After U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions fell by 11% in the pandemic year, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration predicts in its most recent short-term outlook a 7% increase for 2021 and a modest 1% in 2022. The EIA report, stealing from Mark Twain, also suggests that the U.S. death of coal has … More EIA: US CO2 energy-related emissions to climb 7% in 2021
Two interesting nuclear developments from Pennsylvania, the cradle of civilian nuclear power in the US, both positive and negative. First, the positive. As reported in Philadelphia’s The Inquirer, Talen Energy, which owns the two-unit Susquehanna nuclear plant in north-eastern Pa. near Berwick, has signed a deal with an Easton Maryland cryptocurrency “mining” firm to locate … More Good and bad nuclear news in the Keystone state
Is it curtains for Chicago-based Exelon’s Byron and Dresden nuclear plants? That’s what CEO Chris Crain strongly indicated in an Aug. 4 second quarter earnings statement, Nuclear News reported. In a conference call, Crane said that pending state and federal legislation to bail out the money-losing Illinois plants “remains uncertain and, regardless, will come too … More Are Byron and Dresden nukes done?
Georgia Power’s two-unit Vogtle nuclear construction project is facing new delays and cost hikes, bringing the total cost of both units to as much as $27 billion. The utility’s parent, Atlanta-based Southern Company, said the new delay and costs will add $460 million to the price tag, bringing its share of the units to $9.2 … More Vogtle nuke project: more delays, cost overruns
The nation’s most advanced small modular reactor project has suffered another setback, as the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) is downsizing the multi-billion-dollar project from 12 to six reactors. At the same time, UAMPS said the reactor supplier NuScale Power, will increase the capacity of their reactor from 60 MW to 77 MW, which … More Utah public power system scales back Idaho SMR project
Ohio’s long troubled Davis-Besse nuclear plant is facing new technical problems, in addition to its economic issues. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission July 27 announced it has launched a “special inspection” at the plant. The NRC said the site inspection “will focus on two separate issues: multiple diesel generator failures during testing and maintenance; and … More NRC sets ‘special inspection’ at Davis-Besse nuke
Ohio-based utility holding company FirstEnergy Corp. has cut a deal with the U.S. Justice Department on a fraud case derived from the company’s actions dating back to mid-2019, when it paid key Republican legislators to pass legislation bailing out two uneconomic nuclear power plants. The case ended up ousting the Ohio House Republican Speaker, Larry … More FirstEnergy has $230M plea deal with DOJ
Problems at China’s Taishan nuclear project – which could become the world’s largest nuclear station – are worse than the Chinese government has acknowledged, according to co-owner Electricite de France. CNN reported this week that the French state-owned company said that while radiation detected in the primary coolant circuit at one of the two 1,750-MW … More EDF says it would have shut down Taishan reactor with fuel cladding problems
TerraPower, the nuclear company founded by Bill Gates, just announced an agreement with private funders, including Warren Buffet, and the state of Wyoming to site its Natrium fast reactor demonstration project there. It is the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) flagship “advanced” small modular reactor (SMR) project, for which DOE will pay a heavy share, starting … More Commentary: Will Bill Gates’ Fast Nuclear Reactor Bomb?
A no-carbon electric grid need not, and should not, include nuclear, according to a new report unveiled today (July 15) and done for prominent anti-nuclear groups. The report for national groups Friends of the Earth and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and the Illinois-based Nuclear Energy Information Service, done by Mark Cooper at the … More Is a no-carbon, no nukes U.S. grid worthwhile?