Decommissioning

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proposed decommissioning rule “misses the mark” and cedes too much of the agency’s and the public’s power over the decommissioning process to industry, one commissioner said this week. The proposed rules change, which the commission approved on a 2-1 vote Wednesday after three years of drafts, “tilt[s] the regulation” of nuclear […]

SUMMERLIN, Nev. — The site of a shuttered New Jersey nuclear power plant could one day host an advanced modular reactor, Holtec International’s regulatory affairs chief said here Monday at the Decommissioning Strategy Forum. Holtec is “evaluating” Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station to determine whether it’s a suitable site for the company’s SMR-160 modular reactor, […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Here are some developments from around the world of civilian nuclear power RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. “We Appreciate Your Concern” About Interim Storage, Hanson Tells Texas Gov A recently-licensed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Texas meets the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s guidelines, the agency recently told the state […]

Orano USA has promoted Geoff Wilde to lead the company’s reactor decommissioning business, the U.S. arm of the French-owned nuclear services company announced this week. Geoff Wilde, who was most recently vice president of corporate development for Paris-based Orano’s U.S. branch, is now president of Orano Decommissioning Services (DS) USA, according to a Thursday press […]

A decommissioning company planning to take over operations at a Wisconsin nuclear power plant may have to submit its first evidence briefing to the state agency reviewing the transaction in December, according to a draft schedule in a recent notice from the panel. Dec. 1 could be the deadline for an EnergySolutions subsidiary company and […]

Holtec International this week secured the latest exemption to a low-level waste tracking rule that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has planned to rework as part of a long-stalled decommissioning rule. The proposed rulemaking would instruct companies shipping low-level radioactive waste to a disposal site to track shipments and notify the commission if the waste packages […]

One of two economically-troubled Illinois nuclear power plants bailed out by the state government last month has completed its refueling process, the plant’s operator said this week. Byron Nuclear Generating Station “completed its refueling outage earlier this month,” a spokesperson for Exelon Generation told RadWaste Monitor via email Wednesday afternoon. The Ogle County, Ill. nuclear […]

One of two economically-troubled Illinois nuclear power plants bailed out by the state government last month has completed its refueling process, the plant’s operator said Wednesday. Byron Nuclear Generating Station “completed its refueling outage earlier this month,” a spokesperson for Exelon Generation told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing via email Wednesday afternoon. The Ogle County, Ill. […]

A decommissioning company planning to take over operations at a Wisconsin nuclear power plant may have to submit its first evidence briefing to the state agency reviewing the transaction in December, according to a draft schedule in a recent notice from the panel. Dec. 1 could be the deadline for an EnergySolutions subsidiary company and […]

Low-level nuclear waste shipments from a Massachusetts nuclear plant being decommissioned by Holtec International won’t have to adhere to a 20-day tracking rule, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided last week. Although NRC’s regulations say that a company shipping low-level radioactive waste to a disposal site needs to track and report shipments that don’t arrive at […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reviewing decommissioning plans from the company set to take ownership of a Wisconsin nuclear power plant even as the state’s public service commission deliberates about the details of the plant’s sale, according to a recent agency filing. EnergySolutions, which is slated to take over the license for Kewaunee Power Station […]

Happy ‘Nuclear Science Week,’ nuke-watchers.  The Secretary of Energy and industry ambassadors took to social media this week to mark this international week of recognition for the field of nuclear science. “Nuclear science is an incredible asset to our nation,” said energy secretary Jennifer Granholm in a video message published Monday, “and we are just […]

An environmental watchdog group wants Pennsylvania’s environmental protection office to pressure an interstate regulator to step in on water use at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, according to a request the group sent this week. Three Mile Island Alert asked the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Wednesday to petition the Susquehanna River Basin […]

A joint-venture decommissioning team will soon prepare to dismantle the long-dormant SM-1 reactor at the Ft. Belvoir Army base in Virginia after a months-long contract protest, the Army Corps of Engineers said this week. After APTIM AECOM Decommissioning, LLC (A2D) secured the roughly $68 million federal contract to decommission SM-1 in August 2020, a protest […]

An environmental watchdog group wants Pennsylvania’s environmental protection office to pressure an interstate regulator to step in on water use at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, according to a request the group sent this week. Three Mile Island Alert asked the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Wednesday to petition the Susquehanna River Basin […]

Early steps in the decommissioning of the long dormant SM-1 reactor at the Ft. Belvoir Army base in Virginia will begin in November, the Army Corps of Engineers announced recently. The Corps of Engineers plans to “mobilize limited site crew” in early November to start prepping SM-1 reactor in Fairfax County for dismantlement, according to […]

An anti-nuclear watchdog group pressed Pennsylvania’s utility regulator this week for more information about its ongoing investigation into water use at the shuttered Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station. The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) will give Three Mile Island Alert a response to a sweeping records request on the agency’s investigation into water use […]

Members of the public have a month to comment on the proposed sale of a mothballed Wisconsin nuclear power plant to a decommissioning company, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week. NRC is accepting input on the proposed license transfer of Kewaunee Power Station to an EnergySolutions subsidiary from Dominion Energy until Nov. 12, the […]

An anti-nuclear watchdog group pressed Pennsylvania’s utility regulator Tuesday for more information about its ongoing investigation into water use at the shuttered Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station. Docketed records, communications and work notes are among the trove of documents Three Mile Island Alert wants from the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) investigation into water […]

Members of the public have a month to comment on the proposed sale of a mothballed Wisconsin nuclear power plant to a decommissioning company, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday. NRC is accepting input on the proposed license transfer of Kewaunee Power Station to an EnergySolutions subsidiary from Dominion Energy until Nov. 12, the agency […]

A contractor for the Department of Energy has finished tearing down the last of 18 buildings at the Energy Technology Engineering Center within the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Simi Valley, Calif., the agency said this week. The last of the buildings at the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), Sodium Pump Test Facility, came down […]

The company decommissioning the Duane Arnold Duane Arnold Energy Center plans to start moving spent fuel from the shuttered plant’s reactor to dry storage this year, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspector said this week. NextEra should have the fuel on the move “starting in 2021,” Rex Edwards, an inspector working out of NRC’s Region III […]

The utility company in charge of two financially-struggling nuclear power plants in Illinois is reversing course on its shutdown plans after a state bailout in September gave the reactors a new lease on life. In Federal Register notices published Oct. 1, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved Exelon’s withdrawal of license amendments that would have let […]

The company decommissioning the Duane Arnold Duane Arnold Energy Center plans to start moving spent fuel from the shuttered plant’s reactor to dry storage this year, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspector said Wednesday evening. NextEra should have the fuel on the move “starting in 2021,” Rex Edwards, an inspector working out of NRC’s Region III […]

A contractor for the Department of Energy has finished tearing down the last of 18 buildings at the Energy Technology Engineering Center within the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Simi Valley, Calif., the agency said Monday. The last of the buildings at the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), Sodium Pump Test Facility, came down Friday, […]

An updated version of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s guidance for preventing workplace sabotage and other insider threats at nuclear power plants should come out this month, the agency said Monday. NRC staff are “in the final steps” of revising the commission’s Insider Mitigation Program (IMP), an agency spokesperson told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing via email […]

The utility company in charge of two financially-struggling nuclear power plants in Illinois is reversing course on its shutdown plans after a state bailout in September gave the reactors a new lease on life. In Federal Register notices published Friday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved Exelon’s withdrawal of license amendments that would have let the […]

A new Texas ban on high-level nuclear waste could be “potentially quite a playing field for lawyers coming up,” a member of an interstate nuclear waste compact told a citizens advisory panel in Vermont recently. The Lone Star state put the anti-nuclear-waste law on the books earlier this month and now, Austin and Washington must […]

About half of a Massachusetts nuclear power plant’s spent fuel inventory has been moved to dry storage, setting up the project for completion in late fall, the company in charge of decommissioning the sites said in a recent press release. Seventeen of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station’s 34 spent fuel canisters have been transferred to the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is planning to meet next week with the company in charge of decommissioning a New Jersey nuclear power plant to discuss several security violations at the site earlier this year. NRC was to host a pre-enforcement conference with Holtec International Oct. 6 to discuss an unspecified number of physical security violations […]