Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

The Otero County Commission in southern New Mexico on Thursday tabled discussion on a resolution of opposition to hosting the Department of Energy’s planned deep borehole nuclear waste storage field test. According to the Alamogordo Daily News, the three-member commission is divided over the project. Commissioner Janet White is vehemently opposed, as she believes it lacks public support, while […]

One, and only one, of Nevada’s U.S. senators on Thursday asked the Senate Appropriations Committee not to include any funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the stopgap spending bill Congress must produce this month to keep the federal government funded through September. “As you finalize legislation to continue funding for the Fiscal […]

One, and only one, of Nevada’s U.S. senators on Thursday asked the Senate Appropriations Committee not to include any funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the stopgap spending bill Congress must produce this month to keep the federal government funded through September. “As you finalize legislation to continue funding for the Fiscal […]

Federal agencies and Texas have entered into mediation over the state’s lawsuit demanding that the United States advance a permanent solution to storage of U.S. nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. An initial mediation session occurred on April 4, and a follow-up is scheduled for May 15; in between the parties on May 1 […]

Waste Control Specialists CEO and President Rod Baltzer is defending the prospect for transportation of nuclear waste to the company’s planned interim storage site in West Texas, pointing to clean safety records and extreme tests that ensure the durability of transportation casks. Transportation has been a highly contentious topic concerning WCS’ proposal to build and operate […]

The Otero County Commission in southern New Mexico on Thursday will vote on a resolution of opposition to hosting the Department of Energy’s planned deep borehole nuclear waste storage field test. “DOE thinks that if they throw enough money at us they’re going to find a sucker somewhere, and they picked the wrong county again,” Otero […]

Nevada lawmakers crept closer to approving their latest cry of opposition to the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository Monday by advancing a resolution condemning the controversial facility to the floor of the State Assembly. Assembly Joint Resolution No. 10 “protests in the strongest possible terms, any attempt by the United States Congress to resurrect […]

The Nuclear Energy Institute and several utilities have asked a federal court for authorization to intervene on behalf of the targets of the state of Texas’ lawsuit over federal management of nuclear waste. The state last month sued Energy Secretary (and former Texas governor) Rick Perry, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Kristine Svinicki, Treasury Secretary Steven […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will license the nuclear waste interim storage facility Holtec International intends to build in southeastern New Mexico, company President and CEO Kris Singh proclaimed Wednesday, noting that the prospect is now a matter of political will. “We gave an exquisite and consequential gift to our nation,” Singh said of Holtec’s license […]

A venture capitalist studying options for spent nuclear fuel storage and reprocessing in South Carolina said Wednesday his group will not pursue an interim storage license with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, instead shifting focus to new reactor design and reprocessing. Mike Stake, head of the Spent Fuel Reprocessing Group, originally told the NRC in July […]

Dallas County on Tuesday became the latest Texas jurisdiction to wade into the debate over plans to store up to 40,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel in the far west of the state. The county Commissioners Court approved a resolution expressing opposition to transportation of high-level waste, including used reactor fuel, by rail or road […]

The parties in a lawsuit seeking to block expansion of the dry-storage pad for spent fuel at the closed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) have agreed to settlement talks, plant majority owner Southern California Edison said Friday. The announcement came one week before the lawsuit from a California watchdog organization was scheduled for a hearing in San […]

The Savannah River Site declared a potential inadequacy in the safety analysis (PISA) at a site storage facility on Feb. 24 after a lid came off a spent nuclear fuel (SNF) storage can. Department of Energy SRS Manager Jack Craig said in a March 29 report that the incident occurred in L Area, a facility […]

A venture capitalist studying options for spent nuclear fuel storage and reprocessing in South Carolina said Wednesday his group will not pursue an interim storage license with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, instead shifting focus to new reactor design and reprocessing. Mike Stake, head of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Group, originally told the NRC in July […]

Trial is scheduled for Friday, April 14, in a California watchdog organization’s lawsuit seeking to block a state permit allowing for expansion of the dry-storage pad for spent fuel at the closed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The hearing is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. local time before San Diego County Superior Court […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will license the nuclear waste interim storage facility Holtec International intends to build in southeastern New Mexico, company President and CEO Kris Singh proclaimed Wednesday, noting that the prospect is now a matter of political will. “We gave an exquisite and consequential gift to our nation,” Singh said of Holtec’s license application […]

The Dallas County Commissioners Court on Tuesday formally opposed transport of high-level radioactive waste through the jurisdiction on its way to a planned storage facility in West Texas. Instead, the spent nuclear reactor fuel should be kept at its points of origin around the nation until a permanent repository is built, according to the resolution, […]

A handful of cities and counties in Texas have started speaking out against the potential for nuclear waste to roll through their territory on the way to a planned storage site in the far west of the state. Waste Control Specialists is about a year into the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing process for an Andrews County […]

The United Kingdom as of April 1, 2016, held 4.6 million cubic meters of radioactive waste and expects to produce at least another 170,000 cubic meters through the year 2125, according to the government’s latest accounting. The current and future stockpile of 4.77 million cubic meters, covering all wastes after packaging, does not include 1 […]

The Department of Energy has applied for a 20-year renewal of the license for storage in Idaho of debris from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, according to documents made public Tuesday. The regulator issued the license for Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) on March 19, 1999. […]

In his first site visit as energy secretary, Rick Perry on Monday toured the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository site and afterward met with Gov. Brian Sandoval, a fierce opponent of reviving the project. The state and federal governments are gearing up for potential resumption of licensing activities with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the […]

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of quarterly news summaries and analyses about President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. We’ll check in with one long, big-picture update every 25 days, with a regular flow of updates in between to keep you up to date on news affecting Department of Energy […]

Holtec International announced this week its intention to submit its application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday to build and operate a storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel in southeastern New Mexico. Holtec, along with a coalition of New Mexico counties and cities incorporated as the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance LLC, plans to build […]

The Department of Energy has applied for a 20-year renewal of the license for storage in Idaho of debris from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, according to documents made public Tuesday. The regulator issued the license for Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) on March 19, 1999. […]

Waste Control Specialists has filed its last updates with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the company’s license application to build and operate an interim storage site for spent nuclear fuel, CEO Rod Baltzer said Wednesday. That wraps up the Dallas-based company’s responses to the regulator’s request for additional information to the application filed last April, Baltzer […]

The Department of Energy has applied for a 20-year renewal of the license for storage in Idaho of debris from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, according to documents made public Tuesday. The regulator issued the license for Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) on March 19, 1999. […]

In his first site visit as energy secretary, Rick Perry on Monday toured the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository site and afterward met with Gov. Brian Sandoval, a fierce opponent of reviving the project. The state and federal governments are gearing up for potential resumption of licensing activities with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the mothballed […]

Two top Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Monday requested that Energy Secretary Rick Perry re-establish the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCWRM), so that the Energy Department will again have an office dedicated solely to nuclear waste policy. Prior to its defunding in fiscal 2011, OCWRM was the DOE entity […]

Two top Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Monday requested that Energy Secretary Rick Perry re-establish the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCWRM), so that the Energy Department will again have an office dedicated solely to nuclear waste policy. Prior to its defunding in fiscal 2011, OCWRM was the DOE entity […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff on Monday expressed no objection to a 60-day extension for affected parties to request a hearing on Waste Control Specialists’ license application to build and operate a storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel. Staff, though, opposed a 120-day extension sought by a coalition of 20 environmental and anti-nuclear organizations. There was […]