The V. C. Summer nuclear power plant. (Photo: South Carolina Electric and Gas Co.)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has finalized an inspection finding as “white” related to an inoperable emergency diesel generator at the V. C. Summer nuclear power plant in Jenkinsville, S.C. Under the NRC’s reactor oversight process, a white inspection finding reflects low-to-moderate safety significance.
“Maintaining the operational readiness of all safety-related equipment is crucial for the plant's ability to respond effectively in emergencies,” said Laura Dudes, NRC Region II administrator. “While not indicative of immediate risk, this finding underscores the need for continuous vigilance and improvement in the plant’s corrective action process.”
Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. (Photo: Mike Baird/WikiCommons)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review Pacific Gas and Electric’s formal request to extend Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant’s operating licenses for another 20 years.
Workers place the dome atop Hinkley Point C’s first reactor building on December 15. (Photo: EDF Energy)
EDF Energy’s new nuclear build megaproject at Hinkley Point C last Friday moved forward—or, more literally, upward then downward—when workers, with a substantial assist from Big Carl, the world’s largest crane, successfully lifted the C1 reactor building’s 47-meter-wide, 245-ton steel dome into place.
The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. (Photo: Doc Searls)
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted last Thursday to extend the life of Diablo Canyon an additional five years. The decision was the final step in the extension of the state's last remaining nuclear power plant, whose two reactors will now operate until at least 2029 and 2030, respectively, instead of closing in 2024 and 2025.
Africa is home to 1.5 billion people in 54 countries living on 12 million square miles. The economies of many of these countries are hobbled by a general dearth of energy that nuclear could solve without adding to the harm of global warming.
The World Nuclear Association and the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE) last year signed a memorandum of understanding to encourage the use of nuclear energy in support of economic growth and sustainable energy development in Africa.
Concept art for a Hermes plant. (Image: Kairos Power)
Kairos Power has received the go-ahead from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build its Hermes demonstration reactor at the Heritage Industrial Park in Oak Ridge, Tenn., making it the first non–light water reactor approved for construction in the United States in more than 50 years.
Secretary Granholm answers press questions at the Clinch River Nuclear Site while TVA president and CEO Jeff Lyash listens. (Photo: TVA)
Energy secretary Jennifer Granholm visited the Clinch River Nuclear Site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on December 5 to highlight the Biden administration’s support for the Tennessee Valley Authority’s advanced nuclear technology program.
Granholm indicated that the administration is willing to provide funding for the nation’s first commercial small modular reactor at the site. “Excited to see a shovel in the ground, hopefully in a few more years,” she said. “TVA is leading on small modular reactors with this site. Everybody’s looking to TVA to make sure that this can actually happen.”
Kairos Power’s Hermes 2 demonstration plant (blue-topped building on the left) is planned to be built next to the Hermes demonstration reactor. (Image: Kairos Power)
A notice of opportunity from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was published in the November 22 Federal Register to intervene in an adjudicatory hearing on Kairos Power’s application for a construction permit to build the Hermes 2 test reactor facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, as it began its cataclysmic eruption in 1991. Millions of tons of particulates were blown into the stratosphere, causing global cooling, similar to what solar geoengineering would do in a controlled way. (Photo: U.S. Geological Survey)
We’re failing.
We’re failing to decarbonize the world in any significant way. Global greenhouse gas emissions are still rising and appear on track to continue rising until at least 2040—the result of energizing the developing world.
An aerial view of Ontario’s Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. (Photo: OPG)
In response to Ontario’s ambitious nuclear development plans—including the plan by Ontario Power Generation to construct four small modular reactors at its Darlington nuclear site—Celeros Flow Technology has committed to expanding its Burlington, Ontario, facility to make it the first Ontario-based manufacturer of nuclear-qualified pumps, OPG announced last week.
EC commissioner Kadri Simson (second from left) speaks at a European Small Modular Reactor Partnership event in Bratislava. (Photo: @KadriSimson/X)
The European Commission intends to establish early next year an industrial alliance focused on small modular reactors, EC energy commissioner Kadri Simson announced last week.
Concept art of the six-module CFPP at INL, terminated before construction could begin. (Image: NuScale)
Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) and NuScale Power announced November 8 that they have mutually agreed to end the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP)—a plan to build a set of 77-MWe pressurized water reactors, called NuScale Power Modules, at Idaho National Laboratory. The reactors were intended to provide power to INL and UAMPS customers in Utah and surrounding states with an anticipated start date of 2029.
The Belarusian nuclear plant. (Photo: Rosatom)
The second of the two VVER-1200 pressurized water reactors at Belarusian, the sole nuclear power plant in Belarus, has entered commercial operation, Russia’s state-owned atomic energy corporation Rosatom announced last week.
The 
