Reactor Licensing & Regulation

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is inviting the public to request hearings on Holtec International’s ongoing efforts to reopen the shuttered Palisades Nuclear in Michigan. In a Wednesday press release, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced opportunities for stakeholders to request hearings on aspects of the restart. There is an Oct. 7 deadline for the public […]

In a final guidance published Monday, Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff took advice from EnergySolutions and gave reactor operators more leeway to prove they should be allowed to use decommissioning funds for equipment replacements. However, operators will still be barred from tapping into the funds, which are supposed to be reserved for cleaning up nuclear power […]

By JOHN STANG Two union pipefitters have agreed to drop their federal lawsuit against Energy Northwest over radiological contamination suffered during a 2021 refueling outage at the Columbia Generating Station power reactor near Richland, Wash. U.S. District Judge Mary Dimke in Eastern Washington ordered the case closed Tuesday following a joint motion to dismiss by […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is inviting the public to request hearings on Holtec International’s ongoing efforts to reopen the shuttered Palisades Nuclear in Michigan. In a Wednesday press release, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced opportunities for stakeholders to request hearings on aspects of the restart. There is an Oct. 7 deadline for the public […]

In a final guidance published Monday, Nuclear Regulatory Staff took advice from EnergySolutions and gave reactor operators more leeway to prove they should be allowed to use decommissioning funds for equipment replacements. However, operators will still be barred from tapping into the funds, which are supposed to be reserved for cleaning up nuclear power plants […]

President Joe Biden (D) on Tuesday announced his intent to nominate Senate staffer Matthew Marzano to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and fill the agency’s last vacancy. Marzano is an Idaho National Laboratory detailee on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee where he advises lawmakers about clean air, climate and energy, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission needs less than a year to finish regulatory approvals for restarting Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, the head of the agency said Tuesday. Plant owner Holtec International, Jupiter, Fla., “has submitted all of the regulatory filings that we need to do [and] we expect to reach a decision on those filings […]

President Joe Biden (D) on Tuesday announced his intent to nominate Senate staffer Matthew Marzano to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and fill the agency’s last vacancy.  Marzano is an Idaho National Laboratory detailee on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee where he advises lawmakers about clean air, climate and energy, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission needs less than a year to finish regulatory approvals for restarting Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, the head of the agency said Tuesday. Plant owner Holtec International, Jupiter, Fla., “has submitted all of the regulatory filings that we need to do [and] we expect to reach a decision on those filings […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission appointed Mirela Gavrilas as its executive director for operations, effective July 28, the agency announced Wednesday in a press release. Gavrilas will become the organization’s chief operating officer, responsible for its day-to-day activities and administration and acting as a link between the politically appointed commission members and the agency’s career staff. […]

Environmental groups had standing to challenge a utility’s request to renew its operating license for California’s Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant but the groups’ complaints are inadmissible, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission board ruled. “With this Order, we chronicle yet another chapter in the ongoing narrative of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant,” the Atomic Safety […]

President Joe Biden (D) on Tuesday signed a bill intended, among other things, to ease domestic and foreign deployment of U.S. nuclear technology and reform the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The reforms of the Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act were nested inside the Fire Grants and Safety Act of 2023, an unrelated bill used […]

Environmental groups had standing to challenge a utility’s request to renew its operating license for California’s Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant but the groups’ complaints are inadmissible, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission board ruled. “With this Order, we chronicle yet another chapter in the ongoing narrative of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant,” the Atomic Safety […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not exempt from environmental review Holtec International’s plan to restart the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan, the agency said last week. Holtec wants to restart the plant, which closed two years ago, in August 2025 and had asked NRC for what is known as a categorical exemption from environmental […]

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) this week signed a bill that would give Pacific Gas & Electric $400 million more to keep the Diablo Canyon Power Plant open for the rest of the decade. Newsom signed the bill June 29, days after the state legislature passed it. The funding, which Newsom proposed, is part of the […]

Owen Barwell will take over as chief financial officer of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on July 14, the agency announced last week. NRC’s chief financial officer (CFO) is responsible for the management and auditing of the agency’s finances and is the five-member commission’s top financial policy adviser. Barwell was most recently CFO of Independence Hydrogen, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not exempt from environmental review Holtec International’s plan to restart the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan, the agency said last week. Holtec wants to restart the plant, which closed two years ago, in August 2025 and had asked NRC for what is known as a categorical exemption from environmental […]

The California legislature last week passed a bill that would give Pacific Gas & Electric $400 million more to keep the Diablo Canyon Power Plant open for the rest of the decade. The funding, which Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) proposed, is part of the state’s annual budget bill. The legislature initially rejected Newsom’s proposal to […]

Owen Barwell will take over as chief financial officer of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on July 14, the agency announced last week. NRC’s chief financial officer (CFO) is responsible for the management and auditing of the agency’s finances and is the five-member commission’s top financial policy adviser. Barwell was most recently CFO of Independence Hydrogen, […]

WASHINGTON — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission could approve changes to rules governing disposal of Greater-Than-Class-C waste by the end of the year, the head of the agency said here Wednesday. As for exactly when the commission will act, “I’m not sure,” Christopher Hanson, the newly reconfirmed chair of the civilian nuclear regulator told the Exchange Monitor on […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff on July 17 will hold a virtual public meeting about a California-based environmental group’s request to shut down the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, the commission said June 21. The comment-gathering meeting was scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time. The public may join via Microsoft Teams to observe interactions […]

WASHINGTON — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission could approve changes to rules governing disposal of Greater-Than-Class-C waste by the end of the year, the head of the agency said here Wednesday. As for exactly when the commission will act, “I’m not sure,” Christopher Hanson, the newly reconfirmed chair of the civilian nuclear regulator told the Exchange […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff on July 17 will hold a virtual public meeting about a California-based environmental group’s request to shut down the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, the commission said Friday. The comment-gathering meeting was scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time. The public may join via Microsoft Teams to observe interactions between […]

After nearly a year of bicameral debate and dealing, the Senate on Tuesday passed a bill designed to ease exports of U.S. nuclear technology and reform the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It was an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, opposed only by two of the voting senators. The heavily amended Fire Grants and Safety Act of 2023, which […]

Christopher Hanson this week was sworn in for another five-year term at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which he will continue to chair. “I look forward to building on the successes of recent years as the agency embraces a culture of trust and confidence and as we become even more efficient and effective in applying risk-information […]

After nearly a year of bicameral debate and dealing, the Senate on Tuesday passed a bill designed to ease exports of U.S. nuclear technology and reform the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It was an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, opposed only by two of the voting senators. The heavily amended Fire Grants and Safety Act of 2023, which […]

Senators planned to vote Tuesday evening on a bill to reform the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, create new federal waste-reporting requirements and ease adoption of U.S. nuclear power technology. The heavily amended Fire Grants and Safety Act of 2023, which includes a compromise version of the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) […]

A bi-partisan, bi-cameral package of nuclear policy reforms that sailed through the House in May has stalled in the Senate, where at least one lawmaker has not consented to pass the bill without a roll call vote. As of Tuesday, no senator had publicly declared opposition to the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week said again it will not pay millions of dollars to the owner of a California-based imaging reactor who claims agency negligence ruined his business. Despite claims to the contrary this month by David Slaughter, president of Aerotest Operations, there is no “ factual or legal basis” for paying the […]

A bi-partisan, bi-cameral package of nuclear policy reforms that sailed through the House in May has stalled in the Senate, where at least one lawmaker has not consented to pass the bill without a roll call vote. As of Tuesday, no senator had publicly declared opposition to the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for […]