News

Companies competing for US federal funds to support the development of operational small modular reactors (SMRs) have been keen to report progress in their respective projects, including a first control room simulator and the launch of a fuel technology centre. NuScale Power is claiming a world first with the commissioning of a control room simulator to model the operation of its SMR design.

Black Hills Corp. said that its subsidiaries Black Hills Power and Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power received approval from the Wyoming Public Service Commission to construct and operate a USD 237M, 132MW natural gas-fired power plant in Wyoming. The Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station will use a 37MW simple-cycle combustion turbine owned by Cheyenne Light and a 95MW combined-cycle combustion turbine to be jointly owned by Black Hills Power and Cheyenne Light.

Ensco plc took delivery of the seventh and final rig in the ENSCO 8500 Series® at the Keppel FELS shipyard in Singapore, where all the rigs in the series have been built.

Globalgroup Investment Holdings, Inc. announced that its subsidiary Sovereign Oil Corp has begun re-working O&G wells in Kansas.

Managed Pressure Operations International Ltd. (MPO), a provider of technologically advanced managed pressure drilling systems is expanding its delivery of the innovative Non-Stop Driller (NSD) Continuous Circulation (CC) system, announced Charles Orbell, President and CEO. By maintaining constant bottom hole pressure and enabling continuous hole cleaning during connections, the NSD continuous circulation system prevents well bore ballooning, stuck pipe incidents and connection gas buildup significantly reducing non-productive time.

Following more than a year of development, STARS Alliance LLC has achieved legal identity after the chief nuclear officers of seven US plants added their signatures to official paperwork.

A subsidiary of McDermott International Inc. has been awarded a contract for offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, by the Discovery system.

Fluor Corporation has formed a new joint venture called CFPS Engenharia e Projetocs, S.A. with Sao Paolo, Brazil-based Construcap to pursue engineering, procurement and construction management projects in the country.

A consortium led by Petrobras has authorized 10 contracts for six topsides modules. The contracts are valued at $4.5 billion.

Babcock & Wilcox Co.'s test facility for its new class of mini nuclear reactors is fully operational. The Integrated System Text facility in Bedford County, Virginia will test the mPower modular reactor's design and performance by simulating energy generated by a nuclear core through heating the reactor electrically.