DOE

NuScale Power, Fluor Corp., and Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) have executed a series of major agreements to prepare for licensing of the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in Idaho Falls, effectively driving forward the nation’s first small modular reactor (SMR) plant.  Fluor Corp., the majority investor in NuScale […]

As we get closer to the presidential inauguration, and with President-elect Biden’s announcement of his Cabinet picks for the Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of the Interior (Interior), we begin the inevitable hypothesizing about which “Day 1 actions” will be taken, which actions will be among the administration’s “100 […]

One of the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL’s) key initiatives aims to bridge the gap in research infrastructure and accelerate advanced alloy development and manufacturing. Materials are

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to lead three advanced energy storage projects. The projects will study innovative, non-battery-based bulk energy storage solutions integrated with fossil assets. “Investing in research and development to improve energy storage is critical at this moment in time,” Neva Espinoza, vice […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a “prohibition order” in line with President Trump’s May 2020 broad bulk power system (BPS) security executive order (EO 13920) that will ban some utility procurement of specific grid equipment from China.  When it takes effect on Jan. 16, 2021, the Dec. 17–issued “Prohibition Order Securing Critical Defense […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has chosen five assorted advanced nuclear reactor concepts under the second Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) risk reduction pathway. TerraPower and X-energy, which the DOE chose to support under the first ARDP pathway, are looking at siting their advanced nuclear demonstrations in Washington State, the DOE said.  The ARDP program, which […]

Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm will be President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to run the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE), POWER learned Dec. 15. She is poised take over the agency at a time when the DOE grapples with the nation’s move away from electricity generation from fossil fuels, and toward the use of more renewable […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has recognized nine women for their achievements and leadership in clean energy, as part of the agency’s U.S Clean Energy Education & Empowerment (C3E) Initiative. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette recognized the winners of the 2020 U.S. C3E Awards on Dec. 1. The nine women will be honored at […]

There is significant governmental support for the development of carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies. Understanding options and taking advantage of opportunities could help maintain a

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 24, 2020) – The U.S. Department of Energy today announced $35 million in funding for 11 projects as part of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy’s (ARPA-E) Submarine Hydrokinetic And Riverine Kilo-megawatt Systems (SHARKS) program. SHARKS teams will develop new economically competitive Hydrokinetic Turbines (HKT) designs for tidal and riverine currents. “Hydrokinetic energy […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Nuclear Society (ANS) today awarded Dr. Rita Baranwal, Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the ANS Presidential Citation Award. ANS President Dr. Mary Lou Dunzik-Gougar announced the award during the organization’s virtual winter meeting. The Presidential Citation award recognizes Dr. Baranwal “For the vision […]

Joe Biden on Nov. 7 clinched the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, barring Donald Trump’s prospects for a second-term. Almost immediately, reactions from various parts of the power sector streamed in, highlighting possibilities and pitfalls of Biden’s wide-ranging energy and environment agenda.  Energy, and its implications on the environment, figured prominently as […]

Buoyed by two major developments last week for prospective customers, NuScale Power is maintaining “strong program momentum” toward commercialization of its small modular reactor (SMR) technology, the company told POWER.  On Oct. 16, the Department of Energy (DOE) approved a $1.355 billion award to fund the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP), a potential 720-MWe NuScale […]

TerraPower and X-energy will each receive $80 million in initial federal funding under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) to build their two distinct advanced nuclear reactors and begin operating them within seven years.  Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette made the much-awaited announcement about the first ARDP awards in a brief Twitter […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Oct. 7 notified Congress that it has chosen recipients for its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) and will make its selections public “next week.” The ARDP program, which the DOE officially launched on May 14, will essentially focus DOE and non-federal resources (through cost-shared agreements with industry) to enable […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) will issue a notice of proposed rule-making (NOPR) to implement President Trump’s broad bulk power system (BPS) security executive order (EO) “later this fall,” a DOE official confirmed to POWER on Oct. 5. Though the NOPR is delayed beyond the 150-day timeframe set by the EO, various BPS stakeholders are […]

The U.S. power industry lacks forward-looking ways to measure grid resiliency and traditional reliability metrics could become irrelevant as more intermittent generation inundates the bulk power system. But rather than continually looking backward to learn from ever-increasing emergencies or close-shaves, power system operators must work to cultivate a balanced portfolio that considers all aspects of […]

Marking another major federal effort to address potential supply chain risks to the bulk power system (BPS), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Sept. 17 sought industry’s perspective on a number of important considerations, including possible actions the regulatory body could take to address security gaps. The U.S.-based power sector, meanwhile, has moved quickly […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Sept. 6 took the rare but drastic action of issuing an emergency order under the Federal Power Act (FPA) to authorize the maximum operation of three natural gas–fired facilities on the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO’s) grid whose full capability had been stranded by federal air quality and […]

Construction of the 10-MW Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) pilot plant in San Antonio, Texas, is inching along, and developers in July announced that the building to house the innovative

Industry experts agree that deep geological repositories are needed for long-term storage of spent reactor fuel. They’re also digging for alternative methods. The U.S. Department of Energy earlier this year

The U.S. Department of Energy has made the research and development (R&D) of long-duration energy storage at fossil fuel generating stations a priority to keep reliable and affordable supplies of

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced over $1 billion in awards for the establishment of 12 new artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum information science (QIS) research institutes nationwide. The $1 billion will go towards NSF-led AI […]

Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA), the entity that manages Idaho National Laboratory (INL), has initiated contract negotiations with a team lead by Bechtel National Inc. (BNI) and supported by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and Terra Power to back the design and build phase of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Versatile Test Reactor (VTR).  The announcement […]

GOLDEN, CO (August 12, 2020) – U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette today announced the launch of the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) platform at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). ARIES is a cutting-edge research platform that will allow NREL researchers and the scientific community to address […]

What will it realistically take to ready a fission surface power system (FSP)—a small (maybe modular) nuclear reactor—for deployment on the moon by 2027? That’s essentially what Battelle Energy Alliance LLC (BEA), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are asking the private sector in an interesting request for […]

Taking its first major step to act on President Trump’s May 1 executive order (EO) to limit foreign bulk power equipment transactions in the U.S., the Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a definitive list of six foreign “adversaries” that pose threats to the U.S. bulk power system (BPS): China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, […]

Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is ready to make about $122 million available to establish what the DOE calls “innovation centers” for coal. Brouillette and the DOE on June 26 said these centers will focus on the manufacturing of value-added, carbon-based products from coal. The facilities also would work […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced nearly $11 billion in energy-cost savings by more than 950 public and private sector organizations in DOE’s Better Buildings Initiative. To date, partners have saved nearly 1.8 quadrillion British thermal units of energy, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of 27 million homes in America […]

In the first installment of POWER’s brand new video interview series, POWER Insights, Kurt Terrani, technical director of the Transformational Challenge Reactor (TCR) program, talks to POWER Senior Associate Editor Sonal Patel about the innovative microreactor program spearheaded by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and project partners, including Idaho National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and […]