Commercial Decommissioning

In some of the first public details about decommissioning work at California’s last operating nuclear plant, Orano USA announced this week that it had locked down a contract to transfer the site’s spent fuel into dry storage post-shutdown. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), which owns and operates Diablo Canyon Power Plant, selected Orano USA subsidiary […]

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO — The almighty dollar is the only thing standing in the way of Holtec International’s plans to build an advanced reactor at the site of a former New Jersey nuclear plant, the company’s CEO said here this week. “The government is the one that has to step up” to help fund Holtec’s […]

The decommissioning company aiming to purchase a Wisconsin nuclear power plant expects that the state regulatory reviewing the transaction should make a decision before the summer, according to a recent letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Wisconsin Public Service Commission (WPSC) has received its final party briefings and won’t hold any more hearings on […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff working on a proposed decommissioning rules change are planning to have the final version of the updated regulations on the commissioners’ desks by next year, the project’s manager said at an annual agency conference this week. The final decommissioning rule, a draft of which went live for public comment March 3, […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff working on a proposed decommissioning rules change are planning to have the final version of the updated regulations on the commissioners’ desks by next year, the project’s manager said at an annual agency conference Wednesday. The final decommissioning rule, a draft of which went live for public comment March 3, should […]

One of the three serving commissioners at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission went to bat for the agency’s proposed decommissioning rules change Tuesday at an annual regulatory conference. Commissioner David Wright, who in November voted alongside NRC Chairman Christopher Hanson to approve a set of rules updates aimed at lowering regulatory barriers for nuclear plant operators […]

Nuclear segment revenue at Entergy, New Orleans, was down over $200 million in 2021, mainly due to a New York nuclear reactor shutting down last spring, the company said in recently-published financial documents. For the year ended Dec. 31, Entergy Wholesale Commodities, the company’s business segment responsible for operating its nuclear fleet, reported around $698 […]

Nuclear segment revenue at Entergy, New Orleans, was down over $200 million in 2021, mainly due to a New York nuclear reactor shutting down last spring, the company said in recently-published financial documents. For the year ended Dec. 31, Entergy Wholesale Commodities, the business segment responsible for operating the company’s nuclear fleet, reported around $698 […]

In the latest volley of corporate sparring over the sale of a Wisconsin nuclear plant, the decommissioning company purchasing the site has asked the state public works commission to ignore comments made by the head of another company that’s trying to muscle in on the transaction, according to recent documents. The Wisconsin Public Service Commission […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we dive into the long weekend, here are a few other stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. Diablo Canyon Host Community to Press Newsom on Plant Closure Officials from the California community hosting the soon-to-close Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant will send a letter to the Golden State’s governor […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has canned a coalition of anti-nuclear groups’ call for a public hearing on a recently-approved order allowing Exelon to transfer ownership of over a dozen of its former nuclear plants to its generation spin-off company, the agency said this week. The Environmental Law and Policy Center (EPLC) nonprofit and anti-nuclear group […]

A bipartisan bill unveiled last week aims to move a California nuclear power plant’s spent fuel inventory to the top of the Department of Energy’s collection list for when it finally starts accepting nuclear waste for disposal. If the “Spent Fuel Prioritization Act,” reintroduced Wednesday by Reps. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), became […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we close up shop and enjoy the unseasonably warm weather in D.C. this weekend, here are a few other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. Oyster Creek Host Community to Receive $160K Fed Grant The New Jersey community that played host to a nuclear power plant for over 50 years […]

As legislators on Capitol Hill weigh in on Holtec International’s now-delayed proposal to discharge wastewater from Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station into a nearby bay, local politicians are also chiming in to voice their opposition. “We will never allow the dumping of radioactive material into Cape Cod Bay,” said state Sen. Susan Moran (D-Plymouth), during a […]

New Jersey’s economic development commission is appealing a recent court decision granting Holtec International a multi-million dollar state tax break, according to a recent court filing. According to a Jan. 20 appeal notice, viewed Wednesday by RadWaste Monitor, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) is challenging the Mercer County Superior Court’s Dec. 30 ruling […]

The company in charge of decommissioning a Massachusetts nuclear power plant sought to set the record straight early Thursday on its now-delayed plans to discharge the site’s wastewater into the Cape Cod Bay. Although Holtec has said that it won’t release any wastewater from Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station into the nearby bay this year, president […]

New Jersey’s economic development commission is appealing a recent court decision granting Holtec International a multi-million dollar state tax break, according to a recent court filing. According to a Jan. 20 appeal notice, viewed Wednesday by Exchange Monitor, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) is challenging the Mercer County Superior Court’s Dec. 30 ruling […]

After an environmental group’s complaints, the company in charge of decommissioning a Michigan nuclear plant said in a Tuesday regulatory filing that it plans to switch the contractor for the job. Comprehensive Decommissioning International (CDI), part-owned by SNC-Lavalin and responsible for dismantling Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, will no longer be the project’s general contractor, Holtec […]

A lawsuit filed in federal court last week aims to force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to turn over more records related to a 2018 spent-fuel handling mishap at a California nuclear power plant under decommissioning, according to court records. The suit, filed Jan. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California […]

WV State Senate Bill Reversing Ban on Nuclear Plant Construction Headed to Full Chamber A bill advancing through West Virginia’s state legislature would walk back an existing ban on new nuclear power plants in the Mountain State.  Senate Bill (SB) 4, which passed the state Senate’s economic development committee on a voice vote Wednesday, would […]

Vermont’s citizen-led nuclear waste advisory committee would support “immediate action” by the federal government to site an interim storage facility for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, if a draft opinion presented to the committee is finalized. The draft opinion included alongside a Dec. 6 meeting of the Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens’ Advisory Panel (NDCAP) proposed […]

New Jersey’s economic development commission can’t stop Holtec International from receiving an annual tax incentive payout, a state court ruled recently. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) must grant Holtec a $26 million payment from 2018 that is one part of a roughly $260 million state tax incentive the Camden, N.J.-based nuclear services company […]

New Jersey’s economic development commission can’t stop Holtec International from receiving an annual tax incentive payout, a state court ruled recently. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) must grant Holtec a $26 million payment from 2018 that is one part of a roughly $260 million state tax incentive the Camden, N.J.-based nuclear services company […]

Despite the still-raging pandemic, Holtec International’s decommissioning and advanced nuclear business lines had a pretty good year, the nuclear services company said in a roll-up press release Monday. The Camden, N.J., based Holtec moved 207 casks of spent nuclear fuel into dry storage at 21 plants around the world in 2021, the company said in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed fining Holtec International, Camden, N.J., $150,000 for unspecified security violations at the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant that the company is decommissioning.  This summer, the NRC disclosed security violations related to spent fuel and falsified records about firearms at the shuttered plant in Lacey Township. “Holtec has 30 days to […]

If transferring spent nuclear reactor fuel from wet to dry storage was an Olympic sport, Holtec International would take home the gold — at least according to the company. In a Dec. 13 press release, the Camden, N.J., nuclear services company announced that it had completed spent fuel transfer at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station Dec. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday should give decommissioning company Holtec International the go-ahead to buy two Michigan nuclear power plants, according to a recent notice from the agency. In a Dec. 3 letter to the commissioners, the agency said NRC staff should issue an order Monday approving the sale of Palisades Nuclear Generating Station […]

The senior vice president of Pacific Gas & Electric’s generation business, and the head of its nuclear energy segment, will retire at the end of the year, the company said this week. Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Senior Vice President of Generation Jim Welsch planned to retire effective Dec. 31, according to a Monday press […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — Advocacy in Washington for a consent-based approach to siting a permanent repository for the nation’s nuclear waste is only a political football that stalling “meaningful” progress towards a disposal solution, an official from the county hosting the moribund Yucca Mountain repository said here this week. “I believe we’re at a point where […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission greenlit Wednesday a proposed rule aimed at streamlining the decommissioning process for nuclear power operators, the agency said in a statement. The newly-approved rule would implement “specific regulatory requirements” for reducing agency-mandated safety and emergency preparedness protocols at nuclear power plants that become unnecessary when the site is being decommissioned, NRC […]