Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

A group of mostly Republican lawmakers wants to make it illegal to use federal funds to close down the unfinished, mothballed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, according to a letter the legislators mailed to colleagues on a crucial appropriations subcommittee in March. The letter was dated March 15 and addressed to Reps. Mike […]

An article in the April 1 edition of RadWaste Monitor mischaracterized work involved with the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed isolation barrier at the West Lake Landfill. Installation of a non-combustible cover is a separate effort.

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Tuesday urged the Department of Energy to schedule a public nuclear waste storage meeting in his Southern California district, which encompasses the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The department in January held the first of several public meetings scheduled this year for its consent-based siting effort on […]

A subsidiary of power provider Entergy, System Fuels Inc., is entitled to about $6.6 million from the federal government stemming from the cost to load spent nuclear fuel into storage casks at the Grand Gulf, Miss., and Arkansas Nuclear One power plants, a federal court ruled Monday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit […]

EDF Energy and Holtec International announced Tuesday that they have completed the U.K.’s first dry storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. The dry storage facility, known in the U.S. as an independent spent fuel storage installation, will now prepare for the first delivery of spent fuel, which is expected in the fall. The £200 million […]

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Tuesday urged the Department of Energy to schedule a public nuclear waste storage meeting in his Southern California district, which encompasses the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) . The department in January held the first of several public meetings scheduled this year for its consent-based siting effort on nuclear […]

A group of mostly Republican lawmakers wants to make it illegal to use federal funds to close down the unfinished, mothballed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, according to a letter the legislators mailed to colleagues on a crucial appropriations subcommittee in March. The letter was dated March 15 and addressed to Reps. Mike […]

AREVA TN, a branch of French nuclear giant AREVA, on Tuesday said it has broken ground on a facility in Moyock, N.C., that will cast the concrete for the company’s NUHOMS spent fuel storage modules. The Moyock Casting Facility (MCF) is expected to have about 20 workers on one production line. Further details of the plant […]

An industry executive agreed Wednesday that concerns over transportation of spent nuclear fuel could impact the Department of Energy’s deadlines for moving that material into consolidated interim storage. The department in December rolled out plans for operation of a pilot storage facility by 2021; one or more larger, interim facilities by 2025; and finally at least […]

An industry executive agreed Wednesday that concerns over transportation of spent nuclear fuel could impact the Department of Energy’s deadlines for moving that material into consolidated interim storage. DOE in December rolled out plans for the operation of a pilot storage facility by 2021; one or more larger, interim facilities by 2025; and finally at least one permanent […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has about $1.7 million in remaining unobligated funds from the Nuclear Waste Fund, according to the agency’s most recent numbers. This money represents NRC funding for the license application review of the national repository planned at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The numbers were included in a March 17 letter to House […]

Waste Control Specialists continues to advocate for legislation it hopes will pave the way for interim storage of U.S. nuclear waste, with CEO Rod Baltzer stating in a blog post this week, “Let’s just do it.” Last week, Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) introduced legislation that would allow the Department of Energy to contract with private […]

The Australia Institute is taking aim again at a nuclear waste plan that backers say would produce billions of dollars in revenue for South Australia, this time with a report claiming the plan makes dangerous cost-benefit assumptions. South Australia Sen. Sean Edwards is proposing a plan in which the state would take in about 13 […]

Despite the failure to secure a location in North Dakota for a deep-borehole nuclear waste storage field test, the Department of Energy does not anticipate any significant fluctuation in the cost of the $35 million project. Lead contractor Battelle Memorial Institute had planned to break ground on the five-year project near Rugby, N.D., in September, […]

Waste Control Specialists continues to advocate for legislation it hopes will pave the way for interim storage of nuclear waste, with CEO Rod Baltzer stating in a blog post this week, “Let’s just do it.” Last week, Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) introduced legislation that would allow the Department of Energy to contract with private nuclear […]

The Department of Energy has scheduled its next public hearing on the consent-based siting process for nuclear waste storage for Tuesday in Chicago. This is one of several public meetings the department is planning to gather feedback on the program. The department in December 2015 formally initiated a three-phase siting process for storing America’s spent nuclear waste. The plan […]

The Australia Institute is taking aim again at a nuclear waste plan that backers say would produce billions of dollars in revenue for South Australia, this time with a report claiming the plan makes dangerous cost-benefit assumptions. South Australia Sen. Sean Edwards is proposing a plan in which the state would take in about 13 percent of the […]

The state of Washington has picked an experienced environmental law attorney to lead the Hanford Site regulatory work at the Department of Ecology’s Nuclear Waste Program. Alex Smith will start work in the Richland office as program manager on April 18, replacing Jane Hedges, who retired at the end of February. Tom Tebbs will continue […]

While appearing in South Australia earlier this month, renowned Canadian scientist and environmentalist David Suzuki told the state to let its indigenous tribes decide the fate of nuclear waste storage. South Australia Sen. Sean Edwards has proposed a plan for the state to take in about 13 percent of the world’s nuclear waste, mostly from […]

Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) this week introduced legislation that would allow the Department of Energy to contract private companies for interim storage of nuclear waste. Such legislation is seen as necessary for establishing private, interim facilities that would store spent nuclear fuel now held on-site at nuclear power plants around the country. Two companies, Waste […]

U.S. A senior Nuclear Regulatory Commission official said Thursday the agency has begun preparing for a potential workload shift, as it expects two license applications this year for companies looking to operate interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel. NRC is expecting an application from Texas-based Waste Control Specialists in April and another a few […]

The North Dakota Health Council violated state public meeting law during the approval process for rule changes that allow for higher radioactivity levels in oil-field waste, state Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem concluded in an opinion Tuesday. According to Stenehjem, the council failed to provide proper public notice for an August 2015 meeting in which the […]

The Department of Energy is, for now, retaining Battelle Memorial Institute as its lead contractor for a deep-borehole nuclear waste storage field test after the original drilling plan was thwarted in North Dakota. DOE spokesman Bill Wicker said by email Wednesday that the department has asked Battelle to propose options outside North Dakota. “Battelle remains DOE’s […]

House Republicans in a letter Thursday urged Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to “expeditiously” restart the stalled Yucca Mountain license application review. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and panel member John Shimkus (R-Ill.) penned the letter, seeking information on DOE’s nuclear waste policy. The letter comes two weeks after Upton and Shimkus sent a […]

The North Dakota Health Council violated state public meeting law in approving rule changes that allow for higher radioactivity levels in oil-field waste, state Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem concluded in an opinion Tuesday. According to Stenehjem, the council failed to provide proper public notice for an August 2015 meeting in which the body, which advises and governs the Department […]

Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) this week introduced legislation that would allow the Department of Energy to contract private companies for interim storage of nuclear waste. Such legislation is seen as necessary for establishing private, interim facilities that would store spent nuclear fuel now held on-site at nuclear power plants around the country. Two companies, Waste Control Specialists […]

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) urged Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on Wednesday to move forward with interim storage of nuclear waste, with or without congressional action. According to her, Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials have testified that private storage facilities in Texas and New Mexico could acquire licenses and operate without additional action from Congress. […]

PHOENIX — The Department of Energy supports the construction and operation of more than one consolidated interim spent nuclear reactor fuel storage site, a senior DOE official said this week. “From our perspective, having more than one interim storage facility can help build a more robust, a more flexible, system that will enable us to […]

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Jeff Baran said Wednesday that the agency’s continued storage rule is not an endorsement for indefinite storage of on-site nuclear waste but rather an attempt to ensure that storage is done safely. Last month, the NRC defended the continued storage rule in federal court against a challenge that the agency has […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner William Ostendorff said Tuesday that he’s disappointed the U.S. still does not have a permanent repository for nuclear waste. While speaking at the NRC’s annual Nuclear Regulatory Information Conference in Bethesda, Md., Ostendorff was asked whether he thinks he’s leaving behind any unfinished business. A commissioner since 2010, Ostendorff announced in February […]