nuclear

  • Toshiba Will Make Remaining Vogtle Payments by mid-December

    Toshiba Corp. has agreed to accelerate its payments to Georgia Power to help the utility finance completion of the troubled Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion. The deal announced December 5 comes four days after a recommendation from state regulators that the project be abandoned if Georgia Power cannot make it financially viable, and also to lessen […]

  • Georgia Regulators: Change Vogtle Economics or Cancel Project

    A new analysis by staff at Georgia’s Public Service Commission (PSC) says continuing construction of two AP1000 reactors at the Plant Vogtle nuclear facility near Waynesboro, Georgia, is not economic, and the group says that unless Georgia Power agrees to modify its conditions for completing the project to ensure it will be financially viable, the […]

  • IAEA: Pending Reactor Retirements Will Drag Down Global Nuclear Capacity Projections

    Cheap natural gas, the impact of subsidized intermittent renewables on power prices, and nuclear policies in several countries in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident will continue to hamper strong growth

  • POWER Digest [December 2017]

    Construction Set to Begin on First Nuclear Plant in Turkey. Berat Albayrak, Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister, in mid-October said construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant would

  • Officials Ponder Santee Cooper Sale in Wake of Failed Nuclear Project

    South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) wants to sell Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility, even as state lawmakers discuss how to deal with the group’s involvement in the abandoned V.C. Summer nuclear project. Lawmakers also disagree with who should advise the state on a possible sale. Leaders of South Carolina’s House and Senate have hired […]

  • California PUC Will Rule Soon on Diablo Canyon’s Future

    The fate of Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E’s) Diablo Canyon Power Plant is expected to be decided by year-end, with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) set to hear final arguments about the plant’s future on November 28. The 2.2-GW nuclear plant has operated near Avila Beach, California, since 1985. A judge in early November […]

  • More U.S. Coal Units Closing Despite Possible Market Pricing Change

    U.S. utilities continue to announce closures of financially troubled and older coal-fired power plants even as government officials work on a bailout plan to keep them operating. Owners of a coal plant in Montana that has only been online since 2006 informed the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) last week of plans to shutter the […]

  • FERC’s Chatterjee Has Interim Plan to Prop Up Coal, Nuclear Plants

    Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Acting Chairman Neil Chatterjee, who has said he is “sympathetic” to a rule that would help prop up struggling U.S. coal and nuclear power plants, apparently is ready to move forward with an interim plan to keep financially troubled plants operating while his agency continues to consider a market-changing cost […]

  • Exelon Subsidiary Files Bankruptcy; Lenders Would Take Over Four Plants

    ExGen Texas Power (EGTP) Holdings LLC and ExGen Texas Power LLC, a subsidiary of Exelon Corp., on November 7 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware is aimed at reducing the company’s debt, and four of EGTP’s five natural gas-fired power plants in Texas would be owned by lenders […]

  • PJM: Can the Big Dog Deal with State Interference?

    The PJM Interconnection, the largest regional transmission operator in the U.S., faces many problems: adapting to state policies designed to skew power markets in the face of natural gas and renewable

  • No Longer an Afterthought, Nuclear Plant Decommissioning Industry Matures

    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

  • Nuclear Plant Construction: A Trial of Patience

    Constructing a nuclear power plant is not for the faint of heart. The process is lengthy, even when there aren’t delays. To understand some of the hurdles, it’s worth reviewing the Plant Vogtle expansion

  • Poland Will End Coal Investments, Move Toward Nuclear

    Poland’s energy minister in September said the country was ready to shift away from coal-fired power, which provides about 90% of its electricity. Krzysztof Tchorzewski, speaking at the Krynica-Zdroj

  • Russia Continues Legacy of Innovation at Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant

    Russia’s nuclear power station operations arm Rosenergoatom brought its most powerful nuclear reactor to date into commercial operation in February 2017, marking the latest evolution of its Water-Water

  • Ringhals Delivers Record Output Despite Tough Economics

    Challenges abound for nuclear power plants in today’s world, with increased competition from other fuels, stricter safety regulations, divided public opinion, and low electricity prices providing an

  • FPL Halfway Through 600-MW Solar Power Expansion

    Florida Power & Light (FPL), which recently sustained a blow to its nuclear expansion plans, on October 19 said it’s about halfway through an ambitious plan to add eight new solar plants in the state by early 2018, as it continues to increase its photovoltaic (PV) generation capacity as part of a larger strategy to […]

  • Citizens’ Jury Recommends Resuming Nuclear Construction in South Korea

    Construction of two nuclear plants in South Korea, halted this July by President Moon Jae-in’s announced policy to phase out nuclear power, will continue after a citizens’ jury voted to resume the projects. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) was building Shin Kori 5 and 6, two AP1400 units, but the company decided to suspend […]

  • Perry Hammered on FERC Order During House Subcommittee Hearing

    Criticism for Secretary of Energy Rick Perry’s recent notification of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) directing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to show favor to coal and nuclear plants was in no short supply during an October 12 hearing of the House Subcommittee on Energy. The hearing, which focused on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) missions and […]

  • Startup of Olkiluoto 3 Nuclear Plant Delayed Again

    Continued problems with construction of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant in Finland have pushed the facility’s expected start date into 2019, meaning operations will not begin until at least 10 years after the original proposed start of commercial service. Project owner Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) on October 9 announced further delays. TVO project director […]

  • DOE Offers Another $3.7 Billion in Loan Guarantees for Vogtle Project

    Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a statement that the “future of nuclear energy in the United States is bright” as his agency on September 29 announced another $3.7 billion in loan guarantees for continued construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia. The Department of Energy (DOE) has guaranteed another $1.67 […]

  • Another new country introduces nuclear energy – Turkey

    General construction work has begun at the Akkuyu nuclear power plant site in Turkey1. It is a positive sign that reactor construction will indeed commence in 2018 – putting Turkey on track to be the next new country to introduce nuclear energy into its mix after the UAE and Belarus. The most recent country to […]

  • Decision on Vogtle Project May Come in February 2018

    State regulators in Georgia could decide the future of the troubled Vogtle nuclear expansion project in February 2018, and have scheduled a series of hearings in December of this year to discuss spending for continued construction of two new units at the plant near Waynesboro, Georgia. The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) on September 19 […]

  • LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR PA NUCLEAR ENERGY PLANTS CONTINUES TO GROW, LED BY CLEAN JOBS FOR PENNSYLVANIA

    Today, Clean Jobs for Pennsylvania (CJFP), a coalition dedicated to advocating for the continued operation of Three Mile Island Generating Station (TMI) and nuclear power plants across Pennsylvania, announced that 16 local communities have passed resolutions in support of nuclear energy. They include: Dauphin County Lancaster County York City Conoy Township Londonderry Township Lower Swatara […]

  • ENEC CEO Highlights Priorities of UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Program at WNA Symposium in London

    ENEC Executives amongst 600 nuclear energy professionals participating in World Nuclear Association (WNA) Symposium, London, UK. ENEC CEO, Eng. Mohamed Al Hammadi, updates industry leaders on evolution of ENEC and the UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Program Abu Dhabi, UAE – 14 September 2017: A senior delegation from the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), led by […]

  • Japan Regulatory Group Gives Conditional Support for TEPCO Restart

    Japan’s nuclear watchdog agency has given Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) conditional approval to restart two reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. The units were taken offline after the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown in March 2011. The country’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) on September 13 said TEPCO could restart the units after it provides a detailed plan […]

  • Official Says 75% of Florida Population Lost Power During Irma

    An official with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on September 12 said as many as 15 million people in Florida lost power during Hurricane Irma, and said damage from the storm means “this will be a situation about rebuilding” power infrastructure, rather than repair.” Christopher Krebs, assistant secretary for Infrastructure Protection with DHS, said at […]

  • Florida Nuclear Plants Will Shut Ahead of Irma

    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 […]

  • FirstEnergy Cuts Sale Price in Revised Deal to Shed Assets

    Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp. has dropped the price of several assets as it continues to work toward closing a deal to sell five of the company’s natural gas-fired power plants, along with a hydroelectric facility, to an equity group that specializes in energy investments. FirstEnergy this week said it had cut the price of the facilities […]

  • NuScale Power, LLC Submits Part II of DOE Loan Guarantee Application

    NuScale Power, LLC announced today that the company has successfully submitted Part II of its Title XVII loan guarantee application to the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) under the Department’s Advanced Nuclear Energy Project Solicitation. Under this solicitation, USDOE seeks applications for loan guarantees to finance projects located in the United States that employ innovative […]

  • Lightbridge and AREVA NP Sign Binding Agreement for U.S. Joint Venture for Advanced Nuclear Fuel

    Lightbridge Corporation (NASDAQ:LTBR) and AREVA NP in North America (AREVA Inc.), signed a binding Heads of Terms Agreement for a joint venture (JV) that summarizes all material terms and conditions to develop, manufacture and commercialize Lightbridge’s advanced metallic fuel technology. Lightbridge is a U.S. nuclear fuel development company and AREVA NP is a leader in […]