News

An Indian Point Nuclear Generating Station spokesman said that plant operator Entergy used standardized guidelines in its severe accident mitigation analysis for the two reactors that have been targeted by New York State's governor as too risky for their location, which is 40 miles north of New York City.(read more)

Southern California Edison (SCE) said Tuesday that the 2014 decision on San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station decommissioning costs was fair and legal, but that it would fully participate in the re-opened public process that revisits that decision.(read more)

The Nuclear Energy Institute said it was urging the White House to keep the position of National Security Council Director for Nuclear Energy Policy, which is reportedly about to be eliminated.(read more)

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said Monday they were seeking comments from various stakeholders on their 2014 San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Settlement Agreement that mapped out the monetary responsibilities for decommissioning the plant that was closed in January 2012 due to tube leaks found in newly installed generators.(read more)

Exelon said Friday that it would move forward with early retirements of its Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear facilities if there were no policy actions in the state of Illinois that would give the company reason to reconsider.(read more)

The Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) board of directors quickly voted to sell the unfinished Bellefonnte nuclear power construction site after about 10 minutes of discussion at their most recent meeting, after being presented with the option by the utility's general council.(read more)

One more final supplemental environmental impact statement report concerning the mothballed Yucca Mountain high-level waste repository – the currently unlikely mothballed concept or a repository, that is to say – has been completed, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced.(read more)

Using a learn as you go, best practices model, Westinghouse Electric Company said Friday that, along with an international team of nuclear construction powerhouses, it had been able to reduce installation time for reactor coolant pumps (RCP) at two construction sites by 37 percent, comparing the second installation to the first.(read more)

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has said in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it intends to apply this month for an Early Site Permit that would allow for development of a small modular reactor (SMR) option for its Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tenn.(read more)

A public opinion poll conducted by research firm Bisconti Research found that those who felt they were better informed about nuclear power were also more likely to be in favor of its use in the United States.(read more)

French nuclear power regulator ASN said Tuesday that an AREVA company audit found about 50 anomalies in reactor components that have been installed in French reactors. A statement from the regulator, however, said that AREVA had informed the regulator of about 400 components with potential irregularities that had been produced since 1965.(read more)

AREVA said that it had successfully tested a passive shutdown seal for reactor coolant pumps after one operation cycle in a nuclear reactor.(read more)

Dominion Virginia Power has informed state regulators that it intends to continue spending on plans to build a third reactor at the North Anna Power Station, 40 miles northwest of Richmond, Va. That spending makes sense for Virginia customers, the company said.(read more)

A German government nuclear phase-out advisory panel has recommended that energy companies in the country should contribute $26.4 billion to a state-owned fund in order to ensure there is enough money set aside for decommissioning plants and managing nuclear waste.(read more)

Retiring nuclear power plants in Britain and elsewhere remains a central focus of the nuclear power industry. But what about the retiring technicians who may be nearing the end of their careers just at a time when the industry will require an upswing in highly skilled workers?(read more)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said Thursday it had received the first of two expected applications for a consolidated spent fuel interim storage facility (CISF). The application came from Waste Control Specialists (WCS) with support from AREVA, the French engineering and nuclear power company said.(read more)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday said its Atomic Safety and Licensing Board had approved of an early site permit for PSEG Nuclear, the majority owner of the Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power plants in Salem, N.J., for construction of up to two new reactors on site. In a familiar pattern, however, PSEG now said they are in no hurry to begin construction, given the new economic realities in the energy marketplace.(read more)

The U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program has awarded contracts to two BWX Technologies subsidiaries, with options totaling more than $3.1 billion, for manufacture of naval nuclear reactor components and fuel, the company announced Wednesday.(read more)

Westinghouse Electric Company said Thursday that it would expand its Nuclear Fuel Factor in Vasteras, Sweden, to respond to the growing demand for fuel supply diversification for VVER-1000 reactors in Europe. Separately, the company announcement, it had engaged with the Springfields Site Stakeholder Group, an independently chaired council that consists of regulators, government representatives, local interest concerns and local residents – a group Westinghouse deems a critical partner in its ambitions for establishing a small modular reactor (SMR) industry in Britain.(read more)

Progress continued at a steady pace at the V.C. Summer expansion project in Jenkinsville, S.C. in the first quarter of 2016 -- to the point that General Manager of Operational Readiness Dave Lavigne is assembling teams of technicians together to discuss day-to-day plant operations for when the first new reactor, Unit 2, comes online, according the a recently released video clip.(read more)

Thirty years after the world's worst nuclear power plant disaster in history – the explosion at Reactor 4 at Chernobyl – and work continues at construction and placement of the world's largest moveable object ever constructed, the enormous dome that will serve as the site's sarcophagus for the next 100 years.(read more)

Westinghouse Electric Company's Japanese parent corporation Toshiba said Tuesday that it would write down the value of its U.S.-based nuclear power giant by $2.3 billion, which left it with a preliminary operating loss of $6.2 billion in the fiscal year that concluded at the end of March.(read more)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said Tuesday that environmental impacts of a new commercial reactor at the Bell Bend site in Pennsylvania would not prevent the agency from issuing a Combined License (COL) for the project, although further reviews are in limbo, having been suspended at the request of the designer.(read more)

U.S. nuclear power service company, BWX Technologies, Inc., announced that its Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) subsidiary had signed a $241.5 million contract to downblend 10.4 metric tons of surplus highly enriched uranium (HEU).(read more)

French utility Electricite de France, EDF, has again pushed back the date for making a decision on the 3,200 MW Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant project. The decision at this point will not be made earlier than September, according to French media reports.(read more)

U.S. nuclear plant servicing company EnergySolutions Inc., said it had signed a collaborative agreement with the Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC) to decommission light water nuclear power plants in Japan.(read more)

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has closed out its publicly advertised comment opportunity on what should be done with the 1,600 acre Bellefonte Nuclear Plant site near Hollywood, Ala., that is the home of two partially constructed B&W light water reactors.(read more)

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said Wednesday that the Ikata Power Station's Unit 3 reactor operated by the Shikoku Electric Power Company had completed the three-step conformity review, which included permission for changing the reactor installation license (done last year), approval for construction works, which came in March, and approval of operational safety programs.(read more)

Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) said this week that it had taken aggressive actions to improve the water quality in a 168-mile cooling canal system used by the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant and that some stabilization had been achieved.(read more)

An extensive refurbishment program at the Bruce Power Generating Station is paying off, as Unit 1 at the plant's Bruce A station set a new post-refurbishment record for consecutive days of continuous operation, the Canadian company said.(read more)

South Carolina Electric & Gas (SE&G) said that it had reached a significant construction milestones at the V.C. Summer Unit 3 build, having placed the first containment vessel ring in place for the new reactor.(read more)

Georgia Power said Monday that the construction site for the Plant Vogtle expansion project had accepted delivery of the first reactor coolant pump for the new units.(read more)

The concrete dome for the Unit 2 Reactor Containment Building (RCB) at the Barakah nuclear power plant construction site has been completed, a major milestone in the build for the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), the project's communications office said Tuesday.(read more)

Exelon Corporation said Friday that its Clinton nuclear plant 23 miles southeast of Bloomington, Ill., had cleared the 2016-2017 Mid-continent Independent System Operator (MISO) capacity auction, which meant that it would continue to operate through May 31, 2017, although its future after that would rely in an "urgent" policy fix.(read more)

British engineering firm Red Marine said Friday that it would develop a prototype submersible vehicle that acts like a backhoe or operates a large scoop that can be used for decommissioning storage ponds at nuclear power stations.(read more)

Westinghouse Electric Company announced that the U.K. has the advanced manufacturing capabilities necessary to effectively manufacture the Westinghouse Small Modular Reactor’s (SMR) Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV), one of the largest and most demanding parts of any reactor. The announcement follows a careful study of U.K. manufacturing capabilities by the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) and is an important part of Westinghouse’s SMR offer to the U.K. Government.(read more)

PRNewswire / Southern Company and AGL Resources have received unanimous regulatory approval of the companies' proposed merger from the Georgia Public Service Commission, with all intervening parties in support of the recently announced settlement agreement.(read more)

Southern Nuclear and Georgia Power have unveiled the newest backup safety feature at the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant near Baxley, Ga., the Hatch FLEX Dome storage building that will house portable emergency equipment, including backup power resources, such as DC battery banks and generators.(read more)

Entergy Corporation said Thursday that it intends to refuel the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Mass., next year for the last time and call a halt to the plant's operational life on May 31, 2019.(read more)

Implementation of a high level bilateral commission including the United States and South Korea will begin with discussion in Seoul this week, officials in South Korea said.(read more)

If the positive impact of nuclear power were not obvious enough, perhaps the negative consequences of closing a nuclear power plant will wake up the public to the role of nuclear power in the country's energy mix.(read more)

Georgia Power has released the latest timeline video from the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion showcasing construction progress in the first quarter of 2016. Now more than 60 percent complete based on contractual milestones, progress is visible every day, the company said.(read more)

A new round of testing has begun at the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear build in Finland, the French engineering and construction firm AREVA has announced.(read more)

The Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) in Hyderabad, India, set a world record for nuclear fuel production in 2015-16 with 1,503 metric tons of fuel produced.(read more)

Despite significant decommissioning steps accomplished, the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency has advised the Lithuanian government to review risks associated with the shuttered Ignalina Nuclear Plant (INPP) in the southeast corner of the country to ensure that cost estimates and scheduling for the dismantling project are realistic.(read more)

--Press Release--L-3 MAPPS announced today that it signed a contract with Slovenia’s Nuklearna elektrarna Krško (NEK) to upgrade the full scope simulator for the Krško Nuclear Power Plant. The simulator upgrade is part of NEK’s Safety Upgrade Program (SUP) to modernize the plant to prevent severe accidents and to mitigate consequences consistent with the nuclear industry’s response after the Fukushima accident. The simulator upgrade project will start immediately and is expected to be in service in the third quarter of 2017. (read more)

A new international security agreement involving storage, transport and domestic use of nuclear materials will enter into force on May 8, the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday.(read more)

Entergy Operations Inc.'s strong response to reports of various falsified records incidents at the Waterford 3 Nuclear Power swayed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to back away from issuing the company a Notice of Violation or a civil penalty, the industry regulator said.(read more)

--Press Release--NUCP Approved Curriculum Developed by Industry Helps Open Career OpportunitiesThe very first online nuclear degree program to be Nuclear Uniform Curriculum Program (NUCP) approved will now be offered over the summer, Energy Providers Coalition for Education (EPCE) Director Christine Carpenter announced on April 4th. The curriculum, developed with EPCE energy companies and its education partner, the National Energy Center of Excellence at Bismarck State College (BSC) is accelerated, transferable, and flexible, and provides a “Stamp of Approval” from national employers insuring that the skills and knowledge gained will directly apply to the job. It will be offered by BSC beginning the first week of June.(read more)

Chief Engineer of State Power Investment Corporation (***) Wang Jun confirmed Wednesday that the world's first Westinghouse Electric Co. AP1000 reactor would be operational by the end of the year.(read more)