TVA Milestone at Nuclear Plant

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted in May to issue an operating license to Watts Bar Unit 2, a nuclear power reactor owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority, pending additional regulatory requirements. If approved, Watts Bar 2 would be the first commercial nuclear reactor licensed in the United States since the first unit at the…

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TVA 20-year Plan Heavy on Natural Gas, Nuclear

The Tennessee Valley Authority announced in March that it will not need to build a new power plant for at least 20 years. The utility, which covers all of Tennessee and parts of neighboring states, plans to address future power demand by increasing nuclear power output, retrofitting coal-fired power plants to burn natural gas, and…

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Duking It Out: CEO Retires, Rates Increase and other shorts

By Matt Grimley Under a proposed settlement with the N.C. Utilities Commission and the N.C. Public Staff, Duke Energy President and CEO Jim Rogers will retire from his positions at the end of 2013. The agreement, announced late November, would resolve all issues involved in the commission’s investigation of Duke’s $32 billion merger with Progress…

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Nuclear Confusion

The Complicated History of the Atom in Appalachia By Paige Campbell Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. sits on 66 acres between the Nolichucky River and the south end of Erwin, Tenn. This part of Erwin is the very picture of a small, blue-collar town. Within a quarter-mile of the fence surrounding the industrial site, there’s a…

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