Rolls-Royce said it delivered the final components of a multimillion dollar package of automated handling, transportation and storage technology to Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL), Canada's leading nuclear science and technology laboratory.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff said it is increasing its oversight of Unit 1 at Florida Power & Light (FPL)’s St. Lucie nuclear power plant in Florida as a result of the number and type of unplanned shutdowns the plant has experienced.

Southern California Edison (SCE), an Edison International company, said costs associated with inspections and repairs to the 2,200 MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) could land between $55 million and $65 million.

Arizona Public Service (APS) on May 2 said Unit 3 at the 4,000 MW Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station returned to service April 17, marking the completion of the unit’s 16th planned refueling outage.

PIC Group Inc. entered into an operations and maintenance (O&M) contract with Texas-based Golden Spread Electric Co-op Inc (GSEC).

Indiana Michigan Power’s Cook Nuclear Plant Unit 2 returned to service April 28 following a refueling outage that began March 21.

PPL Corp. said a planned follow-up inspection of the Unit 1 main turbine at PPL's 2,500 MW Susquehanna nuclear power plant in northeastern Pennsylvania revealed indications of cracks in blades that are similar to, but less extensive than, damage discovered and repaired in 2011.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said Nuclear Waste Partnership LLC has been awarded a $1.3 billion operation and management contract at DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, N.M.

Exelon Corp. said equipment upgrades, safety inspections, and plant improvements are being implemented at Unit 1 of the two-unit, 2,300 MW Braidwood Generating Station during its latest refueling and maintenance outage.

Westinghouse has been awarded a contract to apply the Underwater Laser Beam Welding process (ULBW) at Progress Energy’s single-unit, 724 MW Robinson Nuclear Plant in Hartsville, S.C.

Indiana Michigan Power, a subsidiary of American Electric Power, filed a proposal with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission outlining a $1.17 billion project at the 2,100 MW Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant in Michigan.

Day & Zimmermann NPS signed a five-year contract to provide full-service outage management, power plant maintenance and boiler repairs and modifications to We Energies’ ten fossil-fueled power plants in Wisconsin and Michigan.

The Babcock & Wilcox Co. said its subsidiary, Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc. (B&W PGG), has been awarded a contract to engineer, procure and construct (EPC) environmental control systems for three units at Ascend Performance Materials' Decatur, Ala. manufacturing plant.

Curtiss-Wright Flow Control's business unit, Scientech, said it has reached an agreement with URS Corp. and Paul C. Rizzo Associates Inc. to jointly provide seismic, flooding, other external hazard evaluation and probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) services to the U.S. nuclear power market.

U.S. nuclear power plants in 2011 recorded the lowest number of unplanned shutdowns since 2005 and achieved near-record levels of reliability and safety performance.

Southern Co. said plant operators of the 1,776 MW Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant in Alabama took Unit 1 offline on April 1 for a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage.

Operators at Entergy’s Indian Point unit 2 nuclear power plant returned the unit to operation on April 1 following a 28 day scheduled refueling outage.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a Confirmatory Action Letter documenting actions that Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) officials have agreed to take related to unusual wear on steam generator tubes prior to restarting both units of the 2,200 MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station near San Clemente, Calif.

Areva said it has extended its fuel fabrication contract with FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co., a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., for the continued fuel delivery to the 913 MWe Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in northwestern Ohio.