Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

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 the House Appropriations Energy and […]

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 2/9/2016 The Obama administration’s fiscal 2017 budget proposal, released Tuesday, lays out an aggressive funding plan to enact a nuclear waste management program to replace the Yucca Mountain deep geologic repository in Nevada. The money is to be used for the department’s phased, adaptive, consent-based approach to finding permanent storage for […]

The Obama administration’s fiscal 2017 budget proposal lays out an aggressive funding plan to enact a nuclear waste management program to replace the Yucca Mountain deep geologic repository in Nevada.   The money is to be used for the department’s phased, adaptive, consent-based approach to finding permanent storage for tens of thousands of tons of […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 2/9/2016 The Obama administration’s fiscal 2017 budget proposal lays out an aggressive funding plan to enact a nuclear waste management program to replace the Yucca Mountain deep geologic repository in Nevada.   The money is to be used for the department’s phased, adaptive, consent-based approach to finding permanent storage for tens […]

Representatives for Entergy are scheduled to meet with the Vermont Public Service Board on Feb. 23 in Brattleboro to discuss the company´s petition for a certificate of public good that would authorize the construction of a second independent spent fuel storage installation pad at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant.   The technical hearing is […]

The State Department said Friday it would not request that the U.S.-Canada International Joint Commission (IJC) intercede in the dispute over a Canadian power company’s plans to build a low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste storage facility near Lake Huron.   U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) said in a newspaper commentary last week that she had […]

The Department of Energy’s plan to conduct a feasibility study for deep-borehole storage of high-level radioactive waste has been put on hold in North Dakota, as the Pierce County Commission this week placed a moratorium on drilling amid growing concern from area residents. The estimated five-year, $35 million project, proposed across 20 acres of state […]

Chris Schneidmiller RW Monitor 2/5/2016 Lawmakers in New Mexico are throwing their weight behind plans for an interim spent fuel storage facility in the state. The New Mexico Senate Conservation Committee on Thursday approved in a 6-3 decision a nonbinding “memorial” that calls on the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance to develop a consolidated interim storage site […]

The Department of Energy’s plan to conduct a feasibility study for deep-borehole storage of high-level radioactive waste has been put on hold in North Dakota, as the Pierce County Commission this week placed a moratorium on drilling amid growing concern from area residents. The estimated five-year, $35 million project, proposed across 20 acres of state […]

Chris Schneidmiller RW Monitor 2/5/2016 U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) this week said she has urged the State Department to partner with the Canadian government to ensure a deep geologic repository for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste is not built less than a mile from Lake Huron in Ontario. The agency, though, does not appear […]

The Department of Energy’s plan for a North Dakota feasibility study of deep-borehole storage of high-level nuclear waste has been put on hold, as the Pierce County Commission placed a moratorium on the practice this week amid growing skepticism from area residents. The estimated five-year, $35 million project, proposed across 20 acres of state land […]

U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) this week said she has urged the State Department to partner with the Canadian government to ensure a deep geologic repository for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste is not built less than a mile from Lake Huron in Ontario. The agency, though, does not appear to have pursued the lawmaker’s […]

Koncranes has unveiled a new vertical cask transporter for nuclear waste storage, which its hailing as the first NOG-1 compliant system. In a Friday press release, the company said its new rubber-tired, single failure-proof vertical cask transporter (VCT) provides “a safer and more efficient option for dry cask storage.” “The biggest advantage of the new […]

Chris Schneidmiller RW Monitor 01/29/2016 Waste Control Specialists is on track to in April submit a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate a consolidated interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility on its property in Andrews County, Texas, company CEO and President Rod Baltzer said last week. “So, what does this mean exactly? […]

Waste Control Specialists is on track for an April submission of a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate an interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility on its property in Andrews County, Texas, company CEO and President Rod Baltzer said last week.   “So, what does this mean exactly? It means we should […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 01/22/16 Department of Energy officials addressed some pointed questions Wednesday at the kickoff event for the agency’s national search for consent-based interim sites that would house spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Three speakers were pressed on issues concerning how DOE will define “consent,” how the effort will withstand an […]

Department of Energy officials addressed some pointed questions Wednesday at the kickoff event for the agency’s national search for consent-based interim sites that would house spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Three speakers were pressed on issues concerning how DOE will define “consent,” how the effort will withstand an administration change, and what happens […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it is making progress on a new, affordable method for the disposal of small volumes of low-level radioactive waste around the world. Janos Balla, a waste technology engineer at the IAEA, said the method was developed for countries that have “low levels of waste, modest infrastructure and limited human […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 1/15/2016 Because the plan to develop America’s first geologic repository for high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain has been halted for five years, does the Department of Energy’s environmental impact statement (EIS) still apply at the site? This was one of the questions posed Wednesday to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission official […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 1/15/2016 A Nuclear Regulatory Official said this week that if the agency receives the two quality applications it expects for consent-based siting for spent nuclear fuel in Texas and New Mexico, and there are zero contentions with the filings, the NRC could complete application its review in three years. NRC DIrector […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 1/15/2016 A Department of Energy official on Wednesday tried to quell skepticism that findings from deep borehole testing in North Dakota for the purpose of nuclear waste storage can be applied elsewhere. Peter Swift, national technical director for the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy Used Nuclear Fuel Disposition R&D Campaign and […]

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 1/15/2016 The Department of Energy is politely pushing back against new research suggesting rock salt might not be a fully safe for underground storage of nuclear waste in New Mexico. Salt beds are used for storage of low-level nuclear waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and have been considered as […]

A Nuclear Regulatory Official said this week that if the agency receives the two quality applications it expects for consent-based siting in Texas and New Mexico, and there are zero contentions with the filings, the NRC expects application review to take three years. NRC’s deputy director of operations Glenn Tracy made the comments Monday during […]

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 1/8/2016 Initial preparations have begun on a Department of Energy project to drill a 16,000-foot borehole in North Dakota to test the use of such formations for storage of high-level radioactive waste, lead contractor Battelle Memorial Institute said Friday. In total, the project on 20 acres of land near the city […]

Congress was out and Washington was empty, but that didn’t stop news from breaking during our annual publication break. As chronicled in the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, here are a few stories that we’ve been following.   DOE Formally Begins Nuclear Waste Storage Siting Process The Department of Energy on Monday said it is formally […]

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 1/8/2016 Initial preparations have begun on a Department of Energy project to drill a 16,000-foot borehole in North Dakota to test the use of such formations for storage of high-level radioactive waste, lead contractor Battelle Memorial Institute said Friday. In total, the project on 20 acres of land near the city […]

IN THE U.S. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources announced last week that it is testing storm-water runoff from the Bridgeton Landfill for contamination. An announcement posted on the department’s website Tuesday says the agency was notified the day before of surface water leaving the landfill along the northeast boundary of the site. Based on […]

The Department of Energy on Tuesday said it had selected a team headed by the Battelle Memorial Institute to drill a 16,000-foot borehole in North Dakota to test the use of such formations for storage of high-level radioactive waste. The department in a press release identified the test hole as a key measure in studying […]