POWER May 2012 - 1

Established 1882 * Vol. 156 * No. 5
May 2012
ON THE COVER
" New life for nuclear power " could well be an alternate headline for this issue's cover
story about the all-important combined construction and operating licenses for the first
new U.S. nuclear units in decades and the work that is now under way at Plant Vogtle in
Georgia. Our cover photo, taken Jan. 30, 2012, captures the construction site for Units 3
and 4, with Units 1 and 2 in the background. Courtesy: Southern Company Inc.
36
COVER STORY: NUCLEAR POWER
36 Vogtle Gets Green Light
Folks in the U.S. nuclear industry are smiling more than they have in decades thanks
to Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval in February of construction and operating
licenses (COLs) for two new units in Georgia and March approval of two more
COLs for new units in South Carolina-all using the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor
design. We look at the progress made to date at the Plant Vogtle site, long expected
to be home to the first new U.S. reactors in over three decades, as well as safety
measures that are part of the new design.
SPECIAL REPORTS
FOSSIL FUELS
46 Europe: More Coal, Then Less
It's the paradox of shifting energy policies: Even as European countries aim to decrease
their carbon emissions, they have plans to build new, high-efficiency coal
plants in the short term to compensate for retiring nuclear plants and coal plants that
are more polluting. Our report looks at the new balancing act Europe is learning.
INSTRUMENTATION & CONTROL
54 Upgraded Controls Position McIntosh Plant for Efficient Operations
The operating profile of combined cycle plants has changed since this Florida plant's
Unit 5 went into service in 2001. This case study of a distributed control system
upgrade traces the process to improved reliability and includes a dozen lessons
learned that could save you headaches and dollars if your plant is considering a
similar project.
FEATURES
AIR EMISSIONS
60 Managing the Catalysts of a Combustion Turbine Fleet
In an era when gas plants are running baseload instead of cycling seasonally, determining
the most economic way to manage NOx reduction catalyst systems is more
important than ever. Here's a life-cycle management plan for fleetwide selective
catalytic reduction.
WATER MANAGEMENT
66 Think Water When Designing CSP Plants
One of the conundrums of siting renewable generation is that regions where solar
resources are plentiful tend to be regions where water resources are scarce. This
article presents a water treatment system design approach for concentrating solar
power (CSP) plants that minimizes complexity and cost while providing reliable and
sustainable plant performance.
May 2012 | POWER
www.powermag.com
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POWER May 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER May 2012

Contents
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POWER May 2012 - Contents
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