NEI Nuclear Notes

Well, all right, not really – but welcome retro-computing fans, anyway – but we have been interested in how the nuclear energy utilizes computer systems. We know the basics of security – don’t point crucial systems at the internet is a big one – but on a day-to-day basis, how does the industry interact with computers? What does it do with them that’s unique? Here’s part of the answer: The new agreement, which adds to the original contract signed in April 2008, covers additional work necessary for Accenture to support business processes, including configuration management of detailed design data and management of data associated with required inspections; testing, and analyses; and use of acceptance criteria involved with the construction of nuclear energy facilities. The agreement is between UniStar and Accenture, and it gets a little complicated after that. UniStar is jointly owned by Constellation and EDF, tasked with developing, as its home page says, “the safest, most...

From Reuters : French industrial power and transport systems group Alstom (ALSO.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday said it would invest over $200 million to build a new manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. The site will manufacture steam turbines, gas turbines, generators and related equipment for use in U.S. power generation facilities and create 350 jobs at a time that the dollar/euro exchange rate makes it more attractive for European groups to produce in North America. Alstom will be manufacturing those components for UniStar .

Off the wire : UniStar Nuclear Energy (UNE), a joint venture between Constellation Energy and The EDF Group (EDF), has submitted an application to the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) for the potential construction of a new nuclear unit at Constellation Energy's Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Southern Maryland. While UNE has not made a final decision to build this new advanced-design reactor at Calvert Cliffs, it has submitted the CPCN to the PSC as a step toward potential construction of a non-greenhouse gas emitting, base-load, 1,600-megawatt generating facility to meet increasing energy demand in the Mid-Atlantic region, and in particular, the state of Maryland. "A third reactor at our high-performing Calvert Cliffs site offers the potential for an economic and environmentally sound means to provide additional base-load electricity to meet anticipated growth, both regionally and within the state of ...

From Sunday's edition of the Washington Times : While it's true that this technology brings inherent risks which must be carefully analyzed and addressed, we applaud the Calvert County Board of Commissioners for their enthusiastic support of the plan. The commissioners recognize the financial and environmental benefits of an additional reactor. Once the 1,600-megawatt, $4 billion reactor is built, an estimated 2.6 million customers could be served and the county would benefit from job growth as well as many millions of dollars in tax revenue. We hope Unistar's application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is processed in a timely manner.

There's an interesting piece in the Metro section of the Washington Post concerning just how much local support there is to add an additional reactor at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Maryland. Then again, you'd never know it if you read the headline on the piece: Foes of Nuclear Expansion Find Few Allies Huh? I don't mean to complain too loudly, but it seems to me that the reporter might well have gone into this story with a few preconceptions about how the locals feel about the plant. Then again, if you had taken a look into our archives, you would have found interesting information like a strong endorsement of the plant and its operations from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer . Beyond that, you also would have found a post from August 2005 pointing to a story about how the Calvert County Board of Commissioners unanimously supported a resolution in favor of a new reactor . Or another news story from August 2006 where that same board passed a property tax ...

Visit Below The Beltway . UPDATE : David Wogan likes what he hears about the nuclear provisions in the latest energy bill.

Both the Washington Post and Bloomberg take a look at the most recent steps to build a new nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs. UPDATE : Our buddy Carter Wood at the NAM Blog is pleased too.

All the way back in March 2005, we told you about how the Mayor of Oswego, New York made a pitch to bring a new nuclear reactor to his town . Now it looks like the town is one step closer to making that happen. From the Syracuse Post-Standard : Work has begun on getting government approval for a fourth nuclear power plant in Oswego County. UniStar Nuclear, a company led by Constellation Energy - the owner of Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station - started a feasibility study this spring looking at the site's "overall suitability to host a new nuclear plant," said UniStar President George Vanderheyden. The study is the first step in a process that could lead to a nuclear plant being built there in the middle of the next decade. The process is further along at Calvert Cliffs in Lusby, Md., where UniStar has completed and submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission the environmental portion of a license application. "Calvert Cliffs is our reference application," Vand...

From World Nuclear News : Unistar submitted the first part of a licence application to build a new nuclear power plant on 13 July. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has said it is now looking over documents detailing the environmental impact Calvert Cliffs 3 would make. Calvert Cliffs, owned by Unistar partner Constellation, is about 64 km south of Annapolis, Maryland. It already hosts two pressurized water reactors, which have produced 865 MWe each since the mid 1970s. The US Evolutionary Power Reactor (USEPR) proposed for build would add some 1600 MWe to the plant's output around the middle of the next decade. The NRC has said it is now examining the environmental report documentation, which runs to around 5900 pages and can be found in the New Reactor Licensing section of its website. Scott Burnell of the NRC told World Nuclear News that the commission was conducting a sufficiency check. If the report seems in order, the NRC will 'docket' it and begin formal rev...

Just off the wire : UniStar Nuclear, a jointly developed enterprise between Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) and AREVA Inc., today notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that a location adjacent to Constellation Energy's existing Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, Md., has been selected as the site for UniStar Nuclear's first combined construction and operating license (COL) application. The application, which will feature UniStar Nuclear's chosen technology, the U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR), will serve as the reference document for all future UniStar Nuclear COL applications to the NRC. The identification of a specific site is the first step in a multi-step process required before a COL application can be submitted to the NRC. It does not, however, represent a commitment on the part of Constellation Energy to construct a new nuclear plant at the Calvert Cliffs site. "Moving ahead with our reference application is an important step in reali...

From Yahoo : UniStar Nuclear's development arm, UniStar Development Company, has entered into an agreement with Ameren Corporation's (NYSE: AEE - News ) Missouri-based utility, AmerenUE, to assist in preparing a combined construction and operating license application (COLA). UniStar Nuclear, the jointly developed nuclear business enterprise of Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG - News ) and AREVA Inc., is working toward developing and deploying a proposed standardized fleet of advanced U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactors (U.S. EPR) in the U.S. Another one to add to the list .