Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

The Energy Department is scrapping a never-used step in the Savannah River Site’s spent nuclear fuel (SNF) processing campaign following a potential inadequacy at the site’s L Area, where the fuel is stored. Maxine Maxted, the site’s program manager for SNF, addressed the issue Tuesday during a meeting of the Nuclear Materials Committee of the […]

South Dakota-based energy and mining company Respec is attempting to secure a site within the state and submit a proposal for the Energy Department’s deep borehole nuclear waste storage field test, joining a handful of other companies preparing bids. Respec is exploring a private site in Haakon County, which is about 100 miles east of […]

The Energy Department will unveil a draft plan for a new deep-geologic repository for defense nuclear waste in the coming days, an agency official said Tuesday during a presentation to a citizens group in South Carolina. “I’m talking about a deep geological repository,” DOE’s Nancy Bushman, senior adviser for defense waste disposal, told members of […]

Though President-elect Donald Trump has yet to offer an official stance on the canceled nuclear waste geologic repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, speculation that the next administration will revive the project persists around Washington, D.C. Sources close with the Trump transition team say his still-developing administration is exploring restarting the project licensing process with the Nuclear […]

A local advisory board wants the Department of Energy to expedite processing of aluminum-clad spent nuclear fuel (SNF) stocks at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. During its bimonthly meeting on Nov. 15, the SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) approved a recommendation asking DOE to “accelerate plans and decisions to process its entire inventory of aluminum-clad SNF […]

Providing effective oversight for safe and secure interim storage of high-level radioactive waste until a permanent repository is operational will be a key challenge for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency said in a report to President Barack Obama, which was released publicly Wednesday. The agency’s Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2016 also […]

Finnish nuclear waste management company Posiva Oy on Tuesday awarded a 20 million euro ($21.3 million) contract to YIT Construction Ltd. for excavation of the first tunnels for Finland’s final disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel at Eurajoki near Olkiluoto. The Finnish government approved Posiva’s repository site in 2001, and the company submitted its construction application in 2013. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is requesting additional information from Holtec International concerning its January license amendment request for the HI-STORM 100 nuclear waste storage system, which is intended to update the system’s manufacturing and site loading process. HI-STORM 100 is a dry-cask storage system for spent light-water reactor fuel. According to Holtec, at least 80 systems […]

A local advisory board wants the Department of Energy to expedite processing of aluminum-clad spent nuclear fuel (SNF) stocks at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. During its bimonthly meeting on Nov. 15, the SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) approved a recommendation asking DOE to “accelerate plans and decisions to process its entire inventory of […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is going through the process of review for the transport of spent nuclear reactor fuel from Canada to the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. In a Nov. 9 letter to a spent fuel transport company, NRC Fuel Cycle and Transportation Security Branch chief William Gott said the […]

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Wednesday called on the nuclear industry to support multiple solutions for dealing with America’s commercial nuclear waste storage impasse. The Obama administration in 2011 canceled plans for a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, eventually opting for a plan that prioritizes interim nuclear waste storage through a consent-based approach […]

RadWaste Monitor will not be published next week in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Look for the next edition in your inbox on Friday, Dec. 2.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday requested public input on the scope of its assessment of the potential environmental impacts of Waste Control Specialists’ proposed consolidated interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in West Texas. The review is one of two the NRC would conduct before deciding whether to sign off on the planned 40,000-metric-ton-capacity […]

The South Australian government is not moving ahead with a potential plan under which the state could take in about 13 percent of the world’s nuclear waste. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, of the Labor Party, issued an official response Tuesday to a Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission report supporting the proposed facility. In its […]

President-elect Donald Trump is exploring restarting the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage site in Nevada, a source close to the Trump transition team told RadWaste Monitor on Tuesday. The source, who requested anonymity, said that if the Trump administration resumes the Department of Energy licensing process with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it […]

The Trump administration is exploring restarting the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage site in Nevada, a source close to the Trump transition team told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing on Tuesday. The source, who requested anonymity, said that if the administration resumes the licensing process with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it would likely […]

The South Australian government is not moving ahead with a potential plan under which the state could take in about 13 percent of the world’s nuclear waste. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, of the Labor Party, issued an official response Tuesday to a Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission report supporting the proposed facility. In its glowing recommendation in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday requested public input on the scope of its assessment of the potential environmental impacts of Waste Control Specialists’ proposed consolidated interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in West Texas. The review is one of two the NRC would conduct before deciding whether to sign off on the planned 40,000-metric-ton-capacity facility in […]

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill on Monday called for a referendum to determine the future of nuclear waste storage in the state. In May, the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission issued a report supporting a proposed facility that could store tens of thousands of tons of nuclear waste shipped in from other countries starting in the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday formalized plans to spend $700,000 of $1.27 million in its remaining Yucca Mountain funding to update certain reports on repository plans, which would place the agency in a better position should project licensing activities resume. The Obama administration canceled the Nevada repository in 2011, opting instead for a plan that […]

U.S. There was extensive discussion and widespread agreement during Thursday’s meeting of the San Onofre Community Engagement Panel on the need to move forward with consolidated interim storage of U.S. nuclear waste, according to Chairman David Victor. Representatives from San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) owner Southern California Edison and local community members spoke at the panel’s meeting in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday formalized plans to spend $700,000 of $1.27 million in its remaining Yucca Mountain funding to update certain reports on repository plans, so the agency can be in a better position should project licensing activities resume. The Obama administration canceled the Nevada repository in 2011, opting instead for a plan that prioritizes interim […]

Hanford Site cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. has sealed a subcontract for construction of storage containers to hold cesium and strontium capsules. Georgia-based nuclear materials services provider NAC International has received a $23 million contract to design and build 16 dry storage casks that will hold 1,936 highly radioactive cesium and strontium capsules now […]

U.S. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recorded a net gain of $5,230 to the Nuclear Waste Fund tied to expenses for licensing activities on the suspended Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, according to an Oct. 26 report to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and other lawmakers. NRC spokesman Dave McIntyre […]

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has made clear her opposition to resuming work on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, while Republican Donald Trump as of last month remained undecided. Neither camp, however, has had anything to say on the Obama administration’s alternative to Yucca Mountain — a “consent-based” approach that would establish pilot, interim, and finally […]

As a result of public opposition, Southern Co. has withdrawn a property in Alabama from a list of potential sites for the Energy Department’s deep borehole nuclear waste storage field test. The projected $35 million, five-year field test would produce data on the feasibility of storing DOE-managed nuclear waste in 16,000-foot boreholes drilled into crystalline rock […]

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) last week voiced support for consolidated interim storage of nuclear waste, while maintaining that Yucca Mountain needs to be part of the long-term solution. Alexander, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, along with panel Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), introduced in the fiscal 2017 Senate energy and water budget […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recorded a net gain of $5,230 to the Nuclear Waste Fund tied to expenses for licensing activities on the suspended Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, according to an Oct. 26 report to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and other lawmakers. NRC spokesman Dave McIntyre said the net gain […]

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) on Friday voiced support for consolidated interim storage for nuclear waste, while maintaining that Yucca Mountain needs to be part of the long-term solution. Alexander, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, along with panel Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), introduced in the fiscal 2017 Senate energy and […]

As a result of public backlash, Southern Co. has withdrawn its property in Alabama from a list of potential sites for the Energy Department’s deep borehole nuclear waste storage field test. The projected $35 million, five-year field test would produce data on the feasibility of storing DOE-managed nuclear waste in 16,000-foot boreholes drilled into crystalline […]