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Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is seeking public comments on its preliminary finding that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude issuing Combined Licenses (COL) for two new reactors at the South Texas Project site near Bay City, Texas. - Source NRC - NRC Seeks Public Input On Draft Environmental Impact Statement For South Texas Project New Reactors; Meetings Scheduled ...(read more)

“China will be the world’s nuclear industry leader in terms of technology and also in terms of planning for long term 30, 40 years,” Tony De Vuono, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., said in a separate interview in Beijing - Edited by April Murelio - According to a Bloomberg report, China, the world’s second-biggest energy user, has approved the construction of 28 more nuclear power reactors under a revised target for 2020 to meet rising demand for clean energy and accelerate development of the industry. ...(read more)

High-sensitivity, high-throughput Trace detector purchase part of $8.7 million in contracts - By Linton Levy - Morpho Detection, Inc., part of the Safran group’s security business, has announced that it has fulfilled $8.7 million in orders for the EntryScan 4 explosive trace detection (ETD) portal placed by NETco Inc., Morpho Detection’s exclusive distributor to the nuclear industry. ...(read more)

The nuclear renaissance is driven in large part by a growing need for global energy security. Toshiba has been a major nuclear reactor vendor with its experience of constructing and providing maintenance services for the Japanese nuclear industry - Edited by Linton Levy - Toshiba Corporation and Westinghouse Electric Company, have announced the formation of a new joint venture, Advance Uranium Asset Management, Ltd. (AUAM), that will strengthen Toshiba Group's capabilities in the nuclear front end business segments and enhance the extensive range of support services extended to utilities around the world. ...(read more)

The following is from the home page on the U.S. Department of Energy's public Website - Source DOE - Secretary Chu's Op-Ed on Small Modular Reactors in the Wall Street Journal Washington, D.C. - The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu on small modular reactors. The text of the op-ed is below: ...(read more)

Experts Meet to Discuss Research Reactor Fuel Management - By Misha Kidambi, IAEA Division of Public Information - At a time when many Member States are looking at nuclear energy as an option to meet growing energy demands, research reactors - vital components for a number of nuclear technologies - are facing major challenges. ...(read more)

The CEA’s full name is now Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives, or “Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission” - By April Murelio - The 2010 amending budget act published in the March 10, 2010 Offical Journal makes the name change for the French atomic energy commission (CEA) official. ...(read more)

Commission will discuss proposed language for a rule that would set requirements for access authorization and physical security at new reactor construction sites - Source NRC - NRC Meeting March 31 In Rockville, MD, To Discuss Draft Rule On New Reactor Construction Site Security ...(read more)

Company to Provide Tennessee Valley Authority With Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) - By Stephen Heiser - ICx Technologies, Inc. has announced that it has been issued a blanket $3 million contract from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the largest public power company in the United States, for remote terminal units (RTUs). TVA has selected the Callisto Edge from ICx as a small RTU to deploy throughout their supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. ...(read more)

USEC recently announced the start of the Lead Cascade of production-ready AC100 centrifuge machines in a commercial-plant configuration in Piketon, Ohio - By Linton Levy - USEC Inc. and the Department of Energy (DOE) have announced an agreement to provide $45 million in funding to USEC to fund on-going American Centrifuge technology demonstration and manufacturing activities. USEC will match the DOE funding on a 50-50 cost-share basis. The work will support approximately 355 highly skilled jobs, primarily in Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia. ...(read more)

Current Fusion Technology - By Duncan Williams - Nuclear fusion has long been sought after as an alternative to nuclear fission as a means for generating electricity. This is because fusion technology provides several advantages over fission. For example, the fuels used in nuclear fusion cost less than fission fuels. One of the fuels used in fusion reactors is deuterium, which can be readily extracted from seawater. Another fusion fuel, tritium, can be produced from lithium, which is readily obtainable from the earth’s crust. ...(read more)

The facility’s units produced 22.43 million megawatt-hours of carbon-free energy last year, enough to power two million homes - Edited by Chris Smith - The South Texas Project produced more electricity in 2009 than any other two-unit nuclear power facility in the nation, and has been the top producer for six consecutive years. ...(read more)

Key Generator of Emission-Free Electricity Poised to Continue Safe, Reliable Operations - Edited by April Murelio - Constellation Energy Nuclear Group's Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 in Lusby, Md., returned to service Tuesday following the completion of a planned refueling and maintenance outage. The refueling outage began Feb. 20 at 7:20 p.m. and was completed on March 22 at 3:29 a.m. ...(read more)

“Successfully completing construction and then drastically reducing the time needed to transfer materials is a significant accomplishment for B&W Y-12 in supporting the NNSA’s mission of protecting the nation’s HEU supply,” - By Stephen Heiser - The new Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility (HEUMF) at the Y-12 National Security Complex was formally dedicated in a ceremony yesterday attended by approximately 200 Administration officials, elected officials and representatives from the community, as well as about 800 B&W Y-12 employees. Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Y-12, LLC (B&W Y-12) has worked in cooperation with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to achieve millions of dollars in cost savings through an expedited transfer of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to the new facility. ...(read more)

In addition to the performance assessment, the NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the safety performance of Palo Verde and the NRC’s role in ensuring safe plant operation. Results from a recent safety inspection for Palo Verde’s license renewal application will also be discussed - Source NRC - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet in Tonopah, Ariz., on March 30, with representatives of Arizona Public Service Co., to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety performance during 2009 at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. The plant, operated by APS, is located 50 miles west of Phoenix. ...(read more)

Gates is expected to use his personal funding and assets to back the development of TWRs and his investment could reach several billion dollars - By Stephen Heiser - TerraPower, an energy start-up backed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates is in discussions with Toshiba on developing a small nuclear reactor. Toshiba owns Westinghouse Nuclear and brings considerable assets and experience to any nuclear joint venture. TerraPower is a unit of Intellectual Ventures, a patent-holding concern partially funded by Bill Gates. Intellectual Ventures, based in Bellevue, Washington, is run by a former Microsoft Corp. executive, Nathan Myhrvold. ...(read more)

American support for the use of nuclear power has inched up to 62%, establishing a new high;28% now strongly favor its use - Edited by Linton Levy - A majority of Americans have typically favored using nuclear power to provide electricity for the United States since Gallup began polling this topic in 1994. Support has climbed in the last two years, and has nw passed 60% for the first time. In addition, 28% of Americans now say they "strongly favor" nuclear power, also the highest Gallup has measured since the topic was researched in 1994. ...(read more)

Results reinforce AREVA offers and solutions for nuclear spent fuel management - By Stephen Heiser - Working in collaboration with TNS Sofres, AREVA has conducted a survey in seven countries to gain a clearer understanding of perceptions about spent nuclear fuel. ...(read more)

The AP1000 reactor model was designed by Westinghouse Electric Company in the United States, which SNPTC selected to help build China's new-generation nuclear reactors - Edited by April Murelio - According to a report in The Beijing Times, the world's first generation III AP1000 reactor, the Sanmen nuclear power plant in east China's Zhejiang province, will be put into use by 2013, said Wang Binghua, chairman of the State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. (SNPTC). ...(read more)

I believe our two commissions – and the hard-working staffs of both of our agencies – can take pride in the open and collaborative working relationship we’ve developed over the last few years - Source NRC - Good afternoon. I want to first welcome our colleagues from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). This is the fourth time our two commissions have met jointly to discuss issues important to both of our respective agencies. During today’s meeting, we will discuss our past work and our future plans on several issues, including grid reliability activities affecting nuclear power plants, cyber security, and planning for new reactors ...(read more)