THE BIG PICTURE: The Nuclear Fuel Cycle
The post THE BIG PICTURE: The Nuclear Fuel Cycle appeared first on POWER Magazine.
Tag: Nuclear
17 U.S. Nuclear Units Have Components Forged at Site Under Investigation
Although AREVA recently disclosed that 17 U.S. nuclear power plant units have installed components that were forged at the Le Creusot facility in France—a forge that has been under scrutiny due to questionable quality assurance documentation and carbon segregation irregularities in some parts manufactured at the site—the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) does not consider the situation an immediate safety concern.
“We are confident at this time that there are no safety concerns for U.S. nuclear power plants raised by the investigations in France,” David McIntyre, public affairs officer for the NRC, wrote in a blog post about the revelation.
“Our confidence is based on the U.S. material qualification process, preliminary structural evaluations of reactor components under scrutiny in France, U.S. material aging-management programs, our participation in a multinational inspection of Creusot Forge, and information supplied by AREVA about the documentation anomalies. Also, the components supplied to U.S. plants have performed well and inspections during their operating life have revealed no safety issues,” he continued.…
AECOM, EnergySolutions Joint Venture to Decommission San Onofre Nuclear Plant
After a 10-month competitive bid process, Southern California Edison (SCE) has selected a joint venture of AECOM and EnergySolutions as the general contractor for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) decommissioning.
“We are pleased to announce the selection of the AECOM/EnergySolutions team, a global joint venture with extensive commercial and government decommissioning experience around the world, as the prime contractor to safely and efficiently dismantle the San Onofre nuclear plant,” said Ron Nichols, SCE president. The joint venture will be known as SONGS Decommissioning Solutions.
SONGS is one of the largest commercial nuclear plant decommissioning projects to take place in the U.S. with an estimated total cost of $ 4.4 billion including used fuel management, radiological decommissioning, and site restoration costs. The contract represents a significant portion of the work required to decommission the plant. The project is expected to create about 600 new jobs over the 10-year dismantlement and decontamination phase.
“We are currently decommissioning two nuclear power stations in Wisconsin and Illinois and are uniquely qualified for decommissioning projects with state-of-the-art facilities to process and dispose of waste that will be generated throughout the course of this project,” said Ken Robuck, president of Disposal and Nuclear Decommissioning at EnergySolutions.…
Market Conditions Doom Another Nuclear Plant, Palisades, to Closure in 2018
Entergy Corp. has decided to permanently close the Palisades nuclear power plant on October 1, 2018.
The news comes as a bit of a surprise, because Entergy had a power purchase agreement with Consumers Energy—Michigan’s largest utility and the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy—which committed the company to buying nearly all of the power generated at Palisades through April 2022.
Late last year, however, UBS utilities analyst Julien Dumoulin-Smith suggested that the contract appeared to be potentially break-even or under water. Terminating the deal early was presumably the best option for both companies.
In a press release, Entergy said Consumers’ customers would save as much as $ 172 million over four years, even after paying Entergy $ 172 million to terminate the contract. The early termination payment is expected to “help assure the plant’s transition from operations to decommissioning.”
The 798-MW plant located about five miles south of South Haven, Mich., faced economic difficulties similar to other single-unit facilities, such as the recently closed Fort Calhoun Plant, and the R.E.…
Germany Must Pay Nuclear Firms Compensation for 2011 Shutdown
Germany’s highest court ruled on November 6 that energy firms E.ON, RWE, and Vattenfall have a right to seek compensation as a result of the 2011 decision to prematurely shut down the country’s nuclear fleet.
The Merkel government’s order in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, in which three Japanese reactors melted down as a result of damage from a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, was deeply controversial and continues to reverberate across Germany’s energy landscape. Eight of the nation’s oldest 17 nuclear reactors were shut down immediately, with the others slated for retirement by 2022 (Figure).
E.ON’s Grohnde nuclear plant in Lower Saxony is one of the best-performing units in Germany’s fleet. It is slated to retire by 2022. Courtesy: Heinz-Josef Lücking/WikimediaAbrupt Turnaround
The German Constitutional Court said the order itself was legal, but because it impacted the companies’ property rights in their plants, the government was obligated to pay compensation. Part of the decision was based on agreements the government had reached with the firms a few months earlier to extend lifetimes for the reactors well beyond 2021.…
Exelon Gets Its Christmas Wish—Illinois Legislation Will Save Nuclear Plants
After a lengthy process of give and take, the Illinois Legislature approved the Future Energy Jobs Bill (SB 2814) on December 1, the last day of the state’s veto session.
The bill will now go to Gov. Rauner (R) for his signature, which is expected. Once signed, it will take effect on June 1, 2017, a concession that was made to reduce the number of votes required for passage. Even with the change, the bill passed with only three votes to spare in the House and two extra votes in the Senate.
Nuclear Plants Rescued
Exelon predictably praised the bill. The power company claims SB 2814 will maintain competitive electric rates in Illinois, while preserving and creating good-paying jobs and spurring billions of dollars in investment in clean energy and energy efficiency.
But those items weren’t quite what Exelon was fighting for in its effort to push the bill through the General Assembly. It was desperate for the $ 235 million the bill will allow it to collect from customers annually to keep its Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear power plants open.…