Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

The U.S. Department of Energy and other agencies would remain funded at prior-year levels almost through the end of December, under a second stopgap spending plan announced this week to keep the federal government operating while Congress tries to finalize its fiscal 2020 budget. Meanwhile, the top Democrat and Republican members of the House and […]

It could be well into 2020 before the U.S. Department of Energy can begin shipping spent fuel from the Byron nuclear power plant in Illinois to DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory. Likewise, it will probably take years before all the lab transuranic waste covered by a 1995 settlement agreement between DOE, the state, and the Navy […]

The United States must finally settle on a strategy for disposition of spent nuclear fuel if it hopes to revitalize its atomic energy sector, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said Wednesday, without offering a timeline for introduction of a bill intended to help achieve that goal. Barrasso discussed the matter in starting off a hearing of […]

Three U.S. senators on Wednesday reintroduced legislation intended to expedite the transfer of radioactive spent fuel into dry storage at nuclear power plants. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) is lead sponsor on the legislation, with co-sponsors Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). “Addressing the safe storage of spent nuclear fuel is critical for the […]

The public will have an in-person opportunity Thursday to weigh in on Westinghouse’s application for renewal of its federal license for the Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina, following multiple safety and infrastructure incidents that have drawn concern from state and federal agencies. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has scheduled a public comment […]

The U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management is starting market research for vendors to provide low-level and mixed low-level waste treatment services. The nuclear cleanup office on Tuesday issued a request for information (RFI)/sources-sought notice for waste treatment services at various sites across the DOE complex. The Cincinnati-based Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center said […]

The Department of Energy has no authority to issue contracts for any commercially operated spent nuclear fuel storage services, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a recent letter to a member of Congress. That runs counter to the business plans laid out by both corporate teams seeking federal regulatory approval for consolidated interim storage facilities […]

European nations continue to struggle with establishing permanent disposal for tens of thousands of tons of radioactive spent nuclear fuel, and with determining how much it will cost, according to a new report published by the Berlin-based Heinrich Boell Foundation. Sixteen European nations held 60,500 tons of used fuel as of the end of 2016, […]

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has signed off on the latest iteration of the performance assessment for two radioactive waste disposal facilities operated by Waste Control Specialists (WCS). The agency is the regulator for management of radioactive waste in the state, including the WCS complex in Andrews County. Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists must […]

Radioactive waste disposal startup Deep Isolation said Monday it has inked a cooperative agreement with spent nuclear fuel storage and transportation provider NAC International. The agreement covers collaboration in designing, developing, and producing Deep Isolation’s canister technology for disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, according to a press release from the Berkeley, […]

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality is considering a permit modification sought by a U.S. Energy Department contractor preparing to start repackaging radioactive waste at a new location within the Idaho National Laboratory following an April 2018 accident. The waste was generated decades ago at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Colorado and was […]

The state of Idaho and the U.S. Department of Energy have negotiated a deal that opens to the door to resumption of some spent nuclear fuel shipments to the Idaho National Laboratory. The agreement, announced in a Thursday press release from Idaho Gov. Brad Little and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, specifically covers a one-time waiver […]

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) on Monday said he would not reverse his decision to retire, even with the opportunity to take the top Republican spot on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Shimkus said last week he would reconsider his Aug. 30 announcement that he would not seek re-election in 2020 after Energy and Water […]

By John Stang The state lawmaker who has headed Wyoming’s latest exploration of hosting a spent nuclear fuel storage facility has shifted that leadership role over to Gov. Mark Gordon (R). On Tuesday, state Sen. Jim Anderson (R) told the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Minerals, Business, and Economic Development Committee he would not file a proposed […]

With members of the House out of town this week, Congress made little progress on authorizing and appropriating government funding, including measures covering the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission. However, Armed Services Committee staffers worked behind the scenes this week to hash out differences in the House and Senate versions of the 2020 […]

By John Stang Perma-Fix Environmental Services said Thursday it nearly doubled its earnings for the third quarter of 2019, aided by contract wins and increased efficiencies. The Atlanta-based nuclear services and waste management provider posted $22.5 million in revenue for the latest quarter, up 88% from $12 million for the same period last year. The […]

President Donald Trump on Thursday officially nominated Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette to replace Rick Perry, who will resign as secretary of energy on Dec. 1. Brouillette, a former auto-insurance lobbyist with some turn-of-the-millennium Washington experience on his rapidly expanding resume, must be confirmed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee before he […]

The U.S. branch of French nuclear company Orano said Wednesday it is preparing to deploy the first of its next-generation radioactive waste transport casks. Columbia, Md.-based Orano TN has manufactured the initial NUHOMS MP197HB, but still must assemble the container, according to a press release. It is expected by the end of 2019 to be ready for […]

The state lawmaker who has headed Wyoming’s latest exploration of hosting a spent nuclear fuel storage facility has shifted that leadership role over to Gov. Mark Gordon (R). On Tuesday, state Sen. Jim Anderson (R) told the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Minerals, Business, and Economic Development Committee he has withdrawn a proposed bill to allow the […]

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) on Monday said he would not reverse his decision to retire, even with the opportunity to take the top Republican spot on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Shimkus said last week he would reconsider his Aug. 30 announcement that he would not seek re-election in 2020 after Energy and Water […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in September continued its nearly yearlong trend of spending just a few hundred dollars per month of its balance from the federal Nuclear Waste Fund. The total for the month was $699 for unspecified program planning and support, according to the agency’s latest report to Congress. That is primarily how […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday formally approved a reduction in the emergency preparedness requirements for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. The changes include elimination of a dedicated 10-mile emergency planning zone in the license for the Cape Cod property. The requirement for a specific off-site radiological emergency response plan will […]

A new report from the federal Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) is providing grist for environmental groups to refresh their cases against U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing of temporary spent fuel storage sites in Texas and New Mexico. The Sierra Club used the report as the backbone of its Oct. 23 petition to file […]

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office on Monday asked a federal appeals court to order a stay on the already-completed transfer of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. That action, plus two related measures by the federal regulator, should be frozen while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the […]

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), a longtime supporter of cleaning up the U.S. Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, said Monday he would not run for re-election in 2020. “I will not seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, nor election to any other office, but instead I will close the public service […]

A panel of the Wyoming Legislature is recommending that lawmakers consider new legislation that would advance tentative plans for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the state. The recommendations are included in a report submitted for next week’s meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Minerals, Business, and Economic Development Committee. Specifically, according to the committee’s […]

By John Stang US Ecology collected over $13 million in insurance recoveries in the first nine months of the year due to the fatal November 2018 explosion at its Grand View, Idaho, waste treatment and disposal facility. That included $9.7 million in property insurance recoveries and $4.1 million in business interruption insurance, the Boise-based environmental […]

Prospects for timely passage of a permanent 2020 budget for the Department of Energy and other agencies dimmed a little this week, when most Senate Democrats refused to curtail debate on spending legislation that includes funding for President Donald Trump’s proposed southern border wall. The Senate failed Thursday to invoke cloture on a basket of […]

US Ecology collected over $13 million in insurance recoveries in the first nine months of the year due to the fatal November 2018 explosion at its Grand View, Idaho, waste treatment and disposal facility. That included $9.7 million in property insurance recoveries and $4.1 million in business interruption insurance, the Boise-based environmental services company said […]

A panel of the Wyoming Legislature is recommending that lawmakers consider new legislation that would advance tentative plans for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the state. The recommendations are included in a report submitted for next week’s meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Minerals, Business, and Economic Development Committee. Specifically, according to the committee’s […]