Japanese officials managed to restore electricity to three damaged reactors at Fukushima Daiichi by March 28 but were battling to keep the unit’s radioactive water from leaking into the sea. Tokyo Electric Power Corp. (TEPCO) reported that water in concrete tunnels beneath Unit 2 was emitting radiation levels of 1,000 millisieverts per hour, or about 100,000 times the reactor’s normal level. The Japanese government also reported that it had detected the presence of plutonium in the soil around the reactors, a possible indication that a partial meltdown could have occurred at one of the three units. “The crisis at the
A Scotland-based utility has secured government approval to build a 10-MW demonstration marine power farm that will use a novel turbine to harness the kinetic energy of tidal streams. Installation of the 10 units off Scotland’s west coast is scheduled to start in 2013, following prototype testing at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney starting at the end of this year. Photo: Courtesy of ScottishPower Renewables A 300-MM prototype of the 1,000-MW Scottish machine was installed off Norway some eight years ago. Photo: Courtesy of ScottishPower Renewables Innovative HS300 turbine capitalizes on the kinetic energy of tidal streams. The
On March 24, the grand jury indicted Matthew D. Correll, who was on the staff of a subcontractor of Bechtel Group Inc. at the $2.5-billion Watts Bar Unit 2 nuclear powerplant expansion site in Rhea County, Tenn. Correll was charged with falsely indicating last August that he had measured and inspected cables that were to supply energy to safety systems in the unit’s nuclear reactor containment structure. In a March 25 statement, the subcontractor, Williams Specialty Services LLC, Tucker, Ga., said Correll’s employment ended last September. The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Williams Industrial Services Group LLC, which ranks
The first of nine potential geothermal powerplants being developed by Reno, Nev.-based Gradient Resources will be built by McLean, Va.-based Science Applications International Corp.’s design-build subsidiary, Benham Constructors LLC. Construction of the 60-MW powerplant at Gradient’s Patua site, near Fernley, Nev., will begin the second quarter of this year, with commercial operation expected in the third quarter of 2017. No contract value was given to the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the estimated $270-million project. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District already has contracted for a portion of the plant’s production. SAIC will use TAS Energy technology for the project.
Japan’s nuclear disaster has pushed new debate and pause on global nuclear power development, but few nations are canceling projects. Photo: AP Images The Chinese government has called for a revision of nuclear plant safety standards as the country continues its push to develop 80 gigawatts of capacity by 2020. Related Links: Life After Fukushima Beyond the Nuclear Nightmare: Quake Takes a Daunting Toll Citing concerns over Fukushima Daiichi, China called for a timeout March 16 in developing the world’s largest nuclear fleet (see chart) to revise safety standards. The announcement could affect four AP 1000-design units being built by
After spending much of his career examining the vulnerability of nuclear powerplants to earthquakes, Greg Hardy, a senior principal at Los Angeles-based Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc., is comfortable living between two facilities along California’s coast— even after the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant. But Hardy says that he can understand how other people—including his wife—might not be as comfortable after seeing images of the crippled and ominous nuclear units. “They just think it could happen anywhere,” he says. “It’s going to be a difficult job to convey that and convince people” that the U.S. plants are safe. “It
While Pacific Gas and Electric prepares to explain to the California Public Utilities Commission at a March 24 hearing why it didn’t supply all its records for pressure tests of natural gas pipelines in high-consequence areas (HCA) as requested, other federal entities and elected representatives are getting more involved in the gas pressure spike controversy. Photo: NTSB Utility as-built drawings showed San Bruno pipeline sections as seamless, but investigators found pipe fragments that had been welded. PG&E failed to satisfy CPUC’s terms under a March 15 deadline to provide data on its pipeline system. The utility says it supplied records
Two members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee have asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to conduct a “comprehensive investigation” of all nuclear facilities in the United States to assess their capacity to withstand catastrophic natural or man-made disasters. Related Links: Fallout From Nuclear Disaaster: China Puts Brakes on Nuke Power Nuclear Nightmare Updates on Japan: Eyewitness Report From Sendai In a March 17 letter, Committee Chairman Barber Boxer (D-Calif.), and Tom Carper (D-Del.), chairman of the Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee, asked the NRC to provide the committee with a full evaluation of the nation’s domestic nuclear
Calgary, Alberta-based TransAlta will shut down its 1,340-MW coal plant in Centralia, Wash., and build a $1-billion combined-cycle natural-gas replacement plant as the result of an agreement with the state that is pending in the Legislature. Photo: Courtesy of Transalta The last remaining coal-burning powerplant in Washington state is scheduled to be replaced by a natural-gas plant by 2025. The agreement, in the works for almost two years, will result in one of the two Centralia units being shut down by Dec. 31, 2020, and the second unit to follow by Dec. 31, 2025. TransAlta will install additional selective non-catalytic-reduction
The U.S. solar energy industry more than doubled its installations in 2010, according to a report released on March 10 by the Solar Energy Industries Association. In total, 878 MW of photovoltaic capacity and 78 MW of concentrating solar power were installed across the country in 2010. The group says the growth was driven by federal programs and the expansion of state incentives as well as by cost declines of about 8% for photovoltaic systems. U.S. solar market installations grew from $3.6 billion in 2009 to $6 billion in 2010, the group says.
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