Holtec International

Human error is the apparent cause in for a recent mishap in moving used fuel to a storage pad at the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. Holtec International, of Camden, N.J., is moving all remaining spent fuel at the plant from wet to dry storage under contract to SONGS majority owner […]

All spent fuel at the retired Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station has been moved to dry storage, owner Entergy announced Thursday. The transfer campaign, conducted by Holtec International, began in June 2017. It involved removing nearly 3,000 sent fuel assemblies from wet storage and placing them in 45 storage casks, which were then transported to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week denied the latest, and last, request to extend the comment period on the scope of its environmental impact statement for a proposed spent nuclear fuel storage site in southeastern New Mexico. Monday was the agency’s deadline for public input on this aspect of the broader technical review of the […]

Former Waste Control Specialists President and CEO Rod Baltzer said Wednesday he has joined another radioactive waste management company as chief operating officer. “I am the Chief Operating Officer of Deep Isolation … a startup company focused on the storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel deep underground,” Baltzer said in an update to his […]

Holtec International said Wednesday it plans to buy two more nuclear power plants for decommissioning, in addition to the single-site acquisition announced just one day earlier. Power company Entergy will sell its Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Mass., and its Palisades Power Plant in Covert, Mich., after the reactors are shut down and defueled, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has denied the latest, and presumably last, request to extend the comment period on the scope of its environmental impact statement for a proposed spent fuel storage site in southeastern New Mexico. Monday was the agency’s deadline for public input on this aspect of the NRC technical review of the license […]

A court in the United Kingdom is scheduled on Aug. 17 to hear a government agency’s prosecution of the manager of the Sellafield nuclear site over a 2017 worker accident. On July 20, the Workington Magistrates Court directed the case to the Carlisle Crown Court, according to a notice from the U.K.’s Office of Nuclear […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should address water supply and quality and a number of other issues in its environmental impact statement (EIS) for a planned spent nuclear reactor fuel storage site in southeastern New Mexico, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The environmental evaluation is a key part of a broader NRC technical review […]

By John Stang About three dozen environmental and antinuclear organizations have requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission extend the end of its current comment period on a proposed temporary used nuclear reactor fuel storage site in New Mexico from July 30 to Oct. 30. The nuclear industry regulator through Monday is taking comments on […]

The City Council of Las Cruces, N.M., on Tuesday narrowly approved a resolution opposing plans for transportation and storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel in the state. With the 4-3 vote, the city joined Albuquerque and a number of other municipalities in voicing their concerns over Holtec International’s proposal to temporarily store more than 100,000 metric […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should address water supply and quality and a number of other issues in its environmental impact statement (EIS) for a planned spent nuclear reactor fuel storage site in New Mexico, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The environmental evaluation is a key part of a broader NRC technical review of […]

The public has until Sept. 14 to request an adjudicatory hearing before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel on a proposed facility for interim storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel in southeastern New Mexico. The NRC is reviewing Holtec International’s license application for storage of 8,680 metric tons of used nuclear fuel […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has set a hard deadline of July 30 for public comment on the scope of its environmental review of Holtec International’s license application for an interim spent fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico. The agency extended the comment period by 60 days, but denied a request from a host of […]

By John Stang Significant technical challenges remain to the eventual rail shipment of the nation’s used nuclear reactor fuel to temporary storage or permanent disposal, issue experts acknowledged Wednesday. To start, there is not yet an approved railcar to carry commercial spent fuel – though a specially designed railcar is in development. Also, no agency […]

Interim Storage Partners — a joint venture of Orano USA and Waste Control Specialists (WCS) — on Monday submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission a renewed license application to build and operate an interim storage facility for used nuclear reactor fuel. The consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) pad would be built on WCS’ 14,900-acre waste […]

The federal fund intended pay for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada was valued at $44.5 billion at the end of fiscal 2017, down by $1.5 billion from the prior year, according to a newly released report from the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office. The Nuclear Waste Fund as of Sept. 30, […]

The Board of County Commissioners of Bernalillo County, N.M., on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution opposing rail transport of spent nuclear reactor fuel through the jurisdiction. The northern New Mexico county joins Albuquerque and other jurisdictions in expressing concerns about Holtec International’s plans for a consolidated interim storage facility for used fuel in the state’s […]

NASHVILLE — A Waste Control Specialists-Orano team could be within days of formally refiling a license application for consolidated interim storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel in West Texas, an executive said Thursday. The companies have previously said they would revive Waste Control Specialists’ suspended license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the end of […]

Months of testing in 2017 provided strong evidence that spent nuclear fuel can be safely transported by sea, road, and rail, according to a researcher with the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories. A team of researchers from the United States, South Korea, and Spain over 54 days from June to October collected 8 terabytes […]

By John Stang The New Mexico Legislature’s Interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee will likely hold more public hearings before recommending how the state should respond to plans to build an interim used nuclear fuel storage site. The panel met on May 17 to hear testimony from representatives of Holtec International and the Eddy-Lea Energy […]

The Albuquerque City Council last week voiced its divided opposition to potential rail transport of spent nuclear fuel through the jurisdiction on its way to a planned storage facility further south in New Mexico. “The City Council of Albuquerque opposes the transportation of high-level radioactive waste, including Holtec’s ‘spent’ nuclear reactor fuel, on our railways […]

By John Stang Several New Mexico state legislators wondered last week if a proposed temporary used nuclear fuel storage site east of Carlsbad could become permanent by default. Opponents of Holtec International’s planned consolidated interim spent fuel facility also asked, during a May 18 hearing of the New Mexico Legislature’s Interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee, […]

The Senate Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee is again trying to jump-start a pilot program for consolidated, temporary storage of spent fuel stranded at U.S. nuclear reactors. The panel spent less than an hour Tuesday on the markup and approval of its $43.8 billion funding measure for fiscal 2019, covering the Department of Energy, […]

Several New Mexico state legislators wondered Friday if a proposed temporary used nuclear fuel storage site east of Carlsbad could become permanent by default. Opponents of Holtec International’s planned consolidated interim spent fuel facility also asked, during a hearing of the New Mexico Legislature’s Interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee, why the radioactive waste could not […]

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Waste Control Specialists and Orano USA plan within the next two months to formally request that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission resume its review of a stalled license application for consolidated interim storage of spent fuel in West Texas, according to the executive leading their partnership. The companies expect in the second quarter […]

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Waste Control Specialists and Orano plan within the next two months to formally request that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission resume its review of a stalled license application for consolidated interim storage of spent fuel in West Texas, according to the executive leading their partnership. The companies expect in the second quarter to […]

By John Stang Transporting spent nuclear reactor fuel across the country and through New Mexico topped public concerns during a public event Wednesday on plans for an interim storage facility in the state. That included wondering which routes would be used. “An accident with this material will take decades, if not centuries, to deal with,” said […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has sufficient funds in its current budget and proposed spending plan for the next fiscal year to review license applications for two interim spent nuclear fuel storage sites proposed for New Mexico and Texas, NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki told a U.S. Senate subcommittee Wednesday. “We have sufficient resources for two spent […]

The Sierra Club intends to intervene in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s technical review of Holtec International’s application for a consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel, an attorney representing the environmental organization said Monday. The intervention request would be filed when the regulatory agency releases its schedule for that process, Wallace Taylor, of […]

The Australian government on Tuesday issued the outlines of its approach to management of what is expected to be at least 13,500 cubic meters of low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste. The Australian Radioactive Waste Management Framework is intended to “guide the principles, policies and institutional arrangements of radioactive waste management” in the nation, according to […]