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How General Atomics Developed Its Revolutionary Nuclear Fuel Solution

June 1, 2018

The U.S. is pouring funding into developing new fuel technology for advanced nuclear reactors in a bid to help the flagging industry. On April 27, it awarded General Atomics (GA) $ 3.2 million for two projects that the San Diego, California-based company is developing, including an accident tolerant fuel (ATF) solution that the company says is “truly revolutionary.”

The funding, for which GA will provide a cost share, is aimed to advance development and licensing of new reactor fuel that features silicon carbide (SiC) composite fuel cladding containing uranium carbide (UC) fuel pellets. One project, being conducted in collaboration with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee with total funding of $ 2,763,744, will combine advanced computer modeling and simulation with new microcapsule irradiation to establish techniques that “substantially reduce the time and expense required to qualify new fuels,” the company said. The second project, funded at a total of $ 475,819, would back the pre-application license review of SiC-UC fuel by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, allowing the company to develop an efficient roadmap for formal regulatory qualification.…

Bill Supporting Xcel Energy Nuclear Plants Dies in Minnesota

May 30, 2018

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A bill that would have provided more cost-recovery certainty for Xcel Energy’s two Minnesota nuclear plants didn’t get through the state House of Representatives prior to the legislative session ending on May 20, effectively killing the measure.

The bill would have allowed Xcel to submit proposals to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) designating each of its nuclear plants—the dual-unit Prairie Island station and the single-unit Monticello plant—as carbon-reduction facilities. As part of the process, the company would have included a proposed statement of the total expected costs, including but not limited to capital investments and operation and maintenance costs associated with the facility’s operation.

The MPUC would then have been required to approve or reject the total expected costs within 10 months of the filing date. The solution would have given Xcel the ability to recover a facility’s total costs outside of a general rate case proceeding. Proponents of the legislation suggested that it would have given Xcel more certainty than it currently has concerning cost recovery.…

GE Stock Falls as CEO Backs ‘Deliberate’ Pace of Change

May 28, 2018

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Shares of General Electric (GE) have fallen about 50% over the past year, and on May 23 GE saw its stock drop more than 7%, its biggest one-day loss since April 20, 2009. Much of Wednesday’s decline came as CEO John Flannery was speaking to attendees at the Electrical Products Group (EPG) conference in Longboat Key, Florida.

Flannery told the group he thinks Wednesday’s selloff could be due to investors who are disappointed he has not done more—and moved more quickly—to reorganize the company and stem the tide of financial losses, in large part caused by a slowing global market for gas turbines that has dogged the company’s Power division. Flannery acknowledged he has moved at a “deliberate” pace since taking over the company in August of last year.

Flannery, who has worked in various roles at GE since 1987, said he’s heard the grumblings, such as “What’s taking so long?” with the company’s turnaround plan, a plan the chief executive talked about even before he took the reins of GE from outgoing CEO Jeffrey Immelt.…

THE BIG PICTURE: CEO-to-Employee Pay Ratio

May 26, 2018

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The post THE BIG PICTURE: CEO-to-Employee Pay Ratio appeared first on POWER Magazine.

POWER Magazine…

DOE Lays Out How Power Sector Could Win the Cybersecurity Battle

May 19, 2018

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Cybersecurity threats are outpacing the energy sector’s “best defenses,” and costs of preventing and responding to cyber incidents are straining company efforts to protect critical infrastructure, the Department of Energy (DOE) warned as it released a comprehensive five-year cybersecurity strategy for the industry.

The Multiyear Plan for Energy Sector Cybersecurity, dated March 2018 but which was made public by the DOE’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) on May 14, lays out an “integrated strategy” for the DOE’s new Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER). It essentially seeks to “gain an upper hand” in the fight against cybersecurity, outlining “disruptive changes in cyber risk management practices.”

Power companies and utilities, along with oil and gas entities, have integrated advanced digital technologies to automate and control physical functions for improved efficiency and adjust to a “rapidly changing generation mix,” but this has created a “larger cyber attack surface and new opportunities for malicious cyber threats,” the plan notes.…

Wind Power Faces a Post-PTC ‘Valley of Death’

May 17, 2018

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Wind power capacity in the U.S., whose explosive growth has tripled since 2008—even overtaking hydropower to become the nation’s largest source of renewable electricity—could face a period of stagnation once the production tax credit (PTC) is phased out in 2021.

Analysts at WINDPOWER 2018 in Chicago last week called the period between 2021 and 2026 the “valley of death,” and though forecasts vary, many expect that new onshore wind capacity additions will slow if not grind to a halt. That’s despite a number of market drivers wind power has enjoyed recently.

According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), which hosts the annual wind industry conference, 89.4 GW of wind power from 54,000 wind turbines was installed in the U.S. by the end of the first quarter of 2018. Another 33.5 GW was under construction or in advanced development.

A Certain Dip But When?

Max Cohen, an associate director for IHS Markit’s North American Integrated Energy Research arm, introduced the phrase “valley of death” in one of the first sessions at the conference.…