Commercial Decommissioning

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public comment on its draft Interim Staff Guidance document for the review of security exemptions at decommissioning plants, according to a posting in the Federal Register yesterday. If approved, the guidance would help establish a consistent review process for exemption requests from decommissioning plants. With the latest wave of […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 11/21/2014 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Allison Macfarlane called for the Commission to work on developing more specific regulations tied to the decommissioning of nuclear power plants,  in remarks she made this week at the National Press Club in Washington. Macfarlane’s comments came in the context of lessons learned during her […]

Staff Reports RW Monitor 11/21/2014 Heart of America Northwest and Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility called this week for the Pacific Northwest’s only nuclear power plant, the Columbia Generating Station, to be shut down based on a study they commissioned. The reactor’s storage pool that cools used nuclear fuel is vulnerable in the event of […]

RW Monitor 11/21/2014 IN THE NRC The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Staff has recommended the Commission approve the exemptions requests for reduced emergency preparedness and security at Duke Energy’s Crystal River Nuclear Plant, according to a Staff paper released this week. Citing the decreased risk of a shutdown reactor in comparison to an operating one, the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Staff recommended the Commission approve the exemptions requests for reduced emergency preparedness and security at Duke Energy’s Crystal River Nuclear Plant, according to a Staff paper released yesterday. Citing the decreased risk of a shutdown reactor in comparison to an operating one, the Staff found that public safety would not be […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Allison Macfarlane yesterday called for regulationis to better reflect the status of decommissioning plants during remarks made at the National Press Club. Macfarlane’s comments came in the context of lessons-learned during her time at the Commission, especially in light of her impending departure. Macfarlane announced last month her plans to leave […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 11/14/2014 Entergy and the state of Vermont are at odds over Vermont Yankee’s emergency preparedness plan, especially the shutdown of the emergency response data system (ERDS), but a resolution arbitrated by a Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will not occur until December, Board Chairman E. Roy Hawkens […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 11/7/2014 While Perma-Fix Environmental Services has experienced a string of poor quarterly performances dating back to last year, the company is on “an uphill ride” following its profitable third quarter results, Perma-Fix CEO Lou Centofanti said this week during the company’s third quarter earnings call. Perma-Fix reported an operating income […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/31/2014 As the nuclear industry fights against a wave of premature shutdowns,  Exelon, the operator of the nation’s largest commercial nuclear fleet, has been vocal in the past year about the consequences that pre-mature shutdowns of its reactors in Illinois and New York could cause to local economies and grid […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 10/31/2014 In one of the first demolition jobs to help prepare Southern California Edison’s San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station for decommissioning, Clauss Construction has completed ahead of schedule demolition of a group of buildings on the site’s east mesa. The contractor finished the job in September, focusing on a group of […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/24/2014 The Vermont Yankee decommissioning project will cost an estimated $1.24 billion, up from previous estimates of approximately $1 billion, according to Entergy’s latest site assessment study released late last week. Entergy completed the study as a way to consolidate and begin discussions with the state of Vermont over the […]

The Vermont Yankee decommissioning project will cost an estimated $1.24 billion, up from previous estimates of approximately $1 billion, according to Entergy’s latest site assessment study released late last week. Entergy completed the study as a way to consolidate and begin discussions with the state of Vermont over the history and radiological condition of the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/17/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is set to hold the public meeting for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s decommissioning plan Oct. 27. The NRC will meet with the public from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Carlsbad, Calif. to discuss and answer questions on Southern California Edison’s Post-Shutdown Decommissioning […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled the public meeting for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s decommissioning plan for Oct. 27. The NRC will meet with the public from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Carlsbad, Calif. to discuss and answer questions on Southern California Edison’s Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR), cost estimate and used […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/3/2014 MIAMI—As a majority of the recently shutdown reactor plants enter the beginning stages of SAFESTOR, the overseers of the decommissioning plans of the various sites emphasized the importance of spending conservatively on the front end to ensure the decommissioning trust fund will have enough money to cover the total […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/3/2014 As Southern California Edison determines the best way to manage the decommissioning of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, at least seven teams have responded to the utility’s Request for Information about managing the estimated $4.4 billion cleanup project, RW Monitor has learned. According to an industry executive, pre-qualifications […]

The Tokyo Electric Power Company and the United Kingdom’s Sellafield Ltd. officially signed an agreement to share knowledge and lessons-learned on long-term decommissioning work, TEPCO announced yesterday. The two sides announced the agreement in principle earlier this year, but now the agreement is official. Sellafield will help TEPCO at its Fukushima Daii-chi Power Station in […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 9/26/2014 In the latest in a series of recent management moves, Kurion announced this week that Stephen Wright will serve as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer. Wright previously served as CFO and senior vice president at AeroVironment Inc., where he helped the company undergo an initial public offering, and […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 9/26/2014 Southern California Edison this week officially submitted its decommissioning documents for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for review. SCE had completed a draft Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR), cost estimate and used fuel management plan at the end of July, but it wanted […]

Southern California Edison yesterday officially submitted its decommissioning documents for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for review. SCE had completed a draft Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR), cost estimate and used fuel management plan at the end of July, but it wanted community feedback before officially submitting the documents […]

Kurion announced yesterday that Stephen Wright will serve as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer. Wright previously served as CFO and senior vice president at AeroVironment Inc., where he helped the company undergo an initial public offering, and he mostly served as COO at Materia, Inc. According to Kurion, Wright “will develop and guide the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 9/19/2014 Kurion has recently moved to conduct a broad shakeup of its corporate management. The changes include Kurion’s former Board chairman, Steve Piccolo, returning to the company to serve as Executive Vice President, reporting to CEO Bill Gallo. “Steve will apply his considerable skills and experience, garnered through executive positions […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 9/19/2014 EnergySolutions is shaking up its corporate management of the Zion nuclear power plant decommissioning project, RW Monitor has learned, though the exact reason for the change remains unclear. Alan Parker, Chief Operating Officer of EnergySolutions’ Division of Projects and Products, will no longer have responsibility for the Zion project. […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 9/19/2014 While water contamination continues to plague the cleanup of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant, the Tokyo Electric Power Company appears to be making headway on the problem. TEPCO announced this week that it has successfully installed and has begun testing an enhanced ALPS water treatment system at the […]

The Tokyo Electric Power Company successfully installed and has begun testing an enhanced ALPS water treatment system at the Fukushima Daii-chi Power Station, the company announced yesterday. The new ALPS system builds off the existing treatment system in an effort to increase the treatment capacity. TEPCO plans to install two additional systems, with one going […]

EnergySolutions is making changes in how it manages the Zion decommissioning project at the corporate level, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing has learned. ES’s Division of Projects and Products, Projects and Technology COO Alan Parker will no longer oversee the Zion decommissioning. The project, though, will remain under the Division of Projects banner, but John Christian, […]

The following interview with San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) Community Engagement Panel Chair David Victor was conducted by RadWaste Monitor reporter Jeremy L. Dillon on the sidelines of last week’s 8th Annual RadWaste Summit in Summerlin, Nev. RW Monitor 9/12/2014 How has the identity of the Community Engagement Panel evolved over time? How does […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 9/12/2014 Japan’s International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning (IRID) issued a Request for Proposals late last week for a feasibility study on technology capable of investigating the reactor pressure vessel at the Fukushima Daii-chi Power Station. The RPV was badly damage in the accident, and innovative approaches are needed to […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 9/5/2014 SUMMERLIN, Nev.—The Mitsubishi Research Institute, one of the leaders of the Fukushima cleanup, has chosen Kurion, along with two other firms, to move forward in its tritium removal technology procurement to aid in the treatment of the contaminated water problem at the site. The other teams include bids from […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 9/5/2014 SUMMERLIN, Nev.—The San Onofre Generating Station’s decommissioning Community Engagement Panel Chairman David Victor warned against federal regulations encroaching on community concerns in the decommissioning process in remarks during this year’s RadWaste Summit, held here this week. Victor recommended that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission not require a Community Engagement Panel, […]