NRC

Building power plants is only the first step to generating success. Running plants efficiently, and consistently improving efficiency as they run, is the path to putting profits on the bottom line. Building

Officials with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) plan to hold a public hearing May 31 on the safety record of the Arkansas Nuclear One power plant in Arkansas, whose two units are among three cited by the agency for poor performance and other problems in its annual assessment of the nation’s nuclear fleet. The […]

After the meltdowns at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March 2011, Congress directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to support development of new fuel designs that could tolerate loss-of-cooling

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has completed the first and most intensive phase of review for NuScale Power’s design certification application (DCA). NuScale’s is the first and only small modular reactor (SMR) application to ever undergo NRC review. This major achievement brings NuScale Power closer to introducing the country’s first SMR […]

The nation’s paramount nuclear power trade group has launched a wide-ranging strategy to help generators stay profitable in tight markets, the head of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) told Wall Street analysts on April 12. In an address broadcast on Facebook, Maria Korsnick, NEI president and CEO, said that nuclear plants that operate in competitive […]

Following a planned outage, Unit 1 at the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant near Baxley in southeastern Georgia returned to service in early March outfitted with first-of-their-kind accident tolerant fuel (ATF)

Waste Control Specialists (WCS) and Orano USA intend to revive licensing of a consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) in Andrews County, Texas, where spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from reactors across the country can be stored until a permanent repository is developed. The companies said on March 13, 2018, they intend to form a joint venture […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has formally docketed an application by Holtec Inc. to construct and operate a consolidated interim storage facility for spent fuel from commercial nuclear power reactors in Lea County, New Mexico. In docketing the application, the NRC has determined the application is sufficiently complete for the staff to begin its detailed safety, […]

Spent nuclear fuel has continued to accumulate at sites across the nation, paralyzed by a government deadlock on a nuclear waste management strategy formally established 35 years ago. Can recent developments

The future of advanced reactors in the U.S. will remain murky unless the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) takes four key steps to support innovation and commercialization of new technology, three key industry groups have warned. U.S. leadership of nuclear technology is “at risk,” and if changes aren’t made it will lose its standing as a […]

NuScale successfully demonstrates approach that allows its SMR to be safe without need for electrical power WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has concluded that application of NuScale Power’s novel safety design approach eliminates the need for class 1E power for its small modular reactor (SMR). Class 1E is the regulatory standard set […]

Dominion Energy will formally ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to relicense its two reactors at the North Anna Power Station for 20 more years—effectively extending their operating lives up to 80 years. Dominion Energy Virginia notified the federal regulatory body of its intent to relicense the two reactors in Louisa County, Virginia, which it […]

The once seemingly insurmountable technical challenges of dismantling a commercial nuclear plant have been largely eliminated through experience. Decommissioning processes have been standardized and optimized

Florida Power & Light (FPL), the largest utility in Florida, said September 7 it would shut down its Turkey Point and St. Lucie nuclear power plants in the hopes of limiting potential damage from Hurricane Irma. The facilities are the only operating nuclear plants in the state. FPL did not give specific timing for the […]

Citing its backing for the long-stalled Yucca Mountain permanent spent nuclear waste repository in Nevada, the Trump administration has asked a federal court to reject a petition filed by Texas in which the state sought a court-supervised process to take over administrative proceedings so as to guarantee licensing and eventual construction of project. Texas filed […]

Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), told POWER on March 9 that the U.S. nuclear industry is optimistic this Congress will work to resolve the nation’s long drawn out spent fuel predicament. Speaking at CERAweek by IHS Markit last week, Korsnick said that optimism was based on Republican domination of […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has accepted NuScale Power’s small modular reactor (SMR) design certification application and will provide a design review schedule soon. The NRC’s acceptance marks a major milestone for the first SMR design to ever attempt obtaining U.S. certification. NuScale, in which Fluor Corp. is a majority investor, submitted its application on […]

Advanced Reactors Must Address Cost, Safety, Waste & Proliferation Challenges WASHINGTON, March 8, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Today, Dr. Christina Back, Vice President of Nuclear Technologies and Materials for General Atomics and leader of the organization responsible for the Energy Multiplier Module (EM2), an advanced reactor concept, testified before the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works […]

What do we know as of February 1 about key Trump appointees responsible for administering White House policies affecting the power generation industry? Not much. As the Trump administration settles in, how his teams at energy and environment agencies will implement his policy agenda remains unclear, as does his agenda. At the end of January, […]

NuScale will submit the nation’s first application for design certification of a small modular reactor (SMR) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Thursday. The Corvallis, Ore.–based company, which is majority owned by the Fluor Corp., has been developing its light-water reactor nuclear technology for more than 15 years. Development of the NuScale power module […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said on Dec. 21 that it has issued combined construction-and-operating licenses (COLs) for Duke Energy’s proposed two-unit William States Lee III nuclear plant in Gaffney, S.C. The project, named for long-time Duke executive Bill Lee, would use Westinghouse’s AP1000 design and be located adjacent to the abandoned Cherokee nuclear plant […]

Fermi 2, a 1,170-MW boiling water reactor owned by DTE Electric on the western shore of Lake Erie, in Monroe County, Mich., has garnered the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) green light to operate until March 2045. DTE Electric submitted an application to the NRC to renew the 29-year-old reactor’s operating license in April 2014. The […]

An email written by the team leader of an ongoing Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspection being conducted at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant suggested that the facility’s staff were “overwhelmed by just trying to run the station.” The wide-ranging NRC inspection began on Nov. 28. It is the third and largest inspection conducted as part […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority this week said it will pay a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) proposed $140,000 fine for security violations at its Browns Ferry nuclear station near Athens, Ala. According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Steve Bono, Browns Ferry site director, said that the giant regional power agency “accepts full responsibility” for the […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is beginning a comprehensive three-week inspection of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, Mass., as a result of the plant’s repeated performance deficiencies, the agency said in a November 28 statement. The inspection, planned for more than a year, is part of the NRC’s heightened oversight process, begun […]

Donald Trump’s stunning victory in the U.S. presidential election portends enormous changes in U.S. energy and environmental policy, and a nearly complete turnover of the men and women who will administer that policy for the next four years.

The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Massachusetts, limping toward retirement in 2019, suffered yet another unplanned shutdown on September 6 after operators were forced to power down the reactor because of high water levels in the core. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) event report, “operators initiated a manual reactor scram due to high […]

Indiana Michigan Power—a subsidiary of American Electric Power (AEP)—reported that Unit 2 of its Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant in Bridgman, Mich., was forced offline on July 6 due to an expansion joint bellows rupture on the unit’s moisture separator reheater. Although no one was in the area at the time and there were no […]

Following the end of William C. Ostendorff’s term on June 30, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is now down to only three active commissioners on staff. Ostendorff became a commissioner on April 1, 2010, following a distinguished career as a U.S. naval officer, engineer, lawyer, and policy advisor. His departure adds another vacancy to the […]

Diablo Canyon, the two-reactor nuclear power plant on the central California coastline, will be permanently shuttered by 2025 under a renewables-boosting initiative announced today by its owner, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). The company on June 21 unveiled a “joint proposal” with labor and environmental groups that seeks to increase investment in energy efficiency, energy […]