POWER

Tempil introduced BLOXIDE°, a rust-preventive weldable primer that provides protection from rust formation on edges prepared for welding. It also acts as an oxygen/oxide scavenger in the weld pool. This results in a clean X-ray quality weld. Steel sections having their prepared edges coated with BLOXIDE° can be stored outside in open yards for extended […]

Following key regulatory approvals in the UK and U.S. of Westinghouse’s AP1000 and AREVA’s EPR Generation III+ reactor designs, France’s nuclear safety authority in February determined that the little-known ATMEA 1 reactor design met international safety criteria for Generation III+ reactors. The reactor is a 1,100-MW pressurized water reactor (PWR) developed and marketed by ATMEA, a 2007-created joint venture between France’s AREVA and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI).

Multi-disciplined engineering and consulting firm ENERCON received patents for a filter medium for strainers used in nuclear reactor emergency core cooling systems (ECCS). ENERCON’s Debris Bypass Eliminator was developed in response to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Generic Safety Issue, GSI-191, “Assessment of Debris Accumulation on PWR Sump Performance.” During long-term recirculation for cooling of the […]

Rwanda’s Lake Kivu has a nickname: “Killer Lake.” The shimmering 1,040–square mile body of freshwater on the western branch of the Great East African Rift that straddles the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda has had a bloody history. Not only was it the site of atrocity during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, but scientists say that it is also one of three known “exploding lakes.”

Ascertaining the alignment of all machines in a multiple machine train has always been a cumbersome and time-consuming process. The new ROTALIGN ULTRA MultiCoupling feature allows the alignment of up to seven machines in a train to be measured simultaneously, with a single quarter rotation (or less) of the shafts. This saves time and resources […]

Three nuclear reactors under construction in the Eastern Hemisphere reached major milestones over the past few months. South Korea’s Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. connected its 960-MW Shin-Wolsong 1 reactor near Nae-ri to the grid on Jan. 27 and, a day later, its sister plant, the 960-MW Shin Kori 2 (Figure 5) in the southwest city of Gori. Both units are expected to become commercially operational this summer. And last December, Russia began commercial operation of its 950-MW Kalinin 4 plant, a V-320 model VVER 1000.

Ten years ago, I could not have written this column. The natural gas industry was different—limited domestic supply resulted in unstable prices. However, recent advancements in drilling technology have enabled the industry to discover, access, and produce abundant sources of natural gas in America. Because the industry has changed, the country’s energy future is now […]

The UK opened two massive offshore wind farms this February on the Irish Sea off the UK’s Cumbrian coast. DONG Energy, SSE, OPW, and a consortium of Dutch pension fund service provider PGGM and Ampere Equity Fund began commercially operating the 367-MW Walney wind farm, estimated to cost $1.58 billion, and Danish wind firm Vattenfall inaugurated the Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm.

India has been besieged by a coal shortage of unprecedented severity that has forced privately owned and money-strapped state-owned coal-fired power plants alike to rely on expensive imports from Indonesia and South Africa to replenish woefully inadequate stocks.

CSP Giants Form Alliance. Concentrating solar power companies Abengoa, BrightSource Energy, and Torresol Energy in early March formed the Concentrating Solar Power Alliance, an organization dedicated to educating U.S. regulators, utilities, and grid operators about the unique benefits of concentrating solar power (CSP) and of thermal energy storage. The U.S. has more than 500 MW […]