Nuclear

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

Challenges abound for nuclear power plants in today’s world, with increased competition from other fuels, stricter safety regulations, divided public opinion, and low electricity prices providing an

The PJM Interconnection, the largest regional transmission operator in the U.S., faces many problems: adapting to state policies designed to skew power markets in the face of natural gas and renewable

The once seemingly insurmountable technical challenges of dismantling a commercial nuclear plant have been largely eliminated through experience. Decommissioning processes have been standardized and optimized

Power plants are designed to operate at their highest efficiency. Once a plant goes into operation, however, real life takes over and sometimes design outcomes are not regularly realized. Improving plant

Dynegy Inc.’s pending merger with Vistra Energy will create a company of a significant diversification and scale designed to weather volatile markets. Over the past year, at least eight other major power companies have embarked on various strategies to guard against distress in unregulated markets. Duke Energy. Three years ago, Duke Energy announced it would move away from organized […]

Comments on the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) proposed grid resiliency rule from an assortment of state agencies, trade groups, environmental organizations, and organized market entities flooded the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) docket before the tight three-week timeframe expired Oct. 23. The DOE’s “Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule” proposed on Sept. 29 directs FERC—an independent regulatory […]

Florida Power & Light (FPL), which recently sustained a blow to its nuclear expansion plans, on October 19 said it’s about halfway through an ambitious plan to add eight new solar plants in the state by early 2018, as it continues to increase its photovoltaic (PV) generation capacity as part of a larger strategy to […]