nuclear power

The Heysham 2 nuclear power station broke a nearly 22-year-old record for continuous operation when it shut down Unit 8 on September 16 after 940 days online. The previous record—held by Pickering 7, a Canadian nuclear plant—was 894 days, set on October 7, 1994. EDF Energy said that the Heysham reactor—a 615-MW unit located on […]

Exelon Generation has agreed to acquire the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant from Entergy Corp. in a deal worth $110 million. Entergy had slated the 838-MW single-unit facility located in Scriba, N.Y., for closure by January 2017 for economic reasons, but the change in ownership will allow the plant to remain in operation. Exelon […]

JENKINSVILLE, S.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–This week Westinghouse Electric Company completed the placement of two modules that are part of the innovative safety systems of the AP1000® Unit 2 currently under construction at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station. The AP1000 plant safety systems rely on the laws of nature including gravity, natural circulation and condensation. The plant design […]

The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) approved New York’s Clean Energy Standard on August 1, likely saving three upstate nuclear power plants, while requiring 50% of the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy sources by 2030. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) praised the action in a statement following the announcement. “New York has […]

A divided Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) Thursday approved Georgia Power Co.’s plans to investigate a new nuclear power project in Stewart County, with a time frame around 2030. Approval came in a 4–1 vote, with Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald in opposition. The vote represented a bit of a compromise. The Atlanta-based Southern Co. subsidiary, […]

When the UK, the European Union’s (EU’s) second-largest economy, voted to leave the union on June 23, reactions were swift and sometimes unexpected, but what does the Brexit vote mean for the nuclear power industry, which is an increasingly global one? Based on comments made at this week’s World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE) outside Paris, the […]

Given the lack of progress on Illinois energy legislation, Exelon Corp. announced on June 2 that it would begin taking steps to permanently shut down its Quad Cities and Clinton nuclear power plants. In a statement, the company said Clinton would close on June 1, 2017, and that Quad Cities would follow exactly one year […]

BEIJING–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The world’s first AP1000® nuclear power plant moved a step closer to commissioning with the completion of the cold hydrostatic test (CHT) at Sanmen Unit 1 in Zhejiang Province, China. The successful completion of CHT confirms that the reactor systems meet design pressures under operating and accident conditions and signifies the completion of the […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) newest nuclear plant, Watts Bar Unit 2, achieved initial criticality on May 23 at 2:16 a.m. Although that may sound ominous to anyone untrained in nuclear terminology, initial criticality simply means that Watts Bar Unit 2 reached a state in which the reactor’s neutron population remained steady from one generation […]

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said the time will come—perhaps 10 to 15 years from now—when “nuclear power is going to have to see a substantial resurgence.” Moniz was speaking on May 19 at the “Summit on Improving the Economics of America’s Nuclear Power Plants.” He provided opening remarks, framing the challenges facing the […]