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The stalled Yucca Mountain permanent nuclear waste repository will meet regulatory requirements when permanently closed, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has found in a long-awaited safety evaluation report (SER).  The federal regulatory body on Oct. 16 issued Volume 3 of the five-part SER on the underground geologic nuclear waste repository proposed to be built in […]

A fire broke out in one of Didcot B power station’s cooling tower modules on the evening of Oct. 19, resulting in the shutdown of one of the plant’s two units. RWE Generation said that no RWE personnel or emergency services responders were injured during the incident, and that all employees have been accounted for. […]

North Carolina–based NET Power announced Oct. 15 that it had closed funding and major project agreements for a novel gas-fired plant that will produce no emissions whatsoever. NET Power’s design represents potentially the biggest advance in gas-fired power generation since combined cycle gas turbines. Based on a process called the Allam Cycle, it relies on […]

The energy storage sector is taking off its training wheels. And while that may be a good thing, it comes with some risks. Two senior executives in the energy storage industry who spoke to POWER at the Energy Storage North America (ESNA) conference in San Jose, Calif., Sept 30–Oct. 2, described a promising—but challenging—future. John […]

Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee released emails between top officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which they say demonstrate a “very close working relationship” between the two organizations. The emails are associated with the development of the EPA’s proposed carbon rule, […]

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC) reports that energy efficiency is the second-largest power resource in the Pacific Northwest region, ranking only behind hydroelectricity. The NPCC—authorized through the Northwest Power Act to develop and maintain a regional power plan, and fish and wildlife program, to balance the Northwest’s environment and energy needs—bases the claim […]

Alarm Management can be a challenging topic, there are many factors that can influence the operators in negative ways: Long standing alarms can distract the operators unnecessarily, alarms could be describing normal processes that require no action from the operator, and having a serious alarm hiding in a large amount of low level alarms, are

Plant engineers at Eskom’s Majuba Power Station in South Africa have been continuously looking for ways to improve efficiency and reliability. The six-unit, 4,000-MW, supercritical coal-fired plant was experiencing an efficiency decrease of 5% to 7%, which plant engineers determined was caused by poor performance of the actuators on their condensate level control valves (CLCVs). […]

With a warmer winter projected this year, according to recent forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), last year’s record upheavals in the natural gas market appear unlikely to recur. Especially in the eastern and northeastern U.S., this winter should be substantially warmer than 2013–2014, when the Polar Vortex hammered much of the […]

A mix of lucky timing and post-Fukushima recalibration appears to be responsible for a general mood of optimism at the first biennial World Nuclear Exhibition being held just outside of Paris this week. The event, organized by the Association of French Nuclear Industry Exporters (AIFEN) has attracted 495 exhibitors and an estimated 7,000 visitors from […]