nuclear

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 […]

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

Continuing issues with the two-unit expansion of the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia have led federal regulators to say they are considering increasing oversight of the project. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Aug. 26, in a letter to Southern Nuclear, which is leading the project along with its sister company Georgia Power, […]

An experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) National Ignition Facility (NIF) appears to have approached fusion ignition as it recreated the extreme temperatures and pressures at the heart of the sun for a tiny fraction of a second. The momentous step has fueled new optimism for fusion energy. The experiment on Aug. 8 “was […]

Former Westinghouse Electric Co. Senior Vice President Jeffrey A. Benjamin was charged with 16 felony counts, including conspiracy, wire fraud, securities fraud, and causing a publicly traded company to keep a false record, for his part in failing to truthfully report information regarding construction of new nuclear units at the V.C. Summer nuclear plant in […]

NuScale Power and Xcel Energy agree to examine future partnerships PORTLAND, Ore. — NuScale Power, LLC (NuScale) is pleased to announce it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Xcel Energy Inc. (Xcel Energy), a leading energy utility provider, to explore the feasibility of Xcel Energy serving as a plant operator at NuScale Plants. […]

A new combined heat and power gas-fired plant, designed to support increased power generation as part of Taiwan’s developing energy policy, has entered commercial operation. General Electric (GE) on Aug. 10 said the 535-MW Chia Hui facility, using GE’s advanced HA technology, is located in Minxiong Township in Chiayi County, the sixth-largest county in Taiwan. […]

Marking a notable milestone for nuclear component additive manufacturing, four 3D-printed fuel assembly channel fasteners have been installed and are now operational at Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Unit 2 in Athens, Alabama. Channel fasteners are a type of bracket that attaches to the top of the nuclear fuel assembly to hold […]

The international business arm of Russia’s state-owned nuclear power company has received a license that will allow construction of small modular reactors (SMRs), based on the design used in the country’s icebreaker shipping fleet, at ground-based nuclear power plants. Rusatom Overseas JSC (RAOS JSC), the company representing parent company Rosatom’s international interests, on Aug. 9 […]

Marking another milestone in an industry-led accelerated quest to commercialize accident tolerant fuels (ATF), nuclear fuel test rods containing Westinghouse’s EnCore technologies that completed their inaugural cycle at Exelon’s Byron nuclear plant have shipped to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). While initial visual inspections show “no signs of degradation,” the irradiated fuel will now be […]