Wednesday, July 22, 2015

PG&E Seismic Safety Video at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

UK And Canada Sign MOU For Advancing Nuclear Cooperation

This picture of a nuclear power plant was taken from a plane. The plant consists of 8 large dome-shaped reactor buildings and other structures.
Copyright © 2005 Ontario Power Generation Inc.
Nuclear Street News - The Natural Resources Canada, known as NRCan, and the British Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) have signed a memorandum of understanding that allows for greater cooperation in the field of nuclear energy.

The deal will build on the partnership between Candu Energy Inc. and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada, allowing further development of plutonium and uranium stockpiles in CANDU heavy water reactors, according to a statement.

The biggest winner in the deal is, apparently, Canada, based on the opportunities it will provide for Canadian companies. Britain is dealing with an aging nuclear power plant fleet that currently supplies the country with 18 percent of its electricity. However, all but one of the country’s nuclear power plants are expected to close by 2023.


Britain, meanwhile, has signaled that it expects to build 12 nuclear reactors by 2030 – at least enough to generate 16,000MW.

Friday, June 19, 2015

Moment of Truth Nears for Nuclear Waste Time Bomb


A worker looks through a thick glass window at part of the treatment of nuclear waste at the Areva Nuclear Plant of La Hague, near Cherbourg, western France, western France, April 22, 2015.  REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Waste treatment at the Areva Nuclear Plant, western France
Reuters: By Vera Eckert - More than half a century after the world's first commercial nuclear plant went into operation in the United States, the industry may finally be nearing a way to store radioactive waste underground permanently.


The world has 270,000 tonnes of used fuel stockpiled, much of it under water in ponds at nuclear power stations, adding to the urgency of finding a permanent storage solution for material that can remain toxic for hundreds of thousands of years.

Finland and Sweden hope to be the first countries in the world to be able to put the most dangerous high-level waste (HLW) into underground storage in the next decade, using a new technology to encase fuel rods and protect them from erosion.

At a conference in Vienna this week, the 164-nation International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) heard updates from the Finish and Swedish authorities on their model solution.

Read more...

Nuclear to Play Significant Role in IEA’s Climate Strategy


WEO 2015 ClimateBy FORATOM: Posted in News-feeds - The International Energy Agency (IEA) published on 15 June 2015 a new study, World Energy Outlook Special Report on Energy and Climate Change, in which it outlines its strategy for the world to limit global warming to 2°C. The use of low-carbon energies including renewables and nuclear must sharply increase while oil and gas production must decrease for the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to peak by 2020.

The IEA defines four pillars, which are: to set the conditions for energy-related emissions to peak by 2020; to review national climate contributions regularly; to translate the national or regional climate goals into a collective long-term emissions goal; and to establish an effective process for tracking achievements in the energy sector. To do so, the IEA recommends a series of measures including increasing energy efficiency, reducing the use of inefficient coal-fired power plants, increasing investment in renewables, reducing methane emissions, and phasing out fossil fuels subsidies.

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Tuesday, June 9, 2015

California's Mega-Drought: Nuclear Power To The Rescue

Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in San Luis Obispo County, California has had a seawater desalination plant for its entire existence, producing all of its fresh water needs from operations to cooling to irrigation to supplying drinking water to its employees. But it only uses about 40% of its capacity and is willing to use all of it to produce fresh water for the nearby community to help with the effects of the megadrought.
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant
Forbes>Energy (James Conca) - The only power facility in California that does not use any of the state’s precious fresh water is the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant near San Luis Obispo. And it can even produce additional freshwater for the nearby community.

The nuclear plant desalinates ocean water using reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration. The nuclear plant depends on the desalination plant as its sole source of fresh water, used for the plant’s two nuclear reactors as well as all other water needs such as drinking water for its employees and irrigation of its grounds.

Although a relatively small plant, Diablo Canyon’s seawater desalination plant is presently the largest operating desal facility on the West Coast, producing about 675,000 gallons of freshwater a day.

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Friday, May 29, 2015

NRC Prepares for TVA’s New Nuclear Power Plant

Watts Bar 2
Watts Bar 2
May 28, 2015—As the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar 2 project completes its transition from construction to operational readiness, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted its Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation the authority to issue a full-power operating license once it is satisfied that all regulatory requirements have been met.

TVA hailed the move toward the start-up later this year of the 1,150-megawatt reactor.

“The commission’s action was a critical regulatory step necessary to keep Watts Bar 2 on track to become the nation’s first new nuclear generation of the 21st century,” TVA Chief Nuclear Officer Joe Grimes said in a statement. “The delegation of this authority signifies confidence that NRC inspections show Watts Bar 2 is being built according to rigorous regulatory requirements and industry standards.”

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Tuesday, May 19, 2015

The case for nuclear power – despite the risks

The Conversation - Gary Was:  Nuclear power is likely the least well-understood energy source in the United States. Just 99 nuclear power plants spread over 30 states provide one-fifth of America’s electricity. These plants have provided reliable, affordable and clean energy for decades. They also carry risk - to the public, to the environment and to the financial solvency of utilities.

Risk is the product of the probability of an occurrence and its consequence. The probability of dying in a car accident is actually quite high compared to other daily events, but such accidents usually claim few individuals at a time, and so the risk is low. The reason nuclear energy attracts so much attention is that while the probability of a catastrophic event is extremely low, the consequence is often perceived to be extremely high.

Read more...

Friday, May 15, 2015

China's Coming Nuclear Power Boom

Ramping up growth in the nuclear industry will be crucial to achieving China’s emissions goals.

Get ready for China’s nuclear industry to boom (no pun intended): The China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA) predicts that eight new nuclear reactors will begin operation this year. If so, that will mark the largest single-year increase in nuclear power production in China’s history.

China is looking to more than double the number of nuclear power plants in operation — there are currently 23 operating, with 26 under construction. If all the projects are completed as planned, it would bring China’s nuclear energy capacity up to 49.9 gigawatts, compared to the current capacity of 21.4 gigawatts. Plus, CNEA expects an additional six to eight nuclear energy projects to be approved this year.

Zhang Huazhu, the chairman of CNEA, called 2015 “an important yet for China to resume its nuclear power program.” Like many countries, China slammed the brakes on nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster in Japan; the industry in China is just beginning to regain its footing. A rapid expansion of nuclear power is critical for weaning China off of coal and reaching emissions reduction targets, but safety concerns (and public fears) continue to plague the industry. In 2014, China didn’t approve a single new nuclear power project, and investment in the industry dropped by 6.6 percent, Zhang said, speaking an industry conference in Beijing.

Currently, nuclear energy accounts for less than 3 percent of China’s total power generation. “In the coming decade, China will maintain a rapid pace of nuclear power development so that it can reach the target of nuclear installations by 2020 and make better use of energy,” Zhang said.  China’s stated goal is to have 58 gigawatts in nuclear power capacity by 2020, but that goal may be difficult to reach given the slowdown in construction after 2011.

Germany’s Nuclear Cutback Is Darkening European Skies

If Germany wants to phase out nuclear power, coal is the only realistic option

 Germany’s influence in Europe is unquestionable, but it appears that some of its neighbors may be adversely affected by recent German decisions; and Greece is not the neighbor in question here. France has been reporting heavy levels of air pollution which authorities in the country are blaming on diesel cars there. But the real culprit may in fact be the renewed German penchant for coal power.

Up until a few years ago, Germany, along with France, was at the forefront of nuclear power use. But after the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011, the Germans were quick to begin phasing out nuclear power. In some countries, phasing out nuclear power would be easy, but in 2011, Germany obtained 25% of its power from nuclear sources. This nuclear power generated no carbon dioxide emissions of course, and little in the way of other forms of pollution. But after starting the phase out of nuclear power, Germany still needed to find a source of replacement power.

Renewables like wind and solar sound great in theory, but the sporadic nature of power generation from those sources makes them imperfect substitutes for the consistency of nuclear. In that sense then, battery solutions like that announced by Tesla last week, or the solutions from General Electric, may eventually provide a solution for Germany. But as of now, the grid battery industry is still too nascent to provide serious help to Germany.
 
Read More...

Rethinking the U.S. Surrender on Nuclear Power

The ghosts of Lenin and Mao might well be smirking. Communist and authoritarian nations are moving to take global leadership in, and profit from, the commercial use of nuclear power, a technology made possible by the market-driven economies of the West. New research and development could enable abundant, affordable, low-carbon energy as well as further beneficial products for industry and medicine

Yet outdated and burdensome regulations and restrictions have stifled nuclear innovation in the U.S. and other Western nations, and are pushing these opportunities to China and Russia.
China is joining Russia to build five new reactors in Iran—regardless of what becomes of the current negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program. Beijing and Moscow are also marketing nuclear technology and infrastructure to other Mideast and Asian nations. China and Russia have a clear commercial and strategic purpose in advancing nuclear technology abroad, technology that the West seems loath to exploit.

If the world is serious about shifting to low-carbon energy, nuclear energy is the most direct path. Nuclear power is the densest (in watts per square meter of land) and safest (in deaths per joule) form of energy known to man. Yet the expansion of nuclear power and other commercial applications of nuclear reactions have stalled in the West since the 1980s.

This is partly due to fears of unseen radiation and memories of accidents like the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, at a facility originally designed to produce weapons, in the now defunct Soviet Union. Mainly, though, what holds back nuclear power is its high cost, which is almost entirely due to government regulations and restrictions that have kept the industry confined to minor yet expensive improvements to existing reactor designs. Out-of-the-box thinking on new reactor concepts that could be far cheaper and safer is systemically discouraged. The most common retort to any new idea in the nuclear industry is along the lines of “that will never be approved in my lifetime.”

Read More....

Monday, April 27, 2015

A new era for nuclear power?

Tribune News Service - For decades, the U.S. nuclear power industry has stood at a virtual standstill, a victim of economics and fears over safety. But as President Barack Obama prepares to issue new carbon-emission regulations targeting the power industry, nuclear companies are hoping a new era is upon them.

With high-profile advocates like former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christie Whitman on board, the industry is embarking on a very public campaign arguing nuclear must be part of any national energy plan. To accomplish that, it wants to examine amending power and licensing regulations to encourage nuclear and speed up construction.

Read more...

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

PacifiCorp Agrees to Explore Full Participation in California ISO

FOLSOM, CA--(Marketwired - April 14, 2015) - The California Independent System Operator Corp. (ISO) and PacifiCorp are pleased to announce they have signed a memorandum of understanding indicating that the Portland-based energy company will explore full participation in the ISO as a Participating Transmission Owner. The memorandum paves the way for performing a joint study on the feasibility and benefits of PacifiCorp joining the only competitive wholesale market in the West.

The ISO is an independent, non-profit organization that manages about 80 percent of the energy flow in California. PacifiCorp is one of the West's leading utilities, serving nearly 1.8 million customers in Oregon, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and a small portion of California. A decision to join the ISO by PacifiCorp would allow for a full coordination of the two largest electrical transmission grids in the region and allow customers served by both entities access to a broader array of power generation at lower costs.

Read more...

Friday, March 27, 2015

Perry refuels its nuclear reactor, critics concerned about storage

By John Funk, The Plain Dealer  

Refueling the Perry nuclear plant
NORTH PERRY, Ohio -- FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. is switching to a new type of fuel rod at its Perry nuclear reactor, one that is more simply designed, more robust and more efficient.

But the switch-over has some anti-nuclear groups worried. One reason is that the rods contain slightly more enriched uranium, up to 5 percent rather than the traditional 3 percent.

The newly designed rods are manufactured by Global Nuclear Fuel, or GNF, a joint venture of GE, Toshiba and Hitachi. Perry had been using rods manufactured by GE.

GNF claims the new design not only increases energy output but that its use ultimately will allow a reactor operator to use fuel rods with lower levels of enriched uranium and to use fewer of them.

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N.Y. To Create R&D Lab For Next-Gen Electric Grid

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, D-N.Y., the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and SUNY Polytechnic Institute have signed an agreement to create a facility devoted to energy technology innovation and the rapid deployment of smart-grid technology to modernize New York’s electric grid.

The Advanced Grid Innovation Laboratory for Energy (AGILe) will simulate, develop, test and deploy a more integrated grid.

According to the participants, AGILe will provide a setting for NYPA to pursue its own grid-related R&D and foster research of interest for transmission system operators, utilities, software and hardware manufacturers, government agencies, and universities.

Read more...

Monday, March 16, 2015

Scientists Shed Light on Beaming Solar Power from Space


Mar 15, 2015 07:29 PM EDT - The Science Times

Solar Power From SpaceWhile there might be limits to the amount of solar power we can collect here on Earth, scientists have long been studying the notion of harnessing solar power from the endless supply that can be found in space.  Now, what was once just a notion in the mind of researchers has taken a huge step towards becoming a reality.

Scientists working for JAXA, Japan's space administration, have announced a major breakthrough in wireless power transmission.  Researchers were able to finally beam power with a high degree of accuracy.  The team beamed 1.8 kilowatts of power, enough to power an electric tea kettle, more than 50 meters to a small receiver without any wires whatsoever. 
While this distance is just a drop in the bucket compared to the distance from space to the ground here on Earth, the technology could pave the way for mankind to tap the vast amount of energy resources available in Space for use here at home.

Read more...

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

NRC to study groundwater issues at controversial Yucca Mountain site

Electricity prices and utility restructuring: better or worse?

03/11/2015 - by Eric L. Prentis, University of Saint Thomas, Houston
 
Electricity prices in restructured electric utility states have been empirically tested in restructured states, pre- and post-restructuring, relative to U.S. electricity prices. Are electricity consumers better or worse off as a result of electric utility restructuring?

The vertically integrated, government-regulated natural monopoly electric utility model worked well in the U.S. for nearly 100 years; however, some governors and state legislatures wish to reduce their states’ electricity prices and have been advised that electricity prices would fall naturally if free market competitive marketplaces were established.

Consequently, beginning in the late 1990s, some states restructured their vertically integrated, government-regulated natural monopoly electric utilities by instituting free market competition in the electricity generation and retail sales’ sectors while maintaining the middle-two sectors of transmission and distribution as a government-regulated natural monopoly.

Read more...

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Dominion Seeks to Add Nuclear Reactor in Louisa Co.

North Anna Power Station (FILE)NBC29.COM - RICHMOND, Va (WVIR) - Dominion Virginia Power has plans to build a new nuclear reactor in Louisa County, but the idea has some worried.

Dominion already has two nuclear reactors running at the North Anna Power Station, but the company is going through the licensing process to add a third.

Read more...

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

MIT Startup Gets $2.5M to Develop the Nuclear Reactor We've Been Waiting For

Transatomic Power co-founder and CEO Leslie Dewan
(BostInno) - A Cambridge start-up that’s seeking to turn nuclear power into something most everyone will feel good about has taken the next key step in its long-term plan, raising $2.5 million in new funding from investors including Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.

Transatomic Power, founded by MIT nuclear science graduates, has now raised $4.5 million since last summer.

The start-up has designed a nuclear reactor that would aim to produce electricity using existing nuclear waste, helping rid us of one of the major issues associated with conventional nuclear plants. The Transatomic reactor design would also not be prone to melting down, according to the company.

And of course, the reactor would have the same environmental benefit of being carbon-free as existing nuclear power designs.

Read more...

Ginna Power Plant an Economic Powerhouse

R.E. Ginna nuclear power plant
(NEI) Feb. 9, 2015—The operation of Exelon’s R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant generates an average annual economic output of over $350 million in western New York state and an impact on the U.S. economy of about $450 million per year, a new economic analysis reveals.


The study, “Economic Impacts of the R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant,” was prepared by the Nuclear Energy Institute. It analyzes the impact of Ginna’s operations through the end of the facility’s 60-year operating license in 2029. The 580-megawatt pressurized water reactor produces enough electricity to power 400,000 homes. 
 
Read more...

Friday, February 6, 2015

GOP senator pushes for more nuclear power, Yucca waste site


Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said on Thursday that he’ll use the Energy Appropriations panel to encourage new nuclear power plants and construction of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site, among other nuclear priorities.

Alexander, who is now chairman of the Appropriations Committee panel with power over the Energy Department’s budget, outlined a series of steps that he believes could boost the country’s nuclear industry, stop plant closures and spur new development.

“Our Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, which I chair, will take a year-long look at all of this during 2015,” Alexander said in a speech at the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry’s main lobbying group.

“Our committee will begin with oversight, expanded budget hearings in February and March. And then in April, we’ll turn toward a series of hearings about the future of nuclear power in our country and what it would be like for the United States to be without it.”

Alexander in 2009 called for the United States to build 100 new nuclear reactors, a plan even the industry thought might be too ambitious.

Read more...

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Exelon Unfazed By Juno; NRC To Look Into Pilgrim Shutdown

Exelon Corporation said that its seven nuclear reactors in the path of winter storm Juno ran at full capacity throughout the blizzard.
Winter Storm JunoWhile the storm dumped from 10 to 40 inches of snow across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern portions of the country, Exelon's seven plants in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania operated without a hiccup, producing 10,832 megawatts of electricity per hour, the company said, adding that this was enough power for more than 10 million homes.

While other power sources struggle to maintain production, nuclear power plants are engineered to run uninterrupted for up to two years. “Beyond that, highly skilled plant workers prepare nuclear facilities months in advance for the worst conceivable winter storm,” Exelon said. “When extreme weather hits, procedures are in place to increase equipment monitoring to minimize or eliminate weather-related problems,” Exelon said in a statement.

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Friday, January 30, 2015

Nuclear Power Needs to Double to Curb Global Warming

Experts suggest that without nuclear power the world has little chance of restraining global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius

By Bobby Magill and Climate Central

Since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in Japan chilled global attitudes toward nuclear power, the world has been slowly reconciling its discomfort with nuclear and the idea that it may have a role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to tackle climate change.

The International Energy Agency and the Nuclear Energy Agency suggest in a report released Thursday that nuclear will have such a significant role to play in climate strategy that nuclear power generation capacity will have to double by 2050 in order for the world to meet the international 2°C (3.6°F) warming goal.

With fossil fuels growing as sources of electricity across the globe, the IEA sees nuclear power as a stable source of low-carbon power helping to take polluting coal-fired plants offline.

Read more...

Monday, January 26, 2015

U.S., India reach agreement on nuclear power

- The Washington Times - Sunday, January 25, 2015 

President Obama announced a tentative agreement in New Delhi Sunday with India’s prime minister to open the country to U.S. firms investing in commercial nuclear power, a step that the two leaders said underscores improved bilateral relations.

The president and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said they reached an “understanding” on liability of U.S. companies in the event of a nuclear accident, and on U.S. insistence of tracking nuclear materials — issues that had prevented American companies from building reactors in India since an initial breakthrough agreement in 2006.

Read More....

Friday, January 23, 2015

US Nuclear Power Plants Posted Record High Efficiency in 2014

Average Capacity Factor of 91.9 Percent Surpasses Prior Record Set in 2007

 

WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 22, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- U.S. nuclear energy facilities generated electricity at a record high level of efficiency in 2014, again demonstrating nuclear energy's value to the reliability and stability of the electric grid and to the nation's economy.

One hundred nuclear power plants operating in 31 states posted an estimated average capacity factor of 91.9 percent, based on preliminary 2014 data compiled by the Nuclear Energy Institute. That surpasses the industry's prior record set in 2007 by one-tenth of a percentage point. Capacity factor measures total electricity generated as a percentage of year-round potential generation.

 Actual electricity production from nuclear energy facilities last year was the sixth-highest ever, at an estimated 798.4 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh). The industry's record high electricity generation came in 2010, when the 104 reactors then operating produced 806.9 billion kwh of electricity while posting an industry average capacity factor of 90.9 percent.

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Thursday, January 22, 2015

FirstEnergy Invested $690 Million in 2014 in the Ohio Edison Service Area to Enhance Electric System

Company Completed Infrastructure and Reliability Projects to Help Reduce Outages and Handle Future Growth 

 

AKRON, Ohio, Jan. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its ongoing efforts to improve its electric system, FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) invested approximately $690 million in 2014 in the Ohio Edison service area on reliability infrastructure projects and other transmission- and distribution-related work, including building new transmission lines, new substations, and installing remote-control equipment to help reduce the number and duration of power outages.

More than $581 million of the total was spent on transmission-related projects owned by American Transmission Systems, Incorporated, a FirstEnergy transmission company. 

"We expect the results will show that in 2014 Ohio Edison performed better than the service reliability standards established by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, which we largely attribute to the work we have done to make our system more robust," said Randall A. Frame, regional president, Ohio Edison.  "The infrastructure projects we completed in 2014, and in previous years, are making a difference when it comes to reducing the number of outages our customers might experience."

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Report: Power plants, gas companies still feeling each other out

By Wayne Barber, Chief Analyst, GenerationHub 

Power generators and the businesses that provide them natural gas are still figuring each other out, and a new white paper concludes that if differences between the two sectors aren’t harmonized problems could arise, according to GenerationHub.

Authored by the Illinois Institute of Technology, the Long-Term Electric and Natural Gas Infrastructure Requirements White Paper offers a series of recommendations aimed at harmonizing electricity and natural gas markets. The report also seeks to raise awareness within the industry and regulatory community about potential challenges.

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Monday, January 12, 2015

Exelon Statement on Illinois Nuclear Power Plant Report

CHICAGO, Jan 12, 2015 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Exelon today issued the following statement on the State of Illinois report on potential nuclear power plant closings prepared in response to House Resolution 1146:

We thank the state for its attention and work on such an important issue for Illinois and the future of the state’s energy assets. The report confirms that the state’s six nuclear power plants provide substantial economic and environmental benefits to Illinois residents and businesses. It also highlights the negative impacts closing one or more of the state’s nuclear facilities prematurely would have on Illinois’ economy, energy prices and carbon emissions, and concerns it would raise about the reliability of the electric grid. The report makes clear that the future of Illinois’ nuclear power plants should be an issue of statewide concern.

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Thursday, January 8, 2015

TVA Asks Customers to Conserve in Light of Peak Power Demand

The Tennessee Valley Authority is asking for a voluntary reduction in electricity use until Friday
afternoon as a result of frigid temperatures causing high demand across the Southeast.

The request extends to all electric power consumers- residential, commercial and industrial customers.  The voluntary reduction will help ensure a continued supply of power to essential services throughout TVA's seven-state service territory and avoid interruptions of service.

All of TVA's available generating resources are being used to meet the peak power demand. TVA's bulk electric system remains secure and stable at this time.

'When it's below freezing, each time the temperature drops one degree another 400 megawatts of electricity is needed for our system,' said Jacinda Woodward, senior vice president of TVA Transmission and Power Supply.

'Setting your thermostat 2-3 degrees below normal this evening and Thursday morning can really help TVA manage the high power demand during this challenging time.'

A peak power demand is expected to happen Wednesday evening as regional temperatures are forecast to drop into single digits causing electricity demand to exceed 31,000 megawatts.

TVA says another peak demand will happen again Thursday morning with electric loads peaking around 32,400 megawatts.

Read more...

Nuclear Power Turns To Salt

By Forbes (James Conca) - Today, the United States Department of Energy announced that its Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee is partnering with Canadian nuclear company Terrestrial Energy Inc. (TEI) to assist with TEI’s new Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR). The engineering blueprint stage for this GenIV reactor should be reached in two years. The reactor should come online in less than ten.

Think of it: a nuclear reactor that
  • is cheaper than coal
  • creates much less waste and few long-lived radioactive elements
  • uses almost all of the fuel which lasts 7 years between replacement, and can be recycled easily
  • is modular, from 80 MWt to 600 MWt, able to be combined and adapted to individual needs for both on and off-grid heat and power
  • is small enough to allow fast and easy construction, and trucking to the site
  • operates at normal pressures, removing those safety issues, and at higher temperatures making it more energetically efficient
  • has the type of passive safety systems that make it walk-away safe
  • does not need external water for cooling
  • can load-follow rapidly to buffer the intermittency of renewables
  • cannot be repurposed for military use and has strong proliferation resistance
  • can last for many decades
  • uses a liquid fuel
 Now that is different!

Read more...

Monday, January 5, 2015

Nuclear power needed to tackle climate change, say leading scientists

Monday, January 5th, 2015 By Charlotte Malone

Top conservation scientists have stated that in order to tackle climate change and protect the natural environment nuclear power must be considered. They warn that relying solely on renewables to replace fossil fuels is “risky”.
Nuclear - Paul J Everett via Flickr
In an open letter over 70 scientists call on environmentalist and campaign groups to stop focusing on “idealistic perceptions of what is ‘green’” and instead look at the benefits of nuclear power generation.

Signatories state they support the broad conclusions of an article published in the journal Conservation Biology. The research states that the full range of electricity-generation sources, including nuclear power, must be deployed to replace the burning of fossil fuels if the world is to have a chance of mitigating severe climate change.

The scientists argue that renewables alone cannot provide a solution. This view has also been taken by two Google engineers who recently argued that today’s renewable technologies alone couldn’t cut greenhouse gas emissions enough to halt climate change.

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