nuclear power

“The world’s nuclear plants continue to perform excellently,” Agneta Rising, director general of the World Nuclear Association, wrote in the preface to the recently released World Nuclear Performance Report 2019. Yet, if the nuclear industry is to reach its “Harmony” goal, which is for nuclear generation to supply 25% of the world’s electricity before 2050, […]

Last year, five of the world’s 449 operable nuclear reactors reached 50 years of operation for the first time, four first-of-their kind reactor designs were brought online, and while the industry showed capacity factor impacts from load-following, the global nuclear fleet performed  at an average capacity factor of about 80%, says a new report from […]

GSE Systems said it has delivered and commissioned three additional full-scope simulators for Southern Nuclear’s new Operations Training Centers. The simulators are for the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, and the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant. Simulators provide efficient hands-on learning for power plant operators. While power plants of […]

A team that reviewed Southern Nuclear Company’s (SNC’s) April 2019 Vogtle Units 3 and 4 Re-baseline of Forecast Schedule and Cost said it believes the working schedule predicated on commercial operation dates of May 23, 2021, and May 23, 2022, for the respective units, is unachievable. Furthermore, the reviewers said the regulatory-approved schedule from the […]

NuScale Power, Rolls-Royce, and China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC)—three companies working on different small modular reactor (SMR) technology—recently announced positive developments for their respective designs. NRC Makes Progress on NuScale Design Review Portland, Oregon-based NuScale said on July 22 that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed the second and third phases of its SMR […]

Nuclear power advocates suggest there are many benefits associated with nuclear energy. They point to high-paying jobs; billions of dollars in economic activity for plant-hosting communities; and secure, reliable, baseload electricity. But the most-important benefit of nuclear power may be that it emits no greenhouse gases, and therefore does not contribute to climate change. According […]

CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — EnergySolutions, Inc. announced today it has signed a term sheet with GPU Nuclear, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy, to negotiate the asset transfer of Unit-2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (TMI-2) located near Middletown, Pennsylvania.  Unit-2 has been in a safe and stable storage condition […]

According to the Energy Impact Center, a Washington, D.C.-based research institute focused on deep decarbonization, CO2 emissions “must go net-negative by 2040, globally across all energy sectors” to begin countering climate change. The only way it sees to accomplish this is to “produce energy inexpensive enough to make carbon negative fuels that compete with fossil […]

The worldwide movement toward a clean energy future is barreling ahead. Most clean energy advocates seem to focus on wind and solar power as their resources of choice, and it shows, as the installed capacity

“Without action to provide more support for nuclear power, global efforts to transition to a cleaner energy system will become drastically harder and more costly,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), wrote in his foreword to the IEA’s recently released report titled Nuclear Power in a Clean Energy System. The report […]

Framatome delivered the industry’s first full-length Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel (EATF) concept containing both pellets and claddings to Georgia Power’s Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant. Southern Nuclear, operator of Plant Vogtle, inserted the GAIA lead fuel assemblies containing EATF during the Unit 2 spring refueling outage. Framatome delivered the fuel to the plant in […]

Minnesota and Wisconsin recently joined the list of states aiming for a 100% clean-energy future, while some Illinois lawmakers are pushing for not only carbon-free power, but also 100% renewable energy. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) was the latest to announce a set of policy proposals designed to lead his state’s electricity sector to 100% […]

Wood has won a major contract from Magnox Ltd to retrieve, process and dispose of radioactive waste from a UK nuclear power station that is being decommissioned. The construction, design and management project will involve the removal of 47m³ of radioactive wet waste stored in tanks at Dungeness A in Kent, which ceased generating in […]

MONTREAL: November 27, 2018 – SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) and its joint venture partner Eclipse Automation Inc. was awarded the $33 million production tooling contract to support Bruce Power’s fuel channel and feeder replacement (FCFR) project. The installation and inspection tools were designed and prototype-tested by SNC-Lavalin and Eclipse under an earlier agreement. Specialized tools are necessary […]

Poland plans to develop nuclear energy as part of its future energy system, according to Krzysztof Tchórzewski, the Polish Minister of Energy because it is low-cost, low-carbon and creates high-value jobs. The Minister was speaking at the inaugural World Nuclear Spotlight Poland conference in Warsaw – a high-level event which brought together Polish decision makers […]

Brussels, 8 October 2018: Nuclear power is essential if the world is to keep global warming to below 1.5 degrees, according to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC). Indeed, for electricity generation, the share of nuclear will need to increase significantly in order to meet global targets. According to Debra […]

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 […]

It’s no secret that U.S. nuclear and coal-fired power plants are struggling to remain viable in competitive markets. Many plants have been retired for economic reasons long before the facilities reached the

The project to expand the two-unit Plant Vogtle in Georgia with two new AP1000 reactors has suffered debilitating delays and mounting costs.

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) interdisciplinary study found that nuclear power has the potential to contribute greatly to the achievement of deep decarbonization goals, yet despite its promise, cost hinders the expansion of nuclear power. “The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World” was released on September 3. It is the eighth in […]

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 […]

In a move that supports Bruce Power’s vision of providing reliable electricity to Ontario until 2064, Rolls-Royce has signed a memorandum of understanding to be Bruce Power’s digital partner. This new agreement expands the two companies’ current T-104 program, which has exceeded its value delivery targets since starting in 2017. Rolls-Royce and Bruce Power will […]

Constructing a new nuclear power plant is a massive undertaking. It involves years of planning and countless hurdles just to get the necessary regulatory approval to break ground. Once physical work begins

The Watts Bar 2 nuclear unit has a lengthy and well-chronicled history. Construction began on the unit in 1973. It was suspended in 1985 due to slower electricity demand growth, rising construction costs due to inflation and new regulatory requirements stemming from the accident at Three Mile Island in 1979, and regulatory concerns throughout the […]

WILMINGTON, North Carolina—February 8, 2018—Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF) today announced that it has manufactured and shipped lead test assemblies of its IronClad and ARMOR accident tolerant fuel solutions to Southern Nuclear Operating Company for plant installation in early 2018. GNF is working with both Southern Nuclear and Exelon Generation to insert lead test assemblies utilizing […]

China’s State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission reorganized and transferred China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Corp. (CNEC) to China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) on January 31, forming a new giant in the nuclear power industry. The combined company is estimated to have nearly $100 billion in combined assets and almost 150,000 employees, according to data […]

The nuclear power industry is struggling in the U.S. Several reactors are at risk of early closure due to difficulty competing in the wholesale power markets. New units being built in South Carolina have been abandoned, while the only other nuclear construction project in the U.S.—the Plant Vogtle expansion in Georgia—is behind schedule and over […]

Cybersecurity is a topic covered frequently in the pages of POWER magazine, and one that all power plants need to take seriously. A recent simulation proved that the consequences of a hack can be grave. The drill took place in Sweden, but could have been conducted anywhere in the world. The attack used plant control […]

We were standing in Volgodonsk, Russia, on a bridge that connected the third and fourth units of the Rostov Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). The fourth unit was under construction, and the deputy chief engineer of the Rostov NPP, Alexander Belyaev, told us that we were about to witness something unique. It was December 1, 2015, […]

The nuclear power industry has been a tremendous asset to the world for decades. Yet, when the word “nuclear” is spoken, bombs are what first come to many peoples’ minds. World governments and the industry as a whole could do well by rebranding President Eisenhower’s 1953 United Nations “Atoms for Peace” speech. Eisenhower spelled out […]