March 11 marked the 15th anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and massive tsunami that caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to melt down.
In the aftermath of the Fukushima accident, Japan temporarily shut down all 54 of its commercial reactors. Since then, several of the reactors have been permanently shut down and are undergoing decommissioning. Only 14 reactors have been brought online since 2011.
After a not so successful first attempt in January, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has resumed the restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station on Feb. 9 and plans for the commercial reactor to come online on March 18.
Fluor Corporation announced the opening of its new European office in Bucharest, Romania Thursday.
According to Fluor’s press release, the new Romanian office will serve as a hub to increase the company’s ability to bring more advanced nuclear projects to the region. The company is currently involved with two Romanian nuclear projects.
Fluor is working to bring a small modular reactor, using NuScale’s power module, to a former coal plant in Doicești. The second project is the expansion of the Cernavodă power plant, which is the sole nuclear power plant in Romania.
The Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority has awarded a total of $10 million on March 5 to six nuclear organizations as part of its Nuclear Energy Development Grant Program.
The organizations selected were American Electric Power, General Matter, Global Laser Enrichment, Shaping Our Appalachian Region, the West Kentucky Community and Technical College and the West Kentucky Educational Cooperative.
The Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority said in a WLKY March 5 article that the grants given are to support the development of nuclear projects in the state.
The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy has awarded $6 million to Pennsylvania State University to build up its nuclear energy facilities, equipment and workforce.
According to DOE Office of Nuclear Energy’s Tuesday press release, Pennsylvania State University will establish a consortium to study nuclear materials at a micro-scale. Along with that, it will create a micro-fabrication facility to harbor a location to educate students on the materials, DOE said.
“Supporting this effort is an important investment in the nation’s nuclear technologies, universities, and future workforce,” DOE Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Crosscuts, Michelle Scott said. “DOE is committed to helping supply researchers and educators with the resources and funding they need to keep driving innovative nuclear energy research and scientific breakthroughs.”