Commercial Low-Level Waste

The state of Montana is revising a set of proposed rules issued last year for management of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material waste (TENORM). The state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said in a Jan. 24 memo it believes “revisions of the rules are warranted to address public concern and stakeholder input” received since […]

By John Stang A week after announcing that private-equity firm J.F. Lehman had acquired Waste Control Specialists (WCS), the companies are largely closed-mouth about details of the deal. The involved parties – Lehman, WCS, and former owner Valhi Inc. – announced the sale in three separate press releases after market close on Friday, Jan. 26. […]

Months after a federal court blocked its last merger attempt, Waste Control Specialists (WCS) announced Friday that it has a new owner: private equity firm J.F. Lehman & Co. The sale from holding company Valhi was made public after market close. The Lehman affiliate JFL-WCS Partners LLC is now the owner of a 14,900-acre complex in Andrews […]

Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission aims by the end of February to decide whether to move forward with a full technical review of Holtec International’s license application for a consolidated interim spent fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico. The regulator has been conducting its acceptance review since the New Jersey energy technology […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is waiting to see whether the Department of Energy will issue a topical safety analysis report (TSAR) on temporary storage of spent commercial nuclear reactor fuel, officials said last week. The TSAR would be expected to address technical issues with consolidated interim storage of used fuel, which could be important […]

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said Wednesday it plans by Jan. 30 to request a 90-day extension to its rulemaking on management of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) waste. The request, which will be submitted to Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton, is intended to give DEQ additional time to consider […]

A rulemaking now underway at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality would reduce certain charges for disposal of radioactive waste at Waste Control Specialists’ facility in West Texas in hopes of driving up business at the financially struggling company. The state agency in late 2017 initiated the rulemaking to amend a number of segments of […]

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said Wednesday it plans by Jan. 30 to request a 90-day extension to its rulemaking on management of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) waste. The request, which will be submitted to Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton, is intended to give DEQ additional time to consider […]

A rulemaking now underway at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality would reduce certain fees for disposal of radioactive waste at Waste Control Specialists’ site in West Texas in hopes of driving up the company’s business. The agency in late 2017 initiated a rulemaking to amend a number of components of Title 30 of the […]

The comment period on a draft environmental assessment (EA) for a planned above-ground storage facility at the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., has been extended by two weeks, DOE said recently. The original 30-day comment period, from Dec. 15 through Jan. 15, will now end Jan. 29, DOE said in a […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has reopened the comment period for a draft final guidance on requests for alternative disposal of very low-level radioactive waste. The comment period, which initially closed on Dec. 18, will now stretch to Jan. 17, according to a Dec. 21 notice in the Federal Register. Comments can be submitted at www.regulations.gov, […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has reopened the comment period for a draft final guidance for agency staff reviews of requests for alternative disposal of very low-level radioactive waste. The comment period, which initially closed on Dec. 18, will now stretch to Jan. 17, according to a Dec. 21 notice in the Federal Register. Comments […]

RadWaste Monitor will not be published on Dec. 29 in observance of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Please look for the next issue in your inbox on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018.

A second round of state depositions has been scheduled for January on the proposed sale of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. Depositions were previously held in October as the Vermont Public Utility Commission considers whether to authorize transfer of ownership of Vermont Yankee from power company Entergy to nuclear decommissioning specialist NorthStar Group […]

The state of Colorado is restricting disposal of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) waste within its borders while it advances potential legislation to regulate the material. Under Colorado’s 1963 Radiation Control Act the state is prohibited from developing regulations for managing TENORM prior to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency taking the same action […]

The state of Colorado is restricting disposal of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) waste within its borders while it prepares language for potential legislation to regulate the material. Under Colorado’s 1963 Radiation Control Act the state is prohibited from developing regulations for managing TENORM prior to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency taking the […]

Waste Control Specialists is still seeing interest from other potential buyers in the wake of its foiled merger with rival EnergySolutions, a company spokesman said last week. “People and entities are still looking at it and we anticipate there will be new ownership at some point,” WCS spokesman Chuck McDonald said by telephone on Dec. […]

A lawmaker from New York state has introduced legislation aimed at easing the way for placing spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste into interim storage until a permanent repository is built. The “Removing Nuclear Waste from our Communities Act of 2017” is one of three bills filed in November by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) that […]

Waste Control Specialists is still seeing interest from other potential buyers in the wake of its foiled merger with rival EnergySolutions, a company spokesman said last week. “People and entities are still looking at it and we anticipate there will be new ownership at some point,” WCS spokesman Chuck McDonald said by telephone. McDonald said […]

Congress has received the Department of Energy’s report on options for disposal of Greater-Than-Class C and Class-C-Like Waste, setting the stage for legislative approval of the department’s preferred alternative to potentially divide the material between commercial sites and DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. The Energy Department projects the United States will hold […]

The U.S. Department of Energy has thrown its support behind limiting compliance to 1,000 years in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s update to its Part 61 rule on storage of low-level radioactive waste (LLRW). “DOE is fully supportive of moving to a single 1,000-year time of compliance and sees no unintended consequences,” according to comments submitted […]

Congress has received the Department of Energy’s report on options for disposal of Greater-Than-Class C and Class-C-Like Waste, setting the stage for legislative approval of the department’s preferred alternative to potentially divide the material between commercial sites and DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. The Energy Department projects the United States will hold […]

Canadian agencies announced on Nov. 24 that milestones in development of the Near Surface Disposal Facility for low-level radioactive waste in Ontario were being pushed back. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is updating its draft environmental impact statement for the planned site following a public comment period that ended on Aug. 16, according to a notice from […]

The U.S. Department of Energy has thrown its support behind limiting compliance to 1,000 years in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s update to its Part 61 rule on storage of low-level radioactive waste (LLRW). “DOE is fully supportive of moving to a single 1,000-year time of compliance and sees no unintended consequences,” according to comments submitted […]

Thomas Gardiner While southeastern New Mexico has been a hub for nuclear business, and its leaders eagerly pursue new opportunities, there is some pushback against advancing plans to build an interim nuclear waste storage facility in the region. “We have a rather long nuclear history in New Mexico, we have a nuclear cluster,” said John […]

Perma-Fix Environmental Services on Nov. 10 indicated it is moving ahead with testing of technology for treating low-activity radioactive waste from the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, while acknowledging funding challenges facing its medical isotope program. The Atlanta-based based nuclear services and waste management specialist offered the update in a 10-Q filing with the U.S. […]

RadWaste Monitor will not be published on Friday, Nov. 24, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Look for the next issue in your inbox on Friday, Dec. 1.

Perma-Fix Environmental Services on Nov. 10 indicated it is moving ahead with testing of technology for treating low-activity radioactive waste from the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, while acknowledging funding challenges facing its medical isotope program. The Atlanta-based based nuclear services and waste management specialist offered the update in a 10-Q filing with the U.S. […]

The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission has proposed a new rule intended to give it more information about imports of such waste into the state. The update to the Texas Administrative Code would cover most all low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) imported into the state that is not destined for disposal at the “Compact […]

The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission has proposed a new rule intended to give it more information about imports of low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) into the state. The update to the Texas Administrative Code would cover all such waste that is not destined for disposal at the “Compact Facility” – the state-owned site […]