Nuclear

New Jersey lawmakers are exploring whether to legislatively prop up future operation of two nuclear power plants in the state, holding a hearing on December 4 in which key stakeholders sounded off on how nuclear subsidies could affect the environment, the economy, and the power market. The hearing, jointly held by the state Senate Environment […]

Toshiba Corp. has agreed to accelerate its payments to Georgia Power to help the utility finance completion of the troubled Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion. The deal announced December 5 comes four days after a recommendation from state regulators that the project be abandoned if Georgia Power cannot make it financially viable, and also to lessen […]

A new analysis by staff at Georgia’s Public Service Commission (PSC) says continuing construction of two AP1000 reactors at the Plant Vogtle nuclear facility near Waynesboro, Georgia, is not economic, and the group says that unless Georgia Power agrees to modify its conditions for completing the project to ensure it will be financially viable, the […]

The Electric Power Research Institute’s full spectrum of online monitoring-related research offers nuclear power plant operators guidance for monitoring program implementation. The research results are used

Cross-border trade in energy—electricity, natural gas, and oil—has been an unanticipated boon to the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, exceeding $140 billion in 2015. The Trump administration’s antipathy toward

Originally embedded in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code , today the Operation and Maintenance of Nuclear Power Plants standard for inservice testing of pumps

Cheap natural gas, the impact of subsidized intermittent renewables on power prices, and nuclear policies in several countries in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident will continue to hamper strong growth

Construction Set to Begin on First Nuclear Plant in Turkey. Berat Albayrak, Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister, in mid-October said construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant would

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) wants to sell Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility, even as state lawmakers discuss how to deal with the group’s involvement in the abandoned V.C. Summer nuclear project. Lawmakers also disagree with who should advise the state on a possible sale. Leaders of South Carolina’s House and Senate have hired […]

A decision by the Canadian province of Ontario to refurbish 10 units at the Bruce and Darlington nuclear generating stations (BNGS and DNGS) and extend the life of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station (PNGS) will likely provide a low-risk means of supplying residents low-emission, low-cost electricity, according to a November 21 report published by the […]

The fate of Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E’s) Diablo Canyon Power Plant is expected to be decided by year-end, with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) set to hear final arguments about the plant’s future on November 28. The 2.2-GW nuclear plant has operated near Avila Beach, California, since 1985. A judge in early November […]

GE and Exelon announced a multi-year agreement to deploy GE’s portfolio of Predix software solutions across the energy company’s six electric utilities to further enhance reliability and efficient service to its more than 10 million customers. Exelon’s six utilities will use these advanced analytics to further strengthen transmission and delivery systems. POWER Executive Editor Aaron […]

U.S. utilities continue to announce closures of financially troubled and older coal-fired power plants even as government officials work on a bailout plan to keep them operating. Owners of a coal plant in Montana that has only been online since 2006 informed the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) last week of plans to shutter the […]

Dominion Energy will formally ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to relicense its two reactors at the North Anna Power Station for 20 more years—effectively extending their operating lives up to 80 years. Dominion Energy Virginia notified the federal regulatory body of its intent to relicense the two reactors in Louisa County, Virginia, which it […]

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Acting Chairman Neil Chatterjee, who has said he is “sympathetic” to a rule that would help prop up struggling U.S. coal and nuclear power plants, apparently is ready to move forward with an interim plan to keep financially troubled plants operating while his agency continues to consider a market-changing cost […]

Virginia regulators are ready to consider a proposal to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in the Northeast, becoming the 10th state in the nation’s largest carbon-trading market. The move comes as newly elected governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, prepares to take office in a state where the Republican-led legislature has shot down previous […]

Utilities across the country are gearing up for an attack on the power grid November 15 and 16. Thankfully, it’s only a drill. But in the event of an actual emergency, a real physical and cyberattack on the U.S. electricity infrastructure, GridEx IV—a biennial exercise conducted by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC)—will help […]

In the next 25 years, the world will turn increasingly to renewables and natural gas to meet energy demand, turning away from coal, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) World Energy Outlook 2017 (WEO). As in previous years, the report makes predictions based on different scenarios. This year’s include a New Policies Scenario, which […]

ExGen Texas Power (EGTP) Holdings LLC and ExGen Texas Power LLC, a subsidiary of Exelon Corp., on November 7 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware is aimed at reducing the company’s debt, and four of EGTP’s five natural gas-fired power plants in Texas would be owned by lenders […]

The nuclear power industry has been a tremendous asset to the world for decades. Yet, when the word “nuclear” is spoken, bombs are what first come to many peoples’ minds. World governments and the industry as a whole could do well by rebranding President Eisenhower’s 1953 United Nations “Atoms for Peace” speech. Eisenhower spelled out […]

The U.S. House of Representatives on November 2 proposed a tax bill that would phase out the wind energy production tax credit (PTC), extend a tax credit for the nuclear power industry, add credits for geothermal and fuel cell programs, and end a tax credit for the purchase of electric vehicles. Wind energy proponents decried […]

The focus of the coverage of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plan to kill the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) has been on what it will mean for coal. The consensus is that it won’t have much impact, as major consumers of steam coal have already written off the fuel as a result of […]

A bitter dispute concerning subsidies for nuclear generation that has divided the power sector grew more intense over the past week as Connecticut, Ohio, and Pennsylvania advanced efforts to keep nuclear plants operating. At the same time, legal challenges to existing measures in Illinois and New York continued in two federal courts. In Connecticut, Gov. […]

The operating expenses at major U.S. investor-owned electric utilities have shifted over the last decade or so, owing primarily to changing fuel costs.

Constructing a nuclear power plant is not for the faint of heart. The process is lengthy, even when there aren’t delays. To understand some of the hurdles, it’s worth reviewing the Plant Vogtle expansion

China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. (SNPTC) has completed the installation of its high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) project, the joint venture told the International Atomic Energy Agency

Giant UK Tidal Lagoon Project Secures Grid Connection Deal. Tidal Lagoon Power’s project to build a full-scale 3.2-GW tidal lagoon power plant in the Severn Estuary in Swansea Bay to harness strong tides on

Poland’s energy minister in September said the country was ready to shift away from coal-fired power, which provides about 90% of its electricity. Krzysztof Tchorzewski, speaking at the Krynica-Zdroj

As the sole nuclear generator in the hydro-rich Pacific Northwest region, the Columbia Generating Station’s mission to provide safe, reliable, cost-effective, and carbon-free power has never been more

Russia’s nuclear power station operations arm Rosenergoatom brought its most powerful nuclear reactor to date into commercial operation in February 2017, marking the latest evolution of its Water-Water