Commercial Decommissioning

Southern California Edison intends to apply lessons learned from an error in loading spent reactor fuel into storage at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) to its oversight of the upcoming decommissioning at the retired power plant, according to a senior manager with the utility. “We’ve done a number of things to make our […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) stared over the engineers’ shoulders of Southern California Edison and Holtec International International as they studied the effects of  scratches on eight fuel canisters at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). This was part of the NRC’s review of Southern California Edison’s (SCE) and Holtec’s remedial work stemming […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday announced it would collect $782.5 million in licensee fees for the current federal fiscal 2019 budget year, a slight bump up from the amount proposed earlier in the year. The final fee rule will take effect on July 16, according to a notice in the Federal Register. By […]

By John Stang The majority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission believes its updated nuclear power plant safety rules contain measure determined necessary to protect the public. Agency Chairman Kristine Svinicki offered the message in a May 3 letter to Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). She was responding to concerns the lawmakers raised in […]

A bipartisan duo on Tuesday reintroduced legislation in the House of Representatives intended to help the federal government finally build a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain, Nev. The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019 is a slightly updated version of legislation introduced in 2017 by Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.). That bill advanced out […]

WASHINGTON — Plans for consolidated interim storage of spent fuel from commercial nuclear power reactors raise questions about the ultimate disposition of that radioactive material once a facility’s federal license expires, former Nuclear Regulatory Chairman Gregory Jaczko said Monday. Speaking at a Capitol Hill event on nuclear decommissioning, Jaczko posited a scenario in which the […]

The California Coastal Commission is tentatively scheduled in June to consider a permit that would allow major decommissioning to begin at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. “Commission staff is presently planning on the item being heard at the Commission’s June meeting, but this schedule is not final and could be subject […]

SHINE Medical Technologies on Thursday broke ground on a production plant for the medical isotope molybdendum-99. The 43,000-square-foot plant in Janesville, Wis., will ultimately house eight accelerator-based manufacturing systems that could meet more than one-third of worldwide need for the isotope, SHINE said in a press release. The company has said it hopes to reach […]

Exelon said Wednesday there was no time left in the Pennsylvania legislature to provide financial support to the state’s nuclear power plants and save its reactor at the Three Mile Island Generating Plant near Harrisburg. “With only three legislative days remaining in May and no action taken to advance House Bill 11 or Senate Bill […]

Holtec International said Monday it was beginning two months of final testing of the dry-storage facility for used nuclear fuel at the onetime Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. “These functional dry runs follow a long series of exhaustive tests of the individual systems, structures and components within the spent nuclear fuel processing and storage […]

The Omaha, Neb., Public Power District (OPPD) on Monday announced it had hired nuclear services firm EnergySolutions to support decommissioning of the retired Fort Calhoun Station power plant. EnergySolutions will provide “technical and specialized project expertise,” while OPPD personnel will manage the overall decommissioning, according to a press release from the utility. “ES brings a […]

By John Stang As has been the case in previous quarterly earnings reports, California’s wildfires dominated the first-quarter financial picture for Edison International’s and subsidiary Southern California Edison. Executives made no mention of the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in Tuesday’s quarterly earnings announcement and accompanying teleconference call with analysts. Edison’s latest filing […]

The Energy Department has extended the deadline for responses to its small business sources-sought notice for Idaho National Laboratory remediation work by one week, until May 8. The extension is one of several modifications posted on the FedBizOps website since the initial market research notice was posted on April 10. The Energy Department is researching […]

As has been the case in previous quarterly earnings reports, California’s wildfires dominated the first-quarter financial picture for public utility company Edison International and subsidiary Southern California Edison. Executives made no mention of the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in Tuesday’s quarterly earnings announcement and accompanying earnings teleconference with analysts. Edison’s latest filing […]

Southern California Edison (SCE) plans in early May to hire a consultant to help develop a strategic plan for off-site relocation of spent reactor fuel now stored at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The anticipated hiring is one element in the utility’s effort to meet its commitments under a 2017 settlement over construction […]

By John Stang FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Corp. and FirstEnergy Solutions were due to submit a request today to the U.S. Nuclear Commission to transfer to their creditors the licenses to three nuclear power plants earmarked for closure in coming years. The two sister corporations, subsidiaries of FirstEnergy Corp. now going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, hope […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week it would not penalize Holtec International for two violations of federal regulations during an update to the design of a spent nuclear fuel storage cask. The Camden, N.J., energy technology company could have incurred a $36,250 fine for one safety violation, NRC Office of Enforcement Director George […]

Southern California Edison (SCE) plans in early May to hire a consultant to help develop a strategic plan for off-site relocation of spent reactor fuel now stored at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The anticipated hiring is one element in the utility’s effort to meet its commitments under a 2017 settlement over construction […]

Exelon plans to delay decommissioning of its Three Mile Island Nuclear Station reactor Unit 1 (TM-1) for nearly 60 years, with a roughly $1.2 billion cost estimate for that approach. The reactor will join the long-closed TMI-2 in the long-term storage and monitoring condition known as SAFSTOR, according to Exelon’s April 5 post-shutdown decommissioning activities […]

By John Stang Holtec International has determined that scratches and abrasions on spent nuclear fuel storage canisters do not represent a safety danger at a closed nuclear power plant in California, executives told U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials on Wednesday. However, Holtec critics at the same meeting argued that today’s scratches could lead to major […]

By John Stang Holtec International and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission are scheduled next week to discuss scratches on canisters used in the company’s HI-STORM UMAX spent nuclear fuel storage system. The public meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday at NRC headquarters in North Bethesda, Md. During the two-hour session, Holtec will “present technical details […]

A San Diego attorney is asking a federal judge to force the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to release documents related to investigations of problems related to transfer of spent fuel to dry storage at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. Michael Aguirre, a familiar legal presence in cases involving used fuel management […]

Pacific Gas & Electric plans to issue a request for proposals around September for the expedited transfer and storage of spent nuclear fuel at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant near San Luis Obispo, Calif. Representatives from the utility briefed the Diablo Canyon Decommissioning Engagement Panel on the plan Wednesday. The utility expects to close […]

By John Stang Pacific Gas & Electric has asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to chime in on whether it believes the California utility’s bankruptcy proceeding will affect the future decommissioning of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. In doing so, PG&E is following the order of a California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge. In […]

Pacific Gas & Electric has asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its opinion on whether the California utility’s bankruptcy proceeding will affect the future decommissioning of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. In doing so, PG&E is following the order of a California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge. In a Feb. 26 letter to […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week moved Entergy’s soon-to-be-retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station out of the lowest safety ranking allowed for an operational power plant. The agency had indicated last month it was preparing to elevate the facility from Column 4 to Column 1 of the its Action Matrix. The agency in 2015 placed the single-reactor […]

Donald Schneider will step down as president of bankrupt nuclear power provider FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) effective Saturday, but he will stay on as executive chairman until his retirement on May 1. Schneider’s voluntary retirement package will include a lump-sum payment of slightly over $1 million, along with company health insurance for 18 months and a […]

By John Stang Earnings reports from two California utilities this week focused far more on the impact of massive wildfires in the state than on their nuclear power plants. Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. reported an $11.8 billion increase from 2017 to 2018 in wildfire expense such as repairing damages to the utility’s property or […]

By John Stang FirstEnergy Corp.’s finances improved with the 2018 bankruptcy filing of subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions (FES), but the proceeding still haunts the parent corporation. This week, FirstEnergy Corp. reported $981 million in full-year 2018 earnings on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, on $11.3 billion in revenue. That equated to $1.99 per basic and diluted […]

Idaho’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on Feb. 15 expressed no misgivings about a preliminary federal finding that there would be no major impact in renewing the license for continued in-state storage of waste from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The state agency, though, reminded the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that […]