Latest

  • Modularizing Containment Vessels in New Nuclear Power Plants

    Using modularization in the construction of nuclear containment vessels can be one way to control both cost and schedule when building the next generation of U.S. nuclear power plants. Although the advantages of modularization can be significant, each new reactor design and plant site poses unique construction challenges and must be individually analyzed to determine the benefits of this approach.

  • The New Nuclear Fuel Market

    If the planned expansion of nuclear power materializes, it will amplify demands on a nuclear fuel supply system that is only beginning to recover from decades of neglect.

  • World’s First EPR Gets a Roof

    Olkiluoto 3, the world’s first EPR whose construction in Finland has been plagued by major delays, in September reached a significant milestone as its 200 – metric ton, 47-meter-diameter steel dome was hoisted into position 44 meters above the ground.

  • Three CCS Tests Worldwide

    This September — a year after Vattenfall launched the world’s first oxyfuel pilot plant for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) at the Schwarze Pumpe lignite-fired plant south of Berlin, Germany — three high-profile and long-awaited carbon capture tests started operation around the world.

  • India Designs Thorium-Fueled Reactor for Export

    While the global spotlight is fixed on India’s massive coal-fired power capacity expansion, the country with meager uranium reserves has been pressing on with a unique long-term program that pushes for research and development of nuclear reactors using all three main fissionable materials.

  • New Pressurized CCS System Could Cut Energy Penalty

    Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) looking into new power generation cycles have designed an innovative oxyfuel system that uses a pressurized coal combustor to capture and concentrate carbon dioxide emissions for direct injection into deep geological formations.

  • Europe’s Offshore Wind Race

    Denmark in September inaugurated a 209-MW offshore wind park — the world’s largest to date — off the west coast of Jutland, in the North Sea.

  • Catching Faults with Centralized Condition Monitoring

    In 2007, Exelon Corp. began the Centralized Performance Monitoring (CPM) pilot program. The goal was to reduce downtime costs and lost revenue associated with the 25% of unplanned forced losses across its fleet of 17 nuclear power units without additionally taxing existing personnel or adding new personnel.

  • HDPE Replaces Carbon Steel in Safety-Related Pipe System

    Corrosion of steel water pipes in the safety-related piping systems of aging U.S. nuclear power plants is fast becoming a safety concern and a significant operational cost, not to mention an indication of potential future liability for nuclear utilities currently constructing new plants or retrofitting existing sites.

  • Ethernet-Accessible Power Meter

    Electro Industries designed the Shark100 meter in response to requests within the industry for low-cost Ethernet-accessible power meters. Featuring 100BaseT Ethernet capability utilizing Modbus TCP as its standard protocol, the device offers a highly economical solution to provide multifunction metering. In addition to Ethernet TCP/IP, the Shark100 meter is a highly accurate 0.2% power and […]