Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

The Trump administration Department of Energy has failed to follow through on its commitment to take decisive action on permanent disposal of the nation’s ever-growing stockpile of nuclear waste, the head of a nuclear industry group said in a Jan. 23 letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry. U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council Executive Director David Blee […]

The Nevada agency charged with leading the fight against the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the state has launched a new salvo, this time against federal legislation aimed at advancing the project. The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017, introduced last June by Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), has a number of negative […]

By John Stang A week after announcing that private-equity firm J.F. Lehman had acquired Waste Control Specialists (WCS), the companies are largely closed-mouth about details of the deal. The involved parties – Lehman, WCS, and former owner Valhi Inc. – announced the sale in three separate press releases after market close on Friday, Jan. 26. […]

Utility company Exelon announced Friday that it would in October retire the Oyster Creek Generating Station in New Jersey at the close of its current operational cycle. That is more than a year ahead of the December 2019 closure date mandated in a 2010 agreement with the state of New Jersey, according to a press […]

The Trump administration Department of Energy has failed to follow through on its commitment to take decisive action on permanent disposal of the nation’s ever-growing stockpile of nuclear waste, the head of a nuclear industry group said in a Jan. 23 letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry. U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council Executive Director David Blee […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in December spent $9,999 of its remaining balance from the Nuclear Waste Fund, leaving just under $514,000 for work on licensing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, according to the agency’s latest update to Congress. Three years after the Obama administration halted work on Yucca Mountain, a federal […]

The Nevada agency charged with leading the fight against the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the state has launched a new salvo, this time against federal legislation aimed at advancing the project. The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017, introduced last June by Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), has a number of implications […]

Months after a federal court blocked its last merger attempt, Waste Control Specialists (WCS) announced Friday that it has a new owner: private equity firm J.F. Lehman & Co. The sale from holding company Valhi was made public after market close. The Lehman affiliate JFL-WCS Partners LLC is now the owner of a 14,900-acre complex in Andrews […]

By John Stang Northwest Medical Isotopes (NWMI) made it through a Nuclear Regulatory Commission public hearing Tuesday without major warning signs for its plan to build and operate a medical isotope production plant in Missouri. It could take the commission anywhere from one to four months to rule on the construction permit for the facility, […]

All used fuel at Duke Energy’s retired Crystal River Nuclear Plant in Citrus County, Fla., has been moved to dry storage, the utility announced recently. For security purposes, Duke is not publicly stating the number of fuel assemblies removed from the Crystal River spent fuel pool, spokeswoman Heather Danenhower said. However, the entirety of the […]

The first borehole has been fully drilled in Canada’s search for a location to dispose of radioactive spent fuel from the nation’s nuclear reactors, according to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO). Drilling began on Nov. 6, 2017, and wrapped up on Jan. 16 at the site roughly 22 miles west of the township of […]

Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission aims by the end of February to determine whether to transition to a full technical review of Holtec International’s application to build a facility for interim storage of spent fuel from commercial nuclear reactors. The pending completion of the NRC acceptance review of the 2017 application comes as […]

The U.S. Department of Energy remains committed to meeting its legal mandate for permanent disposal of spent nuclear reactor fuel, but is waiting on Congress to provide the funding needed to push that program forward, a senior DOE official said Tuesday. Resolving the decades-long impasse on the disposition of what is now more than 75,000 […]

Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission aims by the end of February to decide whether to move forward with a full technical review of Holtec International’s license application for a consolidated interim spent fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico. The regulator has been conducting its acceptance review since the New Jersey energy technology […]

The U.S. Department of Energy remains committed to meeting its legal mandate to permanently dispose of the nation’s spent nuclear reactor fuel, but is waiting on Congress to provide the funding needed to push that program forward, a senior DOE official said Tuesday. Resolving the decades-long impasse on the disposition of what is now more […]

Sweden’s Radiation Safety Authority (SSSM) on Tuesday said it had recommended government approval of license applications from the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co. (SKB) for construction and operation of spent reactor fuel encapsulation and permanent disposal facilities. “The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority assesses that SKB has the potential to ensure safe management and […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is waiting to see whether the Department of Energy will issue a topical safety analysis report (TSAR) on temporary storage of spent commercial nuclear reactor fuel, officials said last week. The TSAR would be expected to address technical issues with consolidated interim storage of used fuel, which could be important […]

All used fuel at Duke Energy’s retired Crystal River Nuclear Plant in Citrus County, Fla., has been moved to dry storage, the utility announced recently. The number of fuel assemblies removed from the plant’s spent fuel pool was not immediately known. Crystal River was officially retired in 2013, four years after it went offline, and […]

By John Stang Power companies Entergy and NextEra Energy have left the Nuclear Energy Institute, the lobbying arm of the nuclear power industry, for reasons not made clear this week. Entergy and NEI cited business-related causes for the departures, but declined to elaborate. “While we will no longer be a member of NEI, we will continue […]

The California Coastal Commission said it has effectively been forced to approve permits for spent fuel storage at three nuclear power plants because the federal government has yet to establish a permanent national repository for the radioactive waste. Coastal Commission Chair Dayna Bochco emphasized the danger presented by coastal storage of radioactive material from the […]

A rulemaking now underway at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality would reduce certain charges for disposal of radioactive waste at Waste Control Specialists’ facility in West Texas in hopes of driving up business at the financially struggling company. The state agency in late 2017 initiated the rulemaking to amend a number of segments of […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission just last month issued an updated contingency plan for a lapse in funding, fortuitous timing as the federal government appeared on the precipice of a shutdown Friday afternoon. The latest in a series of short-term congressional spending plans, which have kept the federal government open since the current fiscal year […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact for a request from power company Entergy for exemptions related to storage of spent fuel at the shuttered Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. Following the Jan. 11 finding, the last step in the process is completion of a NRC […]

The California Coastal Commission said it has effectively been forced to approve permits for spent fuel storage at three nuclear power plants because the federal government has yet to establish a permanent repository for the radioactive waste. Coastal Commission Chair Dayna Bochco emphasized the danger of coastal storage of radioactive material from the Humboldt Bay, […]

Members of the advisory panel for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s digital repository for documents on the license adjudication for the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository have until Feb. 13 to submit recommendations on reconstituting the retired system. That is also the date for panel members to share their thoughts on the NRC staff’s […]

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) announced Wednesday he would not seek re-election, removing an influential voice on nuclear waste issues from Congress a year from now. Issa has represented a coastal zone north of San Diego, first in the 48th Congressional District and now in the 49th District, since 2001. His exit, announced in a […]

AREVA said Tuesday it anticipates sealing an agreement this year to provide technology for a new used nuclear fuel treatment and recycling plant in China. Executives from New AREVA and the China National Nuclear Corp. signed a “memorandum of commercial agreement” for the facility alongside a meeting in Beijing of French President Emmanuel Macron and […]

The owner and prospective buyer of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant have revised their financial assurance plan to address concerns about the sale they hope to complete in 2018. The update was noted in a Jan. 5 letter from Stephanie Hoffman, special counsel for the Vermont Public Service Department, to Judith Whitney, clerk for […]

WASHINGTON — Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) wrung a renewed commitment from the Department of Energy to open a permanent nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev., during a hearing here Tuesday. Shimkus, Congress’ chief advocate for Yucca, pinned down Dan Brouillette, deputy energy secretary, on the agency’s position during a three-hour House […]

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) announced Wednesday he would not seek re-election, removing a prominent voice on nuclear waste issues from Congress a year from now. Issa has represented a coastal zone north of San Diego, first in the 48th Congressional District and now in the 49th District, since 2001. His exit, announced in a […]