306-ton Unit 4 Reactor Vessel placed at Vogtle nuclear expansion

Georgia Power announced today the placement of the nuclear reactor vessel inside Unit 4 containment at the Vogtle nuclear expansion project near Waynesboro, Georgia. Standing 35 feet tall, the reactor vessel functions as a heat source from the nuclear fission process to produce steam that will generate electricity for homes and businesses throughout Georgia. The …

Brussels Confirms Plan to Close All Nuclear Power Plants by 2025

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – The government of Belgium has endorsed an energy strategy, confirming its plan to shut down all nuclear power plants (NPP) in the country by 2025. According to a document published by the Cabinet, Belgium aims to “withdraw from nuclear energy by 2025.” Brussels also plans to ensure a sufficient and stable power grid, and invest in new energy …

What is China’s Nuclear New Normal?

Xi Jinping, at a May 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, described a secular decline in the rate of China’s GDP growth as a “new normal” condition. Since then, the term “new normal” has become shorthand in China for the challenges that the economy will face in coming years, perhaps for decades. Leaders in Beijing …

Building of the first Turkish nuclear power plant Akkuyu starts in first week of April

The official start of the construction of first Turkish nuclear power plant Akkuyu will be the first week of April, according to the country’s Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım. The ceremony will be attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The plans foresee the construction of a four PWR reactors with …

FirstEnergy gives notice to deactivate four units

FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) has notified regional transmission organisation PJM Interconnection that it will deactivate the Beaver Valley, Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear power plants during the next three years. The company, which is aiming to leave the competitive market, is seeking legislative policy solutions to keep the plants operating. Beaver Valley, a single-unit pressurised water reactor, …

Nuclear industry facing crisis that Trump must address, think tank says

The nation’s nuclear energy industry is facing a crisis that the Trump administration must immediately address as a core part of its “energy dominance” agenda, a Washington think tank said Thursday. The decline of the nuclear power industry is “an important policy problem” that is not receiving the attention it deserves, the Atlantic Council said …

20 years later: DOE’s Savannah River Site begins dissolving ORNL fuel again

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site has begun dissolving uranium fuel cores from Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Flux Isotope Reactor for the first time since 1988. The spent fuel will help deliver electricity to residents in the Tennessee Valley. The High Flux Isotope Reactor is fueled by highly enriched uranium, which the Savannah …

Glimmers of hope for uranium miners

It’s been an eventful past couple of weeks in the uranium subsector, even if the spot price for uranium oxide has shown little positive response. In the U.S., the Trump administration’s Department of Energy (DOE) has suspended sales from its uranium oxide stockpiles for the rest of the government’s fiscal year (until Sept. 30, 2018). …