nuclear plants
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Nuclear
Despite South Carolina IRP Rejection, Duke Energy Seeks 80-Year Operation for Oconee Nuclear Units
Duke Energy has kicked off an effort to renew the operating licenses of all its 11 nuclear reactors for 20 more years, starting with Oconee Nuclear Station, its largest nuclear plant. The utility on June 21 filed an application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a subsequent license renewal (SLR) for the three-unit 2.5-GW […]
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Nuclear
Hydrogen May Be a Lifeline for Nuclear—But It Won’t Be Easy
Four U.S. nuclear generators—Energy Harbor, Xcel Energy, Exelon, and Arizona Public Service (APS)—are making headway on projects to demonstrate hydrogen production at nuclear plants, but scaling those efforts up to net new end-users and sources of revenue is still ridden with hurdles, company officials said in a panel discussion at the American Nuclear Society’s (ANS’s) […]
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Timeline
Seven Nuclear Plants Get COVID-19–Related NRC Work-Hour Exemptions
To help nuclear generators manage worker fatigue amid the intensifying COVID-19 pandemic, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has so far granted individually requested exemptions from work-hour controls to seven U.S. nuclear power plants. As described by NRC Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Ho Nieh in March 28 letters sent to at least three industry leaders, […]
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Nuclear
COVID-19 Threatens Outages Scheduled at 97% of U.S. Nuclear Sites in 2020
Challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. nuclear industry has asked the Trump administration to ensure nuclear workers, suppliers, and vendors will have access to nuclear plants and personal protective equipment (PPE) during the 2020 spring and fall refueling outage seasons and beyond. All but two of the nation’s nuclear sites had scheduled planned outages […]
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Infographics
THE BIG PICTURE: The Diffusion of Nuclear Technology
A historical analysis of nuclear power technology by researchers from the German Institute for Economic Research suggests that none of the 674 reactors developed globally since 1945 were developed based on “economic grounds”—as private investments in the context of a market-based competitive system. Until the 1950s, only four major countries dominated nuclear technology by establishing independent […]
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News
Novel Floating Power Plants on the Horizon
For decades, floating power plants have been used widely as a source of flexible, decentralized power generation for several reasons. Among them are that they can be built cost-effectively and rapidly; they
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News
Data Shows Nuclear Plant Decommissioning Costs Falling
A research group that provides information to institutional investors said cost estimates to decommission U.S. nuclear plants fell in 2017 for the first time in a decade. The Callan Institute, headquartered in San Francisco, California, in its report said decommissioning cost estimates dropped by 2.5% last year, to $88.8 billion. Callan’s data shows costs estimates […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Federal Appeals Court Upholds New York’s Nuclear Subsidies
New York’s subsidies of nuclear power are legally sound, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has concluded. The decision comes two weeks after the Seventh Circuit upheld a similar measure in Illinois. The development marks a victory for the nuclear industry, which has been financially crippled by the rise of cheap gas […]
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Legal & Regulatory
[Updated] Troubled FirstEnergy Companies Seek Bankruptcy Protection
FirstEnergy Corp.’s competitive arm FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) and several key subsidiaries, including FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. (FENOC), on March 31 sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. FirstEnergy said the move would facilitate an “orderly financial restructuring” and accelerate its strategy to become a fully regulated utility. FES—the parent company of FE Aircraft Leasing Corp., FirstEnergy Generation, […]
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Legal & Regulatory
PSEG’s Izzo Blasts Power Company Opposition to Revived New Jersey Nuclear Subsidy Bill
Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) President and CEO Ralph Izzo gave NRG Energy a tongue-lashing for its pointed opposition of subsidies for PSEG’s two New Jersey nuclear power plants. The tense moment at a January 25 legislative hearing that sought to revive the measure is illustrative of a growing chasm within the power sector about the […]
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Coal
FirstEnergy Looks to Exit Competitive Business, Shutter or Sell Ohio Nuclear Plants
Financially hemorrhaging in 2016 due to uneconomic power plants in its fleet, FirstEnergy Corp. said it may exit the competitive generation business by mid-2018, and shutter its nuclear plants in Ohio, even though it will back legislation to subsidize nuclear power. In a fourth quarter earnings call on February 22, officials from the Akron, Ohio–based […]
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Press Releases
GSE Awarded Two International Projects to Modernize Nuclear Simulators, Increasing Company Backlog by More Than $6 Million
September 06, 2016 04:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time SYKESVILLE, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–GSE Systems, Inc. (“GSE” or “the Company”) (NYSE MKT: GVP), the world leader in real-time high-fidelity simulation systems and training solutions to the power and process industries, today announced that it has been awarded contracts to provide mission-critical updates to multi-unit nuclear site simulator platforms […]
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Renewables
Morgan Stanley Investment Banker “Bearish” on New U.S. Nuclear
Despite the positive attributes of nuclear power—zero carbon emissions, reliable generation, low fuel costs, and a small footprint—the outlook for new nuclear in the United States is “bearish,” said Anthony Ianno, a Morgan Stanley managing director who follows the electricity business as an investment banker and dealmaker.
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Nuclear
NRC Scraps Study to Determine Cancer Risks in Populations Living Near Nuclear Plants
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has dropped a study begun in 2010 to determine cancer risks in populations near U.S. nuclear power facilities. Continuing the work was “impractical, given the significant amount of time and resources needed and the agency’s current budget constraints,” the regulatory body said. The study that was being conducted by the […]