Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

A senior executive with AREVA TN said Thursday that if the Conaway Bill, which would free up billions of dollars in federal funding for private interim storage of nuclear waste, will be impossible to ignore if it continues gaining co-sponsors. Introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-Texas), House Resolution 3643 would allow the Department […]

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 not given […]

While the Obama administration has halted the nuclear waste deep geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., there are still lessons to be learned from the unfinished Nuclear Regulatory Commission license application process. Speakers from the state and federal level will discuss the knowledge gained during development of the Yucca Mountain facility and how that can […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner William Ostendorff, who is leaving office this summer, said Tuesday that he’s disappointed the U.S. still does not have a permanent repository for nuclear waste. “I think that’s a significant shortcoming of government,” Ostendorff said during the commission’s annual Regulatory Information Conference. “I don’t think it’s been handled, quite frankly, with enough […]

The cancellation of a planned nuclear waste storage test borehole project in Pierce County, N.D., demonstrates the need to secure community backing for future waste facilities, a senior Department of Energy official said Tuesday. In the face of strong opposition from local residents and the county commission, DOE last week said it would not move […]

The Department of Energy supports the construction and operation of more than one consolidated interim spent nuclear fuel storage site, a senior DOE official said Monday. “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 be more responsive in […]

With consent-based siting now the official policy of the U.S. Department of Energy when it comes to finding storage places for spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste, attendees to a Tuesday morning session, “Consent Based Siting — Opportunities and Challenges for Siting Disposal Facilities,” will hear from experts in the public and private sector on […]

The Department of Energy in December 2015 formally initiated the siting process for its consent-based program for nuclear waste storage, and two companies – Waste Control Specialists and Holtec International – are preparing to in coming months submit license applications with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build and operate consolidated interim spent fuel storage facilities in, […]

Department of Energy contractors are abandoning plans to conduct a deep-borehole nuclear waste storage field test near Rugby, N.D., in response to formal opposition from the local county commission. Originally scheduled to break ground Sept. 1, the estimated five-year, $35 million project, proposed across 20 acres of state land, would have produced data on whether […]

House Republicans want to revisit the Department of Energy’s nuclear waste program, first with the request that congressional auditors determine what resources are available to complete the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license review for the repository planned at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), […]

A team led by Holtec International plans to submit its federal license application to build an underground consolidated interim spent fuel storage facility in southeast New Mexico by June, according to one senior executive. Holtec has teamed with the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance to build and operate the underground facility about 12 miles from the Department of Energy’s Waste […]

Waste Control Specialists CEO Rod Baltzer says the company expects to complete its license application for a consolidated interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Texas by May 1. WCS is one of two companies planning to submit an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to build and operate an interim storage […]

Department of Energy contractors are abandoning plans to conduct a deep-borehole nuclear waste storage field test near Rugby, N.D., in response to formal opposition from the local county commission. Originally scheduled to break ground Sept. 1, the estimated five-year, $35 million project, proposed across 20 acres of state land, would have produced data on whether 16,000-foot […]

House Republicans want to revisit the Department of Energy’s nuclear waste program, first with the request that congressional auditors determine what resources are available to complete the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license review for the repository planned at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), […]

Waste Control Specialists CEO Rod Baltzer says the company expects to complete its license application for a consolidated interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Texas by May 1. WCS is one of two companies planning to submit an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to build and operate an interim storage […]

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said Wednesday that he will champion a change in law that would allow the Department of Energy to contract private companies in storing nuclear waste. The move would clear the way for DOE’s search for consent-based interim sites that would house spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste now stored […]

A federal court heard oral arguments Monday concerning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s handling of environmental assessment of continued waste storage at U.S. nuclear plants. At question is whether NRC has given “a hard look” to the risks associated with spent fuel fires and spent fuel pool leaks in its continued storage rule, formerly known as […]

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said Wednesday that he will champion a change in law that would allow the Department of Energy to contract private companies in storing nuclear waste. The move would clear the way for DOE’s search for consent-based interim sites that would house spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste now stored at facilities across the nation. […]

A federal court heard oral arguments Monday concerning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s handling of environmental assessment of continued waste storage at U.S. nuclear plants. At question is whether NRC has given “a hard look” to the risks associated with spent fuel fires and spent fuel pool leaks in its continued storage rule, formerly known as the […]

DOE to Begin Consent-Based Nuclear Waste Storage Meetings in Chicago The Energy Department said Thursday it will hold the first of eight public meetings on its consent-based nuclear waste siting initiative March 29 in Chicago at the University of Chicago Conference Center. In the eight meetings, DOE will “seek input from the public on designing […]

The Energy Department said Thursday it will hold the first of eight public meetings on its consent-based nuclear waste siting initiative March 29 in Chicago at the University of Chicago Conference Center. In the eight meetings, DOE will “seek input from the public on designing a fair and effective process for siting the facilities needed […]

A moratorium halting the Department of Energy’s plan to drill a nuclear waste storage test borehole in North Dakota will remain in place, according to Pierce County Commission Chairman Dave Migler. The Pierce County Commission established the drilling ban in early February after officials and residents voiced concern that the study will lead to eventual storage […]

A plan for South Australia to take on 13 percent of the world’s nuclear waste and turn it into billions of dollars in economic benefit is viable. That’s one of the takeaways from a glowing interim report Australia’s Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission delivered this month, estimating the plan could mean AUS $5 billion in annual […]

The Energy Department said Thursday it will hold the first of eight public meetings on its consent-based nuclear waste siting initiative March 29 in Chicago at the University of Chicago Conference Center. In the eight meetings, DOE will “seek input from the public on designing a fair and effective process for siting the facilities needed […]

A moratorium halting the Department of Energy’s plan to drill a nuclear waste storage test borehole in North Dakota, will remain in place, according to Pierce County Commission Chairman Dave Migler. The Pierce County Commission activated the drilling ban in early February after officials and residents voiced concern that the study will lead to eventual storage […]

A research team at the University of Sheffield hopes its findings from a two-year study on cement will improve design efforts as the United Kingdom works to develop its Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) by 2040, according to a press release. Led by Dr. Claire Corkhill, the researchers are analyzing the way in which cement, which […]

“Research quantities” of high-burn-up spent nuclear fuel – reportedly about 100 pounds – have arrived at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, where the highly radioactive material will be tested and studied in one of the lab’s hot-cell facilities. “ORNL is in receipt of research quantities of high-burn-up commercial fuel from the North Anna […]

RW Monitor 2/12/2016 An article in the Feb. 9 edition of RW Monitor cited an incorrect amount proposed to be spent in fiscal 2017 for the Department of Energy’s nuclear waste management operations. RadWaste Monitor regrets the error.

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 2/12/2016 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Stephen Burns said Wednesday the agency in its fiscal 2017 budget request is preparing for one license application for interim storage of nuclear waste, and regulators are prepared to shift appropriated funds if needed. Burns, who appeared with his fellow commissioners for a budget hearing before […]

IN THE U.S. Representatives the deep borehole nuclear waste storage demonstration project in North Dakota will host an informational meeting on the controversial plan on Feb. 15 in the city of Rugby. Officials from the Department of Energy and representatives from the contract team, a partnership between Battelle and the University of North Dakota Energy […]