Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

The House of Representatives on Friday approved a massive appropriations package that provides nothing to resume licensing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, despite pleas late in the week from four Republican lawmakers. In a nearly party-line vote, the Democrat-led chamber passed a roughly $1.3 trillion, six-bill spending “minibus” for the fiscal 2021 budget […]

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Tuesday called on President Donald Trump to oppose commercial plans for facilities in her state and neighboring Texas that could temporarily store tens of thousands of tons of radioactive used fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. “Given that a permanent repository for high-level waste does not exist […]

The House of Representatives on Friday approved a massive appropriations package that provides nothing to resume licensing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, despite pleas late in the week from four Republican lawmakers. In a nearly party-line vote, the Democrat-led chamber passed a roughly $1.3 trillion, six-bill spending “minibus” for the fiscal 2021 budget […]

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Tuesday called on President Donald Trump to oppose commercial plans for facilities in her state and neighboring Texas that could temporarily store tens of thousands of tons of radioactive used fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. “Given that a permanent repository for high-level waste does not exist […]

By John Stang A New Jersey state judge on July 17 signed a consent order authorizing Holtec International to continue decommissioning of the retired Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station. The order nominally resolves a brief dispute between the energy technology company and leaders in largely rural Lacey Township in south New Jersey, home to the […]

An article in the July 17 edition of RadWaste Monitor cited an incorrect number of spent-fuel storage casks covered by a new inspection plan at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California.

The congressman representing the district surrounding the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state is facing off with five challengers in an Aug. 4 primary for which voting by mail has already started. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) has represented the 4th Congressional District in central Washington since January 2015. As a member of House Appropriations […]

Orano TN said Wednesday it has promoted a vice president to the newly established position of chief commercial officer. Roger Maggi assumed the role this month after more than two years as vice president for aging management systems at the nuclear logistics subsidiary of Orano USA, according to his LinkedIn profile. “I want to thank […]

NAC International will provide the canisters that would hold radioactive waste in storage or disposal through Deep Isolation’s planned “horizontal borehole” approach, the two companies announced Wednesday. In a press release, Berkeley, Calif.-based Deep Isolation said it had sealed an extended cooperation deal with NAC, a spent nuclear fuel management specialist headquartered in Peachtree Corners, […]

The House Appropriations Committee on Monday threw its support behind the Trump administration’s new plan to develop interim storage of radioactive waste now held at commercial and government facilities around the nation. In a 30-21 party-line vote, the Democrat-majority panel advanced its $49.6 billion energy and water bill for fiscal 2021 to the full House. […]

The House Appropriations Committee on Monday threw its support behind the Trump administration’s new plan to develop interim storage of radioactive waste now held at commercial and government facilities around the nation. In a 30-21 party-line vote, the Democrat-majority panel advanced its $49.6 billion energy and water bill for fiscal 2021 to the full House. […]

The Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission have begun early discussions on extending the nearly 2-decade-old license for a spent-fuel storage facility that has not been built at the Idaho National Laboratory. “This matter is unique in that the facility was never constructed or operated. It’s also the first of a kind in that […]

The Department of Energy remains in the early stages of studying potential options for recycling used nuclear power plant fuel, Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal said Wednesday. “To look at the option of recycling and what falls under that umbrella, is something that my team has started to do,” Baranwal said during a […]

It is ultimately up to Congress to decide whether it wants the federal government to move ahead with establishing a repository for nuclear waste under Yucca Mountain in Nevada, Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said Tuesday. During an oversight hearing before the House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee, Brouillette said the Trump administration is focused […]

A coalition of 60 advocacy groups is calling on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to freeze the comment period on the draft environmental impact statement for a planned spent nuclear fuel storage facility in West Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proceeding should be suspended until the end of the federal public health emergency for novel […]

Failure to provide funding for the Yucca Mountain geologic repository in Nevada signals a lack of leadership in Congress and at the White House toward finally resolving the decades-long impasse over disposal of the nation’s nuclear waste, Representative Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) said during a budget markup Monday. The House Appropriations Committee voted 30-21 in favor […]

The House Appropriations Committee on Sunday expressed skepticism about the Department of Energy’s approach to management of nuclear waste, even as it seems likely to approve the funding request for the upcoming budget year. In the fiscal 2021 energy and water development bill released last week, the Democrat-led panel met the department’s $27.5 million request: […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic could further extend its timeline to rule on two applications for facilities in Texas and New Mexico for storage of spent nuclear fuel. The agency’s reviews are now expected to wrap by next summer, but that is subject to change. They are already off their […]

By John Stang Local leaders on Thursday touted the anticipated economic benefits of a planned spent nuclear fuel storage site in southeastern New Mexico, while others characterized the project as an example of economic racism. About 40 people spoke during a second webinar to discuss the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on […]

The House Appropriations Committee appears ready to support the Department of Energy’s request for $27.5 million in its next budget to help stand up a program for temporary centralized storage of spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. The $49.6 billion energy and water development appropriations legislation unveiled Monday would provide that amount to cover […]

The House Appropriations Committee appears ready to support the Department of Energy’s request for $27.5 million to help stand up a program for temporary storage of spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. The $49.6 billion energy and water appropriations legislation released Monday would provide that amount to cover DOE costs “necessary for nuclear waste disposal […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in May spent $2,859 from its remaining Nuclear Waste Fund balance, breaking its streak of using next-to-nothing from the account intended to pay for the repository under Yucca Mountain, Nev. Since early 2019, the regulator had each month spent a few hundred dollars on unspecified program planning and support. It applied […]

By John Stang The Sierra Club plans to appeal a June 18 order by a licensing board at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that rejected its remaining challenges to Holtec International’s application to build an interim used nuclear fuel storage installation in New Mexico. This will send the matter back to the full commission, which has […]

Congressman Mike Levin (D-Calif.) said Wednesday he is considering several legislative measures aimed at fixing the federal government’s decades-long failure to find a permanent disposal space for tens of thousands of tons of nuclear waste. One of those steps could involve taking the mission away from the Department of Energy in favor of a Nuclear […]

The next issue of RadWaste Monitor will be published on Thursday, July 2, in observance of the Independence Day holiday.

By John Stang A draft federal environmental impact statement (EIS) for a proposed used nuclear fuel storage site in southeastern New Mexico focuses on a 40-year licensing period, and does not sufficiently consider that the radioactive material might remain there long past that point, opponents of the project argued Tuesday. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held […]

The Canadian government said Friday it has formally terminated its environmental review of a now-canceled proposal from Ontario Power Generation (OPG) for deep geologic disposal of radioactive waste on the grounds of its Bruce nuclear power plant. “The Minister of Environment and Climate Change has terminated the environmental assessment of the Deep Geologic Repository for […]

By John Stang A coalition of environmental organizations on Wednesday petitioned a federal appeals court to overturn a Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision against several challenges to a proposed consolidated interim used nuclear fuel installation in southeastern New Mexico. This is the second lawsuit from organizations that say the agency has unlawfully prevented them from intervening in […]

A coalition of environmental organizations on Wednesday petitioned a federal appeals court to overturn a Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision against challenges to a proposed consolidated interim used nuclear fuel installation in New Mexico. On April 23, the commission rejected nearly all appeals from several organizations to a 2019 decision by an NRC Atomic Safety and […]

A draft federal environmental impact statement (EIS) for a proposed used nuclear fuel storage site in New Mexico only looks at the next 40 years, and does not sufficiently consider that the radioactive material might remain there long past that point, opponents of the project argued Tuesday. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a public meeting […]