July 17, 2024, 11:18AMUpdated July 17, 2024, 8:24PMNuclear News Unit 3 at the Vogtle nuclear power plant. (Photo: Georgia Power)
One of the new Vogtle units in Georgia was shut down unexpectedly on Monday last week for a valve issue that has since been investigated and repaired. According to multiple local news outlets, Georgia Power reported on July 17 that Unit 3 was back in service.
Southern Company spokesperson Jacob Hawkins confirmed that Vogtle-3 went off line at 9:25 p.m. local time on July 8 “due to lowering water levels in the steam generators caused by a valve issue on one of the three main feedwater pumps.”
INL’s new Bitterroot supercomputer installed in the Collaborative Computing Center. (Photo: INL)
A new supercomputer named Bitterroot started operating in June at Idaho National Laboratory’s Collaborative Computing Center (C3) and is speeding up nuclear energy research by improving access to modeling and simulation tools. Bitterroot arrived at INL in March, and the announced July 15 that the supercomputer was open to users on June 18 after installation and an extensive program of testing.
Researchers take samples of a microorganism that could produce toxins. (Photo: CEAC)
Oceans link all the continents of the world, and fish don’t respect boundary lines. So it’s fitting that a global organization—the International Atomic Energy Agency—is helping nations detect and monitor both plastic pollution and biotoxins in marine algae that can lead to outbreaks of contaminated seafood.
The Palisades nuclear power plant during days of operation. (Photo: Entergy Nuclear)
Dozens gathered last week at a public hearing hosted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to get feedback on the proposal to restart the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan.
The NRC is beginning its environmental review of plans to repower Palisades after it was shut down in May 2022 and was headed for permanent decommissioning. If the restart is successful, this would be the first return to service of a shuttered U.S. nuclear plant.
U.S. nuclear vs. renewable electricity generation. (Image: Ember)
The combined energy generation in the United States from solar and wind during the first half of the year was more than that of nuclear plants for the first time, according to data from energy think tank Ember.
Electricity generation from utility-scale solar and wind assets during the first half of 2024 was a record 401.4 terawatt-hours, compared with 390.5 TWh from nuclear reactors
Byron nuclear power plant. (Photo: Constellation)
While no development details have been released, Constellation is asking to rezone 658.8 acres of land it owns around the Byron nuclear plant in Illinois for possible long-term use.
The color-coded scatterplot shows the feasibility of coal-to-nuclear transitions at smaller coal plants (1,000 MWe or less) across the United States, plotted by latitude and longitude. Red and warm colors represent the high feasibility. (Image: Muhammad Rafiul Abdussami, Fastest Path to Zero, University of Michigan)
Comprehensive analysis of 245 operational coal power plants in the United States by a team of researchers at the University of Michigan has scored each site’s advanced reactor hosting feasibility using a broad array of attributes, including socioeconomic factors, safety considerations, proximity to populations, existing nuclear facilities, and transportation networks. The results could help policymakers and utilities make decisions about deploying nuclear reactors at sites with existing transmission lines and a ready workforce.
SiGA woven silicon carbide nuclear fuel cladding. (Photo: DOE)
Because of its hardness and its hardiness in the face of high temperatures, silicon carbide has been used for industrial purposes for decades. It has proven its worth as a key component of tiny TRISO fuel particles. But SiC has a weakness—in its pure form it is too brittle for use in structural components, such as 12-foot-long light water reactor fuel cladding tubes.
The partially constructed Units 3 and 4 at Cernavoda nuclear plant in Romania. (Image: Nuclearelectrica)
The European Commission has issued a positive opinion on the technical and nuclear safety aspects of the construction of Units 3 and 4 at Cernavoda nuclear power plant in Romania.
Under the Euratom Treaty, nuclear project developers are required to notify the EC of planned investments and to demonstrate compliance with the highest nuclear safety standards.
A view of INL’s desert site. (Photo: INL)
Aalo reported last week that it has submitted a regulatory engagement plan to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in “a huge step forward in getting regulatory approval for our Aalo-1 reactor.”
Mersin Province (in red) in Turkey. (Image: TUBS)
While commissioning began earlier this year at Turkey’s first nuclear plant, new reports say the project is delayed by sanctions against Russia due to its military invasion of Ukraine.
An aerial photo of Three Mile Island nuclear power station. (Photo: Constellation)
Constellation Energy is in talks with the governor’s office and state legislators about funding to restart a unit at Three Mile Island nuclear plant, Reuters has reported. The ongoing talks have been described as “beyond preliminary” by two sources.
Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, prewar. (Photo: Energoatom)
An external radiation monitoring station was taken out by shelling and fire near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine the last week of June.
This brings the total to four of the plant’s 14 radiation monitoring sites that are out of commission, further reducing the effectiveness of its off-site capability to detect and measure any radioactive release during an emergency, said IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi.
SRS Apprenticeship Program graduates Terrence Tillman (far right) and Shanterra Hughes share their recent apprenticeship experiences with NPR host David Brancaccio (center) and NPR sound engineer Rebekah Wineman. (Photo: DOE)
A new radio series on National Public Radio’s “Marketplace Morning Report” recently highlighted career opportunities and job training at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site.
To listen to the radio segment, click here.