Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

Nearly a week after a technically bipartisan delegation of House members and staff visited Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev., lawmakers still have not set a date to begin final negotiations on a 2019 budget bill that, technically, could include funding for the proposed waste-repository. Those negotiations, a bicameral conference committee of lawmakers from the […]

While there is no solution yet for permanent disposal of the nation’s most hazardous form of low-level radioactive waste, a small tranche of the material could within a matter of years be moved temporarily to Texas. The license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for interim storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel at Waste […]

The Energy Department is seeking Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval for a one-time shipment of 2.5 kilograms of spent nuclear fuel material from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee to the Idaho National Laboratory for research purposes. The nuclear regulator said June 26 it had received DOE’s application for approval of a shipment route and […]

Congress this week delayed final negotiations on a 2019 spending bill that includes the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission budgets for disposal of spent nuclear-reactor fuel, with the House again seeking to fund the proposed Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada and the Senate again opposing it. The House and Senate were supposed to […]

By John Stang Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) is leading a dozen U.S. House members on a tour of the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada on Saturday in hopes of bolstering his case to revive stalled plans for a nuclear waste repository there. Nevada leaders quickly criticized the trip as flawed because no local interests will […]

The Energy Department is seeking Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval for a one-time shipment of 2.5 kilograms of spent nuclear fuel material from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee to the Idaho National Laboratory for research purposes. The nuclear regulator said June 26 it had received DOE’s application for approval of a shipment route and […]

The Department of Energy expects by Sept. 30 to answer questions from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regarding the requested 20-year extension of the license for storage of radioactive waste from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant at the Idaho National Laboratory. That would meet the deadline set by the NRC in its Jan. 29 […]

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), chief architect of a massive nuclear-waste policy bill that cleared the House earlier this year, is scheduled Saturday to lead a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers on a tour of Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev. A House aide confirmed the scheduled trip Monday, but would not disclose the names or number […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has set a hard deadline of July 30 for public comment on the scope of its environmental review of Holtec International’s license application for an interim spent fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico. The agency extended the comment period by 60 days, but denied a request from a host of […]

Newly installed Nuclear Regulatory Commission member David Wright has rejected Nevada’s request that he recuse himself from any decision on licensing a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in the state. Wright pushed back against the state’s contention that his actions and comments in recent years showed he supported building the disposal facility in Nevada […]

Holtec International is gently pushing back against concerns over its plans to build and operate a facility in southeastern New Mexico for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel from U.S. power reactors. “Despite what some detractors say, there is no use or them when faced with spent nuclear fuel. We are all in this together, […]

Newly installed Nuclear Regulatory Commission member David Wright has rejected Nevada’s request that he recuse himself from any decision on licensing a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in the state. Wright, who was sworn into office on May 30, pushed back against the state’s contention that his actions and comments in recent years showed […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in May spent $10,789 from the Nuclear Waste Fund, leaving its available balance at $457,235, according to the latest update to Congress. The agency spent nearly all of that — $10,366 – on costs from a February meeting of the Licensing Support Network Advisory Review Board and collecting information about possible […]

For the second year in a row, the House and Senate have set up a showdown over whether to fund the Donald Trump administration’s request to license a permanent nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The Senate on Monday passed a so-called minibus appropriations package that includes $35 billion for the Department of Energy […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission affirmed to two U.S. senators recently that is only authorized to license the Department of Energy for permanent disposal of spent nuclear reactor fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), top members of the Senate Environment and Public Works clean air and nuclear safety, […]

The second intercameral congressional confrontation over Yucca Mountain in as many years seemed all but imminent Friday, after the Senate scheduled a Monday vote on a Department of Energy appropriations bill that would again provide no funding for the proposed nuclear-waste repository. The Senate has been debating a so-called fiscal 2019 minibus appropriations package all […]

The Energy Department said recently it had nearly $38 billion in the Nuclear Waste Fund, in the first of what it pledged will be annual summaries of the finances for the federal account intended to pay for the radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. In a letter attached to the summary, DOE Deputy General […]

The Energy Department last week issued the first of what it said will be annual summaries of the finances for the federal fund intended to pay for the radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. In a letter attached to the summary, DOE Deputy General Counsel Eric Fygi said the department was acceding to the […]

The Department of Energy said Monday it would issue over $3 million in grants to U.S. universities for research on management of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. The funding is a slice of a $64 million tranche of awards for various advanced nuclear energy technology research programs at DOE national laboratories and 39 universities. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission affirmed to two U.S. senators recently that is only authorized to license the Department of Energy for permanent disposal of spent nuclear reactor fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), top members of the Senate Environment and Public Works clean air and nuclear safety, […]

Nevada last week formally requested that one of the newest members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recuse himself from any decision-making on the license for the planned radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain in the state. Commissioner David Wright’s participation in the NRC adjudication of the Department of Energy license application would essentially disregard the […]

Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) late Tuesday secured her party’s nomination to oppose Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) for a U.S. Senate seat in November’s general election. Rosen, who was endorsed by the Democratic National Committee shortly after declaring she would run to take Heller’s seat, defeated four opponents in Nevada’s closed Demcoratic primary. Rosen collected 77 […]

By John Stang Significant technical challenges remain to the eventual rail shipment of the nation’s used nuclear reactor fuel to temporary storage or permanent disposal, issue experts acknowledged Wednesday. To start, there is not yet an approved railcar to carry commercial spent fuel – though a specially designed railcar is in development. Also, no agency […]

Interim Storage Partners — a joint venture of Orano USA and Waste Control Specialists (WCS) — on Monday submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission a renewed license application to build and operate an interim storage facility for used nuclear reactor fuel. The consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) pad would be built on WCS’ 14,900-acre waste […]

The federal fund intended pay for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada was valued at $44.5 billion at the end of fiscal 2017, down by $1.5 billion from the prior year, according to a newly released report from the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office. The Nuclear Waste Fund as of Sept. 30, […]

The Board of County Commissioners of Bernalillo County, N.M., on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution opposing rail transport of spent nuclear reactor fuel through the jurisdiction. The northern New Mexico county joins Albuquerque and other jurisdictions in expressing concerns about Holtec International’s plans for a consolidated interim storage facility for used fuel in the state’s […]

The federal fund intended pay for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada was valued at $44.5 billion at the end of fiscal 2017, down by $1.5 billion from the prior year, according to a newly released report from the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office. The Nuclear Waste Fund as of Sept. 30, […]

Interim Storage Partners — a joint venture of Orano USA and Waste Control Specialists (WCS) — on Monday submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission a renewed license application to build and operate an interim storage facility for used nuclear reactor fuel. The spent fuel storage pad would be built on WCS’ waste disposal property in […]

The state of Nevada on Thursday formally requested that one of the newest members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recuse himself from any decision-making on the license for the planned radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Commissioner David Wright’s participation in the NRC adjudication of the Department of Energy license application would essentially […]

For the second year in a row, the full House has passed a Department of Energy budget bill that would fund the agency’s application to license Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev., as a permanent repository for nuclear waste. And, also for the second consecutive year, the measure faces stiff opposition in the Senate, where […]