Nuclear Energy Industry Transitions

Bill Prebil has been named vice president of regional operations for Ameren Corp. Prebil worked for Central Illinois Light Co. before Ameren acquired it in 2003.

Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) has appointed Brian McGee as vice president, nuclear laboratories at Chalk River. He will replace Paul Fehrenbach, who will become AECL vice president and special adviser. Both changes are effective Nov. 21.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission have named Gordon Hunegs and Leonard Cline senior resident inspectors at the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plant and Nine Mile Point, respectively. Hunegs has been with the NRC since 1986, while Cline joined the agency in 1999. Each U.S. commercial nuclear power plant has at least two NRC resident inspectors.

Edison International has named Barbara Mathews first chief governance officer and corporate secretary for Edison International and Southern California Edison. Mathews currently is vice president and associate general counsel for both companies. She joined Edison’s law department in 1996 as an assistant general counsel.

UPDATE:Southern California Edison also named John Field president, effective immediately. He succeeds Robert Foster, who will retire at the end of the year. Field previously was senior vice president of regulatory policy and affairs.

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Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...

What Happens During a Refueling Outage?

You may have noticed over the past few weeks that a number of nuclear plants are shut down for refueling outages or are resuming operations after just returning from one. This type of routine outage usually occurs in the spring or fall when electricity demand is low so that nuclear reactors can replace about one-third of the spent fuel rods with new fuel and conduct other routine maintenance and repairs at the plant. To get a better sense of how refueling works at a nuclear energy facility, I spoke with Marcus Nichol, NEI’s senior project manager for used fuel storage and transportation, and asked him to explain the basics. Why does a nuclear plant need to replace one-third of its fuel? Nichol: The main purpose of a refueling outage is to replace older fuel that is depleted—meaning it can no longer efficiently produce energy from nuclear fission reactions—with new fuel. This “used fuel” has typically been used in the reactor for four-and-a-half to six years before it is pe...

How Much Land Does Nuclear, Wind and Solar Really Need?

Not too long ago, we reviewed a report that looked at nuclear energy (and other energy sources) as biodiversity agents. This had to do, in part, with the amount of land a facility needs to function. Nuclear energy and fossil fuel plants use relatively little, wind farms and solar arrays quite a lot of land . Based on an objective and transparent analysis of our sustainable energy choices, we have come to the evidence-based conclusion that nuclear energy is a good option for biodiversity conservation (and society in general) and that other alternatives to fossil fuels should be subjected to the same cost–benefit analyses (in terms of biodiversity and climate outcomes, as well as sociopolitical imperatives) before accepting or dismissing them. Writer Barry Brook, who collected 75 scientists to endorse his paper, is interested in land use as it impacts flora and fauna. Biodiversity concerns do not get as much play as they might – and, when they do, it annoys many when land is withdraw...

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