Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says its regulatory framework accounts for potential effects from “changing environmental conditions” on spent fuel storage installations at U.S. nuclear power plants. The agency on May 29 responded to an April 23 letter from Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who had expressed concerns about potential impacts of climate change on used […]

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on June 1 dismissed a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas demanding that the federal government complete licensing proceedings on the long-planned radioactive waste disposal site at Yucca Mountain, Nev. Writing for a three-judge panel, Judge Patrick Higginbotham said Texas had failed to submit its claim in […]

NASHVILLE — A Waste Control Specialists-Orano team could be within days of formally refiling a license application for consolidated interim storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel in West Texas, an executive said Thursday. The companies have previously said they would revive Waste Control Specialists’ suspended license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the end of […]

The House of Representatives is set to debate a 2019 Department of Energy budget bill today, including amendments that would cut or reshuffle funding for the agency’s nuclear waste and weapons programs. Among these is an amendment offered by a cadre of Democratic lawmakers to cut $65 million in funding for a low-yield nuclear warhead […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says its regulatory framework accounts for for potential effects from “changing environmental conditions” on spent fuel storage installations at U.S. nuclear power plants. The regulator on May 29 responded to an April 23 letter from Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who had expressed concerns about potential impacts of climate change on […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in April spent $6,275 of its remaining balance from the federal Nuclear Waste Fund, leaving it with $458,599 until Congress provides another appropriation. Most of the spending — $5,356 – reflects “trailing costs” from a two-day virtual meeting in February of the NRC’s Licensing Support Network (LSN) Advisory Review Panel, […]

U.S. Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.) has proposed providing $5 million in fiscal 2019 to further research on storage and disposal of spent nuclear reactor fuel by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The proposal is one of more than 170 amendments submitted for a House appropriations “minibus” covering energy and water, the […]

The state of Texas suggested Monday it has not necessarily given up on a lawsuit intended to require the federal government to complete licensing of the Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository in Nevada. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday dismissed the lawsuit, saying the state had failed to file on time and […]

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas demanding that the federal government complete licensing proceedings on the long-planned radioactive waste disposal site at Yucca Mountain, Nev. Writing for a three-judge panel, Judge Patrick Higginbotham said Texas had failed to submit its claim within the […]

Months of testing in 2017 provided strong evidence that spent nuclear fuel can be safely transported by sea, road, and rail, according to a researcher with the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories. A team of researchers from the United States, South Korea, and Spain over 54 days from June to October collected 8 terabytes […]

By John Stang The New Mexico Legislature’s Interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee will likely hold more public hearings before recommending how the state should respond to plans to build an interim used nuclear fuel storage site. The panel met on May 17 to hear testimony from representatives of Holtec International and the Eddy-Lea Energy […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission intends to conduct some portion of the potentially resumed proceeding on licensing a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., in the state, NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki told Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) in a recent letter. Svinicki responded on May 19 to a letter earlier in the month from Nevada’s […]

Months of testing in 2017 provided strong evidence that spent nuclear fuel can be safely transported by sea, road, and rail, according to a researcher with the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories. A team of researchers from the United States, South Korea, and Spain over 54 days from June to October collected 8 terabytes […]

The Albuquerque City Council last week voiced its divided opposition to potential rail transport of spent nuclear fuel through the jurisdiction on its way to a planned storage facility further south in New Mexico. “The City Council of Albuquerque opposes the transportation of high-level radioactive waste, including Holtec’s ‘spent’ nuclear reactor fuel, on our railways […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission intends to conduct some portion of the potentially resumed proceeding on licensing a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., in the state, NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki told Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) in a recent letter. Svinicki responded on May 19 to a letter earlier in the month from Nevada’s […]

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality this week initiated a rulemaking that would reduce a number of charges for disposal of low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) at the Waste Control Specialists complex in Andrews County. Without discussion during a meeting Wednesday, the three-member commission approved a hearing and publication of proposed amendments to the Texas Administrative […]

By John Stang Several New Mexico state legislators wondered last week if a proposed temporary used nuclear fuel storage site east of Carlsbad could become permanent by default. Opponents of Holtec International’s planned consolidated interim spent fuel facility also asked, during a May 18 hearing of the New Mexico Legislature’s Interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee, […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a fiscal 2019 funding bill that provides nothing for development of the Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository, instead again backing consolidated interim storage of spent fuel from U.S. nuclear reactors. The $43.8 billion energy spending measure, covering the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and other agencies, could […]

The Senate Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee is again trying to jump-start a pilot program for consolidated, temporary storage of spent fuel stranded at U.S. nuclear reactors. The panel spent less than an hour Tuesday on the markup and approval of its $43.8 billion funding measure for fiscal 2019, covering the Department of Energy, […]

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) is seeking details about the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s work on licensing Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a permanent nuclear waste repository. In a Friday letter to NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki, Nevada’s junior senator said she worries the commission is laying groundwork to work on the Department of Energy’s decade-old Yucca […]

The decades-long failure to establish a route for permanent disposal of U.S. spent nuclear reactor fuel could undermine industry efforts to expand nuclear power around the nation, the Congressional Research Service said in a recent report. A number of nuclear power plants have shut down in recent years, or announced their near-term closure, in the […]

Several New Mexico state legislators wondered Friday if a proposed temporary used nuclear fuel storage site east of Carlsbad could become permanent by default. Opponents of Holtec International’s planned consolidated interim spent fuel facility also asked, during a hearing of the New Mexico Legislature’s Interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee, why the radioactive waste could not […]

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is planning a number of additional test boreholes as it continues to winnow down the number of potential sites for construction of a deep geologic repository for disposal of the nation’s spent nuclear reactor fuel. The nongovernmental nonprofit is within five years of identifying a preferred location for the […]

The House Appropriations Committee again teed up an inter-chamber debate about the future of U.S. nuclear waste disposal this week when it voted along party lines to give the White House $100 million more than it sought in fiscal year 2019 for Yucca Mountain. In a Wednesday markup, the committee also shot down an amendment, […]

The Canadian organization charged with disposal of the nation’s spent nuclear reactor fuel this week initiated or refreshed cooperation deal with corresponding organizations from Belgium, France, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The agreements were signed Monday in Toronto at the annual meeting of the International Association for Environmentally Safe Disposal of Radioactive Materials, according […]

Days after the full House of Representatives mustered a massively bipartisan vote to approve a major Yucca Mountain policy bill, the chamber’s Appropriations Committee will consider a measure that “fully supports” funding the proposed permanent nuclear-waste repository in Nevada. Under the bill to be marked up at 10 a.m. Eastern time today, the Department of […]

Valhi Inc. reported a pre-tax gain of $58.4 million in the first quarter of 2018 on its sale of Waste Control Specialists, according to the Dallas-based holding company’s latest earnings report. That was good for a net of $38.2 million, $0.11 per diluted share, after income taxes, Valhi said in its 10-Q filing with the […]

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is planning a number of additional test boreholes as it continues to winnow down the number of potential sites for construction of a deep geologic repository for disposal of the nation’s spent nuclear fuel. The nongovernmental nonprofit is within five years of identifying a preferred location for the facility […]

In a vote more than a decade in the making, the House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would smooth the way for the Department of Energy to build a permanent nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev. The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2018 (H.R. 3053), shepherded through […]

In a vote more than a decade in the making, the House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would smooth the way for the Department of Energy to build a permanent nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev. The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2018 (H.R. 3053), shepherded through […]