Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

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 […]

The Department of Energy on Monday said it is formally taking steps to advance plans for determining locations for storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste under its “phased, adaptive, consent-based approach.” The department on Wednesday plans to post a notice in the Federal Register that public input is being accepted on “important […]

A Swedish company has completed the application to build the country’s first permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel, a facility at Forsmark that would have the capacity to store 171,000 cubic meters of short-lived waste (SFR). World Nuclear News reported that the Land and Environment Court in Stockholm deemed the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste […]

AREVA TN is moving forward with the development of its NUHOMS EOS dry nuclear fuel storage system, with a check in before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission scheduled for Dec. 31 and an expected 2017 launch date. According to a press release from the company, NRC approval is expected in mid-2016 for the system, which is […]

IN THE U.S. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday announced that it had renewed for 40 years the license for the dry-cask independent spent fuel storage site the Prairie Island nuclear power facility in Minnesota. The Northern States Power license is now good through Oct. 31, 2053. The company in 2011 requested renewal of the […]

The RadWaste Monitor is beginning its annual holiday break and will return to your inboxes on Friday, Jan. 8. The Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will be published Monday through Wednesday next week, and we will publish special bulletins should any major news break in the interim.

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 12/18/2015 Environmentalists are condemning the recent transportation of unused nuclear fuel from Scotland to England, following major flooding that impacted the rail network used for the 400-mile trip. The fuel, originally intended for the Prototype Fast Reactor at Scotland’s shuttered Dounreay nuclear facility, arrived at the Sellafield site in Cumbria, England, […]

Environmentalists are condemning the recent transportation of unused nuclear fuel from Scotland to England, following major flooding that impacted the rail network used for the trip. The fuel, originally intended for the Prototype Fast Reactor at Scotland’s shuttered Dounreay nuclear facility, arrived at the Sellafield site in Cumbria, England, on Dec. 7 after a 400-mile […]

Japan’s industry ministry is determining the feasibility of burying high-level radioactive waste from the country’s nuclear reactors below the ocean floor, the Asahi Shimbun reported. According to the publication, working panel members cited the proposal as “highly appropriate” on Dec. 11, noting that the radioactive waste could be buried less than 20 kilometers from the […]

IN THE U.S. The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday released data on the growing amount of spent fuel left from operation of 118 commercial reactors from 1968 through June 2013. The latest data from the Nuclear Fuel Data Survey shows a total of 241,468 fuel assemblies, with a starting loading weight of about 70,000 […]

AREVA on Wednesday said its Federal Services branch had received an $8.6 million contract from the Department of Energy to design and produce prototype railcars for transport of nuclear material. The contract covers transport cask cars that would carry spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive material (HLRM), as well as “buffer” cars that would […]

The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday released data on the growing amount of spent fuel left from operation of 118 commercial reactors from 1968 through June 2013. The latest data from the Nuclear Fuel Data Survey shows a total of 241,468 fuel assemblies, with a starting loading weight of about 70,000 metric tons of uranium […]

Unused nuclear fuel once intended for the Prototype Fast Reactor at Scotland’s shuttered Dounreay nuclear facility reached the Sellafield site on Monday for storage, according to a press release. This was the first such shipment of fuel from the reactor.   Started in 2001, the site’s full defueling program is not expected to be completed […]

An Australian ship carrying 25 metric tons of radioactive waste was greeted by protesters in Sydney’s Port Kembla harbor on Saturday, after the material was reprocessed in France.   While French officials classified the cargo as high-level waste, Australia has reportedly labeled it as intermediate-level material, a discrepancy that has drawn the attention of Greenpeace […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 12/4/2015 In deciding whether Canada will move forward with building a deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel near Lake Huron, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency said Monday that officials must decide whether Ontario Power Generation’s proposal is likely to cause “significant adverse environmental effects.” The agency’s statement follows Friday’s announcement […]

Karl Herchenroeder RadWaste Monitor 12/4/2015 Congress should establish and oversee an independent body to manage the multibillion-dollar Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF), a Montana state official told a congressional panel on Thursday. The NWF was created to fund radioactive waste disposal activities authorized by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, a federal law that established […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 12/4/2015 French and Australian officials have reportedly given different classifications to 10 metric tons of radioactive waste aboard a ship scheduled to dock this week in Sydney. The BBC Shanghai is carrying the material back from France, where it underwent reprocessing. While France has classified the cargo as high-level waste, the […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 12/4/2015 The first 10 canisters for dry interim nuclear fuel storage have been delivered to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, State Specialised Enterprise ChNPP announced Thursday. As part of a 2007 agreement signed between Ukraine and U.S.-based Holtec International, the double-walled canisters are projected to store all spent fuel […]

French and Australian officials have reportedly given different classifications to 10 metric tons of radioactive waste aboard a ship scheduled to dock this week in Sydney. The BBC Shanghai is carrying the material back from France, where it underwent reprocessing.   While France has classified the cargo as high-level waste, the Australian Nuclear Science and […]

Due to an editing error, an article in Wednesday’s Weapons Complex Morning Briefing incorrectly stated the material that would be stored in a deep geologic repository being considered for the Lake Huron area in Canada. The facility would hold low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has received a petition to alter its domestic licensing regulations to allow for installation of ex-vessel instrumentation for uninterruptible monitoring of coolant and fuel in spent-fuel pools and reactors. Dr. Alexander DeVolpi, who submitted the petition on Sept. 21, claims the amendment could mitigate potential accidents at spent fuel pools and […]

In deciding whether Canada will move forward with building a deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel near Lake Huron, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency said Monday that officials must decide whether Ontario Power Generation’s proposal is likely to cause “significant adverse environmental effects.”   The agency’s statement follows Friday’s announcement that Canada will delay […]

The first 10 canisters for dry interim nuclear fuel storage have been delivered to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, State Specialised Enterprise ChNPP announced Thursday.   As part of a 2007 agreement signed between Ukraine and U.S.-based Holtec International,, the double-walled canisters are projected to store all spent fuel from Chernobyl’s RMBK-1000 reactors […]

For a second time, the Canadian government has extended the deadline for deciding whether to move forward with Ontario Power Generation’s proposal to build a deep geologic repository in Ontario near Lake Huron. The Minister of the Environment and Climate Change announced Friday that it will make a decision on the project on March 1, […]

In a letter submitted Friday to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Nevada officials described the Department of Energy’s continued exploration for developing a repository for nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain as an “unworkable waste management plan” at an unsafe site.   The letter was submitted on the final day of the public comment period for the […]

Cement is a “good choice” for storing spent nuclear fuel, according to a new study by researchers from the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub and a lab of the joint MIT-French National Center for Scientific Research known as the MultiScale Material Science for Energy and Environment. “Because it is inexpensive and easy to manufacture, cement is […]

Chris Schneidmiller RadWaste Monitor 11/20/2015 The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) on Wednesday said it had preliminarily identified the east coast village of Forsmark as the best of several sites that have been considered to house a spent nuclear fuel storage facility. The area, which is already home to a nuclear power plant and radioactive […]

Staff Reports RW Monitor 11/20/2015 Plans are in the works to deliver at least 25 spent fuel rods from the North Anna Power Station in Virginia to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The Tennessee lab is preparing to cut up and analyze the “fast burnup” fuel to better understand the aging processing outside the reactor […]

As is our annual practice, RadWaste Monitor will not publish next week in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. The next regular issue will be in your inbox on Dec. 4. The Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will be published Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week, and we will issue bulletins should any major news break in the interim.

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) on Wednesday said it had preliminarily identified the east coast village of Forsmark as the best site for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility.   Forsmark, which is already home to a nuclear power plant and radioactive waste repository, was among eight sites considered for the underground storage site, […]