Nuclear

Too Much Reliability

NERC confronts a case backlog now numbering in the thousands.

The case backlog of unprocessed electric reliability violations is growing out of control, threatening to “swamp” the industry — a sign, perhaps, that when Congress and FERC modernized the electric reliability regime to serve a more market-based industry structure, and for the first time gave enforcement authority to North American Reliability Corp. (NERC) as the nation’s official electric reliability czar, no one gave much thought, apparently, as to whether NERC’s very idea of what constitutes reliability might have needed modernizing as well.

21st Century Talent

Building a workforce for today’s utility landscape.

Utilities can attract a new generation of employees by emphasizing the transformation the industry now faces, and the immense opportunity it creates. Matching mature workers’ vast experience with new technologies can provide unique perspectives that knowledge of new technologies alone can’t provide.

Nuclear Renaissance and the Global Supply Chain

Avoiding pitfalls, realizing benefits.

Unlike the first generation of domestically sourced plants, new reactors being built in America will draw from a global supply chain for a wide range of materials, equipment and services. This poses a more complex set of challenges, from obtaining talent and material to qualifying and validating product sources.

The Bullish Case For Uranium

Higher prices to come?

For decades, global uranium suppliers have been providing low cost reactor fuel in plentiful supplies. However the market is changing, and nuclear fuel prices are set to increase. Some plants will be affected more than others, but the age of uranium cost certainty is coming to an end.

Life After Yucca

Reviving hope for spent-fuel storage.

With Yucca Mountain declared dead, America’s nuclear power industry needs new solutions for managing spent fuel. Although the task is complicated, examples of siting success provide hope that a collaborative approach can close the nuclear fuel cycle.

People (September 2010)

Duke names chief communications officer; PG&E appoints integrated DSM vice president; Entergy promotes four execs; Puget Sound Energy’s Kim Harris to replace Steve Reynolds; Richard Riazzi becomes CEO of Duquesne Light; Fred Butler joins Opower advisory board; Tom Kuhn to Control4; plus personnel changes at California ISO, AEP, Chesapeake Utilities, Southern Company, Exelon and others.

Green Blackouts?

Increasing renewable generation threatens reliability.

An increased reliance on renewable energy could threaten reliability of the nation’s electric transmission grids by reducing the rotational mass and rotational inertia of on-line turbine generators, thus, reducing the capability of generators to respond to drops in voltage frequency. In fact, data collected from 1994 to 2009 for the Eastern Interconnection already reveals a drop in the grid’s capability (as measured in megawatts) to stop a very rapid drop in frequency — such as a drop of a tenth of a cycle per second.

People (July 2010)

Constellation promotes Maria Korsnick to Chief Nuclear Officer; Chip Pardee becomes Exelon’s COO; plus executive changes at American Transmission, Entergy, Idaho Power, New Jersey Resources, Northwestern Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, Pinnacle West, Spectra Energy, TVA, Williams, EPRI and more...

Blue Ribbon Mission

Can a broadly based committee resolve the nuclear waste dilemma?

The Department of Energy assembled an all-star Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. With such political and industry heavyweights as Brent Scowcroft, Lee Hamilton and John Rowe, the commission must be taken seriously. But can a broadly focused committee finish the decades-long battle to close the nuclear fuel cycle?

Nuclear YIMBY

Local communities welcome new reactor projects.

Visitors to Waynesboro in northeast Georgia might be surprised at local residents’ opinions about two new nuclear energy plants planned for that site; namely, they’re giving the reactors a warm welcome.