Toshiba


The US federal government has set aside more than a quarter of a billion dollars to fund the demonstration of a small modular (SMR) nuclear reactor in the US, with potential total funding rising to close to half a billion dollars. With smaller-scale nuclear technology widely discussed as the future of the troubled sector, a whos-who of companies are expected to participate in the project and apply for the funds.

Westinghouse Electric Company, based in Pittsburgh but part of Japan’s Toshiba, has submitted a letter of intent saying it will compete for the SMR nuclear deployment acceleration grant. The company is showcasing a 225 MW-equivalent integral pressurized water reactor that leverages technology from its already-licensed AP1000 nuclear power plant design. Keep reading →

It isn’t gold.

Weakening venture capital funding for one of the globe’s fastest-growing sectors isn’t a mystery for sector watchers, but with increasing adoption of disruptive monitoring technology, the market opportunity isn’t a matter of if, but when. Keep reading →

Asia is the world’s largest infrastructure market, with $4.1 trillion in power market spending expected over the coming decade, experts told industry participants and journalists at a recent quarterly power sector briefing held by infrastructure firm Black & Veatch. Keep reading →

Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Gregory Jaczko listens to his introduction before he delivers remarks at the Regulatory Information Conference on March 13, 2012 in Rockville, Maryland.The long-expected federal decision giving SCANA a license to build two new nuclear reactors in South Carolina came along with news that project has already encountered delays and cost overruns.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the license for SCANA’s Summer station near Columbia, SC on Friday, seven weeks after approving a similar license for Southern Company’s Vogtle station near August, Georgia. The vote was again 4-1, with Chairman Gregory Jaczko again dissenting over the commission’s decision not to attach a specific provision requiring compliance with future post-Fukushima requirements. Keep reading →


I’ve been warning for a long time that Cisco’s smart grid ambitions were going to force major changes onto the industry. The first of those changes has arrived today with the release of the first detailed version of the company’s grand framework — the reference architecture it calls GridBlocks.

The main points Keep reading →