Latest news with #HoltecInternational
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Holtec targets US-wide nuclear reactor fleet using learnings at Palisades
June 5 - Holtec International's plan to deploy two small modular reactors (SMRs) at the Palisades nuclear plant site in Michigan by 2030 shows how developers are looking to capitalize on soaring U.S. power demand and build on existing nuclear expertise to deploy the first wave of next-generation reactors. In a partnership with Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Holtec plans to build 10 GW of SMRs in North America through the 2030s, starting at Palisades. Holtec is restarting the decommissioned 800 MW Palisades nuclear power plant and plans to install two of its SMR-300 reactor units, based on existing light water reactor (LWR) technology, at the same facility. The cost of deploying SMRs at Palisades will be lower than on sites with no atomic presence, Patrick O'Brien, Holtec International's director of Government Affairs and Communications, told Reuters Events. Existing nuclear sites offer developers a range of power and logistics infrastructure and a skilled local workforce. A proven history of safe operations can help minimise local opposition. "In having environmental data, a trained and talented workforce, and the ability to interconnect to an established switchyard, the costs will be lowered," O'Brien said. Holtec could also site up to four SMR units at the Oyster Creek nuclear power site in New Jersey, where the company plans to decommission a shuttered 625 MW boiling water reactor by 2029, he added. MAP: US operational nuclear power plant sites Holtec sees major growth potential for SMRs in the Mountain West region. A 4 GW fleet of SMR-300s could be deployed, mainly in Utah and Wyoming in the 2030s, supported by ongoing testing at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and recently passed legislation supporting nuclear power development in Utah, the company said on May 1. 'The new legislation supports our vision to start the incubation of our SMR-300 program in Utah and expand it into the Mountain West,' Holtec Chief Strategy Officer Admiral Roegge said in a statement. Nuclear pioneers The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates 60 to 95 GW of new nuclear capacity could be built at operating or recently retired nuclear power plant sites across the country, according to a study published by the DOE in September 2024. Malwina Qvist, director of the Nuclear Energy Program at the Clean Air Task Force (CATF), sees the potential for at least 80 to 100 GW at these sites. A project led by Canadian utility Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to deploy four GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 SMRs at Ontario's Darlington nuclear power plant will also benefit from existing nuclear infrastructure and workforce. The first SMR at Darlington will be the "first of its kind" in the G7 group of wealthy nations, OPG said. CHART: Small modular reactor projects by country U.S. utility Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) recently submitted a construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulation Commission (NRC) for the BWRX-300 SMR model, eyeing deployment of a first unit at its Clinch River site by 2032. TVA could have a "second-mover advantage" following the planned deployment of the technology in Canada, according to Stephen Comello, senior vice president of Strategic Initiatives at the EFI Foundation. TVA has a collaboration agreement with OPG which it said facilitates sharing of experiences that could reduce the financial risks of innovating new technology while taking advantage of both companies' extensive nuclear energy experience. Strategies to overcome cost hurdles for new nuclear - download our webinar. TVA's Clinch River site could host up to four SMRs and the company also plans to evaluate other nuclear locations for locating small reactors, a TVA spokesperson told Reuters Events. DOE funds Holtec is one of a small group of developers seeking to win funds from the DOE in a funding round for LWR SMR technology (Gen III+). Other LWR-based SMR reactors include Westinghouse's AP300 and NuScale's SMR 3. In March, the Trump administration reissued a DOE tender for $900 million in federal funding to help de-risk deployment and removed a previous requirement for community engagement, underlining their support for new nuclear. In Tier 1 funding, the DOE will provide $800 million for up to two consortia towards the deployment of Gen III+ reactors. In Tier 2, $100 million will support additional Gen III+ SMR deployments by addressing design, licensing, supply chain, and site preparation issues. If selected, Holtec would use Tier 1 funding to help complete licensing work and some initial groundwork, O'Brien said. Tier 2 funding would go towards manufacturing upgrades to prepare for SMR construction and environmental analysis for the Oyster Creek facility, where the company could install up to four SMR-300s following the Palisades project. For exclusive nuclear insights, sign up to our newsletter. Uncertainty over the cost of the first SMR reactors is a key challenge for developers looking to deploy commercial-scale units and drive down investment risks. An official cost estimate announced this month for OPG's Darlington SMR project in Canada provides insight into the potential investments required to deploy LWR SMRs in the United States, according to Comello. Construction of the four BWRX-300 SMRs at Darlington is estimated at C$20.9 billion ($15.2 billion), according to a statement released by the Province of Ontario. The cost of the first SMR is estimated at C$6.1 billion and costs for systems and services standard to all four SMRs are estimated at C$1.6 billion. Costs are expected to decline with each subsequent unit as efficiencies are gained. "That is a good estimate for a first-of-a-kind light water reactor GEN-III SMR that has a sufficient design maturity, which I think is what Holtec should be on its way to," Comello said.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Anti-nuclear activists call for broader environmental review on Palisades restart
The Palisades Nuclear Plant sits on the shore of Lake Michigan, in Covert Township. (Courtesy: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission) As New Jersey-Based Holtec International works its way toward restarting the Palisades Nuclear Plant in West Michigan, a host of organizations are challenging regulator's findings that reviving the reactor would not bring significant harm to the environment. The Palisades restart marks the first effort of its kind in the United States, with the federal government awarding the effort a $1.5 billion loan alongside $150 million in state funding to bring the facility back online. However the effort is not without its detractors, as some environmental organizations have argued against providing state funding for the effort, while other organizations have opposed the plant over safety and environmental concerns. In a virtual hearing Thursday morning, attorneys representing Beyond Nuclear, Don't Waste Michigan, Michigan Safe Energy Future, Three Mile Island Alert, and Nuclear Energy Information Services asked a panel Atomic Safety and Licensing Board panel to accept a motion allowing them to file new and updated contentions. Those contentions argue the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission erred when it issued a finding of no significant impact for the project, allowing it to forgo a full review of environmental impacts. 'The position of the [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] staff seems to be that, since the plant was operable in May 2022 that simply a return to operability means that there are no significant environmental impacts,' said Wallace Taylor, an attorney representing the anti-nuclear groups, arguing that the environmental analysis should have come from a perspective of retooling, recalibrating and restarting a dormant facility. The Commission issued a draft of its findings in January, where it outlined the purpose and need reviving the facility would serve, the level of environmental review needed and provided a description of the plant, any potential alternatives, and the various ways it could impact the environment. The environmental assessment cites Michigan's standard for 100% clean energy by 2040, which includes provisions for nuclear energy and natural gas with 90% effective carbon capture technology in justifying the need for the project. It also argues the facility will enhance electrical reliability in the state by generating consistent, carbon-free energy and reducing the state's reliance on imported energy sources. Although the commission reviewed alternatives like replacing the current reactor with a new reactor; replacing the reactor with other alternatives like natural gas, solar and wind; and using alternative system designs with the current reactor, it only provided further analysis for a no-action alternative, where it would deny the authorizations needed to bring Palisades back online. After reviewing a number of potential concerns, commission staff ultimately concluded the project would have no significant environmental impacts, and that choosing not to grant the authorizations Holtec needs to operate the plant would violate the purpose and need of the project: meeting clean energy demand. Terry Lodge, also representing the groups challenging the review, contended that the purpose of need statement was flawed, arguing it presents a restart of the plant as the only viable option without offering any justification or explanation of the demand for power. Lodge and Taylor also argued the limited consideration of alternatives to the plant was similarly problematic. 'I think that it's pretty obvious that renewable energy would have a lessened environmental impact than a nuclear plant, which would require uranium mining, which would require something to be done with the radioactive waste. There's radioactive material, like tritium, for example, that comes from nuclear plants, and all of that would have to be considered to have a really appropriate discussion in the [environmental analysis], and that wasn't done,' Taylor said. Lodge further contended that the impact of the project remains unclear, as Holtec is still working to identify whether it needs to replace key components of the reactor, like steam generators, arguing the environmental effects of the restart are not yet known and quantified. While justifying their findings, commission staff explained that the purpose and needs statement is used to determine the range of alternatives considered within the assessment. Anita Naber, representing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, explained that the alternatives analysis is intended to determine whether there are other options available or environmentally preferable alternatives. She later explained that while developing a purpose and need statement for their environmental analysis, staff members give substantial weight to the goals and needs of an applicant, in line with both the commission's policy and case law. 'The staff will look at the applicant's purpose and need and the factual background and information that's submitted by the applicant in support of that purpose and need and evaluate that. And that's what the staff did for the Palisades restart environmental assessment,' Naber said. In offering their closing arguments to the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, the plant's opponents emphasized that an environmental impact should have been required for the project since the beginning, and would have required a much more in-depth analysis of alternatives. However, members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Holtec argued that the contentions filed by the opposing groups should be denied, as they were not responding to new information as required by the commission's rules. Naber also noted that the commission expects petitioners to file contentions on the basis of an applicant's environmental report rather than delaying them until after the staff issues its environmental analysis. 'To have their contentions admitted for hearing, petitioners must demonstrate some sort of genuine factual or legal dispute with the staff draft [environmental analysis], which they have not done. They also need to provide actual fact or expert support for their assertion, but they have not done this either,' Naber said. On rebuttal, Lodge argued that the Commission's rules allow petitioners to file new or amended contentions based on a draft or final environmental impact statement, environmental assessment or any supplements to those documents. 'We timely and we believe properly under this section amended our contentions,' Lodge said, arguing their updated contentions should not be excluded as a result. The panel will take the matter under consideration and will determine whether to accept the opposition's updated contentions. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Epoch Times
16-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Trump Announces $200 Billion in Deals With UAE
President Donald Trump announced more than $200 billion in additional investment deals secured with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on May 15 during his visit to Abu Dhabi, cementing the United States' partnership with the Arabian Peninsula nation. A previous The new Abu Dhabi agreements span industries critical to U.S. economic and national security, including aerospace, aluminum, artificial intelligence, energy, and nuclear technology, among others. A $60 billion oil and gas production expansion deal will contribute to lower energy costs, create skilled jobs in both nations, and reinforce U.S. energy leadership, said the White House. Holtec International and the UAE's Industrial Holding Company are also investing $30 billion to build a fleet of small modular reactors—a new type of smaller-scale nuclear technology—starting in Michigan. Boeing and GE Aerospace secured a $14.5 billion deal to deliver airplanes to Etihad Airways, an investment that will support 60,000 American jobs, according to the White House. Related Stories 5/15/2025 5/14/2025 Emirates Global Aluminum agreed to pour $4 billion into a smelter facility in Oklahoma, the first of its kind in the United States in 45 years. The move is set to double U.S. aluminum production capacity and expand the local workforce by about 1,000 positions. A pivotal component of the agreements is a bilateral artificial intelligence pact that commits the UAE to invest in U.S. data centers. It also includes unprecedented commitments to align national security regulations with the U.S., ensuring protections against the diversion of American technology to countries, like China, that are known to steal intellectual property. Long a vital commercial partner for the United States in the Middle East, the U.S. relationship with the UAE was galvanized by the Abraham Accords brokered during Trump's first term. The UAE's embassy In 2023, the nation's foreign direct investment in the United States reached $35 billion, supporting over 33,000 American jobs, according to a statement from the White House. Bilateral goods trade in 2024 hit an estimated $34.4 billion, with the United States enjoying a $19.5 billion trade surplus, its third largest globally. These deals are part of a broader $2 trillion in economic commitments from the Gulf region, including $600 billion in investments from and $1.2 trillion in trade with The latest agreements build on Trump's plans to channel capital into American innovation, jobs, and infrastructure at home while expanding U.S. market access in the Gulf and prioritizing national and economic security, according to the White House. While on his Middle East trip, the president also Thursday that another nearly $25 billion in investment was secured from American companies. Biopharma company Sanofi is responsible for $20 billion of the commitments, with a plan to invest in U.S. manufacturing, research, and development. 'Our expected investments in the [United States] will be substantial and will help ensure the production of key medicines,' Paul Hudson, Sanofi's CEO, said in a statement. Kraft Heinz, known for making ketchup, macaroni and cheese, and other food products, announced $3 billion in investments to upgrade its manufacturing facilities across the United States.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cape towns weigh ballot question on Pilgrim wastewater evaporation. 'A strong message'
Over the next several weeks, voters in 14 Cape Cod towns, plus Plymouth and Scituate, will be asked to urge state officials to stop Holtec International from releasing wastewater vapor from the former Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station into the air. The nuclear power station in Plymouth has been closed since May 2019. A nonbinding advisory question on town ballots urges Gov. Maura Healey, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, and other state leaders to take action against Holtec's use of evaporation as a disposal method after the state Department of Environmental Protection last year denied its request to discharge the wastewater into Cape Cod Bay. The company is overseeing the plant's decommissioning. Holtec rejects the claims outlined in the ballot question. The ballot question claims Holtec is releasing 'untreated, radioactively and chemically contaminated' industrial wastewater into the atmosphere and asserts that prevailing winds could carry pollutants over nearby towns as well as into Cape Cod Bay. Supporters of the question — including Cape Downwinders and Save Our Bay MA Coalition — say the evaporation method poses health and environmental risks, may violate state laws like the Massachusetts Ocean Sanctuaries Act, and deserves the same scrutiny as liquid wastewater discharges into the bay. Last July, the state Department of Environmental Protection denied Holtec's proposal to discharge up to 1.1 million gallons of industrial wastewater — treated beforehand, but still containing some radionuclides, like tritium — into the bay. The agency based its decision on identifying the bay as a protected ocean sanctuary as defined under the act, which prohibits industrial waste disposal into protected state waters. JoAnne Keenan-Wilson of Dennis called the referendum "critically important," especially since many believe the issue was settled when the state denied Holtec's permit application to discharge the water into the bay. "Many people do not realize that the evaporation is even taking place," Keenan-Wilson said. Candace Perry of Wellfleet shares the concerns that putting any amount of radioactive particles into the air and water is not safe. She emphasized the state's obligation "to hold Holtec to its responsibilities" to decommission the plant safely. Diane Turco of Harwich agrees. 'By voting, we will send a strong message of our shared responsibility to hold elected officials accountable to ensure a safe and sustainable future for everyone through enforcement of Massachusetts environmental laws.' The petitioners said safer alternatives exist to dispose of leftover wastewater: storing it on-site or hauling it away to a licensed facility. In an April 23 email, Holtec Director of Government Affairs and Communications Patrick O'Brien said the ballot question is 'just another example of trying to scare the public without the actual facts." "The reality is that the language in the question is false and that the water at Pilgrim Station is constantly treated during the decommissioning process to ensure quality and clarity for our ongoing work and to remove as many impurities as possible, the same way we treated public drinking water when it entered the plant for power operations to an ultra-pure level," he said. He said the state ruled on the matter of evaporation in July 2024 and found that the amount of pollutants that could be evaporated would be around 28.14 pounds in a year, which falls below the state's air quality permitting threshold of 2,000 pounds in a year. Radioactive particulate and tritium releases into the air also fall well below federal standards, according to the state Bureau of Air and Waste's 2019 determination letter. O'Brien also said that, according to Holtec's evaluations, any radiation exposure from evaporation would be negligible and indistinguishable from natural radiation that reaches the Earth from space, as well as other manmade sources. For the public, the estimated exposure in a hypothetical single-year release would potentially be 0.00032 millirem, O'Brien said. By comparison a chest X-ray gives about 10 millirem, he said. In actuality, he stated, the radiation leaving the building would be even smaller and would quickly fade in the open air. The advisory question will appear on ballots in Wellfleet on May 5, Sandwich on May 8, Mashpee on May 10; Dennis, Provincetown and Truro on May 13, Chatham on May 15; Plymouth on May 17; Bourne, Brewster, Eastham, Falmouth, Harwich, Orleans, and Yarmouth on May 20, and Scituate on May 31. Duxbury Town Meeting has already adopted a resolution expressing the same intent as the referendum. Barnstable is the only Cape town not featuring the measure on a spring ballot, due to its fall election schedule, but Turco said the groups are working through the Town Council for a vote. The groups began organizing the referendum campaign in December, she said, and got early support from the Plymouth Select Board. After that, "we felt confident other towns would support giving their citizens an opportunity to voice their opinion on this serious matter — it's a call from the grassroots to our state government to do their job and protect the public and environment, she said. To qualify for the ballot, citizen petitioners in each town gathered signatures from at least 10 registered voters. According to Turco, town leaders often unanimously supported putting the question on their ballots. Heather McCarron writes about climate change, environment, energy, science and the natural world, in addition to news and features in Barnstable and Brewster. Reach her at hmccarron@ Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans. This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Ballot question in 14 Cape towns seeks no nuclear waste evaporation
AsiaOne
24-04-2025
- Climate
- AsiaOne
New Jersey wildfire could become state's largest in nearly 20 years, World News
A fast-growing wildfire was burning in New Jersey's Pinelands near its Atlantic Ocean beach towns on Wednesday (April 23) and threatened to become the largest in the state in nearly 20 years, officials said on Wednesday. The Jones Road Wildfire had spread to 13,250 acres (54 sq km) on Wednesday night and was 50 per cent contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said in a statement. It was no longer threatening populated areas but a "soaking rainfall" is needed to stop the fire, officials said. The cause of the fire was under investigation. The blaze could become the largest in New Jersey in about 20 years, said Shawn LaTourette, the state's commissioner of environmental protection, at a press conference. A fire in May 2007 in the same area consumed 17,000 acres. Embers from the fire sparked several small blazes near a decommissioned Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Waretown, according to state officials. The plant, owned by Holtec International, shut down in 2018. Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way declared a state of emergency beginning at 7 am (3pm Singapore time) on Wednesday. She was filling in for Governor Phil Murphy, who was on an overseas trip. "At this time, we have no loss of life and no homes have been harmed," Way said on X on Wednesday morning. So far in 2025, New Jersey has experienced nearly twice as many wildfires as in the same period last year, with 662 wildfires burning over 16,500 acres. That compares with about 310 wildfires burning 315 acres in the first four months of 2024, Bill Donnelly, the chief of the forest fire service, said at the briefing. On average, 1,500 wildfires damage or destroy 7,000 acres of the state's forests each year, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said on its website. [[nid:709113]] The blaze started on Tuesday in the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area near Lacey, Ocean and Barnegat townships in Ocean County, about halfway between Asbury Park and Atlantic City. The area is about 15 miles (24 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean shoreline. About 1,300 homes were endangered, and between 3,000 and 5,000 people were under mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders, which were lifted on Wednesday morning. In addition, a 17-mile stretch of the Garden State Parkway, a major north-south highway, was closed on Tuesday but reopened on Wednesday morning Hundreds of firefighters have been working on the blaze for almost 24 hours straight, Donnelly said. To fully stop the fire, crews need a "soaking rainfall" which might come this weekend, said John Cecil with the state's environmental protection department.
