Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

The Department of Energy would like to begin early next year planned shipments of a portion of the uranium-233 inventory at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to the Nevada National Security Site for disposal, Mark Whitney, the DOE cleanup manager in Oak Ridge, said yesterday in a call with reporters. The shipment of the 403 canisters […]

Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Peter Lyons highlighted the need for legislative progress on the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future’s recommendations for the disposal of radioactive waste in remarks to reporters at the American Nuclear Society’s Winter Meeting yesterday. “We need something to move before we have the legislative authority […]

The full Savannah River Site Citizen’s Advisory Board voted yesterday to back a position paper that opposes consolidated storage of commercial spent nuclear fuel at the site. The vote comes after some community groups have taken initial steps to explore the possible establishment of an interim storage site in the Savannah River region. The Department […]

Nuclear waste will be at the forefront of the minds of the U.S. Congress this week, with hearings set in both the House and Senate. First the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee will meet July 30 to consider nuclear waste legislation, introduced in June by a bipartisan group of Senators including the committee chairman […]

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz mostly voiced support for the Senate’s nuclear waste legislation yesterday, calling major parts of the bill “potentially workable” at a hearing on the bill, although he noted the administration has not taken a position on the legislation. At the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, Moniz said the bill—proposed in […]

The Department of Energy has begun a study on whether it should continue plans to co-mingle defense nuclear waste with commercial used fuel for long-term storage and disposal, which it plans to finish this fall. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said yesterday at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing that it is worth […]

Though calls from Republicans not to abandon Yucca Mountain dominated a House Environment and the Economy subcommittee hearing with Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz on nuclear waste strategy yesterday, there appeared to be at least some progress toward toward new legislation as a bipartisan group of lawmakers stating support for a bill, as long as […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week released its draft environmental analysis in support of a revised Waste Confidence Determination, with staff remaining on track to have a new determination in place in 2014. The commissioners approved staff’s draft, and asked for a few additional details to be added before the document is released to the […]

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval (R) and Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz this week agreed to form a working group to find a path forward for disposal of a controversial batch of uranium-233 at the Nevada National Security Site. The group, which plans to meet soon, will be led by DOE Acting Assistant Secretary for […]

While this week’s court decision forcing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to complete the Yucca Mountain licensing process was hailed by industry groups and Yucca supporters, so far the NRC and DOE have given no indication on their path forward.  On Tuesday the court granted 2 to 1 a mandamus petition to complete the repository’s licensing […]

The Department of Energy is not examining any alternatives for the uranium-233 it hopes to send to the Nevada National Security Site for disposal in the event that concerns by Nevada officials are not resolved, DOE cleanup chief Dave Huizenga said yesterday. Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) and other Nevada officials have opposed the shipment, but […]

While the Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted on its Draft Waste Confidence Decision earlier this month, issues raised in the votes will “take some time” to resolve, NRC Commissioner George Apostolakis said yesterday. Last year, the NRC set a two-year schedule to update its waste confidence decision and complete an Environmental Impact Statement after a court […]

Calling the recent court decision condemning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s shutdown of the Yucca Mountain licensing process a “well-justified rebuke,” a New York Times editorial yesterday called for the Agency to restart repository licensing. Last week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found 2-to-1 that the NRC’s shutdown in 2010 was illegal, […]

Pro-Yucca Mountain petitioners are asking NRC Chairman Allison MacFarlane to recuse herself from any Yucca-related decisions following the recent court ruling compelling the NRC to restart and complete the repository’s licensing process. The NRC’s general counsel is expected to soon make a recommendation on whether or not to appeal the decision. In the meantime, parties […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking input from the parties that challenged the Commission’s decision to stop work on the Yucca Mountain license application on how best to restart its review. The NRC’s move, announced late last week, comes in response to a recent ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit […]

The Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition, an interest group representing consumer advocates, local governments, and state utility regulators, along with other government and industry experts, yesterday called on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to move forward with the timely completion of the Commission’s review of the license application for the Yucca Mountain repository. The coaltion’s Sept. 3 […]

The final environmental impact statement for Greater-than-Class-C waste disposal is expected to be issued by the end of this year, a Department of Energy official said yesterday. While acknowledging that DOE previously expected to issue the final EIS by now, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Waste Management Frank Marcinowski said at this year’s ExchangeMonitor Publications’ RadWaste […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced late last week a series of 12 meetings across the United States to discuss with the public the NRC’s new proposed Waste Confidence rule and environmental impact study. The proposed rule and study will be released on Sept. 13, and a 75-day public comment period will follow. According to a […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Allison Macfarlane is set to testify to House lawmakers today that the NRC will “act expeditiously” on how to proceed in the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain repository following a court ruling directing the Commission to resume its review. In her testimony to the House Energy and Commerce Environment and […]

Members of the House Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, led by Subcommittee Chairman John Shimkus (R-Ill.), accused the NRC and NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane of stalling in their attempts to re-initiate the license review process for the Yucca Mountain application in a hearing yesterday on the progress of the Yucca Mountain license review. Shimkus […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Allison Macfarlane issued a decision early this week to deny the motion calling for her recusal from matters dealing with the Yucca Mountain repository licensing review. “I can state without hesitation that I have not prejudged the technical, policy, or legal issues in this adjudicatory proceeding, and that my expertise will […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Allison Macfarlane said yesterday the NRC remains on track to complete a revised waste confidence rule in 2014. “I think the date is still achievable. We are still on track to do that,” Macfarlane said in remarks at the Platts Energy Podium in Washington. When the NRC first issued a revised […]

The U.S. Department of Energy Idaho Operations awarded a contract of a half million dollars to Rand Corporation yesterday for continued support of a white paper the company put together on the creation of a possible new used nuclear fuel and high-level waste management organization, according to a notice yesterday. The notice said the white […]

Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) criticized a Nuclear Regulatory Commission draft study that said spent nuclear fuel pools were not at risk from severe earthquakes in a letter to NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane early this week. The letter also points to a peer-reviewed study from 2003, co-written by Macfarlane, which concluded that air-cooling would be “relatively […]

Oral arguments will take place Wednesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioner’s case challenging the Department of Energy’s continued collection of the Nuclear Waste Fee. The court reopened the case in February, after NARUC challenged DOE’s court-mandated fee adequacy review. Following the Yucca […]

Department of Energy Nuclear Energy Senior Policy Advisor Chris Hanson yesterday backed a proposal in draft Senate nuclear waste legislation that would create a new federal agency headed by a single administrator to manage spent nuclear fuel. "A single administrator would be better … that way there’s a single bellybutton we can push, we being […]

In an editorial printed in the Chicago Tribune yesterday, House Environment and the Economy Subcommittee Chairman John Shimkus (R-Ill.) wrote that “building a repository at Yucca Mountain would still be the fastest, best and most viable solution” for the country’s spent nuclear fuel. Though the Blue Ribbon Commission, the Obama Administration, and a bipartisan group […]

When designing fuel, the management responsibilities at the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle should be kept in mind, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Allison Macfarlane said at the agency’s Fuel Cycle Exchange meeting yesterday. “With all this discussion about identifying areas of common ground and broadening cooperation across industries, I believe we must also […]

The House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee also is set to provide $656.3 million for DOE’s Nuclear Energy program, with $5 million of that to “be made available to affected units of local government … to support the Yucca Mountain high-level waste geological repository,” according to a draft version of the FY 2014 Energy and Water […]

House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) yesterday defended his panel’s continued push for the currently shuttered Yucca Mountain geological waste repository in the Fiscal Year 2014 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. The bill, which was reported out of subcommittee yesterday, would provide $25 million to sustain the Yucca Mountain project, as […]