[BETA] Fortnightly

Generation

Progress Energy will be the first U.S. nuclear operator to use Westinghouse’s underwater laser beam welding process.

South Carolina  Electric & Gas (SCE&G) gave Shaw Group and Westinghouse full notice to proceed on their engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for two new Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power units and related facilities at the V.C. Summer nuclear station near Jenkinsville, S.C. The project is owned by SCE&G and Santee Cooper. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved the project’s combined operating license (COL) in March 2012. The EPC contract previously was announced in May 2008, and the South Carolina Public Service Commission approved the project in February 2009.

Progress Energy awarded a contract to Westinghouse for underwater laser beam welding (ULBW) at the Robinson nuclear plant in Hartsville, S.C. The ULBW process previously was used in Japan, but this will be its first application at a U.S. nuclear plant. Developed jointly by Westinghouse and majority owner Toshiba, ULBW applies weld metal that resists stress, corrosion, and cracking on the inside surface of aged components, serving as a method of mitigation and repair. At Robinson Unit 2, the process will be applied to reactor vessel welds during the plant’s fall 2013 outage.

Ameren Missouri entered an agreement with Westinghouse to exclusively support Westinghouse’s application for funding under the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) small modular reactor (SMR) program. The program is intended to provide up to $452 million to support engineering, design certifications, and operating licenses for one or two SMR designs over five years. A final funding award is expected this summer.

PG&E launched a pilot project to demonstrate smart charging of Honda Fit electric vehicles.

Southern California Edison (SCE) completed additional inspections of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) Unit 2 steam generators, based on Unit 3 findings. In two of the nearly 20,000 tubes in the Unit 2 generators, SCE on April 11 identified wear patterns similar to the type of wear previously seen in Unit 3. SONGS Unit 2 was taken out of service for a planned outage on January 9, and Unit 3 was shut down on January 31, after station operators detected a leak in one of the unit’s steam generator tubes. In a related project, SCE and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego are collaborating to gather seismic data off the coast near San Onofre. The work will begin later this year and continue through 2013, evaluating existing and potential faults in the area, and imaging offshore structures. The survey aims to let scientists test between alternative hypotheses for tectonic deformation observed in the area.

AREVA and EDF signed an agreement for the supply of fuel assemblies and related services during 2013 and 2014. The two companies also entered negotiations for a medium- to long-term framework agreement on the production of fuel elements.

Martifer Solar completed two solar installations for the Westfield Group , one of the world’s largest real-estate investment trusts (REIT) to own and operate photovoltaic systems. The installations, totaling 1.7 MW, are located at Westfield Topanga and Westfield Fashion Square shopping malls in Southern California. Both systems use rooftop panels, with solar carports built at Fashion Square.

DTE Energy plans to build a 110-MW wind farm in