Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board will receive a day of presentations on management and disposal of commercial used nuclear fuel at its fall meeting Wednesday in Albuquerque, N.M. The meeting is open to the public and will be webcast on the NWTRB website. Congress in 1982 directed the Department of Energy to establish a […]

Representatives from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Holtec International are scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss the energy technology company’s license application for a planned spent nuclear reactor fuel storage facility in New Mexico. The meeting will specifically address the regulator’s request for additional information (RAI) following Holtec’s initial application filing in March 2017. On […]

President Donald Trump on Saturday suggested his administration could rethink its efforts to license a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada, the Washington Post reported. “I think you should do things where people want them to happen, so I would be very inclined to be against it,” Trump told Reno radio station KRNV. “We […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is suspending its search for sites in Nevada that could host hearings on the license application for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository until the agency knows whether it will again need such a facility. Commissioners unanimously concurred with a staff recommendation to defer further work on siting the hearing space, […]

The state of Nevada has jumped the gun in seeking to force a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to recuse himself from any ruling over the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, so its petition in federal court should be dismissed, the NRC argued this week. Case law has shown that a recusal request […]

The state of Nevada has jumped the gun in seeking to force a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to recuse himself from any ruling over the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, so its petition in federal court should be dismissed, the NRC argued this week. Nevada in August filed the dismissal motion in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is suspending its search for sites in Nevada that could host hearings on the license application for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository until the agency has a better idea regarding whether it will need such a facility. The NRC in 2005 began leasing a facility near McCarran International Airport in […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in August spent $5,892 from its remaining Nuclear Waste Fund balance, with some of it going to legal costs in a petition against one of the commissioners. The agency after that spending had $443,310 remaining in unexpended, unobligated money from the fund intended to pay for development of the planned […]

By John Stang Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recommended that two environmental organizations be allowed to intervene in deliberations over Holtec International’s license application to build and operate a used reactor fuel storage site in southeastern New Mexico. However, staff also determined several watchdog organizations and spent fuel storage container manufacturer NAC […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in August spent $5,892 from its remaining Nuclear Waste Fund balance, with some of it going to costs for a federal legal petition against one of the commissioners. The agency after that spending had $443,310 remaining in unexpended, unobligated money from the fund intended to pay for development of the […]

A nuclear watchdog organization and two private oil and gas entities are contesting the stance from the staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that they cannot request dismissal of license applications for facilities to store tens of thousands of tons of spent nuclear reactor fuel in Texas and New Mexico. Beyond Nuclear and the teaming […]

A nuclear watchdog organization and two private oil and gas entities are contesting the position from staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that they cannot request dismissal of license applications for facilities to store spent nuclear reactor fuel in Texas and New Mexico. Beyond Nuclear and the teaming of Fasken Land & Minerals and Permian […]

By John Stang All used nuclear fuel has been removed from the newly retired reactor at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey, according to a Sept. 25 letter from plant owner Exelon to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The short message, submitted by Exelon Vice President for Licensing and Decommissioning Michael Gallagher, […]

President Donald Trump on Sept. 21 signed the first congressionally approved “minibus” appropriations bill for fiscal 2019, which cuts out all proposed funding at the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission for licensing a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The White House made no mention of the matter in statements on […]

Staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is recommending rejection of two separate motions calling for dismissal of license applications for facilities to store spent nuclear reactor fuel in Texas and New Mexico. The motion from the advocacy group Beyond Nuclear and a joint filing from energy firm Fasken Land and Minerals and the Permian Basin […]

Staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is recommending rejection of two separate motions for dismissal of license applications for facilities to store spent nuclear reactor fuel in Texas and New Mexico. The commission should dismiss the motion from the advocacy group Beyond Nuclear and a joint filing from Fasken Land and Minerals and Permian Basin […]

President Donald Trump on Friday signed the first congressionally approved “minibus” appropriations bill for fiscal 2019, which cuts out all proposed funding at the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission for licensing a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The White House made no mention of the matter in statements on the […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has submitted the first of what is likely to be several requests for additional information on Holtec International’s license application to build and operate a facility for storage of used fuel from commercial nuclear power reactors. The agency’s Sept. 13 letter to Holtec encompasses more than 90 distinct requests, primarily […]

Two very different groups have called on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to dismiss separate license applications for storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel in Texas and New Mexico, arguing the proceedings constitute a violation of federal law. This is the most aggressive action yet to block the projects in their early stages, but a larger […]

Language inserted into the fiscal 2019 “minibus” appropriations bill that Congress passed last week aims to help local jurisdictions offset the cost of being stuck with spent nuclear fuel from retired nuclear power plants. If President Donald Trump signs H.R. 5895, the Department of Energy would have 180 days to submit to Congress a study […]

Two groups have called on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to dismiss separate license applications for storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel in Texas and New Mexico, arguing the proceedings constitute a violation of federal law. The two motions were filed Friday by the nongovernmental group Beyond Nuclear and jointly by Fasken Land and Minerals Ltd. […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has submitted the first of what is likely to be several requests for additional information on Holtec International’s license application to build and operate a facility for storage of used fuel from commercial nuclear power reactors. The Sept. 13 letter encompasses more than 90 distinct requests, primarily on highly technical […]

The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen on Friday filed a request to intervene in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s review of Holtec International’s license application for a facility in southeastern New Mexico for storage of spent fuel from commercial nuclear reactors. Intervention would formalize the organization’s role in the proceeding. In announcing the filing, Public […]

A research team at the University of Texas at Arlington has received a $567,831 grant from the Department of Energy to study the rock materials that best prevent the escape of radiation from nuclear waste disposal facilities. The researchers led by earth and environmental sciences associate professor Qinhong Hu will examine the movement of fluids […]

The Trump administration is now 0-2 in its efforts to persuade Congress to fund the long-proposed, still-unrealized nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The Senate on Wednesday voted 92-5 in favor of the fiscal 2019 “minibus” appropriations bill covering the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and other agencies. The House followed on […]

While Congress is still not prepared to fund any work on the Yucca Mountain repository, it does plan to give the Department of Energy seemingly unwanted funding for other nuclear waste management operations in fiscal 2019. The compromise version of the multiagency “minibus” appropriations bill unveiled Monday would also cut nearly $60 million in funding […]

A researcher at the University of Texas at Arlington has received a $567,831 grant from the Department of Energy to study the rock materials that best prevent the escape of radiation from nuclear waste disposal facilities. The team led by earth and environmental sciences associate professor Qinhong Hu will examine the movement of fluids and […]

The Trump administration is now 0-2 in its efforts to persuade Congress to fund the long-proposed, still-unrealized nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The House and Senate late Monday afternoon released the conference report for the consensus version of the fiscal 2019 “minibus” appropriations bill covering the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in July spent another $5,861 from its Nuclear Waste Fund balance, according to its latest report to Congress. The spending was similar in both amount and type to costs listed in agency reports filed in recent months. That was topped by $4,315 for a February meeting of the Licensing Support […]

HENDERSON, Nev. — While it was never formally canceled, there is little doubt the Obama administration’s initiative for consent-based siting of the nation’s nuclear waste has no future while its successor is in office, a senior Department of Energy official said Wednesday. The agency still has a web page for consent-based siting, but since early 2017 […]