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NuScale Power Achieves Standard Design Approval from NRC for 77 MW SMR

LCG, May 30, 2025--NuScale Power Corporation (NuScale), a leading provider of advanced small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology, yesterday announced that it has received design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for its uprated 77 MW power modules. NuScale states that it remains the only SMR technology company with design approval from the NRC, and the company remains on track for deployment by 2030, with 50- and 77-MW SMR options.

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EIA Presents Analysis of California's Solar and Wind Power Curtailment Challenges

LCG, May 29, 2025--The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released an analysis yesterday showing that the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the grid operator for most of the state, is increasing its curtailment of the rapidly growing solar- and wind-powered generation facilities in order to balance electricity supply and demand, which is necessary to maintain a stable electric system.

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Industry News

Aluminum Production Slashed as Power Prices Soar

LCG, Dec. 27, 2000Shortages and high prices in a region where electric power was once plentiful and cheap have forced Goldendale Aluminum Co. to slash by three-quarters production at a primary aluminum smelter in Washington state, according to the plant's owners.

The big Norwegian industrial firm Norsk Hydro said in a statement yesterday that its Goldendale, Wash. smelter operated by subsidiary Golden Northwest Aluminum would reduce production from about 105,000 to just 27,000 metric tons for the next nine months. A metric ton is 10 percent greater than a conventional 2,000-pound ton.

The Pacific Northwest has heretofore enjoyed an abundance of hydroelectric power, but a booming high-tech economy coupled with low rainfall has pointed up the need for increased sources of electricity. At the same time, the hydro facilities are under pressure from environmentalists to cut back production in order to protect certain fish species. There is even talk of demolishing four large dams on the Snake River.

Bonneville Power Administration, the federal agency responsible for operating the government-owned hydroelectric facilities and for much of the transmission grid in the Northwest, recently cut back on power allocations to industries and at the same time raised the price of power.

Norsk Hydro said it would return much of its power allocation to Bonneville at a below market price. The cutback at Goldendale will "free-up funds to protect the viability of Goldendale through investment in power generation capacity," the company said in a statement.

The company intends to keep its work force intact for the nine months, it said, paying "costs of continued employment, wages and benefits of the smelter's employees."

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