Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

A federal court on Friday agreed to review the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s call to dismiss a lawsuit challenging a proposed interim storage site in west Texas, according to case filings. Before the weekend, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals carried NRC’s Nov. 3 motion to dismiss Texas attorney general Ken Paxton’s suit against the agency […]

Citing safety and security, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission again delayed its review of a safety report required for licensing Holtec’s proposed interim storage site in New Mexico, the agency said Friday. Although NRC planned to have the safety and security report for Holtec International’s proposed interim storage site ready in time for a final licensing […]

Even if they succeed, the Joe Biden administration’s plans to revamp the way the government selects a spot for the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel will require a change to federal law, the Department of Energy’s inspector general wrote last week. “The [Fiscal year 2021] budget request included funds to begin development of interim […]

The state of New Mexico is expanding its legal campaign against spent fuel storage with a new lawsuit challenging a proposed interim storage facility in Texas, according to a press release this week. State attorney general Hector Balderas and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) asked a judge in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals […]

Fighting to keep its lawsuit over a proposed interim storage site alive, Texas’ attorney general said this week that the Lonestar State deserves its day in federal court because the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has effectively licensed a permanent nuclear repository in the state. Texas Attorney General Bill Paxton “will argue that by licensing a de […]

Fighting to keep its lawsuit over a proposed interim storage site alive, Texas’ attorney general said Tuesday that the Lonestar State deserves its day in federal court because the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has effectively licensed a permanent nuclear repository in the state. Texas Attorney General Bill Paxton “will argue that by licensing a de facto […]

The state of New Mexico is expanding its legal campaign against spent fuel storage with a new lawsuit challenging a proposed interim storage facility in Texas, according to a press release Monday. State attorney general Hector Balderas and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) asked a judge in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals to […]

Happy Friday and happy belated Veterans Day, fellow nuke-watchers. Before the weekend begins, here are some other updates from around the civilian nuclear power space that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. Keeping Diablo Canyon Open Could Reduce Emissions, Save Billions, Stanford Study Says The state of California could significantly reduce its carbon emissions and […]

Exchangemonitor.com has refreshed its website and now posts news and commentary from across the defense- and civilian-nuclear industries in (near) real time.  If you haven’t gotten used to checking exchangemonitor.com throughout the day, we could hardly blame you. Our old website didn’t allow us to push updates to you as quickly as we could write […]

As part of a foundation-shaking corporate split announced this week, General Electric said its nuclear services arm will be managed by a future spin-off company focused on the energy sector. General Electric’s (GE) power segment will be subsumed into a new business “positioned to lead the energy transition” in early 2024, the company said in […]

Texas has “a strong leg to stand on” in opposing an interim storage facility planned there, according to an op-ed published over the weekend by the Texas state lawmaker who sponsored the state’s recently-enacted ban on high-level nuclear-waste storage. With the passage of House Bill 7 in September, the Texas legislature “prevented radioactive waste of […]

In 2020, Dan Brouillette, then-President Donald Trump’s second energy secretary, allegedly violated the Hatch Act — the law that prevents public servants from campaigning for or supporting candidates for office, the special counsel said in a report this week.  Brouillette and 12 other Trump administration officials were implicated in the findings published Tuesday. According to […]

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 […]

Texas has “a strong leg to stand on” in opposing an interim storage facility planned there, according to an op-ed published Sunday by the Texas state lawmaker who sponsored the state’s recently-enacted ban on high-level nuclear-waste storage. With the passage of House Bill 7 in September, the Texas legislature “prevented radioactive waste of decommissioned nuclear […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — The Department of Energy’s plan to conduct market research about siting a federal interim spent fuel storage facility might amount to nothing if industry and spent fuel host communities do not raise a ruckus around it, a trade group executive said this week at the annual Decommissioning Strategy Forum. Although a Department […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV — When it comes to getting spent nuclear fuel away from former power plant sites, the industry is “doing the wrong thing” to pressure the federal government to take action, a utility executive said here this week. “[W]e really need to engage our governors and host communities more effectively to urge the federal […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — Advocacy in Washington for a consent-based approach to siting a permanent repository for the nation’s nuclear waste is only a political football that stalling “meaningful” progress towards a disposal solution, an official from the county hosting the moribund Yucca Mountain repository said here this week. “I believe we’re at a point where […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. With the Decommissioning Strategy Forum a wrap, here are some updates from the civilian nuclear power world that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week from our conference hub outside of Las Vegas: Industry Holding on for a Hero in Congress for Spent Fuel Solutions SUMMERLIN, NEV. — The nuclear industry needs someone […]

A federal judge should toss Texas’s suit against a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel because the state has not attempted to settle its grievance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission outside of court, the agency said Thursday.  It’s the same legal defense that the agency, which licensed Interim Storage Partners’ (ISP) proposed storage […]

Texas has until Dec. 13 to make opening arguments in its lawsuit against a recently-licensed commercial interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, according to a Wednesday filing in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. It’s the first major movement in the suit since early October, when the court accepted Interim Storage Partners (ISP) as […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — The Department of Energy’s plan to conduct market research about siting a federal interim spent fuel storage facility might amount to nothing if industry and spent fuel host communities do not raise a ruckus around it, a trade group executive said here Tuesday at the annual Decommissioning Strategy Forum. Although a Department […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV — When it comes to getting spent nuclear fuel away from former power plant sites, the industry is “doing the wrong thing” to pressure the federal government to take action, a utility executive said here Tuesday. “[W]e really need to engage our governors and host communities more effectively to urge the federal government […]

SUMMLIN, NEV. — Federal regulators should approve the sale of a Michigan nuclear power plant early next year, a Holtec executive said Monday 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 2022,” […]

A federal court case challenging one of two proposed commercial interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel remained on hold Wednesday as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission worked through its licensing review, the agency said in a status report filed this week. NRC told the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that Holtec International’s application to build […]

A federal court case challenging one of two proposed commercial interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel remained on hold Wednesday as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission worked through its licensing review, the agency said in a status report Tuesday. NRC told the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that Holtec International’s application to build an interim […]

A federal nuclear waste agency will take a look at some the Department of Energy’s recent research into long-term geologic storage of radioactive waste in November, according to a press release this week. During two days of public meetings starting Nov. 3, representatives from DOE’s national labs will present to the Nuclear Waste Technical Review […]

The company in charge of a recently-licensed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Texas is getting involved in the state’s federal suit against the proposed site, according to recent court filings. A judge in the U.S. fifth circuit court of appeals allowed Interim Storage Partners (ISP) to intervene in Texas attorney general Ken […]

A federal nuclear waste agency will take a look at some the Department of Energy’s recent research into long-term geologic storage of radioactive waste in November, according to a press release Monday. During two days of public meetings starting Nov. 3, representatives from DOE’s national labs will present to the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board […]

The company in charge of a recently-licensed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Texas is getting involved in the state’s federal suit against the proposed site, according to recent court filings. A judge in the U.S. fifth circuit court of appeals allowed Interim Storage Partners (ISP) to intervene in Texas attorney general Ken […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should finish its final environmental impact statement for Holtec International’s interim storage site proposed for Lea County, N.M., in November, an agency spokesperson told RadWaste Monitor this week.  The final licensing decision and a safety analysis are both still planned for January, the spokesperson said in an email Thursday. That schedule […]