August, 2012

The NRC denied a license Thursday to UniStar Nuclear Energy, a French-controlled company that proposed a third nuclear reactor at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Southern Maryland. UniStar will have 60 days to provide proof of progress toward a partnership with a U.S. company that meets the NRC's requirements.

Ceram has won a contract to evaluate alternative technologies for dealing with the decommissioning of waste stored in the First Generation of Magnox Storage Pond (FGMSP). The contract is with Sellafield Ltd - the company responsible for decommissioning the Sellafield nuclear site and processing waste on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. A spokesman for Sellafield Ltd said: “The...

Exelon is halting efforts to gain initial federal regulatory approvals for new nuclear construction in Victoria County, Texas, the company announced yesterday. The company has notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it will withdraw its Early Site Permit application for an 11,500-acre tract southeast of Victoria. The action is in response to low natural gas prices and economic and market...

EWI announced that its silicon carbide (SiC) joining samples have emerged stable from six months of aggressive irradiation and water flow testing in the core of MIT's research nuclear reactor in Cambridge, MA. Silicon carbide fuel cladding is an emerging technology that has the potential for orders of magnitude increase in the safety of existing and future fleets of light water nuclear reactors...

Cameco has reached an agreement with BHP Billiton to acquire the Yeelirrie uranium project in Western Australia for $430 million. Yeelirrie is a near-surface calcrete-style deposit, amenable to open pit mining techniques.

Westinghouse Electric Company announced today that it has received a contract from the Kozloduy NPP – New Build PLC of Bulgaria to perform a feasibility study on a potential seventh unit at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant. The required study will encompass a review of two potential designs: a reactor of VVER design utilizing equipment already purchased by the customer together with Westinghouse...

Alstom, in consortium with the Indian company BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited), has secured a contract from the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to supply the turbine generator package for the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP) units 7 & 8, in India.

The 5.8-magnitude trembler began at 1:51 p.m., EST, 5 miles south-southwest of Mineral, Va. one year ago today. The epicenter was about 11 miles from North Anna nuclear power plant. Both reactors were shut down safely following the earthquake, and backup systems functioned as planned.

The civilian nuclear energy industry and the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program signed an agreement today establishing the first systematic program that allows personnel separating from the Navy to seamlessly transition to civilian employment. The agreement of understanding is the first, formal partnership between the Navy and the nuclear energy industry designed to put veterans to work in the growing...

The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) voted 5-0 to approve Georgia Power's spending on Plant Vogtle units 3 and 4 for the period including July 1, 2011 through Dec. 31, 2011. The construction costs of Vogtle units 3 and 4 are monitored by the PSC via monthly filings and construction monitoring reports that are filed every six months. The Vogtle's significant work has been done on...

Southern California Edison (SCE) has determined that San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) staffing and costs are significantly higher than other similar dual unit, non-fleet nuclear power plants. Indicators also show there are opportunities to reduce operating and maintenance costs by improving plant processes while fully maintaining all safety commitments. As a result, SCE announced this...

Testing has begun on a major component in the construction of two new nuclear units at Plant Vogtle 3 and 4 - a 560-foot tall heavy lift derrick, one of the biggest cranes in the world. The derrick, which will be used to move large pieces at the site of the first new nuclear units built in the United States in 30 years, has the capacity to move the equivalent of five 747 jets across the distance...

The Joint Review Panel (JRP) of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) announced on Friday its decision to issue a Nuclear Power Reactor Site Preparation License to Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) for its new nuclear power plant project at the Darlington nuclear site for a period of 10 years. The license will be valid from August 17, 2012 to August 17, 2022.

Underwater Construction Corporation (UCC) Director of Global Nuclear Services, Philip McDermott announces that UCC and TFT Nuclear have recently completed another innovative nuclear industry project using their Advanced Underwater Coatings System. Yielding exceptional results, this project was the third phase in support of a nuclear plants “Life Extension Program”.

Westinghouse Electric Company today announces that it has signed a teaming agreement with Studsvik AB to offer jointly a full range of decommissioning services for nuclear power plants in Europe under the separate brand name of ndcon, Nuclear Decommissioning Consortium by Studsvik and Westinghouse. Services will include dismantling, decontamination and waste handling, initially in Germany and Sweden...

Starting in 2014 - 2015, a total of six leading companies in the nuclear fuel supply industry will participate in the ENEC fuel supply program. ConverDyn (U.S.) will provide conversion services; Uranium One, Inc. (Canada) will provide natural uranium, URENCO (headquartered in the U.K) will provide enrichment services; and Rio Tinto (headquartered in the U.K) will provide natural uranium. TENEX (Russia...

The Society of Professional Engineers and Associates (SPEA) is holding an information picket this morning in front of Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation nuclear facilities to warn that critical technical expertise may not be available to support their long term operations. "Ontario's nuclear operators are facing a potentially serious situation and must call on SNC-Lavalin to settle...

Japanese newspapers have reported that Toshiba Corporation is interested in selling a 16 percent stake in U.S. nuclear power-plant company Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC as it looks to prioritize its nuclear business in emerging markets. Toshiba currently holds 67 percent of Westinghouse and will look to sell the stake to nuclear technology companies that have strong links to emerging markets, the...

Operators shut down Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant to repair a gasket on a pipe flange, while in an unrelated action Tuesday, operators at Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant shut down Unit 1 to repair two diesel generators.

Representatives from more than a dozen U.S. and Canadian utilities met with NuScale Power at its Corvallis, Ore., offices July 24-26, for the small modular reactor developer's semi-annual Customer Advisory Board (CAB) meeting. NuScale Power's CAB is comprised of 19 members companies including the owners and operations of more than one-half of the US operating fleet of 104 commercial nuclear...

Palisades control room operators removed the plant from service on Sunday morning to repair a minor leak of cooling water inside the plant’s Containment building. There has been no release of radioactivity to the environment.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on June 8 ruled against NRC's updated waste confidence rule, stating the agency is required to conduct an environmental assessment (Environmental Impact Statement) of the rule and had failed to properly examine consequences of never building a permanent waste repository, and that NRC’s discussion of potential spent fuel pool leaks...

TechPrecision Corporation manufacturer of precision, large-scale fabricated and machined metal components and systems for the nuclear industry announced that it has received an order, valued at approximately $1.5 million, to produce nuclear isotope transport casks for Alpha Omega Services. These units were recently approved by the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission), will be delivered during TechPrecision’s...

The following photographs and slides are from SCANA Corporations 2012 2 nd Quarter Financial Results Presentation. Steve Byrne; SCANA Corporation; COO, SCE&G provided the nuclear plant construction update and descriptions for the following slides.

So far, at least six people have been disciplined after reports that anti-nuclear weapons protestors breached security outside a uranium storage facility at the Y-12 site.