Reactor Licensing & Regulation

A Minnesota regulator fined Xcel Energy $14,000 for storing tritium contaminated groundwater without a permit at the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, the state agency said last week. The contaminated groundwater came from leaks that began in November 2022 and continued into March 2023. Xcel cleaned up the leaks, blamed on failed plumbing, but got fined […]

Holtec International this week asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to dismiss an antinuclear group’s attempt to block regulatory action needed to restart the Palisades Nuclear Plant. Holtec on Monday asked the commission secretary to deny a Dec. 5 petition by three antinuclear groups who want a hearing about the company’s Sept. 28 request for an […]

As required by state law, the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in Avila Beach, Calif., to operate until 2030, five years beyond its previously scheduled closure. The plant will cost $6 billion to operate between 2023 and then, the commission estimated. The commission approved the extension 3-0-1, […]

Holtec International this week asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to dismiss an antinuclear group’s attempt to block regulatory action needed to restart the Palisades Nuclear Plant. Holtec on Monday asked the commission secretary to deny a Dec. 5 petition by three antinuclear groups who want a hearing about the company’s Sept. 28 request for an […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission illegally rejected a request for a hearing about the Unit 1 reactor vessel at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, environmental groups said this week in a new lawsuit. Friends of the Earth and Mothers for Peace filed their lawsuit, the second federal suit the groups have brought against the commission […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week released Pacific Gas and Electric’s Corp.’s (PG&E) 2,915-page license renewal application for the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in Avila Beach, Calif.  The utility had to apply for renewal before Dec. 31 for the commission to consider the application timely filed. In a press release Thursday, NRC said it is […]

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a centrist who often rankled his party by refusing to go along with President Joe Biden’s (D) signature stimulus legislation, announced Thursday he would not seek a third full term in the U.S. Senate.  A former West Virginia governor, Manchin was elected to the Senate in 2010 in a special election. […]

The Nuclear Regulaotory Commission’s inspector general last week issued its annual list of the commission’s biggest regulatory challenges; safe regulation of new and existing nuclear technology and decommissioning oversight topped the list. The top three challenges, in the Inspector General’s own words, are: “1. Ensuring safety and security through risk-informed regulation of established and new […]

A 66-year-old Arkansas man who allegedly drove his car through an outer gate at Duke Power’s Oconee nuclear plant in South Carolina and tried to run over security staff was arrested and charged with attempted murder, local law enforcement said over the weekend. Doyle Wayne Whisenhunt, of Lockesburg, Ark., was arrested Saturday evening, at an […]

A 66-year-old Arkansas man who allegedly drove his car through an outer gate at Duke Power’s Oconee nuclear plant in South Carolina and tried to run over security staff was arrested and charged with attempted murder, local law enforcement said over the weekend. Doyle Wayne Whisenhunt, of Lockesburg, Ark., was arrested Saturday evening, at an […]

While it remains a critic of nuclear energy, the Natural Resources Defense Council confirmed Wednesday it is scaling back its legal work on nuclear issues. “While NRDC is paring back our nuclear litigation work, we will continue to advocate for better, safer, cheaper solutions to climate change,” Mark Drajem, a spokesperson for the Natural Resources […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission discontinued efforts to get more insight into whether nuclear power plant owners are obeying agency rules about which investments are allowed in decommissioning trust funds, commission staff told the agency’s inspector general. Staff made the decision official in September, according to a memo dated Oct. 26 and uploaded to the NRC’s […]

Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. announced this week it applied with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend the operating license of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant. In line with expectations, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) wants to keep the reactors on until 2030, according to a Tuesday press release. The NRC license renewal the utility […]

While it remains a critic of nuclear energy, the Natural Resources Defense Council confirmed Wednesday it is scaling back its legal work on nuclear issues. “While NRDC is paring back our nuclear litigation work, we will continue to advocate for better, safer, cheaper solutions to climate change,” Mark Drajem, a spokesperson for the Natural Resources […]

While it remains a critic of nuclear energy, the Natural Resources Defense Council confirmed Wednesday it is scaling back its legal work on nuclear issues. “While NRDC is paring back our nuclear litigation work, we will continue to advocate for better, safer, cheaper solutions to climate change,” Mark Drajem, a spokesperson for the Natural Resources […]

Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. on Tuesday announced it applied with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend the operating license of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant. In line with expectations, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) wants to keep the reactors on until 2030, according to a Tuesday press release. The NRC license renewal the utility […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission discontinued efforts to get more insight into whether nuclear power plant owners are obeying agency rules about which investments are allowed in decommissioning trust funds, commission staff told the agency’s inspector general. Staff made the decision official in September, according to a memo dated Oct. 26 and uploaded to the NRC’s […]

A 66-year-old Arkansas man who allegedly drove his car through an outer gate at Duke Power’s Oconee nuclear plant in South Carolina and tried to run over security staff was arrested and charged with attempted murder, local law enforcement said over the weekend. Doyle Wayne Whisenhunt, of Lockesburg, Ark., was arrested Saturday evening, at an […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it will raise the amount of third-party insurance operators of nuclear reactors must carry by $50 million a year.  Reactor operators now must carry $500 million for each licensed reactor, up from $4450 million. The change will be effective on Jan. 1, according to an Oct. 19 Federal Register Notice. […]

Former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Commissioner Forrest Remick died Oct. 9 at the Village at Penn State. He was 92. “Good morning!” reads an obituary penned by Remick himself and published posthumously. “They’ve informed me that I’m no longer going to be with you and that I’m off on a new adventure and experience.” Remick did not identify […]

Carrie Safford is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s new Secretary of the Commission, making her the fifth person in the agency’s history to hold the primary gatekeeping post for the commissioners. The NRC announced Safford’s new role in a press release on Tuesday. Most recently a deputy director in the division of fuel management, Safford now […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission employees should get the equivalent of three telework days each week instead of four, commissioners decided in a lopsided vote that killed the agency’s latest remote work-policy. In a 3-1 vote that concluded this week, the four-member NRC voted to repeal the agency’s flexible work model, which allowed up to eight days […]

Oral arguments are scheduled, but not inevitable, in January for a high-profile legal challenge by environmental groups who want to shut down California’s Diablo Canyon Power Plant this decade. Arguments are on the slate for Jan. 10 in Pasadena, Calif., in the lawsuit brought by San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace and others against the […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission employees should get the equivalent of three telework days each week instead of four, commissioners decided in a lopsided vote that killed the agency’s latest remote work-policy. In a 3-1 vote that concluded this week, the four-member NRC voted to repeal the agency’s flexible work model, which allowed up to eight days […]

Former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Commissioner Forrest Remick died Oct. 9 at the Village at Penn State. He was 92.  “Good morning!” reads an obituary penned by Remick himself and published posthumously. “They’ve informed me that I’m no longer going to be with you and that I’m off on a new adventure and experience.” Remick did […]

Carrie Safford is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s new Secretary of the Commission, making her the fifth person in the agency’s history to hold the primary gatekeeping post for the commissioners.  The NRC announced Safford’s new role in a press release on Tuesday. Most recently a deputy director in the division of fuel management, Safford now […]

Oral arguments are scheduled, but not inevitable, in January for a high-profile legal challenge by environmental groups who want to shut down California’s Diablo Canyon Power Plant this decade. Arguments are on the slate for Jan. 10 in Pasadena, Calif., in the lawsuit brought by San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace and others against the […]

The U.S. government and Interim Storage Partners this week asked an entire appeals court to overturn a decision by three of the court’s judges that effectively killed commercial interim storage of spent nuclear fuel. Two other courts have ruled that the “plain text” of federal law allows the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to approve the temporary […]

The U.S. government and Interim Storage Partners this week asked an entire appeals court to overturn a decision by three of the court’s judges that effectively killed commercial interim storage of spent nuclear fuel. Two other courts have ruled that the “plain text” of federal law allows the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to approve the temporary […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission officially closed the door Thursday on an antinuclear group’s bid to force a hearing about Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s plans to fund upkeep of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s independent spent fuel storage installation. The writing has been on the wall since the summer, when Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) […]