Reactor Licensing & Regulation

One of the four nuclear power plants set to shut down this year moved its last electron last week, setting the decommissioning process in motion. Indian Point Energy Center’s Unit 3 reactor went dark Friday, according to a press release from Holtec International — the site’s new owner. The Camden, N.J.-based nuclear services company will […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission told a court this week that it shouldn’t move forward with a case against the agency after it voted unanimously to affirm its decision to deny a minerals holding company’s request to reconsider objections to a proposed spent fuel storage facility. NRC’s status update to the D.C. circuit court of appeals […]

The Texas state Senate did not vote as scheduled this week on a proposed bill that would ban the storage of high-level nuclear waste in the Lone Star State. The state Senate counterpart of H.B. 2692, introduced in March by state Rep. Brooks Landgraf (R), was supposed to be debated in a full session of […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission appointed two new members to its reactor safety board this week, the agency announced. Vicki Bier, and Gregory Halnon joined the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) April 12, NRC said in a Monday press release. They will both serve four-year terms on the panel. In addition to her new role […]

More than three years after buying Westinghouse Electric from Toshiba, Brookfield Business Partners is reportedly considering selling a minority interest in the nuclear company. Reuters reported April 23 that the international asset management firm is looking at options that include taking on a minority partner in Westinghouse, which Brookfield purchased from Toshiba for $4.6 billion […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to affirm its decision to deny a minerals holding company’s request to reconsider objections to a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. The afternoon vote place via teleconference closes the book on Fasken Land and Minerals’ appeal to reopen agency proceedings on Holtec International’s proposed consolidated […]

The Texas state Senate did not vote as scheduled Tuesday on a proposed bill that would ban the storage of high-level nuclear waste in the Lone Star State. The state Senate counterpart of H.B. 2692, introduced in March by state Rep. Brooks Landgraf (R), was supposed to be debated in a full session of the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission appointed two new members to its reactor safety board this week, the agency announced Monday. Vicki Bier, and Gregory Halnon joined the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) April 12, NRC said in a Monday press release. They will both serve four-year terms on the panel. In addition to her new […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shouldn’t have tossed a coalition of watchdog groups’ request for a public hearing on a license extension for a nuclear power plant in Virginia, according to an appeal filed with the agency Friday. NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board erred when it ruled that concerns about the safety of a 20-year […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should formally rule this week on a challenge to one of the two proposed commercial interim storage sites for spent nuclear fuel awaiting federal licensing, according to a notice. NRC’s commissioners will meet Wednesday to finalize their decision on Fasken Land and Minerals, Ltd.’s motion to reopen the record on Holtec […]

More than three years after buying Westinghouse Electric from Toshiba, Brookfield Business Partners is reportedly considering selling a minority interest in the nuclear company. Reuters reported Friday that the international asset management firm is looking at options that include taking on a minority partner in Westinghouse, which Brookfield purchased from Toshiba for $4.6 billion in […]

A Nevada Democrat sponsoring a bill that would ban funding for a federal nuclear waste repository without stakeholder consent said this week that the Joe Biden administration and the Department of Energy are in the Silver State’s corner. “With President Biden and Secretary Granholm, I believe we have partners who will help advance these ideas […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s staff “intentionally mischaracterized” a nuclear watchdog group’s request to hold up the sale of Three Mile Island Generating Station Unit 2 when it recommended the agency toss the petition on procedural grounds, according to a new filing this week. Three Mile Island (TMI) Alert’s March 15 request to pause the plant’s […]

Preserving the country’s civilian nuclear power fleet is “critical” to meeting federal clean energy goals, the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee told the Joe Biden administration this week. “As a zero-emissions baseload fuel source, I believe that maintaining our fleet and preventing closures of existing nuclear plants is critical to achieving […]

A federal appeals court this week hit the pause button on an environmental group’s recent petition against the licensing of a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, after combining it with a similar case from last year, according to the court docket. Sierra Club’s April 14 petition against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is […]

A proposed plan for transferring uranium mine waste at the site of one of the worst nuclear accidents in U.S. history to a nearby storage location won’t adequately protect indigenous communities in the area, the Navajo Nation’s president said last week. The proposed license amendment, which would allow the United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) to move […]

A federal appeals court Wednesday hit the pause button on an environmental group’s recent petition against the licensing of a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, after combining it with a similar case from last year, according to the court docket. Sierra Club’s April 14 petition against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is on […]

A Nevada Democrat sponsoring a bill that would ban funding for a federal nuclear waste repository without stakeholder consent said Monday the Joe Biden administration and the Department of Energy are in the Silver State’s corner. “With President Biden and Secretary Granholm, I believe we have partners who will help advance these ideas and move […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s staff “intentionally mischaracterized” a nuclear watchdog group’s request to hold up the sale of Three Mile Island Generating Station Unit 2 when it recommended the agency toss the petition on procedural grounds, according to a new filing. Three Mile Island (TMI) Alert’s March 15 request to pause the plant’s Unit 2 […]

A nuclear watchdog group that opposes the sale of Three Mile Island Generating Station will file further arguments against the transaction today, the group’s president said. Three Mile Island Alert will file its response today to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff’s recommendation that the agency toss the watchdog group’s request to hold the sale of […]

The parties involved in an ongoing legal dispute over the sale of Indian Point Energy Center proposed a settlement this week that would end a slew of legal challenges to the transaction and allow the plant’s decommissioning. The settlement agreement between Holtec International, Entergy, the state of New York and several others would allow Indian […]

The president of a nuclear watchdog group said this week that his organization’s recent motion to hold the sale of Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station was “appropriate” after Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff recommended that the agency scrap the request. Eric Epstein, president of Three Mile Island Alert, said Wednesday that the group’s March 15 […]

There are “significant opportunities” for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to apply industry recommendations to its current approach to the safe dry storage of spent nuclear fuel, a trade group representative said at an agency workshop this week. “It’s our intent to use and consider risk principles in assessing safety margins for dry storage, for the […]

The president of a nuclear watchdog group said Wednesday that his organization’s recent motion to hold the sale of Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station was “appropriate” after Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff recommended that the agency scrap the request. Eric Epstein, president of Three Mile Island Alert, said that the group’s March 15 motion to […]

There are “significant opportunities” for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to apply industry recommendations to its current approach to the safe dry storage of spent nuclear fuel, a trade group representative said at an agency workshop Tuesday. “It’s our intent to use and consider risk principles in assessing safety margins for dry storage, for the uniform […]

A nuclear watchdog group’s request to delay the sale of Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating station is “procedurally improper and without merit,” and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should toss the group’s objection, agency staff wrote in a Monday brief. The group, Three Mile Island Alert, alleged that the FirstEnergy companies and an EnergySolutions subsidiary ran […]

The companies looking to trade ownership of Indian Point Energy Center can participate in a federal case against the transaction, a judge ruled Friday. In an order dated April 9, a D.C. circuit court judge approved Entergy and Holtec International’s petition to join the case, filed Jan. 22 by the state of New York. The […]

The airport servicing the greater Las Vegas area may soon bear the name of the man who killed Yucca Mountain. In a unanimous vote back in February, the Clark County Commission agreed to a proposal that would rename McCarran International airport after retired Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), according to meeting minutes. The airport’s current namesake […]

The interstate compact commission overseeing shipments of low-level radioactive waste from Vermont to Texas will meet next week, according to the panel’s schedule. The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission will convene April 15, either in-person in Austin, Texas or virtually. At deadline Thursday for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing the venue hadn’t yet been […]

A panel made up of local stakeholders met for the first time this week to discuss the decommissioning of Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, even as a nuclear watchdog group decried the body as “corporate.” The Community Advisory Panel (CAP) — organized by TMI-2 Solutions, the EnergySolutions subsidiary responsible for dismantling Three Mile Island […]