NEWS & VIEWS

News & Views Current Issue

Volume 55 | 2025

Featured Articles

Digital Twins – Concept, Uses, and Adoption in Industry
Digital Twins are dynamically synchronized digital representations of physical equipment or systems. This technology is emerging in the power generation industry and assists with early detection of potential failures, failure accommodation, optimized maintenance schedules, development of next-generation equipment, and workforce training.

Cathodic Protection for SLR: Lessons Learned from System Implementation
SI was engaged to design, install, and commission a site-wide impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) system for the Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station (PTN) to meet the site’s ongoing subsequent license renewal (SLR) commitments. Designing and installing an all-new ICCP system at this legacy facility posed unique challenges and required more support than a typical refurbishment project. This article summarizes the site-specific requirements, challenges, and adjustments made by SI as part of our project methodology, which resulted in the first large-scale CP implementation for a nuclear site pursuing SLR.

Delivering Just-in-Time Winterization Upgrades to meet ERCOT Requirements
This article details a significant winterization effort conducted at a large petrochemical facility in Texas. The project, driven by ERCOT requirements imposed following a significant winter storm in 2021, involved a gap analysis to identify critical instruments, detailed engineering to select appropriate mitigation measures, and just-in-time field implementation on an accelerated timetable

Steam Turbine Failure Cause Evaluation
This article summarizes SI’s independent root cause analysis of a catastrophic steam turbine failure at a coal-fired power plant. The investigation identified that creep-driven rotor material liberation in the intermediate pressure (IP) turbine was the initiating cause of the event, which led to severe damage throughout other portions of the turbine-generator train. SI provided metallurgical evaluation, detailed finite element analysis, review of operating data, and customized extent-of-condition inspection plans to assess fleet-wide risk and prevent subsequent failures.