06/14/2013 NRC Considers Voiding Key Ruling On San Onofre
Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff want to void a ruling that played a significant role in Southern California Edison’s decision to shut down the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
www.kpbs.org
06/13/2013 NRC still seeking why spot missed at Shearon Harris
An outside contractor hired to look for flaws in a Duke Energy nuclear reactor near Raleigh last year missed a quarter-inch spot of corrosion and cracking near the reactor core that forced a full shutdown last month after new eyes reviewing year-old data found the problem, federal regulators said Thursday.
www.wral.com
06/12/2013 TVA cuts 530 jobs, spending on Bellefonte
A total of 35 TVA employees and 495 contractors will lose their positions at the Bellefonte Nuclear Power Station northeast of Scottsboro, Ala. The budget will fall from $182 million to $66 million, a reduction of roughly 64 percent.
www.ajc.com
06/12/2013 Lockheed Martin, SNPAS of China sign agreement
Lockheed Martin and State Nuclear Power Automation System Engineering Co. have signed an agreement to prototype, manufacture and qualify nuclear power plant reactor protection systems for China’s Generation III reactors. SNPAS is a subsidiary of China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corp.
www.rdmag.com
06/12/2013 U.S., Czech Republic establish a joint Civil Nuclear Cooperation Center
The US Department of Energy, in cooperation with the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, have agreed to establish a joint Civil Nuclear Cooperation Center in Prague. The center will facilitate and coordinate joint activities and support regional initiatives in the fields of nuclear energy, nuclear security and nuclear non-proliferation.
www.power-eng.com
06/11/2013 DOE IG flags $450K in payments to Heather Wilson’s firm
The information investigators got from contractor officials at the Los Alamos, N.M., and other DOE labs “did not meet even minimum standards for satisfying” Federal Acquisition Regulation requirements, Friedman said.
www.politico.com
06/07/2013 SCE Will Close Troubled San Onofre Plants
Operator Southern California Edison said in a statement it will retire the twin reactors because of uncertainty about the future of the plant, which faced a tangle of regulatory hurdles, investigations and mounting political opposition. With the reactors idle, the company has spent more than $500 million on repairs and replacement power.
abcnews.go.com
06/07/2013 France, Japan join forces for larger share of nuclear market
Japan and France on Friday agreed to boost nuclear cooperation to secure a larger share of global atomic energy markets as Tokyo's pro-nuclear government looks to restart reactors despite public unease in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
www.reuters.com
06/07/2013 Federal radioactive facility opens at WCS
A year and a half after Waste Control Specialists opened a state facility for dumping radioactive waste, the federal side of the facility opened up. WCS officially cut the ribbon on the federal waste disposal facility, with 26 million cubic feet of space almost 100 feet below the land level, in Andrews County.
www.oaoa.com
06/07/2013 Bechtel to Install Beaver Valley's Steam Generators
Bechtel will start engineering the generators in late 2016 and start installing the systems in March 2017 for the Pennsylvania-based Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station, Bechtel said Thursday.
blog.executivebiz.com
06/06/2013 Goldfish mystery at Perry has been solved
Two contact workers, both foremen, confessed this week to smuggling not two but five goldfish into the power plant in April during an extended maintenance shutdown. Another four workers admitted to knowing about the prank but not reporting it.
www.cleveland.com
06/06/2013 NRC orders new safety upgrades at BWR nuclear plants
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission directive on Thursday requires enhancements to systems for venting accumulated pressure from containment structures during an emergency. Vents must also be able to safely handle rising temperatures, hydrogen concentrations and radiation levels.
www.cnn.com
06/04/2013 Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Adopts AREVA Technology for Filtered Containment
Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy, Ltd. and AREVA today announced that they have reached an agreement aimed at improving the safety of nuclear power plants through the delivery of filtered containment venting systems. They will be used for the boiling water reactors in Japan.
www.japancorp.net
06/04/2013 Nuclear power for the Philippines?
State-run power firm National Power Corporation is hoping the government considers the proposed $1 billion rehabilitation plan for the 29-year-old Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
www.rappler.com
06/04/2013 Containment vessel bottom head installed at Vogtle 3
The 900-ton containment vessel bottom head has been installed at unit 3 of the Vogtle AP1000 nuclear power plant, under construction in Georgia, USA.
www.neimagazine.com
06/03/2013 USW Vows to Continue Fight to Save Jobs at Paducah
The United Steelworkers union on Monday said that it would continue to fight the decision by the Department of Energy to cease uranium enrichment at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant after workers received notices that layoffs would begin in August.
www.sacbee.com
06/03/2013 Kewaunee cuts jobs as it shifts to decommissioning
A total of 202 people were laid off as of Friday, although some stopped working at the plant earlier because they had accrued vacation time or a scheduled day off Friday, said plant spokesman Mark Kanz. Job reductions will continue at the end of June and July, affecting about 102 employees overall.
www.jsonline.com
06/03/2013 MidAmerican decides against Iowa nuclear plant
MidAmerican Energy has scrapped plans for Iowa’s second nuclear plant and will refund $8.8 million ratepayers paid for a now-finished feasibility study, utility officials said Monday.
www.desmoinesregister.com
06/02/2013 TVA eyes building 2 smaller reactors in Oak Ridge
TVA has yet to decide if it will ultimately build the new type of reactor. But aided by up to $150 million of funding support from the federal government, TVA and its partners have agreed to be the first to test the mPower design and to submit plans for regulatory approval by next year to build a pair of the new reactors on the Clinch River in Oak Ridge.
www.timesfreepress.com
05/31/2013 Fukushima Daiichi unit 4 fuel tower finished
The steel box frame structure above the damaged Fukushima Daiichi unit 4 reactor has been completed, after less than four months of work. In other news, TEPCO has reinforced protection of the damaged unit 3 spent fuel pool, established an internal regulator, and announced plans to take down the unit 1 cover.
www.neimagazine.com
