedule of new product launches in 2019, during which it will release more than 20 new products for keeping workers […]