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ATLANTA (AP) — A nuclear power plant in Georgia has begun splitting atoms in the second of its two new reactors, Georgia Power said Wednesday, a key step toward providing carbon-free electricity. The unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. said operators reached self-sustaining nuclear fission inside the reactor at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta. Georgia Power says operators will raise power and sync up its generator to the electric grid, beginning to produce electricity. The new Vogtle reactors are currently projected to cost Georgia Power and three other owners $31 billion, according to calculations by The Associated Press. Georgia Power owns 45.7% of the reactors, with smaller shares owned by Oglethorpe Power Corp., which provides electricity to member-owned cooperatives; the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia; and the city of Dalton.

Persons: Georgia Power, That’s Organizations: ATLANTA, Georgia Power, Southern Co, Plant Vogtle’s, Georgia, Regulators, Associated Press, Westinghouse, Oglethorpe Power Corp, Municipal Electric Authority of Locations: Georgia, Atlanta, Augusta, Vogtle, American, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, Dalton, Florida, Alabama

☆ The US, Russia and China are in a race to dominate new-wave nuclear energy — and win global influence
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Angela Dewan | Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Russia's floating nuclear power plant, Akademik Lomonosov, leaving the service base Rosatomflot on August 23, 2019. For some experts, nuclear energy — in all forms, large or small — has an important role to play in that transition. Globally, the construction of conventional nuclear power plants dipped following the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986. Russia has already built or designed nuclear plants — the traditional type — for China, India, Bangladesh, Turkey, Slovakia, Egypt and Iran. “It certainly dampens the excitement abroad,” said John Parsons, a senior lecturer at MIT and a financial economist focused on nuclear energy.

Persons: Akademik Lomonosov, Biden, Lomonosov, Maxim Shemetov, “ There’s, ”, Josh Freed, China —, Vladimir Putin’s, Bill Gates ’, Luo Yunfei, Kirsten Cutler, they’re, Cutler, ” Cutler, They’re, John Parsons, John Kerry, Thomas Mukoya, Way’s Freed, “, ” Parsons, Mohammed Hamdaoui, ” Hamdaoui, “ It’s Organizations: CNN, Reuters, European Union, International Energy Agency, Energy, World Nuclear, IEA, US, SMR, US Export, Import Bank, International Development Finance Corporation, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, China, Changjiang, China News Service, Nuclear Energy, US State Department, “, MIT, InfluenceMap, The State Department, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC, Rystad Energy Locations: Alaska, Russian, Russia, China, European, Japan, India, South Korea, Europe, Dubai, America, Poland, North Carolina, Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, Turkey, Slovakia, Egypt, Iran, Lomonosov, Siberia, Russia’s, Washington, Bill Gates ’ TerraPower, Wyoming, Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Hainan province, United States, Oregon, Idaho, United Arab Emirates

☆ Nuclear's uncertain role in the shift away from fossil fuels is seen as critical and very contentious
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

It's set to be a hot topic at the COP28 summit in Dubai, which begins this week. There are reports that there will be a concerted effort to get behind a big increase in nuclear capacity from now to 2050. "As more nations understand the role nuclear can play in achieving energy security and decarbonisation targets, global support for nuclear energy is growing," he added. "The phase-out of nuclear power makes our country safer; ultimately, the risks of nuclear power are uncontrollable," Steffi Lemke, Germany's federal minister for the environment and nuclear safety, said in April. France, a major player in nuclear power, is also planning to increase its number of reactors.

Persons: Janos Kummer, Atoms4NetZero, Rafael Mariano Grossi, Friedrich Merz, CNBC's Annette Weisbach, Merz —, Chancellor Olaf Scholz —, Steffi Lemke Organizations: Getty, International Atomic Energy Agency, CNBC, World Nuclear Association, IAEA, Christian Democratic Union, Greenpeace, Germany —, — Locations: Slovakia, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, COP28, Germany, Sweden, France

☆ Sweden plans new nuclear reactors by 2035, will share costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Simon Johnson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

By 2045 the government wants to have the equivalent of 10 new reactors, some of which are likely to be small modular reactors (SMRs), smaller than conventional reactors. Energy Minister Ebba Busch said the government was planning a "massive build out" of new nuclear power by 2045. "It's decisive for the green transition, for Swedish jobs and at heart for the welfare of our citizens," she told reporters. Countries like Poland, the Czech Republic, and Britain are looking at expanding nuclear power as societies transition to a fossil-fuel free future. Sweden voted to get rid of nuclear power in 1980, and has only six of an original 12 reactors still in production.

Persons: Tom Little, Ebba Busch, Elisabeth Svantesson, Busch, Finland's, Germany's Uniper, Simon Johnson, Chizu Nomiyama, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: Rights, Energy, EDF, Thomson Locations: Swedish, Stockholm, Sweden, Rights STOCKHOLM, Poland, Czech Republic, Britain

Steam feeding into the Unit 3 turbine generator of the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Waynesboro, Ga. “The United States is now committed to trying to accelerate the deployment of nuclear energy,” John Kerry, President Biden’s climate envoy, said in September. One recent Pew survey found that 57 percent of Americans favor more nuclear plants, up from 43 percent in 2016. A NuScale engineer gave a tour of a control room simulator, modeling the company’s plans for new nuclear reactors, in 2013. “The demand for clean energy is almost unprecedented,” said Maria Korsnick, president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry group.

Persons: Biden, ” John Kerry, Biden’s, “, ”, Jacopo Buongiorno, Jimmy Carter, Rosalyn Carter, Bruce Springsteen, Dan Reicher, Gavin Newsom, Reicher, Clinton, Jeffrey Collins, Arnie Gundersen, John Williams, “ It’s, Patty Durand, Julie Kozeracki, Kendrick Brinson, Jay Wileman, Bill Gates, Dow, Roger Blomquist, NuScale Power, Jose Reyes, Adam Stein, it’s, they’re, Ahmed Abdulla, Robert Taylor, Leah Nash, NuScale, David Schlissel, Joshua Freed, didn’t, Maria Korsnick Organizations: Unit, Republicans, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Associated Press, Madison, Natural Resources Defense, California Gov, Democrat, Associated, Fairewinds Associates, Components, Workers, Georgia, Southern Company, Georgia Power, Georgia Public Service Commission, Energy Department, The New York Times, GE, Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Vogtle . Ontario, Tennessee Valley Authority, Argonne, National Laboratory, Energy, Nuclear Regulatory, NuScale, ”, Breakthrough Institute, Carleton University, Soaring, Institute for Energy Economics, United, Nuclear Energy Institute Locations: U.S, Waynesboro, Ga, Savannah, Georgia, United States, ”, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Jenkinsville, Vogtle, South Carolina, South, Canada, Tennessee, Argonne, Chicago, Idaho, Wyoming, California, Alaska, Maryland, Pueblo County, Colo

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria on Wednesday decided to expand the country’s nuclear power generation as an alternative to fossil fuels by launching the construction of two additional reactors at its only nuclear power plant. The two new reactors, which will provide a total of 2,300 megawatts, will use Westinghouse’s technology, the government said in a statement. Earlier this year, U.S.-based nuclear equipment manufacturer Westinghouse Electric Co. signed an agreement with the Kozloduy plant for a proposed deployment of one or two AP1000 pressurized water reactor units. Bulgaria currently operates two Russian-designed VVER-1000 reactors of 1000 MW each at the nuclear facility in Kozloduy that generate about a third of the country’s electricity. As part of its energy diversification efforts, Bulgaria signed agreements last year with France’s Framatome and Westinghouse Electric to receive fresh nuclear fuel for its operating reactors.

Persons: Nikolay Denkov, France’s Organizations: —, Wednesday, Westinghouse Electric Co, European Union, Westinghouse Electric Locations: SOFIA, Bulgaria, — Bulgaria, Kozloduy, Ukraine, Moscow

He also warned that escalating fighting is increasing the danger of a nuclear accident at Europe’s largest nuclear plant in Ukraine. Grossi said he is seeking to re-establish a dialogue with North Korea, which expelled U.N. nuclear weapons inspectors in 2009. Stop it!”Iran has denied impeding the work of IAEA inspectors though it has also been years since its experts have been able to examine surveillance footage. So he has been urging the Ukrainians and Russians not to attack any nuclear plant. There are also some Russian experts and IAEA inspectors who from time to time have acted as “a buffer” and defused some tense situations, Grossi said.

Persons: Rafael Grossi, Grossi, Ebrahim Raisi, ” “, “, ”, hasn’t, ” Grossi, Wang Yi, Wang, Said, “ I'm, Edith M, Lederer Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, General Assembly, International Atomic Energy Agency, Associated Press, Fukushima, IAEA, Foreign Locations: Ukraine, North Korea, China, Beijing, IRAN, Iran, Tehran, Vienna, United States, Ukraine's, Ukrainian, Russian, Pyongyang, “, Korea, South Korea, Fukushima, New York

Summary U.S. regulators are ready to review and license the next generation of nuclear reactors while staying committed to safety, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) says. The NRC is under pressure to show it can move fast on a new generation of nuclear technology, including small modular reactors (SMRs) and other previously untested designs, as many in the industry call for deep reforms at the regulator. NuScale’s VOYGR 50-MW SMR power plant became the first SMR design certified by the NRC in January. Earlier this month, the NRC accepted NuScale's uprated VOYGR-6 plant design for a Standard Design Approval (SDA) application. “We are yielding timelier and more cost-effective reviews without compromising on safety,” Taylor says.

Persons: ”, Judi Greenwald, “, Steven Arndt, NRC Robert Taylor, NuScale’s VOYGR, ” Taylor, “ We're, Taylor, Kairos, they're, it's, –, bro, Allison Macfarlane, Macfarlane skewered, ” Macfarlane Organizations: Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC, Nuclear Innovation Alliance, Department of Energy, DOE, American Nuclear Society, New Reactors, ” Tech bros, Institute of Art, Thomson Locations: United States

☆ Exclusive: EDF CEO tells managers nuclear business to be reorganised
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Electricite de France SA FollowPARIS, June 29 (Reuters) - EDF CEO Luc Remont told managers on Thursday that the state-owned power group's nuclear activities would be reorganised to overcome recurring problems that cut production last year. Two sources said the division would be restructured and five executives charged with drawing up proposals, including nuclear park head Cedric Lewandowski, head of new nuclear projects Xavier Ursat and head of industrial quality Alain Tranzer. France is the region's largest exporter of power, but the outages cut 2022 nuclear power output to the lowest level since 1988. Remont told the group's top 300 managers that talks were still underway with the state and EU competition regulators about its existing and future nuclear activities, the source said. There's no need to wait for a final decision from the president's office," the source said after attending the meeting with managers.

Persons: Luc Remont, Cedric Lewandowski, Xavier Ursat, Alain Tranzer, Emmanuel Macron's, Remont, Elizabeth Pineau, Benjamin Mallet, Josephine Mason, Leigh Thomas, Jan Harvey Organizations: Electricite de, SA, PARIS, EDF, Reuters, French, Thomson Locations: France, EU, Paris, London

Nuclear projects are getting a boost of investment as countries try to tackle an energy crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine, while also pursuing emissions targets. WSJ looks at how startups say their alternative designs can help solve past issues. Photo illustration: Eve HartleyNuclear power in the West is having a long-awaited revival, with new reactors opening in the U.S. and Europe and fresh momentum toward building more soon. A gaping hole in the plan: The West doesn’t have enough nuclear fuel—and lacks the capacity to swiftly ramp up production. Even more vexing, the biggest source of critical ingredients is Russia and its state monopoly, Rosatom , which is implicated in supporting the war in Ukraine.

☆ Hungary's foreign minister holds energy talks with Russia's premier
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BUDAPEST, March 29 (Reuters) - Hungary's foreign minister held telephone talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak about gas and oil shipments as well as nuclear co-operation, the Hungarian minister said late on Tuesday. In a statement, Peter Szijjarto said Novak had reassured him that despite international sanctions, the Russian party would be able to do maintenance work on the Turkstream pipeline. "Thus Hungary's gas supply will continue without any disruptions," the statement added. The Turkstream gas pipeline will be stopped for maintenance from June 5 to 12, according to data on the website of Bulgarian gas transmission operator Bulgartransgaz. Szijjarto reiterated in his statement that Hungary would block any European Union sanctions that would affect nuclear energy.

☆ France seeks strategy as nuclear waste site risks saturation point
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Benjamin Mallet | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] Used nuclear fuel is seen in a storage pool at the Orano nuclear waste reprocessing plant in La Hague, near Cherbourg, France, January 17, 2023. "We can't have a responsible nuclear policy without taking into account the handling of used fuel and waste. La Hague is the country's sole site able to process and partially recycle used nuclear fuel. Meanwhile, France's national agency for managing nuclear waste last month requested approval for a project to store permanently high-level radioactive waste. The facility at La Hague, with its 1980s-era buildings and Star Wars-style control rooms, has its limitations.

The proposed new legislation, which still needs to be passed by parliament, would allow new reactors to be constructed at additional locations across Sweden and was seen being in place in March next year. "We have an obvious need for more electricity production in Sweden," Kristersson told a news conference. "What we are doing today is changing legislation to allow for the construction of more nuclear reactors at more places." Any expansion of nuclear power in Sweden could take many years given the complexity of such projects while energy demand is expected to rise sharply in coming years. Sweden currently has six operational reactors, half of what it once had, and temporary closures for maintenance of some of them have contributed to push up electricity prices in the Nordic country in recent months.

☆ Japan turns back to nuclear power to tackle energy crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Japan confirmed a major nuclear power policy shift on Friday to tackle an energy crisis more than a decade after the 2011 Fukushima disaster prompted it to idle most of its reactors. Public opinion has been hostile towards nuclear energy since a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, but the mood has shifted due to soaring energy costs amid the prolonged war in Ukraine and repeated power crunches in both summer and winter. Quake-prone Japan, which previously said it had no plans to build new reactors, will now seek to replace decomissioned ones and extend the lifespan of others, the industry ministry said. Under a strategic energy plan approved by the Cabinet last year, Japan aimed to reduce its dependence on nuclear power as much as possible. Further details will be discussed in parliament next year, an official at the industry ministry said.

☆ Why Silicon Valley is so hot on nuclear energy and what it means for the industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

Pallava Bagla | Corbis News | Getty ImagesVenture capitalists in Silicon Valley and other tech hubs are investing money in nuclear energy for the first time in history. This surge of private investment will be a positive for the industry, agrees John Parsons, an economist and lecturer at MIT. Nuclear energy is "a very complex science, and it's been supported by the federal government and at these national labs. In the 1960s and 1970s, large conglomerates constructed big nuclear power plants, and those projects often ran over budget. New generations of nuclear reactors will have different sizes, different coolants and different fuels, explained Matt Crozat, senior director of policy development at the Nuclear Energy Institute.

☆ Welders wanted: France steps up recruitment drive as nuclear crisis deepens
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Benjamin Mallet | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

EDF estimates that France's nuclear industry needs to recruit between 10,000 and 15,000 workers a year over the next seven years. Despite relatively high unemployment, France's manufacturing, construction, engineering and IT industries complain they can't get the workers they need. These people work with molten metal at 1,500 degrees Celsius, and sometimes have to stand upside down," said one welder in the nuclear industry, who asked not to be identified. Before the war in Ukraine, successive administrations sought to reduce France's reliance on nuclear energy, not build new reactors, they say. For a long time, France was Europe's nuclear energy champion - and its biggest electricity exporter.

☆ Russia's invasion of Ukraine has accelerated a nuclear renaissance. Europe's nuclear startups have raised a record $403 million in 2022.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Nuclear power has long been shunned by policymakers due to disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima. Rising energy costs caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine have sparked a nuclear resurgence. For most, nuclear energy sparks memories of the large-scale disasters at Fukushima and Chernobyl. To generate energy via nuclear fusion, two atoms have to be combined – the same process that fuels the sun. Both are needed to fight climate change, according to Aneeqa Khan, a nuclear fusion research fellow at the Dalton Nuclear Institute.

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