Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

Departing New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn made it clear last week: the administration of New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) welcomes interim storage of high-level nuclear waste from U.S. power plants. Holtec International in November plans to submit a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 70,000-metric-ton-capacity disposal facility to be located about […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has opted to keep two rulemakings tied to Yucca Mountain alive, despite staff’s recommendation in February to discontinue those and eight other rulemakings. The agency announced the decision in a July 29 Federal Register notice. The Yucca Mountain efforts – which concern nuclear fuel tracking, emergency planning, and drug and fatigue […]

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) continues to press the Department of Energy to find a new home for about 1,800 tons of high-level nuclear waste that has accumulated in his district at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Issa submitted a letter to DOE on July 29, ahead of the department’s Sunday deadline for accepting […]

Like Congress, the ExchangeMonitor is going on recess in August, and RadWaste Monitor will not be published during the second and third weeks of the month. We’ll still be in the office, so keep the news tips coming, and look for the next weekly newsletter in your inbox on Friday, Aug. 26.

U.S. Holtec International said on July 29 it has successfully completed design and safety analysis simulation for the storage system it plans to use at a consolidated interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico. The analysis, using Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved simulation methods, showed that a number of safety margins are unaffected or are […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has opted to keep two rulemakings tied to Yucca Mountain alive, despite staff’s recommendation in February to discontinue those and eight other rulemakings. The agency announced the decision in a July 29 Federal Register notice. The Yucca Mountain efforts – which concern nuclear fuel tracking, emergency planning, and drug and fatigue testing for employees […]

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) continues to press the Department of Energy to find a new home for about 1,800 tons of high-level nuclear waste that has accumulated in his district at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Issa submitted a letter to DOE on Friday, ahead of the department’s Sunday deadline for accepting public comments […]

Nevada is requesting that the Energy Department acquire written, consensual agreements from affected communities, including those in waste transport corridors, in order to move forward with developing consent-based sites for nuclear waste storage. Penned by Robert Halstead, executive director for the state’s anti-Yucca Mountain Agency for Nuclear Projects, Friday’s letter to DOE suggests that the federal […]

Holtec International said Friday it has successfully completed design and safety analysis simulation for the storage system it plans to use at a consolidated interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico. The analysis, using Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved simulation methods, showed that a number of safety margins are unaffected or are improved when the company’s NUHOMS 24PT1-DSC […]

Waste Control Specialists will not need to gain unanimous consent from waste transport corridor communities for its application to operate an interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in West Texas, a government affairs expert helping the company work through regulatory issues said Wednesday. In its post-Yucca Mountain plan for nuclear waste storage, the Obama administration […]

U.S. The 2016 Democratic Party Platform does not address America’s commercial nuclear waste storage problem. The 51-page document was released last week, ahead of this week’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, where Hillary Clinton was officially named the party’s presidential candidate. Though Republicans in their own 2016 platform vowed to end the Obama administration’s “disregard […]

Waste Control Specialists will not need to gain unanimous consent from waste transport corridor communities for its application to operate an interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in West Texas, a government affairs expert helping the company work through regulatory issues said Wednesday. In its post-Yucca Mountain plan for nuclear waste storage, the Obama administration has focused on assuring consent from communities near where […]

The 2016 Democratic Party Platform does not address America’s commercial nuclear waste storage problem. The 51-page document was released last week, ahead of this week’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, where Hillary Clinton will officially become the party’s presidential candidate. Though Republicans in their own 2016 platform vowed to end the Obama administration’s “disregard of the […]

Waste Control Specialists on Wednesday clarified capacity details concerning its application to operate a consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Andrews County, Texas, following a Nuclear Regulatory Commission determination that the application is incomplete. The commission in a June 22 letter said the company’s 3,000-page application, filed in April, lacked the technical […]

The Republican Party has formally announced its intention to revive plans for a national repository for nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “We will end the Administration’s disregard of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act with respect to the long-term storage of nuclear waste,” the 2016 Republican Party Platform states. The finalized 58-page document was […]

The Department of Energy and Battelle Memorial Institute are calling it quits on their $35 million contract for a deep borehole nuclear waste storage field test, after failing to gain public support and secure two separate sites in North Dakota and South Dakota. “We wanted to let you know that the Department of Energy and […]

Waste Control Specialists on Wednesday responded to Nuclear Regulatory Commission requests for supplemental information (RSIs) concerning the company’s application to operate a consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Andrews County, Texas. NRC spokeswoman Maureen Conley said via email Wednesday that the WCS filing is the first batch of responses to the agency’s RSIs on […]

The Department of Energy and Battelle Memorial Institute are calling it quits on their $35 million contract for a deep borehole nuclear waste storage field test, after failing to gain public support and secure two separate sites in North Dakota and South Dakota. “We wanted to let you know that the Department of Energy and […]

The Republican Party has formally announced its intention to revive plans for a national repository for nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “We will end the Administration’s disregard of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act with respect to the long-term storage of nuclear waste,” the 2016 Republican Party Platform states. The finalized 58-page document was released Monday, […]

Waste Control Specialists expects by October to fully respond to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission request for supplemental information regarding the company’s license application to build and operate a consolidated interim spent fuel storage site in West Texas, WCS President and CEO Rod Baltzer said on Tuesday. The commission in a June 22 letter said the […]

Waste Control Specialists expects by October to fully respond to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission request for supplemental information regarding the company’s license application to build and operate a consolidated interim spent fuel storage site in West Texas, WCS President and CEO Rod Baltzer said on Tuesday. The commission in a June 22 letter said the […]

Dr. Abraham Van Luik, a senior physical scientist at the Energy Department who since 2010 led the Carlsbad Field Office’s International Repository Science Program, died July 9 in the remote town of Faywood, N.M., according to obituary notices posted online and a DOE spokesperson. Van Luik, who was born in the Netherlands and worked for […]

Canada’s Port Hope Area Initiative on Wednesday broke ground on the first of four above-ground storage cells that will ultimately hold 1.2 million cubic meters of legacy low-level radioactive waste for hundreds of years. The cell is expected to be completed toward the end of next year, and storage of waste from within the Ontario […]

A package of legislative reforms for the California Public Utilities Commission calls for the regulatory body to prioritize relocation of spent nuclear fuel now stored at the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). Gov. Jerry Brown and three state lawmakers last week rolled out a long list of planned reforms for the five-person body […]

Bipartisan legislation introduced this week would require the federal government to compensate 13 communities around the nation that are left with spent nuclear reactor fuel in storage in the absence of a permanent solution. The funds would be at the amount set per kilogram in the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which limited annual impact […]

Canada’s Port Hope Area Initiative on Wednesday broke ground on the first of four above-ground storage cells that is intended to ultimately hold 1.2 million cubic meters of legacy low-level radioactive waste for hundreds of years. The cell in Port Hope is expected to be completed toward the end of next year, and storage of waste […]

U.S. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in May spent $96,246 on activities for licensing of the suspended Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, the agency said in a June 21 submission to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and other lawmakers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit […]

Sweden’s radiation safety agency on Wednesday offered a show of support for plans to establish a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel near the east coast village of Forsmark. “The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has assessed that the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) has the potential to comply with the Authority’s nuclear […]

Waste Control Specialists has not provided sufficient information to enable the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to carry out a technical review of its license application to build an interim consolidated storage facility for spent nuclear fuel and reactor-related greater-than-Class C low-level waste, according to a senior NRC official. That was the finding of an acceptance assessment […]

Sweden’s nuclear regulator on Wednesday offered a show of support for plans to establish a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel near the east coast village of Forsmark. “The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has assessed that the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) has the potential to comply with the Authority’s nuclear safety […]