Holtec International

The members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday rejected requests for an immediate stay of agency staff’s approval of the license transfer for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. All four of the serving commissioners, without discussion, voted in favor of a memorandum and order upholding the earlier decision. The staff order […]

An Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected a clean-energy advocacy organization’s petition to submit a late argument against licensing a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in West Texas. The Austin-based Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition said it should be allowed to file the late contention […]

Congress again provided no direct funding for nuclear waste storage or disposal in a massive fiscal 2020 appropriations bill that was waiting on President Donald Trump’s signature Friday afternoon. While the House and Senate had left little doubt they would reject the administration’s latest request for money for the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada, they […]

The members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday rejected requests for an immediate freeze of agency staff’s approval of the license transfer for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. The staff order in August covering the reactor and spent-fuel storage licenses allowed owner Entergy to sell the retired plant to Holtec International […]

An Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected an advocacy organization’s petition to submit a late argument against licensing a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in West Texas. The Austin-based Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition said it should be allowed to file the late contention based […]

Holtec International has already added up to three years to its schedule for decommissioning the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts, which could increase certain costs for the project by $102 million, according to the commonwealth Attorney General’s Office. The figures are based on a presentation Holtec gave last month to a local advisory panel […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from July to October conducted 10 unannounced inspections of spent fuel transfer operations at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. The inspections are part of the agency’s response to several problems in the project, notably an August 2018 incident in which a canister was put at risk […]

By John Stang U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff expect next spring to issue draft environmental impact statements (EIS) for two planned consolidated interim storage sites for used fuel from nuclear power plants. The environmental documents are central to the agency’s decision on whether to issue licenses for construction and operation of the facilities. The draft […]

The draft environmental impact statements (EIS) for two planned consolidated interim storage sites for used fuel from nuclear power plants are due next spring, officials said last week during a meeting of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The environmental documents are central to the agency’s decision on whether to issue licenses for construction and operation […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Nov. 22 urged a federal appeals court to dismiss two requests from the commonwealth of Massachusetts to freeze the license transfer of the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit does not yet have jurisdiction to rule on the matter, […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday urged a federal appeals court to reject two requests from the commonwealth of Massachusetts to freeze the license transfer of the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit does not yet have jurisdiction under federal law to rule on […]

Energy technology company Holtec International on Friday took a key step toward buying another soon-to-close nuclear power plant for decommissioning. The plant in this case is the Indian Point Energy Center in upstate New York, which is scheduled for permanent retirement by the end of April 2021. Holtec and facility owner Entergy on Friday submitted […]

A board of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday reversed a prior order to allow the Sierra Club to argue one case against licensing of a facility in West Texas for temporary storage of spent fuel from nuclear power plants. The NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) also rejected the environmental organization’s motion […]

A House of Representatives committee on Wednesday passed a bill intended to advance centralized storage and permanent disposal of the nation’s nuclear waste, while the long-promised Senate version of the legislation was finally filed. The effectively identical iterations of the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019 contain a set of measures to assist the […]

By John Stang Infrastructure and environmental services specialist North Wind Inc. expects to have a strategic plan ready by December 2020 on how to move used nuclear fuel off-site from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. Idaho Falls, Idaho-based North Wind was contracted in June by SONGS majority owner Southern California Edison […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) strategy to reboot its tritium-production enterprise went about as smoothly as it could have in fiscal 2019. And even if it is not a perfect microcosm of the whole nuclear security enterprise, it’s tough to ignore the similarities. First, as with just about everything else it makes or […]

The U.S. Department of Energy has “no authority” under federal law to issue contracts for any commercially operated facility for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a recent letter to a member of Congress. That runs counter to the business plans laid out by both corporate teams seeking federal […]

The Department of Energy has no authority to issue contracts for any commercially operated spent nuclear fuel storage services, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a recent letter to a member of Congress. That runs counter to the business plans laid out by both corporate teams seeking federal regulatory approval for consolidated interim storage facilities […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday formally approved a reduction in the emergency preparedness requirements for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. The changes include elimination of a dedicated 10-mile emergency planning zone in the license for the Cape Cod property. The requirement for a specific off-site radiological emergency response plan will […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday formally approved a reduction in the emergency preparedness requirements for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. The changes include elimination of a dedicated 10-mile emergency planning zone in the license for the Cape Cod property. The requirement for a specific off-site radiological emergency response plan will […]

A California Superior Court judge ruled last week against a request by a watchdog organization to suspend the transfer of used reactor fuel into dry storage at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). In a motion filed with the court in October, El Cajon-based Citizens’ Oversight sought the temporary halt and authorization for discovery […]

A new report from the federal Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) is providing grist for environmental groups to refresh their cases against U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing of temporary spent fuel storage sites in Texas and New Mexico. The Sierra Club used the report as the backbone of its Oct. 23 petition to file […]

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office on Monday asked a federal appeals court to order a stay on the already-completed transfer of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. That action, plus two related measures by the federal regulator, should be frozen while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the […]

A panel of the Wyoming Legislature is recommending that lawmakers consider new legislation that would advance tentative plans for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the state. The recommendations are included in a report submitted for next week’s meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Minerals, Business, and Economic Development Committee. Specifically, according to the committee’s […]

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has asked a federal appeals court to order a stay on the already-completed transfer of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Monday’s action, plus two related measures by the federal regulator, should be frozen while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District […]

The Sierra Club is seeking permission to file a late argument against licensing by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission of a temporary spent nuclear fuel storage facility in New Mexico. The environmental organization said its Oct. 23 motion is based on previously unavailable information contained in a new report from the federal Nuclear Waste Technical […]

An organization representing 20 Pueblo nations in New Mexico and Texas has formally voiced its opposition to plans for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel in the states. During a meeting last week, the All Pueblo Council of Governors adopted a resolution against federal licensing for construction and operations of the facilities planned by Holtec […]

A California advocacy group this week petitioned a federal appeals court to require the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to order a halt to decommissioning and spent fuel offload operations at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). If approved, the writ of mandamus from the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals would remain in […]

An organization representing 20 Pueblo nations in New Mexico and Texas has formally voiced its opposition to plans for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel in the states. During a meeting last week, the All Pueblo Council of Governors adopted a resolution against federal licensing for construction and operations of the facilities planned by Holtec […]

It could be two years before a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission board holds a hearing in the single contention it allowed against licensing of a consolidated interim storage facility in West Texas for spent nuclear power reactor fuel. The anticipated “trigger date” for parties to begin filing various paperwork and then conduct the evidentiary hearing […]