Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

The nongovernmental organization representing communities near Department of Energy facilities is urging Senate leaders to commit to ending the federal government’s dithering over building a disposal facility for the nation’s nuclear waste. The United States holds roughly 100,000 metric tons of waste that by law must go into a permanent repository, which Congress in 1987 […]

About 370,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel have been produced by commercial reactors worldwide since the 1950s, with another 12,000 metric tons being generated annually, according to a new report from the environmental organization Greenpeace. Roughly one-third of the spent fuel has been reprocessed, leaving the rest in storage in 14 nations. “The majority […]

The nongovernmental organization representing communities near Department of Energy facilities is urging Senate leaders to commit to ending the federal government’s dithering over building a disposal facility for the nation’s nuclear waste. The United States holds roughly 100,000 metric tons of waste that by law must go into a permanent repository, which Congress in 1987 […]

The nongovernmental organization representing communities near Department of Energy facilities around the nation is urging Senate leaders to commit to ending the federal government’s dithering over building a disposal facility for the nation’s nuclear waste. The United States holds roughly 100,000 metric tons of waste that by law must go into a permanent repository, which […]

Governors from 22 western states and territories last week called on the new Congress to advance a solution to the long impasse over disposal of U.S. radioactive waste. Radioactive waste management was among the many issues for state and federal cooperation included in the Western Governors’ Association’s priorities list, mailed Jan. 14 to the leaders […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Trump administration is likely in its fiscal 2020 federal budget plan to again seek funding for licensing the radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, nuclear industry representatives said here Tuesday. Whether Congress will appropriate any money remains in question. “I think the budget request for the next fiscal year […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The White House has received a list of candidates for positions on the federal Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB), but there was no word this week on when they might be appointed. Nine of the current 10 members of the independent advisory agency are serving past the expiration of their terms […]

By John Stang Holtec International argued Thursday that several advocacy groups do not have legal standing to contest the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing of the company’s planned New Mexico interim storage site for used nuclear fuel Jay Silberg, an attorney for the New Jersey energy technology company, made the case during the second day of […]

The U.S. Energy Department has not selected Waste Control Specialists in Texas to provide long-term storage of elemental mercury, as indicated in a Wednesday article in Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. While DOE has identified WCS as the sole capable source, no selection will be made until a record of decision is issued.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) plans this year to drill two more boreholes in one of the five locations being evaluated for a deep geological repository for the nation’s used nuclear reactor fuel. These will be the second and third boreholes drilled in the Ignace area in northwest Ontario. The first […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Nearly all of the members of the federal Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) are serving on expired terms, and it was unclear this week when the situation might be resolved. Nine of the current 10 members remain on the scientific advisory board past the end of their terms and one spot is […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Trump administration is likely in its fiscal 2020 federal budget plan to again propose funding for licensing the radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, nuclear industry representatives said here Tuesday. But whether Congress will appropriate any money remains in question. “I think the budget request for the next fiscal […]

Governors from 22 western U.S. states and territories are calling on the new Congress to advance a solution to the long impasse over disposal of the nation’s radioactive waste. Radioactive waste management was among the many issues for state and federal cooperation included in the Western Governors’ Association’s priorities list, mailed Jan. 14 to House […]

The advocacy group Beyond Nuclear has asked a federal appeals court to order the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to revisit its 2018 decision against dismissing two licensing proceedings for facilities for interim storage of spent fuel from nuclear power plants. The agency erred in kicking the legal question raised by Beyond Nuclear to a quasi-judicial NRC […]

A three-member Atomic Licensing and Safety Board at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects in March to decide which organizations can intervene in the agency review of the license application for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in New Mexico. The board has scheduled oral arguments on the intervention and hearing petitions for Wednesday and […]

By John Stang A California nuclear waste disposal startup on Wednesday successfully inserted a narrow canister through 2,000 feet of vertical shaft to deposit it in a horizontal tunnel — and then later retrieved the same small container. Deep Isolation, a 2-year-old firm from Berkeley, demonstrated its prototype canister at an undisclosed commercial oil and […]

WASHINGTON — The United States still needs to find an isolated location to bury its nuclear waste, just not below Yucca Mountain in Nevada, former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko said Thursday. “The concept has always been bury it and forget. That’s the idea, that you could find a place where you could isolate […]

A three-member Atomic Licensing and Safety Board at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects in March to decide which organizations can intervene in the agency review of the license application for a planned spent nuclear fuel storage facility in New Mexico. The board has scheduled oral arguments on the intervention petitions for Jan. 23 and […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in November spent just $901 of its remaining balance from the fund intended to pay for a permanent repository for radioactive waste. That left the agency with $414,118 in unobligated balance from the Nuclear Waste Fund, according to the latest expenditure report to Congress. Of the November spending, $379 was […]

Congress should fund the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada this year as part of a broader nuclear waste management approach, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), now officially the Department of Energy’s head Senate appropriator in the 116th Congress, said Wednesday. “This year, we should resolve the more than 30 year stalemate over how to dispose of […]

The partial shutdown of the federal government has forced relocation of oral arguments next week on requests to intervene in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license application for a planned spent nuclear fuel storage site in New Mexico. The oral arguments will now be held at the State Bar of New Mexico in Albuquerque rather than […]

Congress should fund the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada this year, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), now officially the Department of Energy’s head Senate appropriator in the 116th Congress, said Wednesday. <blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-conversation=”none” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>This year, we should resolve the more than 30 year stalemate over how to dispose of used nuclear […]

The partial shutdown of the federal government appears likely to force relocation of oral arguments on requests to intervene in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license application for a planned spent nuclear fuel storage site in New Mexico. The NRC has received its full-year funding for the current fiscal 2019, but federal courts are expected to […]

Oral arguments scheduled later this month on petitions for interventions and hearings in the license application for a planned spent nuclear fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico will not be livestreamed, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission board adjudicating the requests ruled. Eighteen entities have claimed standing to intervene in Holtec International’s request for a 40-year […]

A federal appeals court has dismissed the state of Nevada’s petition seeking to force a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to recuse himself from any decision-making on licensing the planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The ruling arrived as issue observers anticipate the Trump administration will in a matter of weeks again request […]

A federal appeals court has dismissed the state of Nevada’s petition seeking to force a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to recuse himself from any decision-making on licensing the planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. There is no cause yet to require Commissioner David Wright’s recusal because he might never be called on […]

Oral arguments scheduled later this month on petitions for interventions and hearings in the license application for a planned spent nuclear fuel storage facility in New Mexico will not be livestreamed, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission board hearing the case ruled. Eighteen entities have filed claimed standing to intervene in Holtec International’s request for a 40-year […]

Representatives from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Holtec International are scheduled to meet on Jan. 9 to discuss two possible violations in the energy services firm’s design for a spent nuclear fuel storage cask. The apparent violations, identified during an inspection in May of Holtec headquarters in Camden, N.J., could lead to fines or other […]

The government of the United Kingdom on Wednesday officially began its search for a site for a geologic disposal facility for its stockpile of higher-activity radioactive waste. “There is no preferred location for a GDF and we are adopting a consent-based process to identify a suitable area to host the facility. A suitable site will […]

Last-minute efforts this week on Capitol Hill to funnel money into programs for storage and permanent disposal of the nation’s nuclear waste sputtered out quietly, overshadowed by Congress’ showdown with President Donald Trump over the federal budget. The seeminly quixotic endeavors were connected to congressional efforts to craft a budget funding the Homeland Security Department […]