Plant Design

If you have paid any attention to nuclear power plant construction projects over the years, you know that there is a long history of cost overruns and schedule delays on many of them. In fact, many nuclear power plants that were planned in the 1960s and 1970s were never completed, even after millions (or billions) […]

The decarbonization of power generation is fostering research and development of new energy technologies, and some companies are reimagining what’s possible when it comes to power plant design. That includes pairing nuclear power with solar power, in a system that could repurpose a brownfield site—for example, a closed or soon-to-retire thermal power plant with transmission […]

X-Energy Reactor Co. LLC, a developer of advanced small modular nuclear reactors and fuel technology for clean energy generation, reported on Jan. 17 that it has successfully completed milestones in the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC’s) pre-licensing Vendor Design Review (VDR). The company submitted the design of its Xe-100 advanced small modular reactor (SMR) to […]

Waste-to-energy (WtE) facilities have the potential to become one of the most sustainable and reliable forms of energy creation on the planet, but they have their challenges. The most eco-conscious way of adopting WtE is by repurposing fossil fuel plants and retrofitting them for burning and transforming biomass. Whether working with old or new mechanisms, […]

Energy Northwest, a Washington state public power joint operating agency, announced an agreement with Bellevue-based Puget Sound Energy (PSE), which it says will “accelerate the agency’s program examining the feasibility of developing and deploying a next-generation nuclear energy facility.” The agreement, a $10 million investment by PSE in Energy Northwest’s new nuclear project feasibility phase, […]

A report published by the Pueblo Innovative Energy Solutions Advisory Committee (PIESAC) says the closure of Comanche Unit 3, a coal-fired power plant capable of generating about 800 MW gross, will have “devastating impacts on the economy of Pueblo unless the community, Xcel Energy, and other stakeholders begin planning now for replacement of the highly […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) said three new natural gas–fired units entered commercial operation on Dec. 31 at the Paradise Combined Cycle Plant near Drakesboro, Kentucky (Figure 1). “Natural gas is an important part of our transition to a carbon-neutral future while maintaining reliability,” TVA President and CEO Jeff Lyash, said in a statement on […]

The growing urgency to address climate change by policymakers, industry, and investors appears to have reinvigorated carbon capture and storage (CCS) deployment. More than 50 CCS facilities at power plants are

Life cycle analysis or assessments (LCAs) are a quintessential tool for power and utility industry professionals and tradespeople. They determine the environmental and financial value of new technologies. Consumer products get the most attention, but LCAs for renewable energy systems (Figure 1) should be discussed more. It is time to synthesize known information to create […]

China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) announced on Dec. 6 that China’s independently developed high-temperature gas-cooled modular pebble bed (HTR-PM) reactor demonstrator had commenced commercial operation. The HTR-PM project was constructed at a site in Rongcheng, Shandong Province (Figure 1), roughly midway between Beijing and Shanghai in eastern China. Touted as “the world’s first commercially operational […]

Spanning several regions of Cameroon where 55% of the population live in poverty, grid connectivity is limited and the power supply is unreliable. However, a new project, which will extend the country’s electricity network, may help. The project involves building two 225-kV single-circuit transmission lines and supporting substations. Upon completion, the new infrastructure will enhance […]

Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) and NuScale Power Corp. (NuScale) have mutually agreed to terminate the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP), a small modular reactor (SMR) project that was planned for construction on Idaho National Laboratory (INL) property near Idaho Falls, Idaho. “Despite significant efforts by both parties to advance the CFPP, it appears […]

Westinghouse Electric Company and Bechtel have together proposed a deal to supply the Czech Republic with as many as four AP1000 nuclear reactors. The proposal aims to construct one or two units at the Dukovany nuclear site and two additional units at the Temelin site. The Dukovany site currently has four Russian-designed VVER-440 nuclear units, […]

As a first-of-a-kind project, Olkiluoto Unit 3 took more time to build than was originally expected, but the end result has proven worth the wait. Calling it the “largest single climate action” in

When it comes to energy storage, most people are quite familiar with lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. They are, of course, commonly used to power cell phones, electric vehicles (EVs), power tools, and many

Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is an important emissions control technology utilized at many coal, biomass, waste-to-energy, and gas-fired power plants. Many items must be considered when designing SCR

Generating electrical power takes on many forms—hydroelectric, solar, fossil fuel, renewable, biofuel, nuclear, and geothermal, all of which are made up of many internal processes that together produce the power we rely upon. For those internal processes that handle fluids, pump performance is a major contributor to overall plant efficiency, making pump selection a critical […]

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) MARVEL microreactor achieved 90% final design, a key step that will allow the project to move forward with preparation for fabrication and construction. “This is an incredible milestone for the Department of Energy,” John Jackson, national technical director for DOE’s Microreactor Program headquartered at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), told […]

GE Vernova’s Gas Power business and Harbin Electric announced that Chinese State Development & Investment Corp. Ltd. (SDIC) Jineng (Zhoushan) Gas Power Generation Co. Ltd. has ordered two GE 9HA.02 gas turbines for a new combined cycle power plant located in the Zhoushan archipelago in Zhejiang province, China. The plant (Figure 1) is expected to […]

Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the policy organization of the nuclear technologies industry, suggested a bipartisan majority in Congress recognizes the importance of nuclear energy and has supported the industry with unprecedented levels of funding. As an example, Korsnick pointed to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided a $6 […]

Standard Power, a provider of infrastructure as a service to advanced data processing companies, has chosen NuScale Power’s small modular reactor (SMR) technology to power two facilities it plans to develop—one in Ohio and the other in Pennsylvania. ENTRA1 Energy, an independent global energy development and production company, will support Standard Power’s two projects. “We […]

Fossil-fueled power plants are billion-pound investments that businesses (as well as whole nations themselves) around the world can’t afford to simply discard. Yet, the combinations of old plant, new fuels, and new operating conditions lead to corrosion, faults, downtime, and inefficiencies for plant operators and manufacturers. But these kinds of bridging technologies—between the “black” and […]

A project utilizing liquefied natural gas (LNG) is supporting power generation in El Salvador and playing a major role in the country’s energy transformation. An energy project in El Salvador has been called

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is leading the way in New York by piloting new technologies that can help accelerate the state’s clean energy transition. Among its accomplishments is a hydrogen

There are many reasons for the nuclear power industry to feel optimistic about the future. For example, the entry of Vogtle Unit 3 into commercial operation on July 31 was a significant milestone and one worth

There are many reasons why a temporary boiler might be needed at a power generating or industrial facility. For example, Nationwide Boiler Inc., a supplier of temporary and permanent boiler equipment, custom

For maximum efficiency and operational flexibility, advanced gas turbines have rightly been optimized to the nth degree. However, there are big opportunities in important related components like the air inlet filtration systems too. The latest developments from Parker Hannifin show what can be achieved when a new approach is taken. Today’s advanced gas turbines are […]

Power plants depend on hundreds of valves and many different pumps to carry out operations 24/7. Good maintenance procedures—including routine tasks and predictive maintenance—are critical to keeping these

BWX Technologies (BWXT) said it was awarded a “two-phase, two-year contract” with the Wyoming Energy Authority (WEA) to assess the viability of deploying small-scale nuclear reactors in the state to augment existing power generation resources. The WEA says it combines the existing scopes of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority, Wyoming Pipeline Authority, and the State Energy […]

Voith Hydro in 2022 replaced four vertical Pelton turbines at Verbund’s 75-year-old 326-GWh Gerlos 1 pumped storage facility in Austria with a first-of-its-kind horizontal six-nozzle Pelton turbine