Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/10/2014 The Bi-partisan Policy Center announced this week that it is undertaking a new campaign, headed by Tim Frazier, former executive director of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, aimed at finding a workable implementation strategy to dealing with the nation’s nuclear waste. The campaign will conduct events, […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/10/2014 The Department of Energy has begun efforts to satisfy requirements set forth by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission concerning the license review of the Yucca Mountain geological repository, according to a letter Assistant Energy Secretary for Nuclear Energy Peter Lyons sent to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/10/2014 The Department of Energy filed for a re-hearing en banc late last week in the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit concerning the court’s decision to reduce the Nuclear Waste Fund fee to zero. DOE argued that the three-judge panel’s unanimous ruling places it in a “damned if […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/10/2014 The Bi-partisan Policy Center announced this week that it is undertaking a new campaign, headed by Tim Frazier, former executive director of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, aimed at finding a workable implementation strategy to dealing with the nation’s nuclear waste. The campaign will conduct events, […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/10/2014 The Department of Energy has begun efforts to satisfy requirements set forth by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission concerning the license review of the Yucca Mountain geological repository, according to a letter Assistant Energy Secretary for Nuclear Energy Peter Lyons sent to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/10/2014 The Department of Energy filed for a re-hearing en banc late last week in the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit concerning the court’s decision to reduce the Nuclear Waste Fund fee to zero. DOE argued that the three-judge panel’s unanimous ruling places it in a “damned if […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/16/2014 The Nuclear Waste Fund fee was reduced to zero May 16 as the Department of Energy complied with a federal court’s ruling from late last year that said the fee should be eliminated until a time when DOE either makes progress on the now-shuttered Yucca Mountain waste repository or […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/9/2014 The latest round of House Republican outrage concerning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s handling of the Yucca Mountain licensing review occurred this week during a House Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing as lawmakers chastised the Commission for failing to request funds to complete the review as well as failing to […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/14/2014 A federal court this week awarded Duke Energy the repayment of costs incurred for the storage of spent nuclear fuel due to the Department of Energy’s failure to live up to its contract to manage the spent fuel, as required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. The Federal Court […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/14/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is still considering its options on how to move forward with the supplemental environmental impact statement required for the Yucca Mountain licensing review after the Department of Energy recently said it would not complete it, NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane said this week. “We’re still considering […]

The time period to file an appeal to the Supreme Court in the Yucca Mountain writ of mandamus decision expired last night at midnight with no appeals being filed by any opponents to the decision that compelled the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to finish the Yucca licensing review. The end of the 90-day appeal time frame […]

The markup of the “Nuclear Waste Administration Act” bill that currently resides in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has been delayed once again after the sponsors of the bill sent the proposed legislation to the Congressional Budget Office for additional scoring. Committee Chairman Ron Wyden had expressed a desire to mark the bill […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission late last week denied requests for clarification on the timeline and cost figures associated with the NRC Yucca Order issued last year, citing that nothing in the court’s writ of mandamus required detailed time and budgetary outlines. Nye County, Nev., the States of South Carolina and Washington, Aiken County, S.C., and […]

The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered yesterday that the petitioners in the Nuclear Waste Fund Fee case respond to the Department of Energy’s motion for a re-hearing en banc, extending the time period the court has to decide if the motion should be granted. The petitioners, the National Association of Regulatory Utility […]

Texas state lawmakers are considering the logistics and economic impact of potentially hosting a high-level radioactive waste disposal site or interim storage facility, according to the Interim Committee Charges issued by Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus (R) late last week. The Charge also asked the Committee on Environmental Regulation to consider what actions […]

The U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board will be host a public meeting in Albuquerque, N.M. next month to discuss Department of Energy research and development results regarding the suitability of salt as a medium for geological disposal of spent fuel and high level nuclear waste. The meeting, scheduled for March 19, will feature presentations […]

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners suggested that the Department of Energy can fix the Nuclear Waste Fund fee on its own without the need for a rehearing en banc, according to NARUC’s response to DOE’s en banc motion filed this week. DOE is arguing that the court has placed it in a “damned […]

Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz reiterated the Obama Administration’s stance that Yucca Mountain is “unworkable” as a disposal site for the nation’s spent fuel in a talk given yesterday at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Winter Meeting, held in Washington D.C. “Look, might as well say it up front, obviously there may be […]

The “Nuclear Waste Administration Act” is unlikely to see any movement during this year due to the change in leadership of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee , according to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) during remarks at the at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Winter Meeting, held in Washington D.C. Murkowski said […]

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission risk assessment report has found that the transportation of spent nuclear fuel would cause low radiological impact to the environment or public, even in the case of an accident. The report, commissioned by the NRC to analyze the effects advancements in transportation technology have had on shipment risks, concluded that “if […]

The group that successfully petitioned the court for a writ of mandamus to compel the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to re-start the Yucca Mountain licensing review is seeking lawyer fees from the NRC, according to a motion filed this week. The petitioners, made up of Aiken County, S.C., State of South Carolina, State of Washington, and […]

The Department of Energy will not complete the supplemental environmental impact statement that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requested be completed to support its review of the Yucca Mountain licensing, although DOE will give NRC all the technical information it has on the EIS and suggested the NRC prepare the report itself. DOE had indicated previously […]

NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane reiterated yesterday that the Commission is still considering its options on how to move forward with the supplemental environmental impact statement required for the Yucca Mountain licensing review after the Department of Energy said it would not complete it two weeks ago. “We’re still considering what our options are,” Macfarlane said […]

NRC Commissioner William Magwood said yesterday at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulatory Information Conference that the Commission’s Waste Confidence update remains on track, although he anticipates more legal challenges to “whatever we come up with.” “We are on track for this fall that that process for Waste Confidence should be over,” Magwood said. “We have […]

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is continuing to oppose the Department of Energy’s plans to ship a portion of its uranium-233 inventory currently stored at Oak Ridge to the Nevada National Security Site for disposal in the wake of two public meetings held last week in Nevada on the issue. While DOE has said […]

A federal court awarded three nuclear power plants last week more than $225 million from the Department of Energy for costs related to the storage of spent fuel. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims cited a breach of contract between the utilities, Maine Yankee, Connecticut Yankee, and Yankee Atomic, and DOE as justification for the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued an Order yesterday outlining the path forward for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository licensing review, headed by the completion and release of the Safety Evaluation Reports associated with the construction authorization application. The Order also calls on the Department of Energy to complete a supplemental environmental impact statement that […]

The Department of Energy is considering undertaking a demonstration project for disposal of defense high level waste in deep boreholes, DOE Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Pete Lyons said yesterday. “We are working towards a borehole demonstration project,” Lyons said at a Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board workshop in Washington, D.C. “That was one of […]

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for D.C. yesterday ordered the Department of Energy to suspend collection of the Nuclear Waste Fee from electricity ratepayers after a challenge from the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. NARUC filed the suit after the Yucca Mountain shutdown, opposing DOE’s continued collection of the fee on consumption of […]

The Nuclear Waste Administration Act bill appears to be moving forward to the mark up stage as Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D.-Ore) has said he wants to move to mark up the bill in December. Previously, Wyden had said during a committee hearing on Nov. 21 that he wanted to […]