nuclear

  • Three Nuclear Plants Close in Germany, Final Three to Be Retired in 2022

    The end of the year will bring the end of power production for three of Germany’s final six operating nuclear power plants. The 1,410-MW Brokdorf unit in Schleswig-Holstein, the 1,360-MW Grohnde unit in Lower Saxony, and the 1,288-MW Gundremmingen C unit in Bavaria will all be permanently taken off the gird on Dec. 31. That […]

  • Top 10 Power Industry News Stories of 2021

    It’s been another news-filled year in the power industry. The following stories were the top 10 traffic-getters posted in 2021 on POWER’s website. Did you see them all as they were released? 10. Mitsubishi Power Developing 100% Ammonia-Capable Gas Turbine Mitsubishi Power is developing a 40-MW class gas turbine that can directly combust 100% ammonia […]

  • Rosatom launches PWR fuel fabrication facility

    TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom has launched the new fabrication facility for manufacturing of TVS-K nuclear fuel for PWR reactors at the site of Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant, one of the world’s major nuclear fuel enterprises. The new facility will enable TVEL to supply various modifications of TVS-K fuel to nuclear power plants powered by […]

  • How Microreactors Could Change the Nuclear Power Industry (and the World)

    What is a microreactor and why would you want one? The definition could be debated, but nuclear reactors in the 1 MW to 20 MW range generally fit the bill, and there are countless possible applications for the technology. “This could be used for disaster relief. This could be used for mines, remote communities—on a […]

  • Framatome, US Department of Energy secure $150 million cooperative agreement to advance accident tolerant fuel

    December 16, 2021 – Framatome and the U.S. Department of Energy secure a new 4-year cooperative agreement valued at more than $150 million to continue the development of its PROtect enhanced accident tolerant fuel (EATF) technology. These technologies increase the safety performance of commercial nuclear reactors while providing operators more flexibility during normal operating conditions. […]

  • Westinghouse Successfully Dismantles Reactor Vessels in Slovakia

    Cranberry Township, PA (Dec. 16, 2021) – Westinghouse Electric Company announced it has recently completed dismantling the first of two reactor vessels at Bohunice V1 Nuclear Power Plant in Slovakia. The annular water tanks that ensured bio-shield protection of the two reactor pressure vessels have also been dismantled. “As the leader in specialized nuclear decommissioning, […]

  • How Machine Learning Improves Visibility into Nuclear Power Plant Waste and Contamination Levels

    Nuclear power remains one of the cleanest forms of energy available to us. Unfortunately, current challenges in measuring nuclear power plant waste and contamination levels make it difficult to manage. The inability to effectively measure these levels makes it difficult to validate nuclear power, and in some cases, is even causing some political tensions. Machine […]

  • GE Hitachi Brings Virtual Reality Training Solution to the Nuclear Energy Industry

    WILMINGTON, NC—December 7, 2021—GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) today announced that it is utilizing its Nuclear Virtual Reality Solution (VRS) tool to help nuclear power plant operators train personnel for outage, operations and maintenance work. The solution helps plant personnel train for operational scenarios encountered during maintenance and refueling outages including vessel disassembly and reassembly, […]

  • Framatome and Rosatom sign long-term cooperation agreement

    December 2, 2021 – Framatome and Rosatom recently signed a new Strategic Cooperation Agreement further expanding the companies’ efforts to develop fuel fabrication and instrumentation and control (I&C) technologies. Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev, and Bernard Fontana, CEO of Framatome signed the agreement during the World Nuclear Exhibition held in Paris. “By working closely with […]

  • Darlington Nuclear Plant Will Get a BWRX-300 SMR as GE Hitachi Bags Lucrative OPG Selection

    Ontario Power Generation (OPG) will build a GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at its Darlington Nuclear Station in Clarington, Ontario, marking a major triumph for the nuclear vendor in a stiff competition for the much-watched utility-scale project. OPG announced the selection of the GE Hitachi BWRX-300 SMR over competitors X-energy […]

  • Rosatom completes foundation concreting for the BREST-OD-300 reactor

    Another milestone achieved in construction of the innovative BREST-OD-300 fast neutron reactor at the site of the Siberian Chemical Combine, a subsidiary of Rosatom’s TVEL Fuel Company, as the pouring of the nuclear island’s foundation slab has been completed. The BREST-OD-300 foundation slab, 90 x 82 meters and 2.5 meters thick, consists of nine separate […]

  • Southern Joining Bill Gates-Backed Group on New Reactor Project

    Major U.S. utility Southern Co. said it has agreed to design and build an advanced demonstration nuclear reactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) using technology developed by TerraPower, the Bill Gates-backed company that earlier this week announced it would site a new Natrium nuclear reactor demonstration project in Wyoming. Southern in a Nov. 18 news […]

  • AMS Awarded DOE SBIR Phase I and Phase II Grants

    KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Nov. 9, 2021) — Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation (AMS), a Knoxville‑based market leader in testing the instrumentation and control systems of nuclear power plants worldwide, has been awarded a Phase I research project as well as a Phase II continuation project through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Small Business Innovation Research […]

  • GE Splitting Into Three Companies, Will Spin Off Energy Group

    General Electric (GE) has announced plans to split into three separate companies, breaking up into publicly traded groups for its energy, healthcare, and aviation divisions. The company on Nov. 9 said the GE Power, GE Renewable Energy, and GE Digital groups will be combined into one business, with the company pursuing a tax-free spin-off of […]

  • Framatome completes purchase of Rolls Royce Civil Nuclear Instrumentation and Control

    November 8, 2021: Framatome today announced the completion of its purchase of Rolls Royce Civil Nuclear Instrumentation and Control (I&C). Through this transaction, Framatome builds on its engineering expertise, enlarges its industrial footprint, and expands its global I&C systems development and deployment capabilities. “I&C systems serve as the ‘central nervous system’ of a nuclear power […]

  • Xcel Energy pioneering bridge between nuclear and the hydrogen economy

    Sponsored by:
    Xcel Energy

    A new frontier for nuclear energy in the United States is under exploration, and Xcel Energy is at the forefront with a project to produce hydrogen, most likely at its Prairie Island plant near Red Wing, Minnesota. “Our carbon-free nuclear fleet has been key to our energy system for decades,” said Pat Burke, vice president […]

  • Large Solar, Storage Project Planned at Former Nuclear Power Site

    Alliant Energy has announced its plan for a solar energy and storage facility at the site of the former Duane Arnold nuclear power plant near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The project when complete would position Alliant as the largest combined solar and storage operator in the state, and is part of Alliant’s plan to expand its […]

  • How an AP1000 Plant Is Changing the Nuclear Power Paradigm Through District Heating, Desalination

    Already remarkable for being the world’s second Westinghouse AP1000 reactor to be brought online, Shandong Nuclear Power Co.’s Haiyang nuclear power plant is pioneering two significant aspects of nuclear

  • Nuclear Power Foundation of China’s Future Generation

    China has its sights set on being the world leader when it comes to nuclear power technology. The country has brought its first Hualong One—a third-generation pressurized water reactor—online at the Fuqing

  • 2021 POWER Top Plant Award Winners

    Coal-fired See our August 2021 issue for stories covering these plants: Grant Town Power Project, West Virginia Engro Powergen Thar Ltd. (EPTL) power station, Pakistan Taean Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) Power Plant, South Korea Renewables See our September 2021 issue for stories covering these plants: Florida Power & Light (FPL) Solar Program, Florida High […]

  • Fluor to Collaborate with Bulgarian Energy Holding for Potential New Nuclear Power Units

    Companies to Focus on Decarbonization to Support Clean Energy Transition IRVING, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) announced today that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD for the consideration of new nuclear units in Bulgaria. Bulgarian Energy Holding is comprised of a group of companies engaged in the electricity generation, […]

  • Vogtle Start Dates Pushed Back Again

    Georgia Power has again pushed back the in-service dates for two new reactors at the Vogtle nuclear power plant, with Units 3 and 4 now projected to come online in the third quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2023, respectively. Georgia Power in an Oct. 21 news release said its needs more time […]

  • Power-to-Power Hydrogen Demonstration Involving Largest U.S. Nuclear Plant Gets Federal Funding

    Palo Verde Generating Station, a 4-GW nuclear power plant in Arizona, is gearing up to produce hydrogen from a low-temperature electrolysis (LTE) system, and that hydrogen will then be used to fuel a natural gas–fired power plant owned by Arizona Public Service (APS). The innovative power-to-power demonstration led by PNW Hydrogen is set to receive […]

  • Show Preview – Experience POWER

    POWER magazine is again hosting its Experience POWER event, with the 2021 edition taking place Oct. 18–21 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. Experience POWER is the only live

  • Experimental Advanced Fuel Rods Loaded in Russian Nuclear Reactor

    The first Russian-made nuclear reactor fuel bundles with experimental ATF (Advanced Technology Fuel) rods have been loaded into Unit 2 at the Rostov nuclear power plant (NPP) in southwest Russia. The reactor resumed operations earlier this month after a scheduled maintenance and refueling outage. The Rostov site is home to four VVER-1000 reactor units (Figure […]

  • CNL Completes Refueling of RMC SLOWPOKE-2 Reactor

    CHALK RIVER, Ontario (Sept. 23, 2021) — Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Canada’s premier nuclear science and technology organization, is pleased to announce that it has safely completed a project to refuel the Royal Military College of Canada’s (RMC) SLOWPOKE-2 nuclear reactor. As a low-power, self-regulating reactor, the SLOWPOKE-2 is used by RMC to produce neutrons […]

  • Nuclear Advisory Council Deems Commissioning of Holtec SMR-160 by 2030 a ‘Credible Target’

    Holtec International’s ambitions to install its first set of SMR-160 small modular reactor nuclear plants in the U.S. by 2030 may be a “credible target,” the company’s advisory council comprising 20 utility and nuclear industry leaders has reportedly determined.  The Holtec Advisory Council, a body that provides Holtec with “input on the technical and commercial merits […]

  • NRC Backs Storing Nuclear Waste in Texas

    Federal regulators have approved a private company’s plan to store nuclear waste in the oil fields of West Texas, the latest move in the continuing saga of where to store spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Sept. 13 issued a license to Interim Storage Partners LLC (ISP), […]

  • Illinois Nuclear Plants Saved by Last-Minute Vote

    The Illinois Senate has approved an overhaul of the state’s energy policy with an eye toward a carbon-free future, with a key part of the package keeping the Byron nuclear power plant operating just hours before Exelon, the parent of Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), said it would begin shutting down the facility. Senators voted 37-17 on […]

  • Radioactive Contamination and the Environment: Studying the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

    More than 35 years have passed since a steam explosion and fires at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant caused massive amounts of radioactive material to be released into the environment. Time seems to have