nuclear

A series of strikes at French nuclear plants owned by power giant EDF have caused fluctuating electricity supplies, prompting concerns as the country prepares for a prolonged cold snap. Workers are reportedly protesting wage negotiations and a possible plan by the French government to restructure EDF. The energy branch of French trade union CGT on […]

Entergy Arkansas said it will close the state’s two largest coal-fired power plants, along with one gas-fired plant, by 2030 as part of a settlement with environmental groups that sued the utility in federal court for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Sierra Club and the Washington, D.C.-based National Parks Conservation Association […]

State-imposed standards and financial incentives such as those used to spur widespread adoption of renewables technologies offer a promising model to address challenges to commercialize small modular reactors (SMRs), says a report by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Nuclear Energy. But to make a meaningful impact, nearly $10 billion in incentives will […]

WILMINGTON, North Carolina (November 13, 2018) —GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and its PRISM technology have been selected by Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA) to support the U.S. Department of Energy’s Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) program which seeks to utilize fast neutron spectrum technology to support accelerated development of fuels and materials for U.S. advanced reactors. The […]

A Tennessee businessman now has until the end of November to finalize a two-year-old purchase agreement for the unfinished Bellefonte nuclear power plant in Alabama. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which began building the plant in 1974 but ended construction in 1988 amid a downturn in the nuclear power industry, on November 9 said it […]

PORTLAND, Ore. – NuScale Power is pleased to announce it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG), Ontario’s public electricity generator, who has agreed to support NuScale in its vendor design review (VDR) with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), bringing NuScale closer to introducing its ground-breaking small modular […]

Coal-fired See our August 2018 issue for stories covering these plants: Aditya Aluminum Captive Power Plant, Sambalpur, Odisha, India Craig Generating Station Unit 2, Craig, Colorado Dry Fork Station, Gillette, Wyoming Samcheok Green Power Plant, Samcheok, South Korea Shawnee Fossil Plant, West Paducah, Kentucky Renewables See our September 2018 issue for stories covering these plants: […]

The challenges for Japan’s nuclear power industry have been many in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. Returning units to commercial operation requires meeting new government safety standards, along with

Despite significant milestones to become a fully regulated utility, FirstEnergy Corp. on October 25 reported third-quarter losses of $512 million on revenue of $3.1 billion. The results largely reflect charges related to the court-approved settlement in the bankruptcy cases of its competitive subsidiaries FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) and FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. (FENOC), the company said. […]

The Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs—a bipartisan think tank—will host the “Jackson Hole Global Forum: Climate Solutions, Coal Communities, and Economic Diversification,” in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, November 8–9, 2018. Among the sessions on day one is a panel titled “What Is Coal’s Future?” Charles K. Ebinger, nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, will […]

October 18, 2018 — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted Exelon Generation Company’s request to modify the emergency preparedness plan for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in Lacey Township, N.J., to reflect the plant’s decommissioning status. The changes include exemptions from specific NRC requirements that may not be applicable to a plant that has […]

The White House may have shelved an effort to force grid operators to buy power from uneconomic coal and nuclear plants amid opposition inside the administration, Politico reported on October 15.  The publication reported “four people with knowledge of the discussions” have confirmed that opposition from the president’s own advisers on the National Security Council […]

Dominion Energy has filed an application to extend the operating licenses for two 45-year-old nuclear reactors at the Surry Power Station through 2052 and 2053—when they will be 80 years old.  Surry’s Unit 1 and 2, located near Newport News, Virginia, are three-loop Westinghouse pressurized water reactors (PWRs) that began operation in December 1972 and […]

BADEN, Switzerland (October 9, 2018) — GE Power announced it won the contract to deliver the turbine island equipment for El Dabaa nuclear power plant project in Egypt through AAEM its joint venture with Atomenergomash. GE Power will supply the basic design of four conventional island, supply four nuclear turbine generator sets, including the Arabelle half-speed steam […]

A handful of nuclear power projects around the world completed notable achievements recently: Rostov 4 entered commercial operation, Tianwan 4 achieved first criticality, the Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear power plant completed fuel loading, Leningrad II-1 received its commissioning permit, and the dome was installed on Karachi 3. Rostov 4 Rostov Unit 4 was placed into […]

The four co-owners of the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project in Georgia have voted to continue construction of two new reactors at the site near Waynesboro. The vote on September 26 came two days after the original deadline for a vote on the future of Units 3 and 4, which are scheduled to come online […]

The drama over the fate of the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion in Georgia continued September 25 as the four co-owners of the project sparred over conditions that one of the co-owners, Oglethorpe Power, wants in order to secure its support for moving forward with the project. A vote on the future of the oft-delayed, massively […]

The project to expand the two-unit Plant Vogtle nuclear power station in Georgia with two new AP1000 reactors has suffered debilitating delays and mounting costs. The project is owned by four partners: Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power (45.7%), Oglethorpe Power Corp. (OPC, 30%), Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power, 22.7%), and Dalton Utilities (1.6%). Units […]

An AP1000 nuclear reactor at the Sanmen power plant in China will likely be the first of its kind to begin commercial operation, with reports saying the reactor could come online as early as September 21. A statement from China National Nuclear Power Company, issued to the stock exchange in Shanghai on September 20, said […]

SACRAMENTO, CA (Sept. 19, 2018) – California Gov. Jerry Brown today signed into law a bill to protect the environment, workers, and local communities during the closure of  California’s last nuclear plant, Diablo Canyon near San Luis Obispo. Senate Bill 1090, which had wide bipartisan support, will help to ensure that the electricity generated by the […]

The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey, the oldest operating nuclear plant in the U.S., was shut down on September 17, 2018. For more, see “Oldest U.S. Nuclear Plant Shuts Down.” Visit our video archive

The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey, the oldest operating nuclear plant in the U.S., was shut down September 17. Workers marked the closure with a ceremony at the plant, as 400 current employees and former workers watched via a livestream as operators took the plant offline. Oyster Creek, a 625-MW single-reactor plant […]

GREENBELT, Maryland (September 13, 2018) – X-energy held its first public meeting on September 11, 2018, with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to discuss the design of the Xe-100, a high temperature gas-cooled (HTGR) pebble bed advanced reactor. This week’s discussions are the beginning of X-energy’s pre-application engagement with the NRC and a follow-on […]

A report this week from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows coal-fired power was still the major source of generation on a state-by-state basis in 2017, though natural gas-fueled electricity production slightly outpaced coal overall The EIA’s report, published September 10, said 18 states relied on coal for the bulk of their power generation […]

Nuclear power’s share of the world’s power generating mix could shrink dramatically from 10% in 2017 to just 5.6% in 2050 as the industry struggles with “reduced competitiveness,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suggested in a new report. The international organization based in Vienna, Austria, that works to promote the peaceful use of nuclear […]

The Trump administration has revived the discussion of using Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a repository for the nation’s nuclear waste. Nevada officials remain opposed to the idea of putting spent nuclear fuel in long-term storage at a site about 100 miles from Las Vegas. But while a bill to resurrect Yucca Mountain as a […]

The framework of a cooling tower. Weathered concrete walls, with empty holes as windows. The remains of what might have been provide the backdrop for what is—a solar farm that’s boosting economic

Palo Verde is the largest nuclear-generating site in the U.S. It has three of the five largest nuclear units in the country, with each pressurized water reactor licensed at almost 4,000 MWth. Like many plants

The Trump administration has extended a potential lifeline to coal-fired power plants with its Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule. Now the debate is about how much the plan will actually help coal generation. Energy analysts and other industry experts who spoke with POWER on August 28 say the new rule, which would give individual states the […]

Nuclear power generation increased worldwide in 2017 for the fifth successive year according to a report released by the World Nuclear Association (WNA). Production from nuclear plants reached 2,506 TWh in 2017, more than 10% of global electricity demand. The average capacity factor for the world’s nuclear power plants increased year-over-year to 81.1%, continuing the […]