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Google Announces Gas-fired Broadwing Energy Project with CCS

LCG, October 23, 2025--Google announced today a first-of-its kind agreement to support a natural gas-fired power plant with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The 400-MW Broadwing Energy power project, located in Decatur, Illinois, will capture and permanently store its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. By agreeing to buy most of the power it generates, Google is helping get this new, baseload power source built and connected to the regional grid that supports our data centers.

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EPA Issues Class VI Well Permits to ExxonMobil for Carbon Capture and Storage Project in Texas

LCG, October 21, 2025--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today issued three final Underground Injection Control (UIC) Class VI permits to ExxonMobil for their Rose Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project located in Jefferson County, Texas. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, these permits allow ExxonMobil to convert three existing test wells permitted by the state to carbon dioxide (CO2) storage injection wells for long-term storage.

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Industry News

Boric Acid Leak in Texas Reactor Worries Other Plant Owners

LCG, May 1, 2003A routine inspection at a Houston, Texas nuclear plant resulted in the discovery of mysterious and foreboding boric acid residue.

After Ohios Davis-Besse nuclear plant suffered a large hole in its reactor head from boric acid-related corrosion, the nuclear industry has stepped up its efforts regarding especially susceptible plants. Although Davis-Besse has yet to return to service, other similarly engineered plants have increased inspections to prevent such dramatic corrosion.

However, in the case of the South Texas Project plant, corrosion seems to have occurred in a much more problematic region, the bottom of the reactor.

In March, plant inspectors found two small minute boric acid deposits underneath the reactor vessel. While a leak of this type will have no effect on public health, ensuring the safety of the technician responsible for fixing the holes is challenging at best.

Beyond mere repair, the finding has worried those who run or own the other 68 U.S. nuclear plants of similar design. Reactor 1 underwent inspections more rigorous than those required by NRC and is a mere 15 years old. If the leaks turn out to be associated with normal wear and tear, the finding would come as bad news all around.

Boric acid is used to absorb extra neutrons produced in nuclear reactors. Radiation, high temperatures, and stress (force per area), combined with acidic conditions, can result in the oxidation, or corrosion, of metal, even specially designed alloys like steels.

South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company, which is responsible for daily operation of Reactor 1 as well as a second reactor on-site, has not been able to determine a cause for the deposits and has told the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Commission that the plants reactor will be disassembled in order to investigate the leak further.

The reactor has 1,250 megawatts of capacity and was initially shut down for refueling. CenterPoint Energy Inc. and American Electric Power Company, as well as San Antonio and Austin municipal utilities jointly own the plant.

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