Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission spent under $8,000 in December on planning activities for the moribund Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, the agency’s chairman told the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a letter last week. In a letter dated Feb. 8, NRC chair Christopher Hanson told Energy and Commerce head Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) that […]

In the midst of a winter weather emergency that left millions without power and caused a nuclear plant to shut down in the Lone Star State, Waste Control Specialists’ waste storage site experienced no problems, a spokesman said Wednesday. A representative for the 1,338-acre storage facility in Andrews County, Texas told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing […]

A New Mexico Senate committee on Tuesday passed a bill that would create a statewide task force to negotiate with the federal government over the siting of nuclear-waste storage sites in the Land of Enchantment. The state Senate Conservation Committee passed SB 82, introduced by state Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D), on a 5-2 vote and […]

A major environmental group asked a judge to force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reconsider a basket of objections to the licensing of an interim storage site, including one the agency initially acted on, according to court filings last week. Sierra Club filed a petition Feb. 9 in D.C.’s Ninth Circuit court to reopen nine […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission spent under $8,000 in December on planning activities for the moribund Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, the agency’s chairman told the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a letter last week. In a letter dated Feb. 8, NRC chair Christopher Hanson told Energy and Commerce head Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) that […]

The chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s environmental subcommittee did not rule out interim nuclear waste storage sites as a part of the Biden administration’s climate agenda during a press conference this week. Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), who heads up the Environment and Climate Change subcommittee, told RadWaste Monitor during the virtual presser […]

Another environmental group asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to delay the licensing of Interim Storage Partners’ proposed consolidated interim storage facility in west Texas, according to an appeals court filing this week. In the Wednesday filing, anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to reverse the licensing […]

The Nevada Senate got another would-be Biden administration official to pledge no funding for Yucca Mountain on Wednesday during the confirmation hearing for Neera Tanden to be the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Tanden, former president of the Center for American Progress, told Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) during the hearing […]

A proposed bill in the New Mexico state Senate that would have created a state-level “radioactive waste consultation task force” was left in limbo Thursday after a split vote in the chamber’s Conservation Committee. Committee members tied 4-4 on motions to advance SB 82 to the full Senate. Proposed by state Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D), […]

The Nevada Senate got another would-be Biden administration official to pledge no funding for Yucca Mountain on Wednesday during the confirmation hearing for Neera Tanden to be the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Tanden, former president of the Center for American Progress, told Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) during the hearing […]

The chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s environmental subcommittee did not rule out interim nuclear waste storage sites as a part of the Biden administration’s climate agenda during a press conference Tuesday. Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), who heads up the Environment and Climate Change subcommittee, told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing during the virtual […]

Another environmental group asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to delay the licensing of Interim Storage Partners’ proposed consolidated interim storage facility in west Texas, according to a Wednesday morning appeals court filing. In the filing, anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to reverse the licensing proceedings […]

The Las Vegas Sun urged local lawmakers to resume efforts to rename Las Vegas’ airport after Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the former majority leader and political hard-baller who helped block construction of a permanent nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. McCarran International Airport was named for Sen. Patrick McCarran (D), who represented Nevada in the […]

The New Mexico’s state Senate Conservation Committee did not debate as scheduled this week on a proposed bill that would create a statewide  “radioactive waste consultation task force.” The committee adjourned Thursday without discussing the proposed legislation, SB 82. The committee is scheduled to reconvene Tuesday, a week after the measure first appeared on a […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission won’t reconsider a minerals company’s objections to the licensing of Interim Storage Partners’ proposed consolidated interim storage site in West Texas, according to a recent agency filing. According to last Friday’s filing, the commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board threw out the most recent of three motions filed last year by […]

A team of environmental interest groups is petitioning a federal to reverse the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s December rejection of two separate requests to delay the licensing of Interim Storage Partners’ proposed consolidated interim storage facility, according to a legal filing this week. The environmental groups asked the court of appeals for the D.C. circuit to […]

New Mexico’s state Senate Conservation Committee adjourned Tuesday without debating proposed legislation that would create a “radioactive waste consultation task force,” but the body is set to reconvene Thursday to tackle the issue.   The bill is one of 14 on the committee’s schedule this week. The body voted on only two of those 14 measures […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission won’t reconsider a minerals company’s objections to the licensing of Interim Storage Partners’ proposed consolidated interim storage site in West Texas, according to a recent agency filing. According to Friday’s filing, the commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board threw out the most recent of three motions filed last year by Fasken […]

New Mexico’s state Senate will discuss a new bill Tuesday that would create a “radioactive waste consultation task force” to negotiate waste disposal siting with the federal government. The New Mexico Senate’s Conservation Committee will hear the bill, introduced by state Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D) on Jan. 19, and vote later on whether to send […]

Jennifer Granholm, President Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of energy, vowed Wednesday that cleaning up the Hanford Site would be a top priority if she is confirmed by the Senate. “You have my assurance that this is going to be a priority,” Granholm, the former Michigan governor, said in response to questioning from Sen. Ron […]

The construction of Interim Storage Partners’ consolidated interim storage facility won’t pose a threat to indigenous peoples’ historical sites, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday. In a letter to the Comanche Nation chair William Nelson, dated Jan. 26, the Commission said that the proposed consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) in Andrews, Texas will have “low […]

The Department of Energy should use consent-based siting to find a permanent geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel, Jennifer Granholm, President Biden’s energy secretary nominee, said Wednesday. The former Michigan governor told Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) and members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee at her confirmation hearing that “site-based consensus strategies” are […]

Jennifer Granholm, President Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of energy, vowed Wednesday that cleaning up the Hanford Site would be a top priority if she is confirmed by the Senate. “You have my assurance that this is going to be a priority,” Granholm, the former Michigan governor, said in response to questioning from Sen. Ron […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a petition to extend the review deadline for documents related to Holtec’s proposed interim storage site, according to a recent commission filing. The Commission on Friday released a memo approving the extension and moving the deadline to Jan. 28 after a pair of interest groups petitioned the NRC for an […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in the process of implementing new inspection procedures that will standardize a more streamlined protocol across all of its standalone spent nuclear fuel storage facilities, the agency said Thursday. In a Tweet, the NRC said their enhanced guidelines for oversight of independent spent fuel storage installations (ISFSIs) focus on “the […]

Nuclear services company Orano projects it will double its output of dry-storage canisters, relative to 2020, after consolidating its heavy manufacturing in the United States, the company said in a statement.  In 2020, Orano fulfilled all of its customer contracts for its NUTECH horizontal modular storage system (NUHOMS) dry-storage canisters while operating at two-thirds manufacturing […]

Nuclear services company Orano projects it will double its output of dry-storage canisters, relative to 2020, after consolidating its heavy manufacturing in the United States, the company said in a statement.  In 2020, Orano fulfilled all of its customer contracts for its NUTECH horizontal modular storage system (NUHOMS) dry-storage canisters while operating at two-thirds manufacturing […]

The incoming Biden administration should designate a senior official reporting to the White House to negotiate both long-term and interim radioactive waste storage with Congress, said David Klaus in an op-ed published Tuesday by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. “A senior negotiator representing the administration would provide focus, leadership, and momentum for legislative action […]

While a Biden presidency may well keep Yucca Mountain on ice, there might be some hope of the administration pushing for a solution to long-term waste storage, if nuclear power figures into the united Democratic government’s clean-energy push.  Biden and his energy-secretary-to-be, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) will determine whether nuclear survives the cut […]

Lowering the hazard classification of some defense-nuclear waste could save the Department of Energy more than $200 billion in disposal costs, the agency told Congress in a report three years in the making. Most of the potential savings, between roughly $70 billion and $200 billion, would come from reclassifying low-activity waste at the Hanford West […]