Dominion’s October 2012 announcement that it is closing the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant took the nuclear industry by almost complete surprise. My friends who write about nuclear topics on a regular basis had no clue about the possibility before it was announced. None of the contacts that I have developed over the past few decades…
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), the supplier that sold four new steam generators to Southern California Edison (SCE) for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), has issued a redacted version of its root cause analysis of the u-tube failures that have kept both of the station’s 1100 MWe units shut down since January 31, 2012….
During the first week of August each year, the American Nuclear Society hosts a conference called the Utility Working Conference (ANS-UWC). It is one of my favorite ANS meetings because it draws a crowd of professionals whose daily employment is focused on safely operating electricity production facilities powered by atomic fission. Those facilities produce 20%…
During the period from July 15-18 2012, more than 440 nuclear professionals attended the annual U. S. Women In Nuclear (US WIN) conference held in Orlando, FL. I spoke to three of the attendees – Julie Ezold, Sandy DePirro, and Savannah Fitzwater – about the conference and about the organization. The women work in three…
There are many stories on the web this week about cost overruns at Vogtle and VC Summer, the two active new nuclear power plant projects in the United States. TVA has also had well publicized cost increases and schedule delays at Watts Bar II, a construction project that was started more than 30 years ago…
I noted a disturbing comment in an article titled Fairfield County hopes reactors will boost economy The article is about the understandable desire among leaders in Fairfield County, SC to ensure that the construction of VC Summer units 2 and 3 result in local benefits. They want local people to have a shot of landing…