Nuclear

The nuclear industry has been expecting big things from small modular reactors (SMRs) for a long time, but to date, no SMRs have reached commercial construction phase. That may change soon. Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems has a plan to deploy NuScale Power’s Integral Pressurized Water Reactor at a site in Idaho. Will others follow […]

Kansas City–based Great Plains Energy has agreed to purchase Westar Energy—Kansas’ largest electric utility—in a combined cash and stock transaction with an enterprise value of about $12.2 billion. The deal was announced on May 31. When complete, Westar will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Plains Energy, which also owns Kansas City Power and […]

Exelon’s Quad Cities and Three Mile Island nuclear plants have failed to clear the PJM capacity auction for the 2019–2020 planning year, and the future looks grim for at least one of those plants. The Chicago-headquartered company on May 25 confirmed that the two plants would not receive capacity revenue for the period. It also […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) newest nuclear plant, Watts Bar Unit 2, achieved initial criticality on May 23 at 2:16 a.m. Although that may sound ominous to anyone untrained in nuclear terminology, initial criticality simply means that Watts Bar Unit 2 reached a state in which the reactor’s neutron population remained steady from one generation […]

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said the time will come—perhaps 10 to 15 years from now—when “nuclear power is going to have to see a substantial resurgence.” Moniz was speaking on May 19 at the “Summit on Improving the Economics of America’s Nuclear Power Plants.” He provided opening remarks, framing the challenges facing the […]

Even if the final Clean Power Plan is not implemented, U.S. electricity-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will remain well below 2005 levels, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a comparison of two cases looking forward through 2040. The cases are part of the agency’s May 17–released Annual Energy Outlook 2016 Early Release (AEO2016 Early […]

The U.S. Senate passed a $37.5 billion measure on May 12 to fund fiscal year 2017 Department of Energy (DOE) programs and critical infrastructure projects administered by the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation. The bill would increase FY2017 spending by $355 million over FY2016 enacted levels, giving $261 million more than was […]

Fort Calhoun Station (FCS) appears to be the next in a string of nuclear plants that have ceased operations or plan to retire as a result of difficult economics. Tim Burke, president and CEO of Omaha Public Power District (OPPD)—the plant’s owner—presented senior management’s recommendation to close FCS by December 31, 2016, to the board […]

The world’s frenzied economic growth through 2040 won’t be matched by electricity demand growth, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) says in the International Energy Outlook 2016 (IEO2016 ) released on May 11. World net electricity generation will jump 69% by 2040, the IEO2016 reference case projects, but that is still well below “what it would […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on May 6 released a final environmental impact statement (EIS) supplement for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, a court-obligated finding that may revive the comatose project. The final supplement evaluates the potential environmental impacts on groundwater and other impacts associated with the discharge of contaminated groundwater from the […]

Five nuclear projects—two old, one new, two planned—faced milestones this week as their owners confronted the realities of the U.S. nuclear market. Exelon Seeks Nuclear Support In Illinois, Exelon again warned that the long-challenged Clinton and Quad Cities plants would shut down unless the Illinois legislature passed a bill that would provide economic support for the […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) board of directors voted on May 5 to surplus the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant property in northern Alabama so it can be offered for sale and potentially put to better use. The decision comes after months of consideration. On February 16, the TVA notified employees, customers, economic development interests, other stakeholders, […]

Uncertainty concerning a number of environmental rules is clouding planning measures, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said on May 3. Citing its latest Capacity, Demand, and Reserves (CDR) report—a snapshot of existing and planned resources and load forecasts for the next 10 years—the grid entity that manages about 90% of Texas’ electric load […]

France’s nuclear sector was rocked to its core on May 4 when the country’s Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) announced that state-owned nuclear manufacturer Areva had confessed to “irregularities in the manufacturing checks” on about 400 parts produced since 1965, about 50 of which are still in service in France. ASN said in a statement that […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) internally recognizes that a power grid failure resulting from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) or a solar storm can pose great risk to the security of the nation, but it hasn’t prepared adequately, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a newly released report. The GAO’s 68-page report, “Federal Agencies […]

Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) anticipates extending Salem Nuclear Generating Station’s Unit 1 refueling outage, which began on April 14, so it can inspect, repair, and replace damaged baffle bolts within the plant’s reactor vessel, according to information presented in the company’s first quarter earnings announcement. A PSEG spokesperson told POWER that visual inspections at […]

Duke Energy’s request to increase the generating capacity of Unit 1 at its Catawba Nuclear Station by 1.7% by more precisely measuring feedwater flow has been approved by federal regulators. Staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) found on May 4 that Duke Energy could safely increase the reactor’s output “primarily through more accurate means […]

A new tool that can be used to help ensure the proper positioning of core shroud head bolt assemblies in boiling water reactors (BWRs) was recently invented by Jason Cocke, engineering, tooling, and logistics

A small modular reactor (SMR) system that uses a supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) Brayton cycle instead of the steam Rankine cycle is under development at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and

Dominion Resources, a large electric and gas utility holding company serving mostly Virginia and North Carolina, has big ambitions to spread its wings nationally and internationally in gas, while carefully hedging its electricity business. The company’s strategy is eclectic. “Eclectic.” Miriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition, defines the word as “1: selecting what appears to be […]

Development of a consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) took a significant step forward this week with a license application submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on April 28 by Waste Control Specialists LLC (WCS), with support from AREVA, for a CISF in Andrews County, Texas.

Throwing yet another twist into a long-running saga, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on April 27 blocked a pair of power purchase agreements (PPAs) that would have supported continued operation of FirstEnergy’s Davis-Besse nuclear plant and several aging coal-fired plants belonging to FirstEnergy and AEP. The Pubic Utilities Commission of Ohio approved the PPAs […]

Operators at RWE’s Gundremmingen plant northwest of Munich moved to shut down the reactor this week after malware was discovered in the plant fuel handling network. The utility said the shutdown was a precaution and the plant was not believed to be in danger. Unlike previous malware attacks on power plants this year, the infection […]

Executives from power companies operating in different markets revealed how their firms are being affected by low natural gas prices, pressures to achieve fuel diversity, distributed energy generation, and lax demand growth, among a number of topics. The annual executive roundtable panel at the ELECTRIC POWER Conference and Exhibition on April 19 was moderated by […]

  Even if the Clean Power Plan (CPP) doesn’t overcome legal challenges, it is likely that many states will implement carbon-curbing measures set down by the rule, some panelists said at the Environmental Mega Session at the ELECTRIC POWER 2016 conference in New Orleans on April 19. The Rule’s Shaky Legal Standing The rule is […]

Subcommittees of the U.S House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate separately advanced appropriations bills that lay out funding priorities for the Department of Energy (DOE) and other energy-related measures for 2017. The House Energy and Water Subcommittee, a panel of the Appropriations Committee, passed a $37.4 billion bill to fund the DOE as well […]

S. Alam Group has suspended work at the site of a proposed 1,224-MW coal-fired power station in Chittagong, Bangladesh, due to safety concerns following a rally that ended with four protesters dead on April 4. According to multiple sources, groups opposing construction of the plant agreed on April 10 to halt their activities for 15 […]

Georgia Power has released the latest timeline video from the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion showcasing construction progress in the first quarter of 2016. Now more than 60 percent complete based on contractual milestones, progress is visible every day. The Vogtle project is the state’s largest job-producing construction project with more than 5,000 construction workers onsite and […]

Setting the stage for a drawn-out fight with ratepayer groups and other generators, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) on March 31 approved proposals from FirstEnergy and American Electric Power (AEP) that will provide guaranteed income to FirstEnergy’s Davis-Besse nuclear plant (Figure 1) and several aging coal-fired plants belonging to it and AEP. 1. […]