Latest

  • First New Nuclear Unit in U.S. in Nearly 20 Years Is on Track to Begin Operating in 2015

    Plant officials from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) Watts Bar nuclear facility said during a senior management meeting presentation that Unit 2—currently under construction—is expected to reach commercial operations on Dec. 13, 2015. Assuming it does, the unit will be the first nuclear reactor added to the U.S. fleet since Watts Bar Unit 1 was […]

  • Government Agencies Continue Partnership to Advance Hydropower Technology

    The U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Department of the Army for Civil Works announced on March 24 that the three agencies would continue to collaborate on hydropower development for at least another five years. The agreement extends a memorandum of understanding (MOU) the three agencies originally signed in […]

  • UPDATED: DOE and Senators Separately Outline Steps to Manage U.S. Nuclear Waste

    Adds Moniz’s March 25 comments on the future of the nation’s nuclear waste beyond Yucca Mountain. As four bipartisan U.S. senators unveiled a bill that tasks a new independent agency with permanent disposal of the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Ernest Moniz on Tuesday outlined steps the agency would take to […]

  • Dynamic Mercury Index Test

    One of the shortfalls in mercury control research was the development of a good surrogate for mercury capture in dynamic conditions, representative of ESP in-flight capture.  Our Dynamic Mercury Index (DMI) test is our answer to this absence.
    The laboratory-based test mimics real in-duct injection mechanically, and has proven to be an excellent directional indicator for

  • Industry in Turmoil: Coal Plants Shutting Down Around the World

    Numerous announcements of plant closures during the past week are painting a grim picture for the future of the coal industry. On March 20, several news outlets reported that American Electric Power (AEP) had sent Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, notices to workers at half a dozen coal-fired plants. Employees at the […]

  • Drought Continues to Challenge California Grid

    The ongoing record drought in California has caused significant changes in the state’s power mix as water available for hydroelectric generation becomes increasingly scarce, according to a recent report from Oakland-based nonprofit the Pacific Institute. The California Independent System Operator warned last year that water shortages were likely to substantially impact the state’s generation, with […]

  • Chinese Chemical Plant Optimizes Water Treatment by Replacing Double Pass RO with a Single Pass RO and Liqui-Cel® Contactor System

    Electrodeionization (EDI) is widely used in many industrial water treatment systems throughout the world. In order to maximize the operating stability and life expectancy of an EDI system they were often designed with double pass RO using caustic injection pretreatment. However, in response to recent efforts to lower the capital expenditure and operating costs of

  • Japanese Utilities to Retire Five Nuclear Reactors

    Four Japanese utilities last week announced that they would retire five older reactors rather than implement strict and expensive safety requirements mandated by new nuclear regulations.  Kansai Electric Power Co. on March 17 said it will close two reactors (340 MW and 500 MW) at its Mihama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture. On the same […]

  • Announcing: SAWHORSE – Among the first ‘Safety Everywhere’ initiatives in industrial safety

    National Steel City is proud to launch SAWHORSE: Safety At Work, Home, Office, Recreation, Safety Everywhere program; one of the first industrial safety programs focused on the concept of ‘Security Everywhere.’

  • Total Solar Eclipse “Blacks Out” Europe

    Several gigawatts of solar energy faded from European grids during the two-hour solar eclipse that shadowed the continent, as well as parts of Northern Africa and Asia, on Friday morning. But according to the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E)—an organization representing 41 transmission system operators (TSOs) from 34 European countries—grid operators […]