Utilities to test solar power at traditional plants
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - A U.S. utility group announced a plan to test adding solar thermal energy to natural gas and coal-fired power plants in a move designed to cut fuel costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
The Electric Power Research Institute said Dynegy Inc and NV Energy will host case studies of the technology at natural gas plants in Arizona and Nevada, respectively.
Both projects will add steam generated by a solar thermal field to a conventional natural gas-powered steam cycle, EPRI said. Tests at coal-fired facilities will be announced around the beginning of next year.
Southern Company, Progress Energy Inc and Salt River Project are also providing funding for the projects.
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US looks to decommission Alaskan military reactor
WASHINGTON - The US Army Corps of Engineers has begun decommissioning Alaska’s only nuclear power plant, SM-1A, which is located at Fort Greely. The $17m plant closed in 1972 after ten years of sporadic operation. It was out of commission from 1967 to 1969 for extensive repairs. Much of has already been dismantled and sent for disposal, and the rest, which is encased in concrete, is now to be removed.
The plant was built as part of an experimental programme to determine whether nuclear facilities could be built and operated at remote sites more cheaply than diesel-fuelled plants.
"The main approach was…
