May, 2012

Graham Corporation, global designer, manufacturer and supplier of components that include raw materials to nuclear energy facilities, today announced that it has been awarded $5.0 million in new orders to construct ejector systems for placement at facilities in China. The manufacturer said the first order calls for ejector systems to be built in Graham’s Batavia operation and then installed...

Shipbuilders in Virginia reached a major milestone in the construction of the nation's newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier on Thursday when they slowly lowered the massive lower bow into place in what will become the USS Gerald R. Ford. The first-of-its class aircraft carrier will be the nation's 11th in service once it is delivered to the Navy in 2015. It will replace the USS Enterprise...

Engineers at Southern California Edison’s San Onofre nuclear plant have reported that vibration sensors meant to protect bearings in emergency diesel generators could conceivably shut them down during an earthquake. While actual reactor accident conditions would cause emergency systems to bypass the sensor and keep the diesels running, the plant nonetheless disabled the electronics in question...

Operators shut down Unit 2 at the Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania Wednesday to inspect its low-pressure turbine for blade cracking.

Waste treatment company Kurion has purchased the GeoMelt vitrification business of Impact Services, which filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy Thursday.

The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office within the Department of Homeland Security has awarded Chantilly, Va.-based TASC Inc. task orders worth as much as $54 million to provide systems engineering and other services.

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) announced today that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with The University of Manchester, according to a Tuesday release. The university will provide GEH with expert technical knowledge and input to the potential deployment of GEH’s innovative PRISM reactor, designed to disposition the U.K.’s growing plutonium stockpile while at the same time...

According to a report by The Guardian, EDF Energy has put on hold the award of a £1.2 billion ($1.9 billion) civil engineering contract for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset, England. Two consortiums led by Balfour Beatty and Laing O'Rourke expected to have heard about the huge deal last week, but now expect no decision until 2013 at the earliest.

The holiday weekend saw two significant developments for Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear Plant near Plymouth, Mass. On Friday the company announced it received a 20-year license extension for the plant after six years and the longest relicensing process in Nuclear Regulatory Commission history.

A number of C-level leadership changes Southern Co. will place a new vice president at Southern Nuclear, the company announced Thursday. Leigh Davis Perry will replace John L. Pemberton as senior vice president and general counsel for Southern Company operations and Southern Nuclear, which operates the company’s reactors.

About 300 liters of radioactive heavy water spilled at New Brunswick Power's Point Lepreau plant on Monday, making it the second spill at the site in less than six months. The spill occurred during a test when when a relief valve opened prematurely, according to spokesman Rod Eagles.

A consortium that includes scientists and engineers from Battelle, Bechtel International Systems and other companies have begun construction of a moveable building that weighs 20,000 tons and will eventually cover the remains of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Unit 4 .

New dose estimates for the surrounding population lead the news from Fukushima this week, and a government official said the country’s retreat from nuclear power may not mean the closure of all reactors in the medium term. Recent developments related to the Tokyo Electric Power Co. reactors severely damaged following last year’s earthquake and tsunami include ...

Just three days after Gregory Jaczko announced his resignation as chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, President Barack Obama nominated Allison M. Macfarlane as his replacement. Macfarlane, an associate professor at George Mason University since 2006, was a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future and has extensive knowledge of nuclear waste issues.

A huge tower, used during atomic bomb tests in the 1960s, came tumbling down Wednesday in a controlled demolition. The "Bare Reactor Experiment, Nevada" tower (BREN) was the tallest free-standing structure west of the Mississippi; taller than the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower.

A fire on a nuclear-powered submarine at a Maine shipyard has injured seven people, including five firefighters. The sub's reactor, isolated in another part of the sub, had been shut down for a few months and was unaffected.

As negotiations continue to sour between Candu Energy and the union representing its workers, the Society of Professional Engineers and Associates said Wednesday that its members would refuse overtime and may strike.

The Pilgrim nuclear plant in Massachusetts remained offline Wednesday after a manual shutdown prompted by a degraded vacuum in its main condenser. At 1:11 p.m. Tuesday, the plant was at 35 percent core thermal power for a backwash of the main condenser, according to an event report filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Russia will become the 31st member country of the NEA effective January 1st 2013, according to a release today by the agency. The news comes after an official exchange of letters between OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Andrey Denisov and Deputy Director-General of Rosatom Nikolay Spasskiy formalized the accession.

Duke Energy employees at the Oconee Nuclear Station in South Carolina have been honored with the B. Ralph Sylvia Top Industry Practice (TIP) Award for completing the first digital upgrades to commercial reactor protection systems in the United States. The conversion from the analog instrumentation common in these systems uses digital electronics technology to enhance the monitoring and control of reactor...

Employees of Exelon Corporation were awarded the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Top Industry Practice (TIP) award yesterday in the Materials and Services category for their application of new, underwater laser scanning technology to obtain measurements within a BWR vessel at Quad Cities Generating Station in Cordova, Illinois. The scanning technology, developed specifically for the nuclear industry...

Exelon Nuclear has claimed the Nuclear Energy Institute's Top Industry Practice (TIP) Award for innovation in the Maintenance Category following introduction of a fuel alignment measurement system at three generating stations: Byron, Braidwood and Three Mile Island. The core mapping technology developed by Newton Labs of Seattle, Washington, enables plant operators to accurately measure the positions...

After several years of promising research into efficient, Brayton-cycle turbines for power generation, scientists at Sandia National Laboratories are close to beginning the conceptual design phase for a 10 megawatt demonstration plant. The lab has been in discussions with potential industry partners for the scale-up project, and Sandia manager Gary Rochau said he expects an announcement “any...

Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems announced the official opening of its new office in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday as company leadership predicted further hiring in the years to come.

Energy Northwest will be hosting an event at Columbia Generating Station on Thursday, May 24 to mark the local announcement of Columbia's extended operating license. The company says it has been told informally by the NRC that the Columbia Generating Station's license will be extended for an additional 20 years. Energy Northwest has been seeking the lifetime extension since January 2010...