Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

The Department of Energy is once again seeking candidates to run the agency’s spent nuclear fuel disposal programs, according to a job posting listed last week. DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy is looking for a “seasoned executive” to join the agency as its Deputy Assistant Secretary for Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition, according to the […]

A recent poll conducted by New Mexico-based environmental organizations found that more than half of respondents opposed a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the Land of Enchantment, local media reported over the weekend. The December survey from the Southwest Research and Information Center and the Center for Civic Policy, viewed by […]

The New Mexico legislature will again try to legally prohibit Holtec International from building an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the state, according to a bill filed this week. The legislation, introduced Wednesday by state Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D), would if signed amend state law to ban disposal of spent nuclear fuel […]

A recent poll conducted by New Mexico-based environmental organizations found that more than half of respondents opposed a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the Land of Enchantment, local media reported over the weekend. The survey, taken in December as a joint effort between the Southwest Research and Information Center and the […]

A Department of Energy official this week sought to distance the agency’s efforts to site a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel from two similar projects proposed by private companies. DOE was “directed by Congress to establish a federal interim storage capability,” Natalia Saraeva, senior advisor for the agency’s Office of Nuclear Energy, […]

WATERFORD, CT — Congress probably will not allow the Department of Energy to build an interim storage site for nuclear waste any time soon, one of Capitol Hill’s foremost advocates for spent fuel solutions said this week. Federal law passed as part of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act says the Department of Energy has to […]

WATERFORD, CT — The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy will begin looking for a new head of spent fuel and waste disposition soon, the head of the office said this week. DOE plans to open applications for deputy assistant secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition “in the coming days,” Assistant Secretary of […]

RadWaste Monitor will not publish on Friday, Dec. 30, 2022 in observance of the New Year’s holiday. Happy holidays to everyone!

WATERFORD, CT — Congress probably will not allow the Department of Energy to build an interim storage site for nuclear waste any time soon, one of Capitol Hill’s foremost advocates for spent fuel solutions said here Tuesday. Federal law passed as part of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act says the Department of Energy has to […]

WATERFORD, CT — The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy will begin looking for a new head of spent fuel and waste disposition soon, the head of the office said here Tuesday. DOE plans to open applications for deputy assistant secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition “in the coming days,” Assistant Secretary of […]

The White House last week announced that nuclear risk management expert Nathan Siu will head up the government’s independent nuclear waste technology auditor, according to a press release. The Joe Biden administration appointed Siu, who was previously a senior technical adviser in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s risk analysis division, as designated chair of the Nuclear […]

The Department of Energy’s point-person for nuclear waste issues is out of a job this week after being implicated in a pair of brazen luggage thefts at airports in Minnesota and Nevada, according to reports. Sam Brinton, who had been DOE’s deputy assistant secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition since June 19, is no […]

Sam Brinton, hired over the summer to lead the Department of Energy’s efforts to find a disposal solution for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, was fired from the agency following multiple accusations of felony theft, according to reports. Brinton was removed from their post as DOE’s deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition, […]

The White House last week announced that nuclear risk management expert Nathan Siu will head up the government’s independent nuclear waste technology auditor, according to a press release. The Joe Biden administration appointed Siu, who was previously a senior technical adviser in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s risk analysis division, as designated chair of the Nuclear […]

Samuel Brinton, the Department of Energy’s recently-hired head of nuclear waste policy, has been implicated in another alleged theft, this time at a Nevada airport, according to documents obtained by the Exchange Monitor. Brinton, who has served as DOE’s deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition since June, was accused of grand larceny […]

Communities interested in receiving federal funding to explore hosting an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel now have through January to apply, the Department of Energy announced this week. The deadline for DOE’s roughly $16 million interim storage funding opportunity is now Jan. 31, the agency announced in a Tweet Wednesday. Dec. 19 had […]

Communities interested in receiving federal funding to explore hosting an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel now have through January to apply, the Department of Energy announced Wednesday. The deadline for DOE’s roughly $16 million interim storage funding opportunity is now Jan. 31, the agency announced in a Tweet Wednesday. Dec. 19 had been […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. For those of us who don’t mind getting up early on a chilly December Saturday, the U.S. plays the Netherlands in the knockout stage of the World Cup starting at 10 a.m. Eastern. Before that, though, here are some other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking from across the civilian nuclear power space […]

Sam Brinton’s alleged theft of a woman’s suitcase from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in September, and the lies Brinton allegedly told law enforcement about it, has greatly damaged Brinton’s credibility. To take the wrong suitcase from an airport baggage carousel is one thing. To take a suitcase from a carousel at your destination after […]

A Texas company that owns land in the state’s oil-rich Permian Basin told a federal court this week that, despite claims by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the company had the right to sue the agency over an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel proposed for the region, court documents show. Fasken Land and Minerals, […]

WASHINGTON — Days after news broke that Samuel Brinton, a Department of Energy official responsible for nuclear waste policy, was charged with felony theft in Minnesota, Brinton’s boss spoke only in general terms to lawmakers and press here Thursday about possible disciplinary steps. “It is certainly correct that when a DOE clearance-holder is charged with […]

The ranking member of the Senate’ Energy and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday urged the Department of Energy to fire its head of spent nuclear fuel disposal activities following news of a recent felony theft charge. In his Tuesday letter to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) expressed “serious concerns” regarding news that […]

A Texas company that owns land in the state’s oil-rich Permian Basin told a federal court Monday that, despite claims by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the company had the right to sue the agency over an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel proposed for the region, court documents show. Fasken Land and Minerals, LLC, […]

The state of Minnesota has charged the Department of Energy’s recently-hired head of spent nuclear fuel management with felony theft, court documents show. According to a criminal complaint filed Oct. 27 in Minnesota’s 4th Judicial District Court, Sam Brinton, who began working in June as DOE’s deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition, […]

In observance of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, RadWaste Monitor will not publish this Friday, Nov. 25. Look for the next issue in your inbox on Friday, Dec. 2.

With Samuel Brinton on a leave of absence from the Department of Energy, Kim Petry was asked to stay on as acting deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition “for the foreseeable future,” she wrote in an email to colleagues late last week. “I should have another update for all of you in […]

Establishing a federal commission dedicated to overseeing the disposal of spent fuel from commercial nuclear reactors should be one of Congress’s most pressing tasks, according to a new report from the government’s independent research organization. Congress “will need to establish a single-mission entity with responsibility for managing and disposing of commercial nuclear waste,” the National […]

In a federal lawsuit, Texas said recently that the state is legally allowed to take its complaint about a proposed nuclear waste storage depot directly to federal court and skip engagement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, court papers show. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in a Friday brief […]

The governor of New Mexico implored the White House in a recent letter to step in and block the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from licensing a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the Land of Enchantment. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), a longtime opponent of Holtec International’s proposed interim storage site in Lea […]

In a federal lawsuit, Texas said recently that the state is legally allowed to take its complaint about a proposed nuclear waste storage depot directly to federal court and skip engagement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, court papers show. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in a Friday brief […]