Decommissioning

If California wants to talk about keeping its sole surviving nuclear power plant online, the Department of Energy would listen, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said this week. During an interview with Reuters Tuesday, Granholm said that keeping the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in Avila Beach, Calif., open “may be something that [California] decide[s] to […]

As the Nuclear Regulatory Commission navigates some internal controversy surrounding a recently-approved decommissioning rule, its oversight of plant dismantlement came under fire this week at a hearing in the Senate. “[W]ith its recent approval of the proposed decommissioning rule, I fear the NRC now stands for not recognizing [public] concerns,” said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) […]

The Department of Energy is hoping to give economically-troubled nuclear power plant operators a little certainty by speeding delivery of subsidies recently signed into law as part of this year’s bipartisan infrastructure plan, a DOE official said this week at an industry conference. “[I]t can take a little while for tax credits to kick in, […]

Although it’s been a whirlwind of a first year for Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman Christopher Hanson, he’s proud to lead the nation’s nuclear energy regulator. “As chairman, I get to see even more of the organization than I did as a commissioner,” Hanson told RadWaste Monitor during a 30-minute virtual interview Tuesday.  In the nine […]

If California wants to talk about keeping its sole surviving nuclear power plant online, the Department of Energy would listen, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said Tuesday. During an interview with Reuters Tuesday, Granholm said that keeping the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in Avila Beach, Calif., open “may be something that [California] decide[s] to take […]

As the Nuclear Regulatory Commission navigates some internal controversy surrounding a recently-approved decommissioning rule, its oversight of plant dismantlement came under fire Wednesday at a hearing in the Senate. “[W]ith its recent approval of the proposed decommissioning rule, I fear the NRC now stands for not recognizing [public] concerns,” said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) at […]

In an interview Tuesday with the Exchange Monitor, the chair of the The Nuclear Regulatory Commission hit back against another commissioner’s charges that a long-awaited decommissioning rulemaking proved the agency’s regulatory capture. “[O]ne of the things that’s getting out there in the aether is that somehow the agency’s taken on kind of a laissez-faire approach […]

There won’t be any significant environmental or safety issues if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission allows Holtec International to dip into a Michigan nuclear plant’s decommissioning funds for nuclear waste management, the agency said recently. Granting Holtec an exemption to use Palisades Nuclear Generating Station’s decommissioning trust fund for spent fuel management and site restoration activities […]

If a California nuclear power plant is allowed to shut down as scheduled it will “inflict grave harm” on the state’s economy and environment, leaders of a prominent nuclear professional association said in a statement last week. “Years ago, California made a decision to shut down the Diablo Canyon [Power Plant] units. However, circumstances have […]

Holtec International’s hopes of taking over government payouts for spent fuel storage at a Massachusetts nuclear plant under decommissioning were dashed this week when a federal judge ruled in favor of the site’s former owner, according to a new court filing. Although Holtec currently owns Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, the plant’s former owner Boston Edison […]

New York-based NorthStar can continue participating in a public review of the Kewaunee Power Station’s sale to EnergySolutions, and the review  need not be restricted to the acquirer’s finances, according to a transcript released this week. During a Nov. 3 prehearing conference held by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (WPSC), Administrative Law Judge Michael Newmark […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Here are some other updates from around the civilian nuclear power space that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week: Humboldt Bay’s License Terminated as Decommissioning Wraps Up A former California nuclear power plant had its federal operating license terminated this week as decommissioning activities drew to a close, according to a press release […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Wednesday allowed a new Exelon spin-off company to take ownership of over a dozen current and former nuclear power plants currently owned by the utility, according to a press release. As part of Exelon’s corporate restructuring, a currently-unnamed holding company will assume control of the utility’s 17 nuclear sites, NRC said […]

Holtec International’s hopes of taking over government payouts for spent fuel storage at a Massachusetts nuclear plant under decommissioning were dashed Monday when a federal judge ruled in favor of the site’s former owner, according to a new court filing. Although Holtec currently owns Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, the plant’s former owner Boston Edison is […]

New York-based NorthStar can continue participating in a public review of the Kewaunee Power Station’s sale to EnergySolutions, and the review  need not be restricted to the acquirer’s finances, according to a transcript released Tuesday. During a Nov. 3 prehearing conference held by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (WPSC), Administrative Law Judge Michael Newmark ruled […]

The Department of Energy has until March or so to hammer out the details of a tax credits program for financially-troubled nuclear power plants after President Joe Biden signed a long-awaited infrastructure package into law Monday. The bipartisan bill, which opens up around $6 billion in federal funding over a five-year period to provide tax […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is still hammering the Department of Energy about a nearly decade-old recommendation to stiffen safety requirements at Savannah River Site’s Building 235-F to avoid a plutonium release from the aging structure. In a Nov. 2 letter to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Joyce Connery, the board chair, praised DOE […]

A major subproject to clear out space for new pit-manufacturing equipment at the Los Alamos National Laboratory will cost about $530 million and finish ripping up old glove boxes and equipment by 2025 or so, a lab spokesperson said. In the decontamination and decommissioning of Los Alamos’ PF-4 Plutonium Facility, which is being expanded to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is wrapping up its end of the decommissioning process at a former California nuclear power plant and deemed several locations at the site safe for unrestricted use, according to a recent letter from the agency. NRC approved three of Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG&E) final status survey reports (FSSRs) for sections […]

An inspection at Holtec International’s headquarters found that the company violated some federal regulations in its spent fuel cask program, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a recent letter. In a letter to Holtec president and CEO Krishna Singh, dated Oct. 28 and made public Thursday,  NRC said its investigation team in May discovered three […]

After an Illinois climate bill bailed out two financially-struggling nuclear plants in the state, the utility operating the reactors said last week that their lifespans had been significantly increased. Byron Nuclear Generating Station’s Unit 2 reactor will run until 2046 and its Unit 1 reactor is slated to shut down in 2044, Exelon said in […]

It will be weeks or maybe even early 2022 before the Department of Energy shares more details about how it will auction off $6 billion worth of credits to struggling nuclear power plants over the next five years, a DOE official said this week. “It’ll really be a little while before we have the details […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is wrapping up its end of the decommissioning process at a former California nuclear power plant and deemed several locations at the site safe for unrestricted use, according to a recent letter from the agency. NRC approved three of Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG&E) final status survey reports (FSSRs) for sections […]

Editor’s note, 11/10/2021, 1:44 p.m. Eastern time. The story was corrected to show that Los Alamos is scheduled to complete the PF-4 decontamination and demolition subproject in fiscal year 2025.   A major subproject to clear out space for new pit-manufacturing equipment at the Los Alamos National Laboratory will cost about $530 million and finish […]

After an Illinois climate bill bailed out two financially-struggling nuclear plants in the state, the utility operating the reactors said last week that their lifespans had been significantly increased. Byron Nuclear Generating Station’s Unit 2 reactor will run until 2046 and its Unit 1 reactor is slated to shut down in 2044, Exelon said in […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is still hammering the Department of Energy about a nearly decade-old recommendation to stiffen safety requirements at Savannah River Site’s Building 235-F to avoid a plutonium release from the aging structure.  In a Nov. 2 letter to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Joyce Connery, the board chair, praised DOE […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — The site of a shuttered New Jersey nuclear power plant could one day host an advanced modular reactor, Holtec International’s regulatory affairs chief said this week at the Decommissioning Strategy Forum. Holtec is “evaluating” Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station to determine whether it’s a suitable site for the company’s SMR-160 modular reactor, […]

Decommissioning at a long-shuttered California nuclear power plant is complete, the company in charge of the project told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently. Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has “completed the final phase of decommissioning” at the Humboldt Bay Power Plant’s Unit 3 reactor, the utility company told NRC in a letter dated Oct. 21. […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — The utility company in charge of a California nuclear power plant is preparing to roll out its plan to decommission the site, a representative said this week at the annual Decommissioning Strategy Forum. “We’ll have several major announcements in the next 90 days about how the work is going to get done” […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — Federal regulators should approve the sale of a Michigan nuclear power plant early next year, a Holtec executive said this week at the Exchange Monitor’s annual Decommissioning Strategy Forum. Holtec International expects the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to approve its acquisition of the Palisades Power Plant from Entergy “no later than January of […]