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Two More Japan Nuclear Units Will be Decommissioned

December 24, 2017

Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) announced it will permanently close two older nuclear reactors in Japan, rather than invest nearly 100 billion yen ($ 900 million) to bring the units up to the country’s new safety regulations. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) created new standards for the country’s nuclear plants after the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March 2011.

KEPCO on December 22 said it will decommission reactors No. 1 and No. 2 at the Oi facility in central Japan over the next year. Each unit has a generation capacity of 1,175 MW. The reactors, which came online in March 1979 and December 1979 respectively, will be the largest decommissioned in the country since the Fukushima disaster, which occurred when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake caused a massive tsunami that flooded the Fukushima plant in the northeastern part of the country. The resulting release of radiation was the largest since the Chernobyl meltdown in Russia in 1986.

Japan idled all 50 of its remaining nuclear units after the Fukushima incident.…

More U.S. Coal Units Closing Despite Possible Market Pricing Change

November 22, 2017

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U.S. utilities continue to announce closures of financially troubled and older coal-fired power plants even as government officials work on a bailout plan to keep them operating.

Owners of a coal plant in Montana that has only been online since 2006 informed the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) last week of plans to shutter the facility early next year if they can’t find a buyer. The news comes at the same time Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E-KU) said it would close two long-running coal-fired units at the E.W. Brown Generating Station near Harrodsburg, Kentucky, in February 2019.

The announcements are the latest in a series of closures announced in recent months, including three large coal-fired plants in Texas—two operated by Vistra Energy and another by Luminant, a Vistra subsidiary—that generate about 4.2 GW of electricity, or about 12% of the state’s coal-fired generation capacity. Another large Texas plant, CPS Energy’s 840-MW Deely station in San Antonio, is scheduled to close in 2018.…

UPDATED: SCANA, Santee Cooper Abandon V.C. Summer AP1000 Nuclear Units, Citing High Costs

August 1, 2017

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SCANA Corp. and Santee Cooper have ceased construction of Units 2 and 3 at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in South Carolina.

The project owners said the decision, prompted by analysis of detailed schedule and cost data, would save customers nearly $ 7 billion. The project, which was about 64% complete, has been in limbo since key contractor Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy in March.

The decision comes just days after Westinghouse’s parent company Toshiba agreed to pay the two project owners nearly $ 2.2 billion to cap its liabilities from the unfinished nuclear project. Toshiba reached a similar $ 3.7 billion agreement with Southern Co. in June as it seeks to limit its liabilities from the Vogtle project. Both AP1000 nuclear projects are years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.

Construction continues at the two Vogtle AP1000 units in Georgia. A project owner, Georgia Power, on July 28 told POWER that it expects to complete the cost-to-complete and schedule assessment by the end of August.…

Vogtle, V.C. Summer Project Owners Buy More Time to Mull Fate of Nuclear Units

May 1, 2017

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The owners of the Vogtle and V.C. Summer nuclear expansions separately secured a few more weeks to allow work to continue onsite at each project while they decide how to proceed with the half-built AP1000 reactors after Westinghouse’s financial debacle.

In Georgia, owners of the project to expand Plant Vogtle extended an interim assessment agreement with Westinghouse until May 12. But Georgia Power’s parent company Southern Co. also revealed it is negotiating a new service agreement that could engage Westinghouse to provide design, engineering, and procurement services in the event Southern Nuclear Operating Co.—Southern Co.’s nuclear unit operations arm—takes over management of construction at Units 3 and 4.

And in South Carolina, owners of the project to expand V.C. Summer extended a similar agreement through June 26. The project owners detailed their concerns and options in a recent ex parte briefing at the South Carolina Public Service Commission (PSC)

Vogtle Agreement Extended Until May 12

Georgia Power and Vogtle’s other owners on April 28 extended an interim assessment agreement with Westinghouse before it was set to expire, giving them until May 12 to assess the project.…

17 U.S. Nuclear Units Have Components Forged at Site Under Investigation

January 12, 2017

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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.…

MPUC Decision Spells End for Two Coal Units at Xcel’s Largest Plant

October 15, 2016

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The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) voted unanimously to support Xcel Energy’s latest long-range plan, which will transform the company’s energy fleet.

Xcel expects to more than double its renewable energy portfolio as a result, delivering greater than 60% carbon-free energy to its Upper Midwest (Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) customers by 2030.

Coal-Fired Capacity Takes a Hit

The MPUC approval finalizes Xcel’s decision to retire Units 1 and 2 at the Sherburne County Generating Plant (Sherco, Figure 1) in Becker, Minn. Sherco is a 2,222-MW three-unit facility—Xcel’s largest. The company announced last year that it wanted to close the 1976- and 1977-commissioned units, but it still plans to continue operating the 860-MW Unit 3 (added in 1987). Xcel co-owns that unit with Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, which holds a 41% stake.

1. Sherburne County Generating Plant. Units 1 and 2 will be retired in 2023 and 2026, respectively. Courtesy: Xcel Energy

Laura McCarten, regional vice president of Xcel Energy, told POWER that Unit 1 would be retired in 2023 and Unit 2 would be shuttered in 2026.…