nuclear

Helsinki, Finland (Dec. 21, 2020) – RAOS Project Oy (part of Rosatom Corporation), the plant supplier of Hanhikivi-1 NPP, has submitted the Basic Design Stage 1 documentation package containing technical solutions description to Fennovoima Oy, the NPP Customer. The package has been reviewed by Fennovoima’s specialists and conditionally accepted for further work. The Basic Design […]

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 […]

DECEMBER 14, 2020 — After the recent refueling at power unit 3 of the Hungarian Paks NPP, its VVER-440 reactor has been loaded with a batch of fresh fuel including 18 fuel bundles of the new modification. The new fuel will be introduced at all four operating power units of the Paks NPP, and the […]

December 7, 2020 – Framatome signed a sale purchase agreement with Rolls-Royce to acquire its Civil Nuclear Instrumentation and Control (I&C) business, which has operations principally in France, and to a lesser extent China. The transaction is expected to close at the beginning of the second half of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions including […]

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) has approved the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act of 2020 (ANIA), just two weeks after it was introduced. Among the bill’s major provisions are that it will seek to  strengthen the nuclear fuel supply chain, help incentivize commercial deployment of new reactor designs, and create a credit […]

Another small modular reactor (SMR) design is moving closer to commercial operation after achieving a licensing milestone. GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), which is designing the BWRX-300 SMR, on Dec. 1 said the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a final safety evaluation report for the first of several licensing topical reports (LTRs) submitted […]

South Korea, Japan, and China, countries that rely heavily on coal power generation to fuel their economies, separately announced ambitious goals to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the

Although there is only one nuclear power plant construction project in progress today in the U.S., that doesn’t mean the nuclear industry has gone dormant. A lot of research and development are ongoing, and the federal government is putting millions of dollars behind some of the efforts. The Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program “The Department of […]

An assortment of entities have sought to intervene in a complaint alleging that the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and California state agencies violated bulk power system reliability standards when they approved retirement of the 2,240-MW Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP) by 2025.  Before the comment deadline on Nov. 16, at least 15 entities sought intervention […]

November 16, 2020 – Framatome recently announced that it ramped up production of replacement component parts at its manufacturing plant located at Le Creusot, France. On October 28, forging operations began on the first shell that will be used for the fabrication of replacement steam generators for the French nuclear fleet. Before beginning production, Framatome […]

In a breakthrough that could improve the economics of NuScale Power’s small modular reactor (SMR) technology—and reshape a project under development by its first potential customer, the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS)—the Portland, Oregon-based company on Nov. 10 said it has determined its NuScale Power Module (NPM) can generate 25% more power per module.  […]

The first reactor of the first nuclear power plant in Belarus was connected to the grid on Nov. 3. The Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, also known as the Astravets plant, will have two operating reactors with a total 2.4 GW of generation capacity when completed in 2022, according to its current timeline. The plant has […]

A focus on continuous improvement has helped the nuclear power industry shine in recent years. The U.S.'s fleet of nuclear reactors has achieved average capacity factors of more than 92% over the past five

UK Expands Offshore Wind Targets, Sets 1 GW Target for Floating Wind. The UK on Oct. 6 raised its target for offshore wind power capacity by 2030 from 30 GW to 40 GW. To help the nation meet its commitments

Coal-fired See our August 2020 issue for stories covering these plants: Caofeidian, Tangshan, China Cenal TES, Karabiga, Turkey GHECO-One, Rayong, Thailand NTPC Khargone, Madhya Pradesh, India Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China Renewables See our September 2020 issue for stories covering these plants: Hydrostor Goderich A-CAES Facility, Goderich, Ontario, Canada Genale-Dawa III Hydropower Project, Ethiopia, Africa Kokomo […]

FirstEnergy Corp. President and CEO Charles “Chuck” Jones was fired late Thursday after an internal review found Jones and two other company executives violated company policies in connection with an alleged bribery scheme. The case is connected to a legislative bailout of the state’s nuclear power plants that occurred in 2019. The law, known as […]

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), a company commercializing fusion energy, recently announced a series of seven papers published and peer reviewed in a special edition of the Journal of Plasma Physics. The papers validate the company’s approach to commercial fusion energy. CFS said the papers, written in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT’s) Plasma […]

The growth of energy storage, along with deployment of new technologies, is at the heart of the future of distributed power generation. That’s according to industry executives participating in POWER’s Distributed Energy Experience. Woody Rubin, president of AES Distributed Energy, provided a keynote address on Oct. 20, talking about the rise of solar-plus-storage applications and […]

LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK, N.J. (Oct. 15, 2020) – PSEG Nuclear’s Salem Unit 1 entered its planned refueling and maintenance outage on Oct. 3, 2020, when operators safely removed the unit from the regional power grid. Salem 1 is one of three nuclear units operated by PSEG in Salem County, New Jersey. Collectively, the three nuclear […]

Doubling down on its net-zero efforts, Duke Energy will retire all coal-only units in the Carolinas, multiply its renewable portfolio, and cease emitting methane in its natural gas business by 2030.  The company made the announcements on Oct. 12 at its first environmental, social and governance (ESG) day, a virtual event geared toward its investors. […]

OSTROVETS, Belarus (Oct. 11, 2020) — Unit No. 1 at the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, equipped with the VVER-1200 reactor has been brought to minimum control power (MCP). Minimum control power level is reached when neutron flux is recorded in a reactor working at a level sufficient to sustain a fission chain reaction. Reaching MCP […]

Howden has been awarded a contract with American based UT-Battelle (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) to supply the DYS Blowout Compressor and the Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) which will be an important part of the Tokamak Cooling Water System (TCWS). Tomkamak is a magnetic fusion device that has been designed to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion […]

It’s been nearly 35 years since the Philippines mothballed the country’s only nuclear power plant, declaring the 621-MW Bataan facility would not be commissioned despite the country spending $2.3 billion

Enel Ready to Close Italian Coal Plants. Enel, Italy’s largest power generator, said it wants to close three coal-fired units in the coming months as part of the company’s complete exit from coal. Enel

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 […]

Technological innovation has forever been part of the power generation sector, as electricity producers strive for more efficient and more economic ways to deliver power. The POWER magazine editorial staff, in a “State of the Industry” presentation on Sept. 28 to open the virtual 2020 Experience POWER conference, identified four trends in power generation that […]

September 22, 2020 – Framatome recently partnered with the EDF Group, French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and six additional organizations from academia and the French nuclear sector to pool research and development (R&D) related to nuclear reactor digital twins. As part of this four-year, digital reactor structuring project (le Projet Structurant Pour […]

A California company is gathering funding for development of a portable nuclear microreactor, designed for use in areas where other forms of power generation are not practical. Radiant, founded by former SpaceX engineers, on Sept. 22 said it has raised $1.2 million from angel investors as it designs what the company calls a “clean energy […]

Hitachi will formally end business operations on the Horizon Nuclear Power Plant in the UK, citing an “investment environment” that has become “increasingly severe due to the impact of COVID-19.”  The Tokyo, Japan–headquartered conglomerate’s move comes 20 months after it first suspended plans to build the plant in Wylfa Newydd in Wales as part of […]

South Korea’s president said the country will shutter 30 more coal-fired power plants by 2034, and bring additional solar and wind power resources online in the next five years in order to meet emissions reductions targets. President Moon Jae-in made the announcement Sept. 8 in a speech he delivered virtually for the United Nations’ International […]