Nuclear

As the book title Too Dumb to Meter: Follies, Fiascoes, Dead Ends, and Duds on the U.S. Road to Atomic Energy implies, nuclear power has traveled a rough road. For the conclusion of POWER’s exclusive serialization of the book, we offer the “Epilogue: Some Dumb Ideas Never Die.” The first 12 installments are available in the POWER online archives.

President Obama’s highly anticipated Climate Action Plan (CAP) released today outlines a wide variety of executive actions founded on three pillars: slashing U.S. carbon pollution through stringent rules for new and existing power plants while doubling renewables deployment and promoting fuel switching from coal to natural gas; preparing the U.S. for impacts of climate change; and leading international efforts to combat global climate change.

President Barack Obama’s landmark speech on Tuesday outlining executive actions to combat and prepare for climate change backed the growth of natural gas and renewable power in lieu of carbon-heavy coal power, but he mentioned nuclear power only once—and only in the context of energy security.

Amid the deluge of reactions to President Obama’s June 25 speech announcing wide-ranging executive actions to curb carbon emissions and prepare for climate change effects were some unexpected statements.

An update to the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Tuesday finds that possible impacts on aquatic life from the Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York still do not bar it from receiving a license renewal.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) last week indefinitely delayed new construction on its Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in Alabama, saying it had slashed the project’s budget by 64% and would reduce staff by 75%.

In a marked energy policy shift away from a complete nuclear phase-out, Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) on Wednesday adopted new safety standards that Japan’s 48 shuttered nuclear reactors must meet before they can restart.

The fiscal year 2014 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill released by the U.S. House Appropriations Committee this week slashes $1.4 billion in funding to Department of Energy renewable energy and scientific research programs, including an 80% spending cut on the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday advanced a set of four bills that it said would "improve" environmental regulations and increase state authority, including legislation that would task states—not the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—with the responsibility to set up coal ash disposal rules.

A report recently released by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) identifies policy goals—and their fundamental differences—identified in the 2012 presidential election and as highlighted in recent energy-related legislation. Among the nation’s energy priorities are to stabilize oil and gas markets, create natural gas pipeline infrastructure, dispose of nuclear radioactive waste, and replace conventional energy resources with renewables.

Southern California Edison (SCE) announced on Friday that it has decided to permanently retire Units 2 and 3 of its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), which have been shut down since January last year.

South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) last week announced that startup of the $6.3 billion nuclear extension under construction at its V.C. Summer plant could be delayed by up to a year owing to delivery issues. The SCANA Corp. subsidiary, which last year identified six coal-fired units that would be retired or switched to natural gas to comply with looming Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), also said it plans to accelerate retirement of two units by the end of this year.

Starting development work on a new nuclear plant in Iowa is "premature," given the uncertainty of carbon regulation and extensive regulatory review for new nuclear reactor designs, Des Moines–based MidAmerican Energy Co. said on Tuesday after it completed its nuclear feasibility study.

As the book title Too Dumb to Meter: Follies, Fiascoes, Dead Ends, and Duds on the U.S. Road to Atomic Energy implies, nuclear power has traveled a rough road. In this POWER exclusive, we present the 22nd and 23rd chapters, “The Jimmy, Ron, and Mo Show” and “Screw Nevada and Nevada Will Screw You,” the last two chapters of the “Waste Is a Terrible Thing to Mind” section.

Ningde 1, the first of four Chinese-designed CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors being built at a site in Fujian Province, began commercial operation this April after a 58-month construction period.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on Tuesday called for a federal investigation to determine whether Southern California Edison (SCE) intentionally misled regulators regarding the installation of faulty steam generators at the beleaguered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

A three-judge panel of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) Atomic Safety Licensing Board (ASLB) on Tuesday ruled that Southern California Edison (SCE) cannot restart Unit 2 of its shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) until the NRC holds a formal license amendment proceeding with full public participation.

Westinghouse and China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. (SNPTC) have teamed to further develop a supply chain within China for power plant equipment and components to be used in global AP1000 nuclear power plants.

In an apparent legal victory for developers of new nuclear power plants in the U.S., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied complaints from environmental groups that federal approval of Southern Co.’s two new reactors under construction in Georgia did not address lessons learned from the Fukushima accident.

Duke Energy said on May 2 that it told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) it plans to suspend its application for two proposed new nuclear units on its Harris site near New Hill in Wake County, North Carolina.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Itochu Corp., along with France’s GDF Suez, will build a 4,800-MW nuclear power plant at an estimated cost of $22 billion under an agreement signed May 3.

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) said on May 6 that the continuing shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) heightens reliability concerns for areas of Southern California this summer.

A bipartisan group of senators last week asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to vet just how feasible the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is, and how its costs could affect other U.S. fusion programs.

Dominion on Tuesday permanently shuttered its 556-MW Kewanee nuclear plant located about 40 miles southeast of Green Bay, Wis. The 40-year-old Westinghouse pressurized water reactor generated 148 million MWh over its lifetime.

The bad luck for Southern California Edison’s (SCE’s) crippled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) continued this week. The local ABC affiliate in San Diego reported on April 30 that it had been given a photo of a makeshift repair to the water box in Unit 3  by a plant employee.

Drought is a serious vulnerability for the power sector, witnesses testified at a full committee hearing held last week in the Senate to assess the impacts of drought on the power and water sectors. Members of the panel invited by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources offered a number of possible solutions for federal agencies and power companies that could mitigate adverse effects from drought.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) ruled that a partnership between NRG Energy and Japan’s Toshiba Corp. to build two new ABWR reactors at the South Texas Project (STP) outside Bay City, Texas, through the holding company Nuclear Innovation North America (NINA) continues to be dominated by foreign control. Until NINA can come up with a different corporate ownership structure, the NRC said it could not approve the project’s combined construction and operation license (COL).

A bipartisan group of senators have introduced legislation that would effectively shift responsibility for the disposition of spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants from the Department of Energy (DOE) to a new agency created solely to deal with nuclear waste issues.

Dominion subsidiary Virginia Power may choose to use a GE-Hitachi Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) instead of a Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Services (MNES) Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor (APWR) for a third nuclear unit proposed at its North Anna site in Virginia, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing on Friday.

An informational notice recently issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) cautions nuclear power plant operators to look out for moisture degradation of structures and components used to store spent nuclear fuel in dry casks.