Reactor Licensing & Regulation

NRC Planning to Resume Force-on-force Inspections in March The Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to resume force-on-force inspections in March next year, staff said in a meeting Monday featuring panelists from the Nuclear Energy Institute, NextEra, Entergy and the Union of Concerned Scientists. After granting a number of exceptions to force-on-force inspections at nuclear reactors in […]

Brian Ellis will join Entergy’s board of directors, expanding its size to 11.  Ellis is the senior vice president and general counsel at Washington, D.C.-based Danaher Corp., a global science and technology innovation company. Before Danaher, Ellis served as vice president and general counsel at Medtronic.  Last week, New Orleans-based Entergy announced that its third-quarter […]

Days after firing CEO Chuck Jones and two other executives, FirstEnergy Corp. reported third quarter earnings of $0.84 per share on revenue of $3 billion, up from $0.73 per share on revenue of $3 billion in the same quarter last year.  The Akron, Ohio-based company reported third-quarter profit of $454 million. FirstEnergy shares have lost […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday declined to grant a hearing in the Indian Point license transfer as requested by concerned New York congressional representatives. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and New York members of Congress sent a second letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week asking for a hearing before the […]

Amid allegations of the utility’s involvement in a corrupt nuclear bailout bill, FirstEnergy on Thursday fired CEO Charles Jones and two senior executives after an internal review determined they broke company rules. Steven Strah, FirstEnergy’s president, will fill Jones’ position, according to a press release announcing the termination. Christopher Pappas, a current board member, has […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public opinion on its review of Virginia Electric and Power Co.’s license renewal at the Virginia-based North Anna Power Station. Staff are seeking views on environmental issues surrounding the 20-year license renewal by the company, also known as Dominion, until Nov. 23 following the publication of a notice in […]

U.S. Representative Mike Levin (D-CA) has introduced that would require NRC inspectors to remain at decommissioning nuclear power plants until all spent fuel is transferred from pools to canisters. The proposed law, introduced Oct. 23, is Levin’s response to “failures” at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) located around four miles south of San […]

The cities of Cincinnati and Columbus are suing FirstEnergy Corp. and others in a last-ditch effort to keep fees associated with controversial House Bill 6 off ratepayer bills starting in January. In a suit filed in the court of common pleas in Franklin County, Ohio, on Tuesday, the two cities are attempting to do what […]

U.S. Representative Mike Levin (D-CA) has introduced that would require NRC inspectors to remain at decommissioning nuclear power plants until all spent fuel is transferred from pools to canisters. The proposed law, introduced Friday, is Levin’s response to “failures” at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) located around four miles south of San Clemente, […]

The cities of Cincinnati and Columbus are suing FirstEnergy Corp. and others in a last-ditch effort to keep fees associated with controversial House Bill 6 off ratepayer bills starting in January.  In a suit filed in the court of common pleas in Franklin County, Ohio, on Tuesday, the two cities are attempting to do what […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public opinion on its review of Virginia Electric and Power Co.’s license renewal at the Virginia-based North Anna Power Station. Staff are seeking views on environmental issues surrounding the 20-year license renewal by the company, also known as Dominion, until Nov. 23 following the publication of a notice in […]

Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and New York members of Congress sent a second letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week asking for a hearing before the Indian Point Energy Center license transfer application. The lawmakers first asked for a hearing in January, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) hasn’t yet decided […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will review an application from Virginia Electric and Power Company (Dominion) to extend its license at the Virginia-based North Anna Power Station Units 1 and 2. Ken Holt, a Dominion spokesman, said if the license is approved, the company plans to operate the North Anna Power Station Unit 1 until 2058 […]

The NRC won’t fine International Isotopes for license and regulatory violations the company made last year that contributed to the release of cesium-137 last year at a Seattle hospital facility. In a letter of enforcement published on Tuesday, NRC staff dinged International Isotopes with two violations: failure to have appropriate administrative procedures to mitigate the […]

Anyone who opposes FirstEnergy’s plea for a protective order to block deposition of a company executive by an Ohio state government watchdog have until Nov. 2 to speak up,  Public Utilities Commission of Ohio attorney examiner Gregory Price ruled Tuesday.  FirstEnergy filed for the protective order last week. The company wants to block the production […]

Holtec won’t be able to continue with dry runs at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Power station in New Jersey until the company obtains the proper construction permits from host site Lacey Township, a federal judge ruled Thursday afternoon.  Holtec’s dry runs involve mandatory demonstrations in which the company practices moving spent nuclear fuel from a […]

When Michael Pircio blew the whistle on FirstEnergy Corp., the electric utility allegedly involved with former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s $60 million racketeering scheme, the company filed a lawsuit to make an example out of him, Pircio said Monday in a court filing. When FirstEnergy found out that, days after his termination, Pircio downloaded […]

Anyone who opposes FirstEnergy’s plea for a protective order to block deposition of a company executive by an Ohio state government watchdog has until Nov. 2 to speak up,  Public Utilities Commission of Ohio attorney examiner Gregory Price ruled Tuesday.  FirstEnergy filed for the protective order last week. The company wants to block the production […]

The Nuclear Regulator Commission won’t fine International Isotopes for license and regulatory violations the company made last year that contributed to the release of cesium-137 last year at a Seattle hospital facility. In a letter of enforcement published on Tuesday, commission staff dinged International Isotopes with two violations: failure to have appropriate administrative procedures to […]

When Michael Pircio blew the whistle on FirstEnergy Corp., the electric utility allegedly involved with former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s $60 million racketeering scheme, the company filed a lawsuit to make an example out of him, Pircio said Monday in a court filing. When FirstEnergy found out that, days after his termination, Pircio downloaded […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will review an application from Virginia Electric and Power Company (Dominion) to extend its license at the Virginia-based North Anna Power Station Units 1 and 2. Dominion’s license has already been extended once, in March 2003, with Unit 1 currently licensed to operate through April 2038, and Unit 2 through August […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff members will release a letter outlining how the commission plans to move forward with COVID-19-related work-hour and security inspection exemptions and other pandemic-related topics in late October.  The commission has granted 48 force-on-force exemptions since the start of the pandemic, nearly half of the exemptions granted overall, according to NRC spokesman […]

Energy Harbor has been subpoenaed in a criminal investigation into its involvement with former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, according to people close to the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.  Federal prosecutors are asking the company to turn over documents proving the legality of its lobbying on behalf of House Bill 6, the […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff plan to combine the “Part 61” low-level radioactive waste rulemaking and the Greater-Than-Class C rulemaking for efficiency, a senior official said this week. The highly anticipated NRC report will be released to the public by the end of November, Patricia Holahan, director of the NRC’s Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff plan to combine the “Part 61” low-level radioactive waste rulemaking and the Greater-Than-Class C rulemaking for efficiency, a senior official said Wednesday. The highly anticipated NRC report will be released to the public by the end of November, Patricia Holahan, director of the NRC’s Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a meeting Thursday addressing licensing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Commissioners will discuss work hours, security inspection exemptions and other pandemic-related topics.  On March 30, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) made work-hour exceptions, allowing plant operators to work up to 86 hours in a work week, up from […]

By John Stang Transportation, potential terrorism and environmental justice were among the concerns voiced Thrusday at web-based public hearing on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s draft environmental impact statement on Interim Storage Partners’ proposal to build a spent nuclear fuel storage site in western Texas.  “We don’t want high-level radioactive wastes dumped in our home,” said […]

A defeated 2018 Republican candidate for the Ohio House of Representatives is suing FirstEnergy, former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and others for subsidizing “defamatory” campaign ads against him in a blatant attempt to get one of Householder’s preferred candidates elected instead. Bobby Mitchell alleges First Energy pushed money through a non-profit called Generation Now […]

Voters in Eastham, Massachusetts, the site of the decommissioned Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, voted overwhelmingly in favor of asking Gov. Charlie Baker to amp up security at the plant.  The NRC “hasn’t heard anything” from Eastham, spokesman David McIntyre wrote in an email Thursday. He added that the Atomic Energy Act gives the NRC — […]

FirstEnergy couldn’t have possibly imposed fees associated with its lobbying for Ohio House Bill 6 on ratepayers because rates for those customers were set in 2008, the company argued in response to a Public Utilities Commission of Ohio probe this week.  Rates were set and frozen through May 31, 2024 based on a test year […]