Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

The patent for Holtec International’s HI-STORM UMAX, a system for underground spent fuel storage, has received an Edison Patent Award from the Research & Development Council of New Jersey. Holtec accepted the honor in the public health & safety category. The award recognizes New Jersey-based scientists and inventors.

Brian Bradley RW Monitor 11/13/2015 An Energy Department solicitation for bidders to build an interim consolidated spent fuel storage facility could draw eight to 10 companies, which could push back the start of the facility’s construction, but could also open a path for defining consent-based storage, a Bipartisan Policy Center nuclear waste specialist said during […]

Chris Schneidmiller RW Monitor 11/13/2015 The government of Finland on Thursday said it had approved the world’s first license for construction of a spent fuel disposal facility. The fuel encapsulation plant and disposal facility is to be built by 2023 on Olkiluoto  Island, home to the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant. It will house used fuel […]

AREVA TN recently announced the completion of two successful pool-to-pad dry-cask loading and support  campaigns. The first occurred at Exelon’s Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant, where crews loaded four NUHOMS 61BTH Type 1 dry shielded canisters, with 10,500 safe on-site work hours and zero safety and near-miss issues. There were also no personnel contamination […]

Representatives at Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry nuclear plant are touting the completion of the first ever HI-STORM FW cask loading campaign, which concluded Oct. 23.   According to a press release on the project, a total of 1,068 spent fuel assemblies were placed into dry storage, which sets the record for the highest number […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 11/6/2015 With Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) completing the first phase of a preliminary assessment for the municipality of Central Huron, 11 communities are now poised for a second round of review in the search to site a national spent nuclear fuel repository. NWMO is spearheading the search for a […]

Chris Schneidmiller RW Monitor 11/6/2015 A California watchdog group this week requested that the state Superior Court block a permit that would allow for expanding a nuclear waste storage complex at the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) site in San Diego County. The California Coastal Commission in October signed off on a two-decade […]

A California watchdog group this week requested that the state Superior Court block a permit that would allow for expanding a nuclear waste storage complex at the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in San Diego Country. The California Coastal Commission in October signed off on a two-decade permit for the expanded waste site […]

Holtec International on Monday announced that it had signed a deal for a Ukrainian company to build storage casks for a facility being built by the U.S. energy technology specialist in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.   The memorandum of understanding between Holtec and Turboatom was signed last week, according to a Holtec press release. The […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/30/2015 The Department of Energy last week canceled the first of two planned shipments of research commercial spent nuclear fuel to the Idaho National Laboratory. Controversy erupted earlier this year when DOE sought a waiver that would allow research quantities of spent nuclear fuel into Idaho, but state officials would […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/30/2015 House Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) this week reiterated that Yucca Mountain must be included in any budget negotiations for interim storage of nuclear waste to go forward. Simpson has voiced support in the past for both Yucca Mountain and interim storage, but with the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/30/2015 Over 331 congressional districts across 45 states could be affected by transportation routes of commercial spent nuclear fuel should the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada go forward, according to a report commissioned by the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, released last week. California leads the way with 32 potential […]

RW Monitor 10/30/2015 IN THE 2016 ELECTION Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush pointed to communities in Texas and New Mexico as possible solutions for the nation’s nuclear waste obligations in an interview last week with a Nevada public television station. Bush, who has said he opposes the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada, indicated that if […]

Simpson also reiterated yesterday at the Bipartisan Policy Center event that Yucca Mountain must be included in any budget negotiations for interim storage of nuclear waste to go forward. Simpson has voiced support in the past for both Yucca Mountain and interim storage, but with the caveat that there must be progress on the underground […]

The Department of Energy canceled last week the first of two shipments of research commercial spent nuclear fuel to the Idaho National Laboratory. Controversy erupted earlier this year when DOE sought a waiver that would allow research quantities of spent nuclear fuel into Idaho, but Idaho officials would only allow it if cleanup milestones at […]

Republican Presidential Candidate Jeb Bush pointed to the communities in Texas and New Mexico as possible solutions for the nation’s nuclear waste obligations in an interview last week with a local Nevada Public television station. Bush, who has said he opposes the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada, indicated that if a community wants the waste […]

Over 331 congressional districts across 45 states could be potentially affected by transportation routes of commercial spent nuclear fuel should the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada go forward, according to a report commissioned by the Nevada Office of Nuclear Projects, released last week. California leads the way with 32 potential districts affected, followed by Texas […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/23/2015 John Kotek, acting assistant secretary for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, this week avoided placing any specific time frame on DOE’s progress on establishing a defense-waste-only repository or its ability to get a pilot consolidated interim storage facility up and running. Kotek said during his nomination […]

The Energy Department has chosen Spectra Tech, among six total bidders, for a $31.6 million contract to manage Nuclear Regulatory Commission-regulated spent nuclear fuel storage facilities and licenses for four to five years, according to an announcement yesterday by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. The contract will encompass management and operation of the Fort Saint […]

Acting Assistant Secretary for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy John Kotek avoided yesterday placing any specific timeframe on the department’s progress on a defense-waste-only repository or its ability to get a pilot consolidated interim storage facility up and running. Kotek indicated during his nomination hearing in front of the Senate Energy and […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/16/2015 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agreed to table for five years a proposed rulemaking on security requirements for facilities storing spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, according to a staff requirements memorandum released last week. The NRC had initiated the rulemaking to apply “radiological dose-based regulatory approach to […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/16/2015 A group of Democratic House lawmakers introduced on Tuesday a bill aimed at requiring the expeditious removal of spent nuclear fuel from spent fuel pools to dry cask storage. Reps. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), Bill Keating (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) submitted the “Dry Cask Storage Act” […]

RW Monitor 10/16/2015 IN THE INDUSTRY AREVA TN announced this week that Christopher Miller has joined the company as the new vice president for sales and marketing. Mille previously served as business development lead for AREVA Federal Services. “We are pleased to add Chris to our dynamic sales and marketing team,” AREVA TN Senior Vice […]

A group of Democratic House lawmakers on Tuesday introduced legislation aimed at requiring the expeditious removal of spent nuclear fuel from spent fuel pools to dry cask storage. Reps. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), Bill Keating (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) submitted the “Dry Cask Storage Act” (H.R. 3587), which largely resembles a bill […]

AREVA TN announced yesterday that Christopher Miller has joined the company as the new vice president for sales and marketing. Miller previously served as Business Development Lead for AREVA Federal Services. “We are pleased to add Chris to our dynamic sales and marketing team,” AREVA TN Senior Vice President Greg Vesey said in a statement. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agreed to table for five years a proposed rulemaking on security requirements for facilities storing spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, according to a Staff Requirements Memorandum released last week. The NRC had originally initiated the rulemaking to apply “radiological dose-based regulatory approach to all independent spent fuel storage […]

RW Monitor 10/9/2015 IN THE INDUSTRY AREVA TN announced this week that it has signed a contract to provide dry fuel storage management services to Xcel Energy’s Prairie Island and Monticello nuclear generating plants. The multiyear contract calls for the removal of nuclear fuel from the spent fuel pools and its eventual placement in dry […]

AREVA TN announced yesterday that it has signed a contract with Xcel Energy to provide dry fuel storage management services to the company’s Prairie Island and Monticello nuclear generating plants. The multi-year contract calls for the removal of nuclear fuel from the spent fuel pools and its eventual placement in dry cask storage casks on […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/2/2015 Former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus this week sued the Department of Energy in an effort to obtain “the disclosure and release of agency records improperly withheld” regarding DOE’s planned shipments of research spent nuclear fuel into the state.  Andrus previously tried to obtain information on the project through a […]