Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

By John Stang The Nuclear Regulatory Commission as of Friday had approved three exemptions for nuclear plants to exceed federal limits on work hours to ensure they remain operational during the COVID-19 pandemic. All three facilities are owned by Chicago-based power company Exelon: the Limerick Generating Station in Montgomery County, Pa., on April 3; the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday provided a large swath of its licensees with an overview of options for relief from federal nuclear rules as they strive to sustain operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency addressed a letter to more than 2,400 licensees authorized to hold byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials, excluding operating […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission spending from its Nuclear Waste Fund balance slipped below $100 in February, according to the agency’s monthly report to Congress. The outlay of $97 for unspecified program planning and support left the agency with a balance of $430,881 from the fund intended to pay for federal disposal of high-level radioactive waste from […]

Assistant Energy Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal suggested last week that a foreign entity could be used for recycling of U.S. spent nuclear fuel. “If we don’t build a recycling plant in the United States, that’s OK, there are other entities that certainly could do this for us,” Baranwal said during a March 27 […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was urged Monday to give the public more time to comment on two controversial proceedings after the COVID-19 crisis has passed. Currently, stakeholders have a matter of weeks to provide input on a key environmental document in federal licensing of a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in New Mexico, as […]

Holtec International has sued the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) in an effort to force the state agency to resume providing $260 million in tax credits promised in 2014. The Camden, N.J., energy technology company on Tuesday announced the lawsuit, filed March 20 in the Superior Court of New Jersey. “In disregard of its […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was urged Monday to extend consideration of updating its rules on disposal of very low-level radioactive waste (VLLW) in landfills until the COVID-19 crisis has passed, or to just end the proceeding altogether. Extending the comment period on the proposal for up to six months past the end of the pandemic […]

Assistant Energy Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal suggested Friday that a foreign entity could be used for recycling of U.S. spent nuclear fuel. “If we don’t build a recycling plant in the United States, that’s OK, there are other entities that certainly could do this for us,” Baranwal said during a webinar hosted by […]

The organization planning Canada’s deep geologic repository for spent fuel from nuclear power plants hopes engagement with First Nations peoples can help it avoid a major complication that recently befell a similar project for radioactive waste disposal. In February, Ontario Power Generation terminated plans to build a repository for low- and intermediate-level waste on the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Thursday it is considering a request from New Mexico’s congressional delegation for more time to submit comments on a key document in licensing a planned spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the state. The NRC, like agencies at all levels of government, is wrestling with managing its regular operations while […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday it expects shortly to decide on a request from New Mexico’s congressional delegation for more time to submit comments on a key document for a planned spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the state. “An announcement should come soon,” agency spokesman David McIntyre said by email. In a draft […]

The Department of Energy is still preparing a report to Congress on “innovative options” for meeting its legal requirement to dispose of tens of thousands of tons of U.S. nuclear waste. “The Department is currently working on the report, and we’ll follow up once it’s public,” a spokesperson said by email Monday. The spokesperson did […]

PHOENIX – Two Nevada officials with distinctly different opinions on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository last week offered distinctly different views on what the Trump administration’s latest budget might mean for the future of the always-embattled project. In February, the White House issued a fiscal 2021 spending plan that included nothing to resume licensing […]

The Department of Energy is still preparing a report to Congress on “innovative options” for meeting its legal requirement to dispose of tens of thousands of tons of U.S. nuclear waste. “The Department is currently working on the report, and we’ll follow up once it’s public,” a spokesperson said by email Monday. The spokesperson did […]

President Donald Trump on Thursday formally nominated Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes to the No. 2 position at the Department of Energy. If confirmed by the Senate, Menezes would assume the DOE deputy secretary position left vacant in December when Dan Brouillette was sworn in as secretary of energy. “Congratulations to my friend and colleague […]

PHOENIX – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering merging two long-running efforts to update federal regulations on disposal of radioactive waste, a senior official said here Monday. Agency staff is currently determining the paths forward for both a potential rulemaking on Greater-Than-Class C Waste and the continuing Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Rulemaking, according to Patricia […]

PHOENIX – Another company indicated Monday it would be ready to bid on an anticipated procurement from the Department of Energy to design a facility for interim storage of nuclear waste. “We are interested in interim storage,” Rod Baltzer, chief operating officer for Deep Isolation, told RadWaste Monitor. “With our design, we do think you […]

President Donald Trump on Thursday formally nominated Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes to the No. 2 position at the Department of Energy. If confirmed by the Senate, Menezes would assume the DOE deputy secretary position left vacant in December when Dan Brouillette was sworn in as secretary of energy. “Congratulations to my friend and colleague […]

A working group of staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recommended downshifting the standard schedule for inspections of spent reactor fuel storage pads from roughly every two years to three years. That was the No. 1 recommendation in the draft final version of Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) Inspection Enhancement Initiative, issued on […]

Staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday preliminarily recommended licensing a facility in New Mexico for temporary storage of spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. The tentative support is provided in the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for Holtec International’s planned consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) in Lea County, in the state’s southeast. […]

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) latest legislative push to establish a pilot program for interim storage of radioactive waste got stuck in Senate gridlock this week when the big, bi-partisan energy bill stalled out amid a fight about climate change. Feinstein’s proposal was one of many amendments being balled up into a legislative package known as […]

Staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday preliminarily recommended licensing a facility in New Mexico for temporary storage of spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. The tentative support is provided in the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for Holtec International’s consolidated interim storage facility in Lea County, in the state’s southeast. “Based on […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in January spent just $219 of its remaining balance from the Nuclear Waste Fund. That left the agency with a balance of $430,978 from the fund intended to pay for a national repository for high-level waste from defense nuclear operations and spent fuel from commercial nuclear power plants. “While there are […]

PHOENIX – Another company indicated Monday it would be prepared to bid on an anticipated procurement from the Department of Energy to design a facility for interim storage of nuclear waste. “We are interested in interim storage,” Rod Baltzer, chief operating officer for Deep Isolation, told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. “With our design, we do […]

PHOENIX – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering merging two long-running efforts to update federal regulations on disposal of radioactive waste, a senior official said here Monday. Agency staff is currently determining the paths forward for both a potential rulemaking on Greater-Than-Class C Waste and the continuing Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Rulemaking, according to Patricia […]

A working group of staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recommended downshifting the standard schedule for inspections of spent reactor fuel storage pads from roughly every two years to three years. That was the No. 1 recommendation in the draft final version of Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) Inspection Enhancement Initiative, issued Friday. […]

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) has raised a long list of concerns about a draft of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s environmental impact statement for a planned used nuclear fuel storage facility in the state. Even as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) and other state leaders have objected to the project from energy technology company […]

President Donald Trump on Monday nominated a Democratic Party staffer on the Senate Appropriations Committee to fill a vacancy on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has already scheduled a March 11 hearing to consider Christopher Hanson’s nomination, along with the nomination of serving Commissioner David Wright to a full […]

WASHINGTON —Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette on Tuesday would not commit to supporting a congressional rewrite of the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act to exclude mandatory construction of a permanent nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “If we were to consider a repeal of the 1987 amendment that designated Yucca Mountain as the […]

The Department of Energy plans to take bids on the design of a facility for interim storage of used reactor fuel from nuclear power plants, a senior official said Tuesday. Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal discussed the upcoming procurement in a hearing on the Energy Department’s latest budget proposal before the House Appropriations […]