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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled on Oct. 23 that the EPA can move forward with implementation of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) following the April ruling from the Supreme Court upholding most of the rule. The D.C. Circuit had previously voided the rule in December 2011, but […]

Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 23–24, the European Council (EC) agreed on the 2030 climate and energy policy framework for the European Union (EU), calling on all countries to come forward with ambitious targets and policies. The EC endorsed a binding EU target of at least a 40% reduction in domestic greenhouse gas emissions by […]

Compliance cost estimates for a revised ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) soon to be proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “will be little better than guesses,” the Congressional Research Service (CRS) says in a recent document.  The NAAQS does not directly impose emission controls on industry, “but it sets in motion a process […]

Japanese imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have remained at record levels during 2014 as its entire fleet of nuclear power plants remains offline, according to recent data from the Japanese government. Japan’s reliance on fossil fuels for power generation—particularly LNG—jumped substantially after the March 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which led […]

Xcel Energy formally notified state regulators and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator that it plans to close the two remaining coal-fired units at its Black Dog Generating Station in Burnsville, Minn., by April 2015. The Black Dog plant has 232 MW of coal-fired generation in its Units 3 and 4, which have been operating since […]

Allison M. Macfarlane, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), announced on Oct. 21 that she will leave the NRC effective Jan. 1, 2015, to take a position at George Washington University. Macfarlane took over the chair in July 2012—completing the last year of Dr. Gregory Jaczko’s term—and was confirmed for a second term in […]

Decommissioning the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant will cost up to $1.24 billion, owner Entergy Corp. said in a study submitted to Vermont regulators on Friday.  Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee (ENVY) plans to shutter the reactor in late 2014. The decision to close the plant stems from a settlement agreement negotiated by several Vermont state agencies […]

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. […]

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