International

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/20/2014 The UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Center (UKCCSRC) announced late this week the allocation of $4.4 million in research funding for 14 CCS-related projects. The projects fall into three categories, carbon capture, carbon storage and CO2 cross cutting, according to a UKCCSRC release. Carbon capture projects were funded […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/20/2014 EnergySolutions Not Seeking to Overturn Magnox Decision, But Is Claiming Damages From the NDA  Incumbent contractor EnergySolutions is not looking to overturn  the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s decision to award the Cavendish Fluor Partnership the new contract to manage and decommission the U.K.’s set of nuclear power stations in its […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/20/2014 A New Mexico startup, Eden Radioisotopes LLC, which features former Sandia National Laboratory researchers, has emerged as the latest company attempting to build a facility dedicated to the production of molybdenum-99. With Canada set to stop government spending in 2016 on the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor in Canada, […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/20/2014 The legislation package aimed at stopping the construction of the proposed Canadian low-level radioactive waste repository passed the Michigan state Senate unanimously late last week. Ontario Power Generation’s planned low and intermediate deep geologic repository located in Kincardine, Ont. near the Great Lakes has drawn the ire of citizens […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/20/2014 The United Kingdom’s National Nuclear Laboratory signed an agreement this week to work more closely with Studsvik UK Limited and FriGeo AB on the development and application of a freezing technology. The technology could potentially have an application across different radioactive waste management strategies, including sampling and decommissioning, to […]

RW Monitor 6/20/2014 AT FUKUSHIMA The Tokyo Electric Power Company is reportedly having a difficult time with the beginning stages of the construction of its ‘ice wall’ at the Fukushima-Daiichi cleanup. The ice wall is part of TEPCO’s larger plan that also includes a well pumping system to prevent the further spread of groundwater contamination […]

Matt McCormick has started work at Kurion just days after retiring as the manager of the Department of Energy Richland Operations Office at Hanford. He will lead work to remove strontium from more than 400,000 tons of contaminated water stored in tanks near the damaged Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. The Kurion Mobile […]

The Department of Energy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, continuing Norway’s support of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nonproliferation program. The MOU was signed by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende, extending a relationship that dates to 2005. Norway and […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/07/2014 Three senior House Republicans late this week urged President Obama to take action against Russia for violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The New York Times reported Jan. 30 that acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller had met with NATO allies in January […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/07/2014 A pair of key State Department arms control nominees were cleared by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week. Rose Gottemoeller, the President’s nominee to be Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, and Frank Rose, Obama’s pick to be Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/07/2014 In separate venues this week, a pair of senior American diplomats called for movement in the Conference on Disarmament on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, but the Geneva negotiating body appears to be as stymied as ever in its push to begin the talks. In a speech this week, Israel’s […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/13/2014 Lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee this week adopted an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Appropriations Act that would require the Department of Defense to provide a report to Congress on the nuclear contributions of U.S. NATO allies. The amendment was added to the bill as part of […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/13/2014 Calling Russia’s actions to test a land-based cruise missile a “material breach” of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee pressed President Obama this week to take action against Russia. Speaking at the Capitol Hill Club June 11, Rep. Mike Rogers […]

NS&D Monitor 1/31/2014 In a stern warning to Congress against additional Iran sanctions, President Obama drew on the Administration’s arms control and nuclear security record to bolster the case for American diplomacy with Iran in his State of the Union address this week. “American diplomacy has rallied more than fifty countries to prevent nuclear materials […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 1/31/2014 With negotiations ongoing on a number of civil nuclear agreements, lawmakers pressed Obama Administration officials this week on the need for more Congressional oversight of such deals. While the agreements, known as ‘123 agreements,’ currently must only sit before Congress for 90 legislative days before entering into force, a bill […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/31/2014 Russia has begun testing a new cruise missile that violates the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, according to a news report this week. The New York Times reported Jan. 30 that acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller had met with NATO allies earlier […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/31/2014 The United States has finally secured an agreement with Japan for Tokyo to transfer 730 pounds of plutonium to the U.S., according to Japanese news reports. An announcement of the agreement is expected to come during the Nuclear Security Summit scheduled for March in the Netherlands, and Obama Administration officials […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/13/2014                       As U.N. members get ready for a new set of climate talks scheduled to be held in Paris next year, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions released a new report this week that calls for a “hybrid” […]

Jeremy Dillon NS&D Monitor 1/24/2014 The United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has concluded that reusing its separated plutonium stock as fuel for potential new reactor technology remains the preferred disposition option, according to a position paper released by the NDA this week. The position paper stressed that MOX fuel remains the preferred option for reuse […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/13/2014 Kurion announced this week that it has been awarded a new contract by Tokyo Electric Power Company to provide a system to treat the water tanks at the Fukushima-Daiichi Power Station. Kurion previously provided treatment at the cleanup site to remove cesium from groundwater back in 2011, and this […]

NS&D Monitor 1/24/2014 IN THE WHITE HOUSE The White House officially announced this week that President Obama would attend the third Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands in March. The announcement comes as no surprise considering it was Obama that established the Nuclear Security Summit process in 2010 when the United States hosted the inaugural […]

Senate Committee Passes Extension for South Korea Deal Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 1/17/2014 The Obama Administration is working on negotiations for a host of civil nuclear cooperation agreements in 2014, but will likely continue to face questions from lawmakers on provisions regarding enrichment and reprocessing in certain deals. Some lawmakers and nonproliferation advocates have pushed […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 1/17/2014 Concerns by two Republican lawmakers regarding future nuclear weapons reductions led the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week to hold off on voting on the nominations of Rose Gottemoeller to be Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security and Frank Rose to be Assistant Secretary of State […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 1/10/2014 President Obama sent a new civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Taiwan was to Congress this week. The agreement between the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Culture Representative Office is the result of a renegotiation of a previous agreement with Taiwan, and will enter into force after […]

Lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Appropriations Act that would require the Department of Defense to provide a report to Congress on the nuclear contributions of U.S. NATO allies. The amendment was adopted as part of a manager’s package of provisions, and while the language only […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/04/2014 Unsuccessful bidders are considering challenging the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s award of the new Magnox contract to the Cavendish Fluor partnership, including the Bechtel-EnergySolutions team and a team led by Amec. The NDA announced early this week the award of a new contract for management of the 10 Magnox reactor sites […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/28/2014 Plans to send a significant amount of plutonium and highly enriched uranium from Japan to the United States are raising questions for officials near the material’s likely home at the Savannah River Site. Citing concerns over plutonium already in the state, South Carolina this month filed suit against the Obama […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/28/2014 Planned shipments of liquid highly enriched uranium from Canada to the Savannah River Site for processing have been delayed again, and now appear to be slated for September 2015. Officials said in late 2012 that the proces-sing of the material could start in 2013 and end in 2016, but officials […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/28/2014 The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority plans to announce the award of the new contract to manage the 10 Magnox nuclear reactor sites and two research reactor sites in a March 31 conference call with bidders, WC Monitor has learned. Four teams submitted bids last fall in the competition: Reactor Site Solutions, […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/14/2014 Investigations are underway into three recent incidents at Sellafield—two contamination events and an issue that caused the shutdown of the Magnox Reprocessing Plant. “On the 23 February the Magnox Reprocessing Plant underwent a controlled shutdown as a result of an anomaly in the chemical process. Initial investigations suggest that this […]