Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has 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. Monday’s action, plus two related measures by the federal regulator, should be frozen while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District […]

Edison International on Tuesday reported lower third-quarter 2019 income for itself and subsidiary Southern California Edison, taking hits from increased costs for fighting wildfires linked to its power lines. Company-wide net income came in at $471 million, $1.36 per share, dropping from $513 million, $1.57 per share, in the same quarter of 2018. However, adjusted […]

The Sierra Club is seeking permission to file a late argument against licensing by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission of a temporary spent nuclear fuel storage facility in New Mexico. The environmental organization said its Oct. 23 motion is based on previously unavailable information contained in a new report from the federal Nuclear Waste Technical […]

Members of Nevada’s congressional delegation offered a quick message to the Trump administration’s newly selected successor to Secretary of Energy Rick Perry: Stop trying to bring nuclear waste into the state, and quickly remove the plutonium shipped last year. Perry announced on Oct. 17 that he would resign after more than two-and-a-half years as head […]

The House of Representatives’ Science, Space, and Technology Committee last week advanced legislation that would assign the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to assist in disposal of radioactive waste. Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson’s (D-Texas) ARPA-E Reauthorization Act of 2019 now awaits action by the full House. There was no word this […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved a revised emergency response plan for the radiologically contaminated area of the West Lake Landfill in Missouri. The Oct. 15 approval came after the agency in August rejected both the emergency response plan and the site management plan prepared by contractor Parsons on behalf of the “potentially responsible […]

An organization representing 20 Pueblo nations in New Mexico and Texas has formally voiced its opposition to plans for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel in the states. During a meeting last week, the All Pueblo Council of Governors adopted a resolution against federal licensing for construction and operations of the facilities planned by Holtec […]

A California advocacy group this week petitioned a federal appeals court to require the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to order a halt to decommissioning and spent fuel offload operations at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). If approved, the writ of mandamus from the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals would remain in […]

An organization representing 20 Pueblo nations in New Mexico and Texas has formally voiced its opposition to plans for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel in the states. During a meeting last week, the All Pueblo Council of Governors adopted a resolution against federal licensing for construction and operations of the facilities planned by Holtec […]

The House of Representatives’ Science, Space, and Technology Committee last week advanced legislation that would assign the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to assist in disposal of radioactive waste. Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson’s (D-Texas) ARPA-E Reauthorization Act of 2019 now awaits action by the full House. The bill would make a […]

It could be two years before a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission board holds a hearing in the single contention it allowed against licensing of a consolidated interim storage facility in West Texas for spent nuclear power reactor fuel. The anticipated “trigger date” for parties to begin filing various paperwork and then conduct the evidentiary hearing […]

It could be two years before a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission board holds a hearing in the single contention it allowed against licensing of a consolidated interim storage facility in Texas for spent nuclear power reactor fuel. The anticipated “trigger date” for parties to begin filing various paperwork and then the evidentiary hearing itself is […]

By John Stang Southern California Edison and partnering companies have petitioned a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging decommissioning and transfer of spent fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) — saying the complaint features legal, engineering, and scientific errors. The motion to dismiss focuses on arguments that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory […]

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) last week indicated she is continuing her legislative efforts against a Canadian deep geologic repository for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste proposed to be built about a mile from Lake Huron in Ontario. The weapon will be one the lawmaker has used before — an amendment to a separate bill […]

NAC International is asking the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to waive $632,398 in fees from its review of the company’s new transportation package for spent reactor fuel. The costs were an unfair outcome of incorrect thermal modeling of the MAGNATRAN cask by an unidentified contractor for the federal agency, according to the Peachtree, Ga.-based manufacturer […]

NAC International is asking the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to waive $632,398 in fees from its review of the company’s new transportation package for spent reactor fuel. The Georgia-based used fuel management specialist said the costs were an unfair outcome of incorrect thermal modeling of the MAGNATRAN system by an unidentified contractor for the federal […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in August continued to spend little of its remaining balance from the Nuclear Waste Fund – just $863, leaving it with an unobligated tranche of $407,176. The money was used for unspecified program planning and support, according to the agency’s latest spending report to Congress. As of Aug. 31, the […]

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) on Thursday indicated she is continuing her legislative efforts against a Canadian deep geologic repository for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste planned to be built about a mile from Lake Huron in Ontario. Dingell and other U.S. lawmakers who represent districts the Great Lakes have for years been critical of […]

The United States should stop trying to build a centralized disposal facility for its nuclear waste, and instead enact on a “decentralized” regime while pursuing new technologies to deal with the material, according to a new report from an environmental think tank. “The current policy regime for nuclear waste management is broken,” the Oakland, Calif.-based […]

The U.S. government has paid at least $7.4 billion to nuclear power plant owners for failing to meet its Jan. 31, 1998, deadline to begin taking their spent reactor fuel for disposal, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The U.S. Energy Department projects its total liability could be as high as $35.5 billion. The […]

The U.S. Energy Department should focus on retired nuclear power plants and some of its own facilities as it prepares for the eventual removal and transport of radioactive waste from dozens of sites around the nation, the federal Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) said this week. That is one of three recommendations in a […]

A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Thursday advanced legislation intended to bring the U.S. government closer to finally removing nuclear waste from dozens of sites around the nation and then ultimately burying it in a geologic repository under Yucca Mountain, Nev. In a unanimous voice vote, the environment and climate change subcommittee sent the […]

The House Energy and Commerce environment and climate change subcommittee is scheduled Thursday to vote on a bill aimed at advancing establishment of a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019 is among 15 bills scheduled for markup beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern time at 2123 Rayburn […]

The U.S. Energy Department should focus on retired nuclear power plants and some of its own facilities as it plans for the eventual removal and transport of radioactive waste from dozens of sites around the nation, the federal Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) said this week. That is one of three recommendations in a […]

The U.S. government has paid at least $7.4 billion to nuclear power plant owners for failing to meet its Jan. 31, 1998, deadline to begin taking their spent reactor fuel for disposal, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The date was set in the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which put the Department of […]

Holtec International said Monday it has completed construction and testing of the interim storage facility for spent fuel from three reactors at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. This effectively ends the New Jersey energy technology company’s role in the project. The state-owned Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) enterprise must now receive a license from […]

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) anticipates within a matter of months further narrowing the number of locations being considered for a spent nuclear fuel disposal repository. “The NWMO is working to identify a single, preferred location for a deep geological repository for used nuclear fuel, in an area with informed and willing hosts. There […]

By John Stang Appeals were filed Tuesday with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission over petitions to intervene in the federal licensing of a proposed site in western Texas for temporary storage of used fuel from commercial nuclear reactors. On Aug. 23, an NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled that only the Sierra Club has […]

Appeals were filed Tuesday with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission over which entities should be allowed to intervene legally in the federal licensing of a proposed site in western Texas for temporary storage of used fuel from commercial nuclear reactors. On Aug. 23, an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled that only the Sierra Club […]

By John Stang A federal judge has denied a watchdog organization’s request for a temporary restraining order to halt the transfer of used reactor fuel into dry storage at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. U.S. District Court Judge Janis Sammartino on Monday also gave the defendants until Sept. 20 to file motions […]