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For the first time in nearly 20 years, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued an operating license for a new nuclear power plant. The 40-year license was issued to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for the long-overdue Watts Bar Unit 2 reactor on Oct. 22. The Watts Bar plant is located about 10 miles […]

In a media briefing this morning on the Clean Power Plan, Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Air and Radiation made no announcement of major changes but did note that the final rule will be published in the Federal Register tomorrow, Friday, October 23. That publication starts the […]

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) authority to issue loan guarantees officially received a $1 billion boost, which will be split between its Advanced Fossil Energy Projects solicitation and Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy Projects solicitation.  The agency has finalized the additional loan guarantee authority that President Obama announced in August. It means that more loan […]

Westinghouse Electric wants the UK to partner in the deployment of its small modular reactor (SMR) technology.  The Toshiba Corp. group on Oct. 20 submitted an unsolicited proposal that outlines a ““shared design and development model” under which Westinghouse would contribute its small modular reactor conceptual design and then partner with UK government and industry […]

Entergy Corp.’s Palisades Power Plant returned to service on Oct. 19, following a month-long outage to implement upgrades, inspections, and safety enhancements.  The Michigan plant was shut down on Sept. 16 to begin a planned refueling outage. The company spent $58 million for upgrades and plant inspections, and $63 million for new fuel. The outage […]

The second unit at Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Sendai nuclear facility in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, has restarted, and three more of the country’s 43 operable reactors may soon follow suit.  Kyushu Electric restarted the 846-MW Sendai 2 nuclear facility on Oct. 15, with plans to connect to the grid on Oct. 21, and to achieve […]

Seven power producers have joined 74 other companies in signing on to the Obama administration’s American Business Act on Climate initiative, which is aimed at rallying U.S. companies behind the need for action on climate change ahead of international climate talks in Paris next month. The seven are Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE)—parent company of PacifiCorp, […]

The Clean Power Plan could force the retirement of up to 4 GW of coal-fired capacity in the region served by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) starting as soon as 2022, an updated analysis suggests.  The independent system operator that manages about 90% of Texas’ electric load acknowledged that fewer coal units are […]

Battery storage has emerged from the fringes of the power sector to challenge both industry conventions and traditional generation. Where it goes from here, however—the future of battery storage technology—is a matter of some debate. Both storage firms and energy storage experts at the Energy Storage North America (ESNA) conference in San Diego Oct. 13-15 […]

Integrating California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO’s) and PacifiCorp’s networks—the two largest high-voltage transmission grids in the West—could yield billions of dollars in shared cost reductions within the first 20 years alone through efficiencies, a new study says.  The report commissioned by PacifiCorp stems from a memorandum of understanding signed by the independent system operator (ISO) […]