Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

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 […]

Southern California Edison (SCE) is taking steps to meet its commitments for off-site disposal of used fuel from the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, but has hit a roadblock in efforts to ultimately ship the waste to Arizona. The San Diego County nuclear plant closed permanently in 2013 due to problems with steam generators […]

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 […]

The U.S. Department of Energy must be prepared to safely manage its 2,510-metric-ton stockpile of spent nuclear reactor fuel for decades until it can be placed in a permanent repository, according to new findings from a federal panel of experts. “While disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in a deep […]

The U.S. Department of Energy must be prepared to safely manage its 2,510-metric-ton stockpile of spent nuclear reactor fuel for decades until it can be placed in a permanent repository, according to new findings from a federal panel of experts. “While disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in a deep […]

Three Trump administration nominees to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission remain in consideration by the Senate even many other would-be appointees to senior federal jobs were returned to the White House this week. Annie Caputo, David Wright, and Jeff Baran are on the “status quo list,” approved by unanimous Senate consent before the holidays, which […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has postponed until the end of February a meeting of the advisory panel on management of the Licensing Support Network, the repository of documents on the agency’s review of the license application for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Last month, the NRC announced a Jan. 30-31 meeting of the […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in November spent $16,743 of its remaining Nuclear Waste Fund balance, leaving it with just under $525,000 to spend, according to the agency’s latest update to Congress. The fund in total as of January 2017 had a balance of roughly $34 billion collected from nuclear power generators to fund development […]

The state of Nevada has requested that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission postpone an upcoming meeting of the advisory panel on management of the Licensing Support Network, the repository of documents on the agency’s review of the license application for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Last month, the NRC announced a Jan. 30-31 meeting […]

President Donald Trump on Friday signed a third short-term budget for fiscal 2018 to prevent a shutdown of the federal government, including the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. His approval came just a day after both chambers of Congress voted in favor of the continuing resolution through Jan. 19, 2018. The latest stopgap spending plan succeeds […]

The House of Representatives is expected early in the new year to vote on legislation aimed at advancing the long-planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Multiple informed sources said the floor vote on Rep. John Shimkus’ (R-Ill.) “Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act” could happen in the first couple months of 2018, possibly […]

The state of Nevada has joined the U.S. Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff in formally declaring its intention to participate in any resumed NRC review of the license application for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. On Friday, Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects Director Robert Halstead submitted the state’s response to […]

The Democratic Nevada congressman whose district includes the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository will not seek re-election in 2018, depriving the minority party of an incumbent in a battleground district that has flipped three times since it was created. Rep. Ruben Kihuen (D-Nev.), a freshman lawmaker from the Silver State’s 4th Congressional District, announced […]

The House Appropriations Committee this week unveiled a peculiar budget bill that would provide full-year fiscal 2018 appropriations for the Pentagon, but keep other federal agencies including the Department of Energy funded at prior-year levels through Jan. 19. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) introduced the bill Wednesday. The Department of Energy (DOE), like […]

Members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday it has been years since any U.S. company has expressed interest in developing commercial spent fuel reprocessing or recycling capabilities. “I think in 2009, the agency received some expressions of interest from potential developers of reprocessing capability in the United States,” NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki told members […]

Holtec International has submitted at least the majority of its responses to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s request for supplemental information regarding the company’s application to build a consolidated interim storage facility for used nuclear reactor fuel. The information, spread across 11 attachments and hundreds of pages, was delivered in October and posted this week to […]

The Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff have both formally affirmed their intention to participate in any renewed adjudication of DOE’s license application for the planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The parties’ easily anticipated confirmations were included in responses submitted in recent weeks to an Oct. 27 request for information […]

The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository will stay on hold and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will escape a proposed budget cut until at least Dec. 22, under a short-term continuing resolution Congress approved on Thursday. At deadline Friday for RadWaste Monitor, President Donald Trump was expected to sign the stopgap budget bill before midnight, when federal […]

Waste Control Specialists is still seeing interest from other potential buyers in the wake of its foiled merger with rival EnergySolutions, a company spokesman said last week. “People and entities are still looking at it and we anticipate there will be new ownership at some point,” WCS spokesman Chuck McDonald said by telephone on Dec. […]

There was no word this week on when the three nominees to fill out the Nuclear Regulatory Commission might get confirmation votes from the U.S. Senate. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Oct. 25 sent the Trump administration’s Sept. 5 nomination of sitting Commissioner Jeff Baran for a floor vote by the full […]

A lawmaker from New York state has introduced legislation aimed at easing the way for placing spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste into interim storage until a permanent repository is built. The “Removing Nuclear Waste from our Communities Act of 2017” is one of three bills filed in November by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) that […]

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps in 2015 denied that the California Coastal Commission had the authority to issue a permit for oceanside storage of additional spent reactor fuel from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), a newly disclosed letter shows. In the Oct. 1, 2015, letter to commission environmental scientist Joseph Street, Navy […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in October spent $14,707 from its remaining available balance of the Nuclear Waste Fund, according to the agency’s latest update to Congress. That left the regulator with $527,408 in unspent, unobligated funds from the account intended to pay for development of a permanent repository for U.S. high-level radioactive waste and […]

A lawmaker from New York state has introduced legislation aimed at easing the way for placing spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste into interim storage until a permanent repository is built. The “Removing Nuclear Waste from our Communities Act of 2017,” from Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), would authorize the energy secretary to enter into contracts […]

Thomas Gardiner The U.S. Court of Federal Claims in November awarded utility Duke Energy $68.5 million in damages over the Department of Energy’s failure to remove spent nuclear fuel from some four nuclear power plants. The court ruling cites the Energy Department’s actions as a partial breach of contract with Duke subsidiaries Duke Energy Progress […]

The head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) it is safe to store spent nuclear fuel generated by the San Onofore Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) on site. “The NRC has concluded that storage of spent fuel at reactor sites (and at away-from-reactor sites) can safely continue until a repository becomes available,” […]

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has awarded Duke Energy another $68.5 million in damages over the Department of Energy’s failure to remove spent nuclear fuel from four nuclear power plants. The Nov. 17 court ruling cites the Energy Department’s actions as a partial breach of contract with Duke subsidiaries Duke Energy Progress and Duke […]

Thomas Gardiner While southeastern New Mexico has been a hub for nuclear business, and its leaders eagerly pursue new opportunities, there is some pushback against advancing plans to build an interim nuclear waste storage facility in the region. “We have a rather long nuclear history in New Mexico, we have a nuclear cluster,” said John […]

Thomas Gardiner A citizens’ organization in California is proposing an alternate means for long-term storage of spent fuel that would take the waste away from nuclear power reactors without necessarily relying on the Department of Energy building a permanent repository. Citizens’ Oversight says its proposal would protect key water resources found near many nuclear plants […]

The prophesied pre-Thanksgiving vote on Rep. John Shimkus’ (R-Ill.) Yucca Mountain policy overhaul appears unlikely now, with Congress set to break for the holiday and appropriators bristling that the bill infringes on their power of the purse. The House was not in session Friday. Both the House and Senate are scheduled to be in recess […]