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Appeals Court Backs Illinois’ Nuclear Subsidies

September 14, 2018

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on September 13 upheld subsidies offered by Illinois to help struggling nuclear power plants. The court rejected arguments from power producers and some Illinois energy consumers that so-called zero-emission credits (ZEC) are preempted by the Federal Power Act. Opponents argued the program violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, saying it usurps the authority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and FERC’s jurisdiction over wholesale electricity markets.

The ruling was in the case Electric Power Supply Association et al. v. Star et al.

The Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA), an advocacy group for the electric power industry, along with other independent generators and some Illinois energy consumers had said the state’s ZEC program and the $ 235 million in yearly subsidies sent to a pair of Exelon Corp. nuclear plants as part of the state’s Future Energy Jobs Act directly impacted wholesale markets.

The latest appeal in Illinois was filed after a judge in July 2017 dismissed an earlier appeal by EPSA and a group of power generators.…

‪The Curious Case of a Two-Billion-Year-Old Nuclear Reactor

September 10, 2018

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A rock sample from Oklo in Gabon, the world’s oldest and only natural reactor. Courtesy: IAEA Bulletin

Scientists appear to have unraveled the mystery of uranium ore found at a mine in Oklo region of the Central African state of Gabon that exhibits a lower proportion of uranium-235 (U-235)—the fissile sort.

According to an August 10 bulletin from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the first response that physicists had when they first found the high-grade ore in 1972 was that it wasn’t natural: “At first, all the physicists could think of was that the uranium ore had gone through artificial fission, i.e. that some of the U-235 isotopes had been forced to split in a nuclear chain reaction. This could explain why the ratio was lower than normal,” the bulletin says.

All natural uranium today contains 0.720% of U-235. “If you were to extract it from the Earth’s crust, or from rocks from the moon or in meteorites, that’s what you would find.…

Nuclear Power Production Up for Fifth Year in a Row

August 21, 2018

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Nuclear power generation increased worldwide in 2017 for the fifth successive year according to a report released by the World Nuclear Association (WNA). Production from nuclear plants reached 2,506 TWh in 2017, more than 10% of global electricity demand.

The average capacity factor for the world’s nuclear power plants increased year-over-year to 81.1%, continuing the high-performance displayed over the last two decades, during which average capacity factors have consistently hovered around 80%. In an August 15 press release announcing the publication of “World Nuclear Performance Report 2018,” the WNA noted that reactor performance has been “maintained irrespective of how long a reactor has been in operation.” It said there has been no evidence of “age-related decline.”

There were 59 reactors under construction at the end of 2017. Four reactors were connected to the grid during the year, with an average construction time of 58 months. Four projects were started during the year and two were halted, including two units at the V.C.…

Official: FERC, Other Agencies Identifying ‘Critical’ Coal, Nuclear Plants

August 11, 2018

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An official with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) told a nuclear industry group this week that the agency and Trump administration officials are trying to identify power plants they consider critical to the nation’s grid. The move is seen as part of the White House effort to prop up the struggling U.S. coal and nuclear power industries.

Anthony Pugliese, FERC’s chief of staff, provided information during a talk before the American Nuclear Society, according to Rod Adams of Atomic Insights, a Virginia-based publishing company that produces content related to atomic energy. Adams shared audio of Pugliese’s remarks with E&E News. “We are working with DOD [Department of Defense] and DOE [Department of Energy] and NSC [National Security Council] to identify the plants that we think would be absolutely critical to ensuring that not only our military bases but things like hospitals and other critical infrastructure are able to be maintained, regardless of what natural or man-made disasters might occur,” Pugliese said.…

Nuclear Construction Update: New Progress Made in Russia, UAE, and U.S.

August 9, 2018

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Several milestones have been reached at nuclear power plant construction sites around the world including on the Leningrad II-2, Novovoronezh II-2, Barakah, and Plant Vogtle projects.

Russian Progress

At the Leningrad site, Rosatom—the Russian state atomic energy corporation—reported on August 7 that the main turbine equipment installation for Phase II Unit 2 was completed. The company said that the stator, separators, superheaters, deaerator, turbine condensers, high- and low-pressure heaters, and heat exchangers have all been installed. Work will now begin on insulation, low-current and electrical installation, and the laying of external and internal engineering networks.

Leningrad Phase I has four RBMK-1000 units, which were connected to the power grid between 1973 and 1981. Phase II will have four VVER-1200 units, two of which are currently under construction. Unit 1 was connected to the grid on March 9 and is currently in the final stages of commissioning. It was the second VVER-1200 unit to be grid connected. Novovoronezh 6 (also known as Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant [NPP] 2 Unit 1) was the first VVER-1200 to enter service.…

Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant Will Close in 2020

July 29, 2018

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NextEra Energy Resources, the wholesale power generating subsidiary of Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc., announced that it has struck a deal to shorten its power purchase agreement (PPA) with Alliant Energy and will retire the Duane Arnold Energy Center (DAEC)—a 615-MW nuclear power plant located in Palo, Iowa—before the end of 2020.

DAEC’s reactor is licensed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate until February 21, 2034, but it was expected to close in 2025 when the PPA with Alliant was originally slated to expire. If the agreement to cut five years from the term is approved by the Iowa Utilities Board, Alliant would pay NextEra $ 110 million in September 2020 as part of the buyout. Furthermore, NextEra would supply Alliant’s customers with wind energy from four of its repowered Iowa wind facilities—about 340 MW of combined capacity—under other PPAs. The transactions are expected to save customers nearly $ 300 million in energy costs, on a net present value basis, over 21 years, according to NextEra.…