Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

A robust third quarter from Waste Control Specialists helped alleviate some of the operating loss experienced in the first half of the year, Valhi Inc., parent company of WCS, announced in its third quarter earnings report late last week. The company reported $6.9 million in operating income from the third quarter, as compared to an […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/31/2014 A flurry of lawsuits aimed at curtailing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s ‘Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel’ rule, formerly known as Waste Confidence, emerged this week, with four separate appeals appearing in a federal court. The challengers include many of the parties involved in the original suit that required […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/31/2014 The Department of Energy’s Idaho Operations Office is looking for a host community to conduct a Field Test to demonstrate of the feasibility of the Deep Borehole (DBH) disposal concept, according to a Request for Information issued late last week. Deep borehole disposal for smaller packages of DOE-managed waste […]

Two new legal appeals to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s ‘Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel Rule,’ formerly known as Waste Confidence, emerged yesterday from a group of nine environmental groups and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The new challenges join the other legal appeals to the Court of Appeals of the D.C. Circuit this week […]

The Prairie Island Indian Community has filed an appeal in a federal court against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s ‘Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel Rule’ for failing to address the environmental concerns of long-term storage, the tribe announced this week. Although filed separately, their appeal follows a similar one filed this week in the Court […]

New York, along with Connecticut and Vermont, will challenge the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s ‘Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel Rule’ by petitioning a federal court to invalidate the rule for failing to properly address the National Environmental Policy Act and other court concerns, New York’s Attorney General  Eric Schneiderman announced yesterday. New York led the […]

The Department of Energy’s Idaho Operations Office is looking for a host community to conduct a Field Test for the demonstration of the feasibility of the Deep Borehole (DBH) disposal concept, according to a Request for Information issued late last week. Deep Borehole disposal for smaller packages of DOE-managed waste has been recommended multiple times […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/24/2014 The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy is recommending separate repository disposal pathways for DOE-managed high-level waste (HLW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from commercial HLW and SNF, according to its report on co-mingling, released this week. The report “considers whether DOE-managed HLW and SNF should be disposed […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/24/2014 With the release of Volume Three of the NRC’s Yucca Mountain Safety Evaluation Report last week, the state of Nevada is pushing back against assertions that the report shows the suitability of the site for a repository. Volume Three, which found that repository design adequately addresses Nuclear Regulatory Commission […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/24/2014 While litigation looms around the corner, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s final ruling on the Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, formerly known as Waste Confidence, went into effect this week, 30 days after it was published in the Federal Register. The rule going into effect allows the Commission to […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/24/2014 Duke Energy Progress and Duke Energy Florida, both subsidiaries of Duke Energy, last week filed the “third round” of litigation against the Department of Energy in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims over DOE’s failure to remove spent nuclear fuel from the utility’s nuclear stations. Previously, Duke successfully sued […]

Seventy-six Michigan communities, along with local government agencies in Canada and other U.S. states, have joined the fight against the proposed Canadian radioactive waste repository in Ontario by passing resolutions in opposition, state Sen. Phil Pavlov (D) said yesterday. Michigan state lawmakers have been vocal about their opposition to Ontario Power Generation’s proposed deep geologic […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy recommended separate repository disposal pathways for DOE-managed high-level waste (HLW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from commercial HLW and SNF, according to its report on co-mingling released yesterday. The report “considers whether DOE-managed HLW and SNF should be disposed of with commercial SNF and HLW in one […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s final ruling on the Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, formerly known as Waste Confidence, went into effect yesterday, 30 days after it was published in the Federal Register. The rule going into effect allows the Commission to make license renewal decisions that had to be put on hold, the first […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/17/2014 The Yucca Mountain repository design adequately addresses Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulatory requirements, according to Volume Three of the NRC’s Yucca Mountain Safety Evaluation Report, released this week. Volume Three, which is a review of repository safety after closure, has been the focus of pro-Yucca lawmakers since the project was […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to release as early as Thursday the highly anticipated third volume of the Yucca Mountain Safety Evaluation Report, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing has learned. Volume Three, which is a review of repository safety after closure, has been the focus of pro-Yucca lawmakers since the project was deemed “unworkable” by the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/10/2014 Even if the Senate flips to Republican control this coming November, don’t expect any rapid movement on the revitalization of the now-shuttered Yucca Mountain high-level waste repository project, industry officials said this week. As polls indicate right now— Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight website gives the Republicans a 58 percent chance […]

RW Monitor 10/10/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY International Isotopes has entered into an agreement with the Department of Energy to use its Advanced Test Reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory for the irradiation of cobalt targets for the production of cobalt-60, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week. The agreement […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/3/2014 A collection of environmental groups this week threatened the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with litigation if it did not vacate its Continued of Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel rulemaking. The group, made up of 17 environmental activist groups, claims the NRC’s final rulemaking fails to properly address the repository issue […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/3/2014 The United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority elaborated late last week on how Radioactive Waste Management Limited (RWM), the responsible organization for the construction of a repository for the nation’s high level waste, will conduct the initial geologic screening to determine potential host sites for a disposal facility. In a […]

A collection of environmental groups yesterday threatened the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with litigation if it did not vacate its ruletmaking on Continued of Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel. The group, made up of 17 environmental activist groups, claims the NRC’s final rulemaking fails to properly address the repository issue needed to maintain Waste Confidence under […]

The United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority elaborated late last week how Radioactive Waste Management Limited (RWM), the responsible organization for the construction of a repository for the nation’s high level waste, will conduct the initial geologic screening to determine potential host sites for a disposal facility. In a white paper released over the summer, the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 9/26/2014 The Texas Radiation Advisory Board supports Texas’ role in hosting a potential pilot interim storage facility for commercial spent nuclear fuel, according to an advisory statement the Board approved late last week. Texas, with companies likes Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County and Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiatives in Loving […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 9/26/2014 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Allison Macfarlane and former NRC Commissioner William Magwood called on countries to make better progress at building geologic repositories for the spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors in remarks during the International Atomic Energy Agency’s General Conference, held this week in Vienna. Both Macfarlane and […]

RW Monitor 9/26/2014 IN THE NRC The Nuclear Regulatory Commission posted its final ruling on the Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, formerly known as Waste Confidence, in the Federal Register last week, beginning a 30-day countdown until the rule becomes official. The NRC’s proposed waste confidence ruling, released last year, found that spent fuel […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 9/26/2014 The Department of Energy still has not delivered to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission its updated technical report needed for the Yucca Mountain supplemental environment impact statement. DOE had said earlier this year it would not complete the supplemental EIS, but it would complete an update to its 2009 technical […]

The Department of Energy still has not delivered to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission its updated technical report needed for the Yucca Mountain supplemental environment impact statement. DOE had said earlier this year it would not complete the supplemental EIS, but it would complete an update to its 2009 technical review that is basis of the […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Allison Macfarlane and former-NRC Commissioner William Magwood yesterday called on nations to make better progress at building geologic repositories for the spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors, in comments during a Radioactive Waste Management panel held at the International Atomic Energy Agency General Meeting in Vienna. Both warned that although spent […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission formally published its final rule on the Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, formerly known as Waste Confidence, in the Federal Register late last week, beginning the 30 day countdown until the rule becomes official. The rule was posted on Sept. 19, and it will become official 30 days following that […]

The Texas Radiation Advisory Board supports Texas’ role in hosting a potential pilot interim storage facility for commercial spent nuclear fuel, according to a advisory statement passed by the TRAB late last week. Texas, with site likes Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County and Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiatives in Loving County, has expressed an interest […]