(Photo: Used with permission from Constellation)
When Exelon Generation shut down Three Mile Island Unit 1 in September 2019, managers were so certain that the reactor would never run again that as soon as they could, they had workers drain the oil out of both the main transformer and a spare to eliminate the chance of leaks. The company was unable to find a buyer because of the transformers’ unusual design. “We couldn’t give them away,” said Trevor Orth, the plant manager. So they scrapped them.
Now they will pay $100 million for a replacement.
The turnaround at the reactor—now called the Crane Clean Energy Center—highlights two points: how smart Congress was to step in with help to prevent premature closures with the zero-emission nuclear power production credit of 0.3 cents per kilowatt-hour (only two years too late), and how expensive it is turning out to be to change course.
The Palisades nuclear power plant. (Photo: Holtec)
A Nuclear Regulatory Commission review board will hear oral arguments on February 12 on petitions concerning Holtec Palisades LLC.
The reactor building and the turbine building seen in October 2024 as employees worked on Vogtle Unit 3’s first-ever refueling outage. (Photo: Dot Schneider)
Southern Nuclear was first when no one wanted to be.
The nuclear subsidiary of the century-old utility Southern Company, based in Atlanta, Ga., joined a pack of nuclear companies in the early 2000s—during what was then dubbed a “nuclear renaissance”—bullish on plans for new large nuclear facilities and adding thousands of new carbon-free megawatts to the grid.
In 2008, Southern Nuclear applied for a combined construction and operating license (COL), positioning the company to receive the first such license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2012. Also in 2008, Southern became the first U.S. company to sign an engineering, procurement, and construction contract for a Generation III+ reactor. Southern chose Westinghouse’s AP1000 pressurized water reactor, which was certified by the NRC in December 2011.
Fast forward a dozen years—which saw dozens of setbacks and hundreds of successes—and Southern Nuclear and its stakeholders celebrated the completion of Vogtle Units 3 and 4: the first new commercial nuclear power construction project completed in the U.S. in more than 30 years.
The Palisades nuclear power plant. (Photo: Entergy)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is hosting a hybrid public meeting with Holtec next week to discuss plans for needed repairs at Michigan’s Palisades nuclear plant before bringing the unit back on line.
Monticello nuclear power plant in Monticello, Minn. (Photo: NRC)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed for a second time the operating license for Unit 1 of Minnesota’s Monticello nuclear power plant.
V.C. Summer nuclear power plant. (Photo: DJ Shaw)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is asking for public feedback on the environmental report for a subsequent license renewal (SLR) request from Dominion Energy, the owners of V.C. Summer nuclear power plant in South Carolina.
The Diablo Canyon plant. (Photo: Doc Searles)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is asking for public comment on its draft supplemental environmental impact statement for Diablo Canyon’s license renewal request.
The Susquehanna nuclear power plant. (Photo: Talen)
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has denied plans for Talen Energy to supply additional on-site power to an Amazon Web Services’ data center campus from the neighboring Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.
November 1, 2024, 3:02PMNuclear NewsClaire Pieper and Dan Scholz A fatigue management program is used at
Xcel’s Monticello nuclear plant. (Photo: Indeavor)
Fatigue has been identified as a major risk factor in industrial accidents. According to the National Safety Council, 13 percent of workplace injuries can be attributed to fatigue.1 Other research indicates that working 12 hours per day is associated with a staggering 37 percent increase in risk of injury.2 Considering fatigue was a contributing factor to major nuclear accidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, it makes sense that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission imposes hefty fines to ensure strict adherence to its fatigue management regulations—particularly, Code of Federal Regulations Title 10, Part 26, “Fitness for Duty Programs.”
October 25, 2024, 2:58PMNuclear NewsGeoffrey Campbell and Christopher Koehler The clevis bolt replacement team working in parallel off of the refueling bridge. This team is working directly on the reactor vessel clevis with a first-of-a-kind docking station. (Photo: Westinghouse)
Unit 2 at the Prairie Island nuclear power plant near Red Wing, Minn., underwent an outage in fall 2023, which included extensive work on the reactor vessel using a novel approach to replace baffle-former bolts and lower radial clevis insert bolts. The work relied on extensive analysis beforehand to determine which bolts to replace such that only the new bolts were structurally credited for performance of their safety function. This proactive approach eliminated the need for costly contingencies associated with inspections.
The BONUS nuclear power plant. (Photo: DOE)
An article on the Huffington Post examines the prospects for re-establishing nuclear energy in Puerto Rico, uncovering a mix of positive and negative attitudes toward nuclear power in the U.S. territory.
Master Chemistry Technician Tolbert Livingston in Chemical Controls. (Photo: Wolf Creek)
Sam Lochmann is a well-respected sergeant in the security department at the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant near Burlington, Kan. The plant, a 1,200-MWe Westinghouse pressurized water reactor operated by Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation (WCNOC), had its 26th refueling outage this past spring.