Nuclear

As the electric power industry moves forward with new technology, the workforce that is needed to design, build, and manage the next generation of systems will undergo an equal if not greater transformation

MONTREAL: July 31, 2018 – Comprehensive Decommissioning International, LLC (CDI), a joint venture company of SNC-Lavalin (TSX: SNC) and Holtec International, has been awarded a nuclear decommissioning contract, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, by Holtec Decommissioning International. Earlier today, Exelon Generation and Holtec International announced the conditional sale of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating […]

It’s been 30 years since the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) called a halt to construction of the Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant in Alabama. Details of a deal to finish the plant and its two Babcock & Wilcox pressurized water reactors were announced at a news conference near the idled project July 30. Business executives and […]

NextEra Energy Resources, the wholesale power generating subsidiary of Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc., announced it has struck a deal to shorten its power purchase agreement (PPA) with Alliant Energy and will retire the Duane Arnold Energy Center (DAEC)—a 615-MW nuclear power plant located in Palo, Iowa—before the end of 2020. DAEC’s reactor is licensed with […]

Poised to drive the future of coal power, many Southeast Asian countries are considering new coal plants with high-efficiency, low-emissions (HELE) technologies, a new report suggests. According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) December-released World Energy Outlook 2017, Southeast Asia, along with India and other developing economies in Asia, will drive global coal demand. The […]

French utility Électricité de France (EDF)on July 25 said it has pushed fuel loading at its 1.6-GW Flamanville 3 nuclear project to the fourth quarter of 2019 and increased cost estimates for the project by another €400 million (USD $467.1 million). EDF said its current cost for the project has ballooned to €10.9 billion (USD […]

TAE Technologies’ plasma performance is rapidly ramping up in Norman using advanced active feedback controls, further validating the company’s unique approach to fusion energy. FOOTHILL RANCH, CA, July 19, 2018 — Secretary Rick Perry today joined executives of TAE Technologies, Inc., the world’s largest and most advanced private fusion energy company, at its headquarters in […]

Framatome reached a major milestone in its review of Le Creusot Forge’s manufacturing records, finishing the task of identifying and characterizing deviations in all of the records for forgings installed on nuclear reactors in France. A total of 1,925 records were analyzed. At this stage of the process, no serviceability issues have been identified in […]

MONTREAL: July 18, 2018 – SNC-Lavalin (TSX: SNC) and Holtec International group are pleased to announce a new US-based joint venture company named Comprehensive Decommissioning International, LLC (CDI). The company, headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, has been established to bring the expertise of both companies together to ensure safe, rapid, and economic decommissioning of shuttered […]

China’s first reactor adopting its domestically developed evolutionary third-generation ACPR-1000 design has wrapped up trial operation and begun commercial operation. CGN Power, a subsidiary of China General Nuclear Power Corp., announced that the 1000-MW Unit 5 of the Yangjiang Nuclear Power Plant in Guangdong province completed a 168-hour period of trial operation on July 12. […]

WILMINGTON, North Carolina—July 16, 2018—GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to lead a team of industry experts for an advanced nuclear technology development project. The project will bring together a team consisting of Exelon Generation, Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy (HGNE), Bechtel and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) […]

NRG Energy will not restart its Dunkirk power plant in western New York, with the company on July 11 saying the cost to reconnect the facility to the state’s electric grid prohibits reopening the retired coal-fired plant as a natural gas-fueled facility. David Gaier, an NRG spokesman, told POWER the project’s increased costs, along with needed […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 10, 2018) – U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said the Department of Energy (DOE) has selected nine domestic projects to receive nearly $20 million in funding for cost-shared research and development for advanced nuclear technologies. These awards are through the Office of Nuclear Energy’s (NE) funding opportunity announcement (FOA) U.S. Industry […]

The Trump administration is moving forward with its effort to replace the Clean Power Plan, with the president set to review a document sent to the White House on July 9. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 10 said a new rule, which insiders said would be more favorable to the coal industry, was […]

In a move that supports Bruce Power’s vision of providing reliable electricity to Ontario until 2064, Rolls-Royce has signed a memorandum of understanding to be Bruce Power’s digital partner. This new agreement expands the two companies’ current T-104 program, which has exceeded its value delivery targets since starting in 2017. Rolls-Royce and Bruce Power will […]

Framatome recently completed the refurbishment of 31 reactor coolant pump motors for three southeastern nuclear energy facilities. From 2002 to May 2018, the company modified and upgraded these components, which resulted in a 100 percent reliability and zero-failure performance record since being re-installed. The motors in reactor coolant pumps help move coolant around the primary […]

A Maryland-based company and its Canadian subsidiary have joined with a Canada utility in a project to develop, license, and build an advanced small modular reactor (SMR). Advanced Reactor Concepts of Chevy Chase, Maryland, along with ARC Nuclear Canada—operating collectively as ARC Nuclear (ARC)—and New Brunswick Power (NB Power) on July 9 said their SMR […]

Scott Pruitt, chosen by President Donald Trump to lead the Environmental Protection Agency despite repeated lawsuits against the agency when he served as Oklahoma’s attorney general, resigned as EPA director July 5. Pruitt had been under scrutiny throughout his EPA tenure for questionable ethical decisions involving his office. Pruitt, who repeatedly said he had done […]

Two nuclear energy milestones were reached in the past week, as the world’s first commercial AP1000 and EPR reactors were connected to China’s power grid. Westinghouse announced Sanmen 1, the first AP1000 unit, was connected to the grid June 30, one day after Électricité de France (EDF) connected the first EPR reactor—Taishan 1—to the system. […]

Japan’s government on July 3 approved a new Basic Energy Plan for the country, saying it is committed to increasing the role of renewable resources for power generation while also confirming it wants nuclear power to remain a vital part of the nation’s energy strategy. Japan issues a revised Basic Energy Plan, which outlines the […]

Officials with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on July 2 said Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, the country’s oldest operating nuclear power plant, will officially close on September 17. They also said radioactive material is likely to remain at the site in New Jersey until at least the late 2070s, and perhaps beyond. The […]

Solar power generation reached new highs in the United Kingdom recently, with a heat wave and stretch of sunny days across the country highlighting the potential for renewable energy in Britain. Solar produced a record 533 gigawatt hours (GWh) of power from June 21-28. Solar output topped 8 GW on each of the eight days, […]

Germany is often touted as a leader in the global energy transition. Energiewende has been part of the country’s public discourse since the 1970s, stemming from an anti-nuclear movement prevalent at the

Nigeria’s government joined with Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corp. (Rosatom) last year with a goal to develop the country’s first nuclear power plant, a plan that both sides confirmed and talked about

A cooling tower water recovery system designed by engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) could capture water from power plant fogs and plumes, potentially rendering them into a source

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 was the first new nuclear unit added to the U.S. fleet in more than 20 years. There were challenges along the way, but the colossal effort

The New York Power Authority’s Integrated Smart Operations Center (iSOC) is the first step in the public power utility’s goal to become the first end-to-end digital electricity system. And it’s a big

The safe transportation of transformers, gas turbines, generators, and other electrical production equipment is a vital component in suppliers’ current business models and future growth potential. Equipment

Successfully operating a power plant or other industrial complex depends on many things, including the vendors who supply equipment for construction of the facility, along with those who provide the materials

Kenneth W. Irvin and Christopher Polito1 Sidley Austin LLP – Washington, D.C. What is “resilience,” and do we need it? As anyone who has not been on Mars knows, last year, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry petitioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to craft policies to provide for “resilience” in our generation resource […]