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Many of us have a mental model of power generation based on combustion. The internal combustion engine powers cars, trucks and airplanes. Combustion turbines are also used to generate electricity at natural gas plants. All of these devices require...

It’s a frequent question from anyone hearing about the 8 million homes that Duke Energy’s nuclear fleet powers. The answer is less straightforward than people may expect if they are not familiar with the electrical grid.

One way the energy industry measures the reliability of power plants is by regularly calculating capacity factors. Capacity factor measures how often a plant is running at maximum power. It’s expressed as a percentage and calculated by dividing the actual unit of electricity output by the maximum possible output. This ratio is important because it indicates how fully a generating unit is used.

Out on the beach, surfers look beyond the breakers for the best waves to ride. The break in the wave is where the tide gives way to the shore, the waves ‘break’ and result in bubbly, unstable water. At your local power plant, breakers mark the boundaries of electric current.

This week, Duke Energy was honored with a Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) Top Innovative Practice (TIP) award. A team from Duke Energy went home with an award for successfully streamlining in-processing of contract workers for refueling outages ...

[slideshow]Imagine more than 10,000 people sitting on a large manicured lawn listening to the sounds of the symphony. Now imagine the setting for this event is on the lawn of a nuclear power plant. Highly unheard of, right? Although not typical for ...