Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

The difference between the original and new style of spent fuel canister deployed at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California is effectively a minor tweak, manufacturer Holtec International said in response to concerns about a broken bolt found in the newer version of the container. The New Jersey energy technology company issued […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has awarded the Southwest Research Institute a contract worth as much as $52 million over five years to continue operating the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses. The San Antonio-based research and development organization has managed the center since its inception 31 years ago. Its original mission was to provide […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has denied a request from a group of New Mexico lawmakers to extend its public comment period on the scope of its environmental review of Holtec International’s license application to build an interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the state. In February, nine state senators and 21 state representatives asked […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled four public meetings in late April and early May to receive input on the scope of its environmental impact statement for Holtec International’s application to build an interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico. “At the meeting, the NRC will receive comments from the public […]

The nearly $50 million the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requested for fiscal 2019 could be enough to restart the quasi-judicial, and long-moribund, adjudication on licensing Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev., as a permanent nuclear waste repository, the head of the commission wrote in a letter to Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.). NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is taking public comment through June 5 on a request for an update to federal regulations regarding storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel. Once the comments are received, NRC staff will review the petition for 12 to 18 months, depending on the number and complexity of the […]

The nearly $50 million the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requested for fiscal 2019 could be enough to restart the quasi-judicial, and long-moribund, adjudication on licensing Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev., as a permanent nuclear waste repository, the head of the commission wrote in a letter to Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.). NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki […]

There was no word Monday on whether three nominees for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission might finally get up-or-down votes on the Senate floor after the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada was blanked on funding for fiscal 2018. There had been chatter on Capitol Hill that zeroing out the underground repository might […]

The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission has approved a revised rule aimed at providing additional information about low-level waste being imported into the state. Among the changes to the original proposal, waste disposal providers covered by the rule are now only required to issue semiannual reports on their operations. The commission voted on […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is taking public comment through June 5 on a request for an update to federal regulations regarding storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel. Ray Lutz, and his California watchdog group Citizens’ Oversight, filed the petition for rulemaking on Title 10, Part 72, of the Code of Regulations in January. His […]

By John Stang Holtec International is studying why an aluminum pin broke off inside a cask designed to store spent nuclear fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. Tom Palmisano, vice president and chief nuclear officer at SONGS for majority owner Southern California Edison (SCE), briefed the public on the matter at a […]

By John Stang It might take up to six months after the approval of the 2019 federal budget for U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal facility in Nevada to get back on track, a pair of U.S. House subcommittees were told Tuesday. That is because the regulator’s Yucca team […]

By John Stang Valhi Inc. apparently kept former subsidiary Waste Control Specialists financially afloat with money borrowed from one of its other businesses over a number of years, according to the holding company’s latest 10-K document. The same March 15 filing with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission also said Valhi believes it will be in […]

The fiscal 2018 omnibus spending bill that passed Congress this week provided no funding for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, but it also did not incorporate language from a Senate appropriations package that some in industry dubbed a “Yucca-mountain position pull.” The House of Representatives passed the $1.3 trillion spending measure Thursday, […]

The U.S. Energy Department is unprepared to build the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, and presumptuous for requesting funding for the project, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) told Energy Secretary Rick Perry in a congressional hearing this week. Perry took a blast from the dais while testifying Tuesday on his agency’s fiscal 2019 budget plan before the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proposed fiscal 2019 budget provides enough funding for staff to review two applications to build facilities for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel, commission members assured a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) raised the question during the panel’s oversight hearing on the […]

With budget caps lifted, all major Department of Energy nuclear programs would see substantial year-over-year funding increases for fiscal 2018, if an omnibus spending package unveiled late last night is signed into law. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would take home the biggest increase for the current budget year, which began on Oct. 1. […]

Orano and Waste Control Specialists (WCS) are just weeks from formalizing their partnership to license, build, and operate a facility for centralized interim storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel, new WCS CEO Scott State said this week. The joint venture, announced last week, will be called Interim Storage Partners. Its first job will be to […]

It might take up to six months after the approval of the 2019 federal budget for U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada to get back on track, a pair of U.S. House subcommittees were told Tuesday. That is because the regulator’s Yucca team was reassigned after the […]

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) on Monday offered an optimistic outlook on the future of the planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “Whether it’s been in the courts or Congress, we are winning the battle on Yucca, but we’re not there yet,” Fleischmann said in a prerecorded video message to attendees of […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission should dismiss a request from a number of New Mexico state lawmakers to slow its technical review of plans for a consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel, according to one elected official in the county that would house the site. In separate letters sent in February, nine […]

Nevada businessman and perennial political candidate Danny Tarkanian dropped out of the race for Sen. Dean Heller’s (R-Nev.) seat Friday, freeing Congress’ chief Yucca Mountain naysayer from fighting a primary challenge as appropriations season heats up. Tarkanian, a Republican who has said he supports turning the Nye County, Nev., site into a nuclear research-and-development hub, […]

Holding company Valhi Inc. apparently kept former subsidiary Waste Control Specialists financially afloat with money borrowed from one of its other subsidiaries, according to the holding company’s 10-K document filed Thursday. The same filing with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission also said Valhi believes it will be in better financial shape following its sale of […]

Nearly a year after putting it on ice, Waste Control Specialists aims to revive its application for a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission license to build and operate a facility for consolidated interim storage of used nuclear reactor fuel. It is doing so in a joint venture planned with Orano USA, the nuclear services and technology […]

The U.S. Senate will continue to reject the Department of Energy’s requests for funding to resume work on the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) told Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Wednesday. In a tense exchange during a Senate commerce committee hearing on national infrastructure, Heller asked Perry to […]

WASHINGTON — The head House appropriator for the Department of Energy still does not see much hope for any funding for the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the 2018 spending bill that could be published Monday. The energy portion of the 2018 omnibus the House and Senate are negotiating behind the scenes “has […]

The U.S. Senate will continue to reject the Department of Energy’s requests for funding to resume work on the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) told Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Wednesday. In a tense exchange during a Senate commerce committee hearing on national infrastructure, Heller asked Perry to […]

Nearly a year after putting it on ice, Waste Control Specialists aims to revive its application for a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission license to build and operate a facility for consolidated interim storage of used fuel from commercial nuclear power reactors. It is doing so in a joint venture planned with Orano USA. Establishment of […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has less than $500,000 left in its available balance from the Nuclear Waste Fund, which pays for the agency’s work on the proposed Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository in Nevada. In its latest update to Congress on activities related to licensing of Yucca Mountain, the NRC said its unobligated Nuclear […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission should extend its public scoping comment period on a proposed spent reactor fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico to allow the state’s Legislature and public agencies to review and comment on the project, New Mexico lawmakers said recently. In a series of identical Feb. 27 letters, […]