TVA

Leaders in Tennessee and officials from Kairos Power announced last week that a privately funded project to establish a low-power demonstration reactor at the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge is moving forward. Alameda, California-based Kairos Power plans to invest $100 million and create 55 jobs to deploy its demonstration reactor, called Hermes. The […]

In a notable, dedicated effort by a major U.S. utility to boost the development of an advanced reactor technology, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Kairos Power, developer of a novel fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature nuclear reactor, on May 6 said they will team to demonstrate Kairos’ Hermes test reactor at the East Tennessee Technology Park […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) expects to phase out its coal generation by 2035, but achieving net-zero carbon emissions without raising power prices or adversely affecting reliability will require substantial investments in energy storage and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). TVA also will need to extend the lifetime of its nuclear power, and adopt the […]

Engineer, attorney, author, and former head of some of the largest public power utilities in the U.S., S. David Freeman passed away on May 12 outside of Washington, D.C., following a heart attack at the age of 94. Freeman was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and received a degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is planning a technical conference this summer that would look at long-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the energy industry. The discussion would look at how the industry should approach investments and infrastructure development should the trend of lessening demand for electricity, and oil and gas, continue. Industry […]

U.S. power plant operators continue to change procedures at their facilities, including pushing back scheduled maintenance, due to lockdowns and quarantines associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The changes are impacting companies such as General Electric (GE) and Siemens, which are major service providers to power plants, at a time when these global companies already are […]

Yucca Mountain, the 1987 Congressionally appointed deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel (SNF), may be officially dead; transmission assets held by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and three Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) will be put up for sale; and hundreds of millions of dollars in unobligated balances for flagship programs like the Advanced Research […]

The past week saw interesting developments worldwide for nuclear new builds, small modular reactors (SMRs), and advanced nuclear fuel. Highlighted here: A third U.S. utility will use Framatome’s ATRIUM 11 fuel design; Barakah 1 in the United Arab Emirates is on the cusp of startup; South Africa’s Eskom said it wants to dispose of PBMR […]

The generator breaker for Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) Paradise Unit 3 was opened on Feb. 1, removing the coal-fired power plant from service for the final time after 50 years of operation. Notably, TVA retiree Jim Chappell performed the task. Chappell was the electrical control wing operator who originally placed Unit 3 in service. The […]

The past year has been filled with firsts for the nuclear power industry. Three power plants sporting first-of-a-kind reactors entered commercial operation, while the first U.S. AP1000 nuclear project reached key milestones on its path to completion. Furthermore, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) granted the first early site permit for a utility to construct […]