Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

Public input about the Department of Energy’s proposed consent-based siting process for a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel could be published by March 31, an agency official said Wednesday. A full collection of responses DOE received as part of its November request for information (RFI) should be available “by the end of […]

New Mexico’s attorney general moved his fight against commercial interim storage to an appeals court after a District Court threw out his first challenge to the site in early March, according to recent court documents. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has until May 9 to respond to state Attorney General Hector Balderas’s most recent arguments against […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission violated federal law when it licensed a proposed commercial facility in Texas to store nearly half of the country’s spent nuclear fuel, a coalition of anti-nuclear groups argued Friday as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the agency. NRC, which in September gave its blessing to Waste Control Specialists-Orano USA joint […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers — hope you’re recovering from any St. Patrick’s Day festivities. As we head into the weekend, here are a few more stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. Safety systems at Zaporizhzhia nuke plant still online, IAEA reports Two of five power lines connecting Ukraine’s largest nuclear plant to the grid […]

While the Joe Biden administration grapples with plans for a geologic repository for high-level waste to replace the stalled Yucca Mountain project in Nevada, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) urged the nominee to lead the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy office to prioritize a defense waste disposal site. “I believe you should separate defense from commercial […]

  The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy should soon publish a report wrapping up community input on its interim storage inquiry, the White House’s pick to lead the office told Senators during a confirmation hearing Thursday. A summary report on DOE’s recently-closed request for information (RFI) on its proposed consent-based siting process for […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Your RadWaste Monitor reporter was on the red-eye back from Phoenix after the first in-person Waste Management Symposia in two years. Here are some other stories from across the civilian nuclear space that we were tracking this week. DOE to award $36M for advanced nuclear waste research The Department of Energy will […]

PHOENIX — Holtec International’s proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel could be greenlit by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the coming months, the company’s government services lead said here this week. NRC could make a licensing decision on the Holtec site, proposed for Eddy County, N.M., by the second quarter of 2022, Vice […]

PHOENIX — An executive with an energy coalition representing the host community of a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in New Mexico asked attendees at an industry conference this week to help ensure that a bill introduced in Congress last week, aimed at blocking the site, dies. “I implore any of you […]

PHOENIX — The Department of Energy planned to give some cash to communities interested in hosting a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel but the agency’s spent fuel czar declined to provide details during a panel discussion here this week. DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy is “in the development phases” of a funding […]

In a reprieve for U.S. commercial interim storage, a federal judge in New Mexico late this week tossed a state lawsuit aimed at blocking such a facility in the southeastern part of the state, new court filings show. In a Thursday order, the U.S. District Court for New Mexico dismissed state Attorney General Hector Balderas’s […]

If you ask Sam Shakir, president of Westinghouse’s environmental services division, nuclear waste shouldn’t be taboo for the nuclear industry. “I think the nuclear industry has stayed away from the controversy of spent fuel because everyone’s interested in building new plants and they don’t want to associate that with any sort of negative perceptions associated […]

PHOENIX — The Department of Energy planned to give some cash to communities interested in hosting a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel but the agency’s spent fuel czar declined to provide details during a panel discussion here Tuesday. DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy is “in the development phases” of a funding opportunity […]

PHOENIX — An executive with an energy coalition representing the host community of a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in New Mexico asked attendees at an industry conference Tuesday to help ensure that a bill introduced in Congress last week, aimed at blocking the site, dies. “I implore any of you that […]

PHOENIX — Holtec International’s proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel could be greenlit by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the coming months, the company’s government services lead said at an industry conference Monday. NRC could make a licensing decision on the Holtec site, proposed for Eddy County, N.M., by the second quarter of […]

PHOENIX — The nuclear industry has done its fair share to convince the public that private spent-fuel depots are safe, and the federal governments must now step up to the plate, the head of Westinghouse’s environmental services division said Monday. “If [the government] wants to stand behind a commercial site, they would have to take […]

A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate this week would prevent the government from using federal funds to develop privately-owned interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel, according to a press release. If it became law, the bipartisan legislation unveiled Wednesday by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) would bar the feds from […]

Fewer people than five years ago want to share ideas about how to site a federally owned interim storage site for nuclear waste, a Department of Energy official told the federal government’s nuclear agency this week. As of Tuesday, DOE had gotten just around 125 comments on its interim storage request for information (RFI) since […]

A bipartisan bill introduced Wednesday in the Senate would prevent the government from using federal funds to develop privately-owned interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel, according to a press release. If it became law, the bipartisan legislation unveiled Wednesday by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) would bar the feds from using […]

Fewer people than five years ago want to share ideas about how to site a federally owned interim storage site for nuclear waste, a Department of Energy official told the federal government’s nuclear agency Wednesday. As of Tuesday, DOE had gotten just around 125 comments on its interim storage request for information (RFI) since the […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we head into the weekend, here are a couple of other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. Former Chernobyl Nuclear Plant, Waste Sites in Russian Hands, Ukraine Says The status of the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant and its waste facilities are “unknown” after Russian forces seized the site Thursday, […]

Back end segment revenue at Orano, Paris, France, was up in 2021, due in part to an agreement signed last summer between the company and the German government allowing Berlin to retake possession of its intermediate-level nuclear waste, according to financial documents published this week. Revenue for the back end business line, which includes used […]

The interested public has just about one week left to suggest ways the Department of Energy could go about siting a future federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. March 4 is the deadline for submitting comments on DOE’s request for information (RFI) about the interim storage inquiry the agency unveiled in November. DOE […]

A bill aimed at banning the storage of high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel in New Mexico is no more after the state House of Representatives tabled the measure without debate this week. House Bill 127, sponsored State Rep. Matthew McQueen (D), is dead in this year’s session of the state legislature, McQueen told RadWaste […]

By now, even nuclear-industry professionals who shun the Washington, D.C., beltway may know the name Sam Brinton.  In January, senior agency leadership selected Brinton — a 2013 MIT graduate whose master’s thesis was dedicated to used nuclear fuel storage — to be the Department of Energy’s next deputy assistant secretary of spent fuel and waste […]

A bill aimed at banning the storage of high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel in New Mexico is no more after the state House of Representatives tabled the measure without debate this week. House Bill 127, sponsored State Rep. Matthew McQueen (D), is dead in this year’s session of the state legislature, McQueen told Exchange […]

A bipartisan bill unveiled last week aims to move a California nuclear power plant’s spent fuel inventory to the top of the Department of Energy’s collection list for when it finally starts accepting nuclear waste for disposal. If the “Spent Fuel Prioritization Act,” reintroduced Wednesday by Reps. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), became […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we close up shop and enjoy the unseasonably warm weather in D.C. this weekend, here are a few other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. Oyster Creek Host Community to Receive $160K Fed Grant The New Jersey community that played host to a nuclear power plant for over 50 years […]

When it comes to potential host communities for a future federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, the Department of Energy plans to cast a wide net, the agency’s acting nuclear waste chief told members of a California decommissioning advisory board this week. DOE’s November request for information (RFI) on federal interim storage is […]

No existing federal law allowed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to license a proposed commercial interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Texas, the Lone Star State’s attorney general told a federal judge this week, rolling out his long-awaited argument in the state’s lawsuit against the agency. NRC “lacks authority” to grant a license to […]