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Death Toll Rises to 43 in Wake of India Coal Plant Blast

November 12, 2017

Officials in India say the the death toll from the November 1 explosion at an NTPC thermal plant in Unchahar has risen to 43, with seven more deaths reported in the past week. Dozens of workers at the plant were injured when flue gases and steam were released from a 500-MW coal-fired unit at the plant during a maintenance operation. Several workers remain hospitalized, many with severe burns, according to local officials, who late November 10 said at least eight of the injured are in “very critical” condition.

India’s Power Ministry has a committee investigating the explosion at the Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station in Uttar Pradesh state. The blast occurred in Unit 6 of the plant, a unit which was commissioned in March and had been operating on a trial basis since September. The six-unit, 1,550-MW Gandhi plant supplies electricity to nine states—Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Uttarakhand—and employs about 870 workers.…

Death Toll at 34 in India Plant Explosion; Officials Point to High Pressure in Boiler

November 6, 2017

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Officials in India on November 5 said the death toll has risen to 34 after an explosion and fire November 1 at NTPC’s Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station in Uttar Pradesh state. NTPC, the nation’s largest power utility, said flue gases and steam were released in the blast, which occurred in a 500-MW coal-fired unit that was commissioned in March and had been operating on a trial basis at the plant since September.

NTPC officials investigating the incident said November 3 that pressure inside the unit shot up to 70 times its normal level in just a few minutes before the explosion, and an emergency shut-off mechanism that should have disabled the unit apparently failed to work. A fireball exploded in the unit and pressurized steam gushed out onto dozens of workers, who were either killed or severely burned.

Local hospital officials on November 5 said several workers severely burned in the incident remain hospitalized.

Federal Power Secretary A.K. Bhalla told local media that along with NTPC executives, officials from Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.…

Death Toll at 32 in India Plant Explosion; Officials Point to High Pressure in Boiler

November 4, 2017

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NTPC, India’s largest power utility, on November 3 said the death toll has risen to 32 after an explosion and fire November 1 at its Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station in Uttar Pradesh state. NTPC said flue gases and steam were released in the blast, which occurred in a 500-MW coal-fired unit that was commissioned in March and had been operating on a trial basis at the plant since September.

NTPC officials investigating the incident said pressure inside the unit shot up 70 times its normal level in just a few minutes before the explosion, and an emergency shut-off mechanism that should have disabled the unit apparently failed to work. A fireball exploded in the unit and pressurized steam gushed out onto dozens of workers, who were either killed or severely burned.

NTPC in a statement November 3 said about 80 workers from the plant are still hospitalized. Federal Power Secretary A.K. Bhalla told local media that along with NTPC executives, officials from Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.…

Death Toll Expected to Rise After Explosion at India Thermal Plant

November 2, 2017

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An explosion at a coal-fired power plant in India has killed as many as 18 people and injured about 100, according to news reports. The blast, which occurred November 1 at the Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station, was apparently caused when a boiler pipe burst in a 500-MW generating unit that came online in March of this year.

Police confirmed the total number of dead and said they expect the death toll and number of injured may rise because other people were trapped in the plant, which has been shut down. The plant employs 870 workers.

NTPC, the plant’s operator and India’s largest power utility, said in a statement: “There was sudden abnormal sound at 20 mt. elevation and there was an opening … from which hot flue gases and steam escaped affecting the people working around the area.” The NTPC statement also said “an unfortunate accident in the boiler of 500MW under trial unit of NTPC – Unchahar occurred this afternoon.…

Startup of Olkiluoto 3 Nuclear Plant Delayed Again

October 12, 2017

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Continued problems with construction of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant in Finland have pushed the facility’s expected start date into 2019, meaning operations will not begin until at least 10 years after the original proposed start of commercial service.

Project owner Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) on October 9 announced further delays. TVO project director Jouni Silvennoinen in a statement said: “We are very disappointed by this additional delay. There is still substantial work to be accomplished in the project.”

The 1.6-GW Olkiluoto 3 project is being built by a group led by Areva, France’s state-owned nuclear group. The nuclear plant, where construction began in 2005, was originally expected to begin operation in 2009. According to an October 9 Reuters story: “An Areva spokesman said the reactor would produce its first power at the end of 2018, but the ramp-up to full production would delay the commercial start-up to May 2019. He said hot-testing would start in December 2017, nuclear fuel would be loaded in August 2018, first grid connection would be in December 2018 and the commercial start would be May 2019.”…

Entergy Gives Palisades Nuclear Plant Five More Years to Run

September 28, 2017

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Entergy Corp. will keep the Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert, Michigan, open until the spring of 2022, owing to a shortfall in recovery granted to Consumers Energy by state regulators.

In a bid to actively exit the merchant nuclear power business, investor-owned Entergy had decided to shutter the 798-MW plant by October 1, 2018. “Market conditions have changed substantially, and more economic alternatives are now available to provide reliable power to the region,” it said when it announced its decision about a year ago.

The decision came as a surprise because Entergy has 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 the power generated at Palisades through April 2022. Entergy reasoned the plant’s closure could save Consumers’ customers as much as $ 172 million over four years, even after Consumers paid Entergy $ 172 million to terminate the contract.

On September 22, however, the Michigan Public Service Commission granted Consumers a recovery of only $ 136.6 million of the $ 172 million it requested for the buyout of the power purchase agreement. …