Reactor Licensing & Regulation

PHOENIX — Holtec International’s proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel could be greenlit by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the coming months, the company’s government services lead said at an industry conference Monday. NRC could make a licensing decision on the Holtec site, proposed for Eddy County, N.M., by the second quarter of […]

Nearly all of the commercial nuclear power reactors in the U.S. meet the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s highest regulatory standards, the agency said in a press release Monday. NRC has issued its 2021 performance reports to all 93 of the country’s operating nuclear plants, the commission said, and of those sites, 91 were in NRC’s highest […]

By: John Stang Did luck keep a Columbia Generating Station radiation-exposure incident in May from being worse than it was? Or did good planning play a key role?  Those questions face Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials as they decide how much Energy Northwest should be blamed for a May 28, 2021 pipe-welding incident that exposed 22 […]

Dominion Energy, Richmond, Va., saw its profits rebound last year from a loss in 2020, according to recent financial filings. The utility company reported a net income of around $3.2 billion, or $3.98 a share, for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, according to a 10-K form filed Feb. 24. That figure was up significantly, […]

A proposed change to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s nuclear decommissioning rulemaking, which includes updates to tracking requirements for low-level nuclear waste shipments, is scheduled to go live for public comment this week, an agency spokesperson said this week. A public comment request on the proposed decommissioning rule was published Thursday in the Federal Register. After […]

Dominion Energy, Richmond, Va., saw its profits rebound last year from a loss in 2020, according to recent financial filings. The utility company reported a net income of around $3.2 billion, or $3.98 a share, for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, according to a 10-K form filed Feb. 24. That figure was up significantly, […]

Did luck keep a Columbia Generating Station radiation-exposure incident in May from being worse than it was? Or did good planning play a key role?  Those questions face Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials as they decide how much Energy Northwest should be blamed for a May 28, 2021 pipe-welding incident that exposed 22 people to radiation […]

Revenue at FirstEnergy, Akron, Ohio, grew during 2021 despite financial challenges stemming from a bribery scandal in Columbus, according to recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For year ended Dec. 31, FirstEnergy reported revenue of roughly $11.1 billion, up just 1% from $11 billion in 2020, according to a 10-K form filed Feb. […]

Revenue at FirstEnergy, Akron, Ohio, grew during 2021 despite financial challenges stemming from a bribery scandal in Columbus, according to recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For year ended Dec. 31, FirstEnergy reported revenue of roughly $11.1 billion, up just 1% from $11 billion in 2020, according to a 10-K form filed Feb. […]

 A May 2021 radiation exposure of 22 workers resulted in a federal preliminary finding of a low-to-moderate safety problem for the Columbia Generating Station in Richland, Washington, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said recently.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has four levels of classifications for safety problems. Green means a finding of very low safety significance […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we dive into the long weekend, here are a few other stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. Diablo Canyon Host Community to Press Newsom on Plant Closure Officials from the California community hosting the soon-to-close Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant will send a letter to the Golden State’s governor […]

The University of Massachusetts’s research reactor can safely use fuel it obtained from a separate, decommissioned test reactor in the Bay State, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission determined in a license renewal document unveiled this week. NRC approved UMass’s request to allow its Lowell, Mass., test reactor to use “slightly irradiated” aluminum-clad uranium-aluminide fuel it obtained […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has canned a coalition of anti-nuclear groups’ call for a public hearing on a recently-approved order allowing Exelon to transfer ownership of over a dozen of its former nuclear plants to its generation spin-off company, the agency said this week. The Environmental Law and Policy Center (EPLC) nonprofit and anti-nuclear group […]

The University of Massachusetts’s research reactor can safely use fuel it obtained from a separate, decommissioned test reactor in the Bay State, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission determined in a license renewal document unveiled Monday. NRC approved UMass’s request to allow its Lowell, Mass., test reactor to use “slightly irradiated” aluminum-clad uranium-aluminide fuel it obtained from […]

By John Stang After a federal audit showed FirstEnergy Corp. put $10.9 million of lobbying costs into the wrong accounts, the company has until early April to come up with a plan to fix this and several other accounting problems, which could result in refunds to ratepayers. A Federal Energy Regulatory Commission audit report released […]

A federally-owned utility this week said that its New Nuclear Program that will prepare an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for an advanced reactor at a Tennessee test site. The Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) New Nuclear Program, approved by the utility’s board Thursday, will “develop a Nuclear Regulatory Commission construction permit application and potentially […]

A pair of Republican legislators last week asked Congress’s investigative arm to look into whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is prepared to handle applications for future advanced nuclear reactors, according to a recent letter. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) should investigate NRC’s “preparedness to review and approve applications for advanced nuclear reactor designs,” Sen. Shelley […]

A pair of Republican legislators last week asked Congress’s investigative arm to look into whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is prepared to handle applications for future advanced nuclear reactors, according to a recent letter. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) should investigate NRC’s “preparedness to review and approve applications for advanced nuclear reactor designs,” Sen. Shelley […]

Exelon has completed its separation from spin-off company Constellation Energy Corp., announced a year ago as the new home for a fleet of nuclear reactors, according to a press release this week. Exelon will continue its electricity utility and distribution business, the company said in the Tuesday press release. The Constellation spinoff will oversee the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s current suite of safety regulations should work as intended in the event of a future cross-country nuclear waste transportation campaign, the agency’s material control chief said this week in a public meeting. “We do feel we are well positioned for any future shipments of spent fuel based on our strong regulatory […]

Exelon has completed its separation from spin-off company Constellation Energy Corp., announced a year ago as the new home for a fleet of nuclear reactors, according to a Tuesday press release. Exelon will continue its electricity utility and distribution business, the company said in the Tuesday press release. The Constellation spinoff will oversee the nuclear, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s current suite of safety regulations should work as intended in the event of a future cross-country nuclear waste transportation campaign, the agency’s material control chief said Wednesday in a public meeting. “We do feel we are well positioned for any future shipments of spent fuel based on our strong regulatory framework […]

A glitch with an emergency diesel generator at the Davis-Besse reactor should be classified as a low-to-moderate safety problem, Energy Harbor Corp. staff argued at a Tuesday hearing held by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. On May 27, 2021, a field flash selector switch on an emergency diesel generator at the Ohio plant failed a test. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s chief executive manager is retiring from the agency after nearly 40 years of service, the commission said in a press release last week. Annette Vietti-Cook, who became NRC’s secretary in 1982, is retiring from her role effective this spring, according to a press release dated Jan. 11. Brooke Clark, NRC’s deputy […]

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission team tasked with reviewing the agency’s environmental justice efforts plans soon to submit its recommendations to the commissioners, a spokesperson said this week. NRC’s environmental justice task force, spearheaded by head of the agency’s operating reactor licensing division, Gregory Suber, is “busy drafting its recommendations in a staff paper,” a spokesperson […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s chief executive manager is retiring from the agency after nearly 40 years of service, the commission said in a press release last week. Annette Vietti-Cook, who became NRC’s secretary in 1982, is retiring from her role effective this spring, according to a press release dated Jan. 11. Brooke Clark, NRC’s deputy […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Here are some other stories from around the civilian nuclear power space that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. NRC Conference to go All-Virtual Amid Omicron Surge After the COVID-19 Omicron variant spread rapidly across the country this winter, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has decided to host an annual spring conference virtually, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will allow its employees to work remotely on a limited basis after the recent spike in omicron-variant COVID-19 cases, according to a recent memo from the agency’s operations department. NRC extended “additional flexibilities for project-based telework” to Feb. 26 from Jan. 15, according to a Jan. 6 memo to staff from […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will allow its employees to work remotely on a limited basis after the recent spike in omicron-variant COVID-19 cases, according to a recent memo from the agency’s operations department. NRC extended “additional flexibilities for project-based telework” to Feb. 26 from Jan. 15, according to a Jan. 6 memo to staff from […]

After the COVID-19 Omicron variant spread rapidly across the country this winter, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has decided to host an annual spring conference virtually this year, the agency announced Tuesday. Although NRC’s Regulatory Information Conference (RIC), scheduled for March 8-10, was initially supposed to be held as a hybrid event with some in-person attendance, […]