Archive for the ‘South Texas Project’ Category

March 1, 2012

Reuters News Service

HOUSTON, March 1 (Reuters) – The 1,280-megawatt Unit 2 at the South Texas Project nuclear station in Texas is expected to be back in service by mid-April, well before the state’s peak electric demand, NRG Energy officials told investors this week.

The unit has been shut since Nov. 29, when the main generator malfunctioned due to a ground fault that resulted in damage to rotor and stator coils, South Texas Nuclear Operating Co officials said previously.

The 72 coils have been replaced and the damaged rotor is being refurbished at a Siemens facility in North Carolina.

The Texas grid agency and regulators are watching the state’s generating supply after a heatwave in 2011 sent electric demand soaring, straining resources. The grid operator was forced to curtail power to some industrial customers on certain days, but avoided rolling outages.

The 1,280-MW Unit 1 has continued operating at full power.
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November 02, 2011

World Nuclear News

American safety regulators have certified an amended version of the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR), opening the door for its construction at the South Texas Project (STP) and other US sites.

The ABWR was originally co-developed by GE and Toshiba and then constructed in Japan by those two in cooperation with Hitachi. That design was granted design certification by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 1997 and includes certain proprietary engineering belonging to the merged nuclear business of GE-Hitachi.

Toshiba subsequently developed its own variant on the certified ABWR design for constuction at units 3 and 4 of the existing STP site. This design was submitted to the NRC in June 2009, and had to meet new aircraft impact rules which the regulator had codified in March of that year.

Yesterday’s certification means that the Toshiba version of the ABWR would be considered safe even if one were to be hit by a large civilian aircraft. Following such an impact, only minimal operator input should prove necessary in order to keep the reactor core cooled, and to maintain integrity and cooling at the used fuel pools.

An ABWR bottom petal forging, made by Japan Steel Works and earmarked for new-build at the South Texas Project. The forge has nearly completed the major forging sets for the two planned reactors
(Image: Japan Steel Works)

Plans to build two of these variant ABWRs at the existing STP site date back some time, with STP Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC) and then partners NRG applying for a construction and operating license in 2007 and the next year choosing Toshiba as technology partners and lead contractor. These were slated to be the first ABWRs constructed in the USA.

Blaming the accident at Fukushima Daiichi for uncertainties in nuclear new build in the USA, NRG pulled out of the project in April this year, casting serious doubt on the project’s future. However both the COL application and the design certification process have remained active. The just-announced reactor certification will become effective 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register.

August 17, 2011

Intervenor’s Foreign Control Contention for Proposed South Texas Project nuclear reactors

• Download proposal

October 31, 2011

South Texas Project Hearing in Rockville, MD

Hearing Announcement- U.S.NRC
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
STP Evidentiary Hearing
October 31, 2011

Susan Dancer, of South Texas Association for Responsible Energy, is one of the Intervenors opposing proposed South Texas Project reactors, along with SEED Coalition and Public Citizen.

Attorney Bob Eye and energy efficiency expert Phil Mosenthal with Optimal Energy were impressive at the NRC hearing on October 31st in Rockville, Maryland!

September 30, 2011

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board order – allowing a full hearing on the foreign ownership of South Texas Project reactors

• Read Foreign Control Release and related ASLB Order