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Lloyd’s Register on Current Nuclear Power Challenges

September 6, 2016

POWER Editor Gail Reitenbach interviewed King Lee of Lloyd’s Register on June 29 at the World Nuclear Exhibition in Le Bourget, France. The firm is a “non-profit distributing charity with a public benefit mandate,” which means that it is independent from shareholders, and profits are distributed to a variety of educational and other charities. Its nuclear group has provided independent, expert technical advice on safety and risk management for more than 60 years, beginning with the UK’s Calder Hall reactors in the 1950s. The UK vote to exit the European Union (EU), known as “Brexit,” had taken place the previous week. Questions and answers have been edited for length and style.

GR: What effect do you think Brexit, if it actually goes through, will have on UK nuclear plans and the European power sector generally?

KL: I think it’s too early to say whether Brexit will happen, and if it does happen, what form it will take, because the details will have to be worked out between the UK and EU countries.…

THE BIG PICTURE: Global Emissions Limits

September 4, 2016

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An Asian Nuclear Duo: Monju Down, Bataan Up?

August 31, 2016

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With costs for a restart escalating, Japan is considering scrapping its troubled Monju fast breeder nuclear reactor, just as a never-started nuclear plant in the Philippines may get a new lease on life.

Monju May Be Finished

Japan Times reported that readying the Monju plant for restart “would cost several hundred billion yen.” Sources said that “a political decision” on decommissioning is likely. The science ministry has been looking for someone to run the 280-MW facility (Figure 1) but has found no takers.

Japan's troubled Monju breeder reactor may be decommissioned after a government agency estimated a restart could cost . Courtesy: Nife/Wikipedia

1. Japan’s troubled Monju breeder reactor may be decommissioned after a government agency estimated a restart could cost billions of dollars. Courtesy: Nife/Wikipedia

Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) last year ordered the ministry to come up with a new operator because of the plant’s poor performance. Construction began in 1986, and the plant first went critical in 1994. But a nasty fire caused by a leak of sodium coolant in December 1995 shut the plant down and led to a scandal as the semi-governmental operator at the time tried to cover up the accident.…

DOE Invests $28M in Research Projects to Enable Near-Zero-Emitting Fossil Fuel–Based Power Generation

August 27, 2016

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Fourteen research and development projects to scale up coal-based advanced combustion power systems and gasification processes and improve costs and endurance of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have won investments of more than $ 28 million from the Department of Energy (DOE).

The Energy Department on August 24 announced it has selected the projects to help “enable cost-competitive, fossil fuel–based power generation with near-zero emissions.”

Projects to Support 10-MW Pilots with Near-Zero Emissions

Three of the 14 projects were selected to complete preliminary designs of 10-MW pilot plants based on advanced combustion systems. The DOE invested $ 3.2 million in pre-project planning for a General Electric (GE) chemical looping combustion pilot plant. It also invested $ 3.3 million for pre-project planning for a flameless pressurized oxycombustion pilot plant spearheaded by San Antonio–based Southwest Research Institute, ITEA, Jacobs, the Electric Power Research Institute, General Electric Global Research, and Peter Reineck. Another $ 3.3 million went to Babcock & Wilcox and The Ohio State University for a front-end engineering and design study for their coal-direct chemical looping pilot plant

Each of the 10-MW pilots will be capable of capturing 90% of carbon dioxide emissions and will contain design features that will be assessed prior to commercial-scale demonstration, the DOE said.…

U.S. and Canada Follow Different Climate Policy Paths—Does One Offer a Competitive Advantage?

August 25, 2016

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Although the U.S. and Canada are both aiming for similar greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, the two countries are embarking on decidedly different approaches to reaching their goals, according to a report released on August 23.

IHS Markit—a company that provides information, analytics, and solutions to customers in business, finance, and government—developed the report, titled “The State of Canadian and US Climate Policy.” One reason it cites for the different emissions reduction methods is that the makeup of the power sectors in the two countries is vastly different.

In the U.S., the largest GHG emitter is the electric power generation industry. Historically, coal has been the most prominent fuel source for U.S. electricity production, and it is a heavy GHG emitter. As natural gas supplies have increased and the cost of renewable energy has decreased, replacing coal with these lower- and zero-emitting resources has resulted in a natural decrease in GHG emissions.

Canada, however, gets about 80% of its electricity from resources that have always been low- or zero-carbon emitters, mainly hydropower.…

WEC Inks Deal for Gas Plants to Replace Presque Isle

August 21, 2016

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WEC Energy Group, parent company of We Energies, signed a deal with mining firm Cliffs Natural Resources that will support two natural gas engine plants in the Upper Peninsula (UP) region of Michigan and replace power currently supplied by the coal-fired Presque Isle Power Plant, due to retire in 2020 (Figure 1).

The 365-MW Presque Isle coal plant will be replaced by a pair of natural gas engine plants under an agreement announced on Aug. 15. Courtesy: We Energies

The deal has been in the works for several years, and grows out of discussions with the Michigan state government on future electric supplies for the UP, which themselves grew out of Wisconsin Energy’s acquisition of Integrys Energy Group (WEC was formed out of that acquisition).

Last year, We Energies and the state settled on a series of agreements to change rate structures in the UP while Cliffs agreed to purchase power from Presque Isle until its retirement. The deal on Aug.…