Future-Proof AI Data Centers, Grid Reliability, and Affordable Energy: Recommendations for States

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries, but its rapid expansion is already causing a significant increase in electricity demand. Data centers that support AI model training and inference require immense computational power, putting pressure on the electric grid and raising concerns about sustainability, energy costs, and reliability. Recent projections suggest that AI-driven data centers could consume up to 9% of U.S. electricity by 2030 (equivalent to the electricity needed to power 20–40% of today’s vehicles if they were EVs), highlighting the need for policies that ensure energy-efficient, socially responsible, and environmentally sustainable development.

The emergence of DeepSeek, a highly efficient …

Lessons Learnt from Common-Cause Failures of Motor-Operated Valves

This report presents a study performed on a set of common cause failure (CCF) events of motor operated valves (MOV) within the International Common Cause Failure Data Exchange (ICDE) project. In July 2001, the ICDE project published a report summarising the collection and analysis of 87 MOV CCF events. Since that time, the ICDE project has continued to collect MOV events, with the database now including 172 events, spanning a period from 1980 through 2017. It was therefore decided to update the report.

The report is mainly intended for designers, operators and regulators to provide insights into the types of …

Characteristics, Emission Factors, and Health Risks of Vehicular Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

This study characterizes vehicular PAHs using roadway tunnel measurements on Mumbai-Pune Expressway, a crucial route in Western India. Dominated by four- to six-ring PAHs (75%-89%), concentrations were influenced by diesel, heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs), and super-emitters. The total PAH emission factor was 52.7(±4.5) μg veh⁻¹ km⁻¹. An inverse relationship was observed between PAH molecular weight and volatility of organic carbon (OC). Molecular weight also strongly correlated with mass absorption coefficient (MAC) of brown carbon (BrC), significantly enhancing light absorption. Methanol-soluble BrC exhibited stronger absorption correlation with higher molecular weight PAHs (ΣHMWPAH). Carcinogenic PAHs accounted for 98.9% of total toxicity, with incremental …

Analyzing the Impacts of Employing Demand Response and Creating Optimal Coalition on Optimal Scheduling of Multi-Microgrid

In the restructured power system, by integrating distributed generators in the near of loads, necessity of installing power plants is eliminated. This work is feasible by introducing small-scale systems, which are presented by the microgrid (MG) concept. To exchange power between seller and buyer MGs, they should pay costs to the distribution network operator (DNO), which are called service charges. In this paper, creating a proper coalition is suggested for optimal management of a multi-MG system. In each load level, MGs, to minimize their service charge and maximize their benefits and feed their demands for energy at low prices and …

Reimagining the Electricity Sector in Island Nations with Virtual Power Plants

Distributed virtual power plants (VPPs) can revolutionize the Caribbean’s energy landscape. These networks of decentralized and distributed energy sources (DERs) are aggregated and actively controlled by a VPP aggregator, enabling hundreds or thousands of devices to operate as a unified system offering an innovative solution to the region’s energy challenges. Many island nations remain heavily dependent on expensive, imported and polluting fossil fuels for electricity generation, leaving them vulnerable to volatile global fuel prices and frequent power outages due to aging grid infrastructure. Climate change further exacerbates these challenges, with hurricanes posing a constant threat to power systems and economic …

Supporting a Reliable Grid: The Opportunity for Virtual Power Plants in Michigan

Michigan has an aging distribution grid with high incidents of blackouts. It also suffers from narrowing capacity availability for resources to meet peak demand. Virtual power plants (VPPs) — aggregations of distributed energy resources (DERs) that can provide utility-scale and utility-grade grid services — can help address those challenges while supporting the state in reaching its ambitious clean energy standard of 80% by 2035 and 100% by 2040.

According to the Department of Energy, VPPs can be configured to provide a range of benefits, including reliability and resilience, affordability, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, resource adequacy, and more.

This brief outlines …

Drivers of Persistent Changes in the Global Methane Cycle Under Aggressive Mitigation Action

To achieve the Paris climate agreement goals, methane (CH4) emission mitigation plays a key role. Therefore, a better understanding of the global methane cycle is indispensable. Here we simulate the global methane cycle fully interactively from 1850 to 2100 with a strong mitigation action scenario (SSP1-2.6) post 2014. We show that the atmospheric methane burden largely recovers to early 20th-century levels, while wetland methane emissions follow a persistent upward trend from 166 Tg(CH4) yr–1 at pre-industrial to 221 Tg(CH4) yr–1 in 2100. The methane lifetime decreases from 9.3 to 7.3 years over the 1850–2100 period. We identify net primary productivity …

Proceedings of the Working Group on Codes and Standards (WGCS) International Workshop on Mechanical Codes and Standards

The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) Working Group on Codes and Standards (WGCS) sponsored a online international workshop on in-service inspection (ISI) on 11-14 April 2022. Among international codes and standards, the ISI acceptance criteria and examination frequency vary, even for identical components (including safety-related components). ISI programmes based on different or inconsistent requirements may have significant impact on nuclear power plant safety operation. Therefore, it is necessary to review and compare the ISI provisions in codes and standards, document the difference and determine if modifications to harmonise are necessary. Through a member survey, the …

ICDE Topical Report Operational Experience on Common-Cause Failures due to External Environmental Factors

This report presents a study performed on a set of common-cause failure (CCF) events within the International Common-cause failure Data Exchange (ICDE) project. The topic of the study was external factor events. An external factor event is a CCF event or CCF fragility (impairment) related to external or environmental factors or an event directly caused or triggered by such factors (conditions).

The report is mainly intended for designers, operators and regulators to provide insights into the type of external factor events in the ICDE database. The insights can give valuable experience to support and improve the external event modelling in …

Consensus Position on the Qualification of Existing and New Material Manufacturing Techniques within Codes and Standards

The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Working Group on Codes and Standards (WGCS) has agreed that a consensus position on the topic of the qualification of existing and new material man facturing techniques within codes and standards is warranted given their impact on the quality of the material used for safety significant structures, systems or components.

This action follows the WGCS examination of Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA) activities on positive macro-segregation issues in large forgings leading to recommedations on the qualification of material manufacturing techniques.

The WGCS proposes a consensus position gathering common expectations from regulators onthe qualification of …