Reactor Licensing & Regulation

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has pushed back to this fall the expected submission of a report on the potential path forward for two rules proceedings for disposal of radioactive waste, a senior official said Tuesday. Earlier this year, the report had been anticipated this summer. “That’s being pushed back slightly. It’ll probably be in the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a series of additional webinars to discuss its draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for a planned facility in New Mexico for storage of spent fuel from commercial nuclear power plants. In the document issued in March, staff at the federal regulator said the Holtec International project would largely have […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission aims by the end of August to decide on enforcement measures for apparent license and regulatory violations by International Isotopes that contributed to the release of cesium-137 last year at a hospital facility in Seattle. An NRC official noted the schedule at the end of a teleconference Tuesday that gave the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week preliminarily cited NextEra Energy with violating federal regulations in mischaracterizing a shipment of radioactive waste from its Point Beach Nuclear Plant in Wisconsin. The incident would constitute a “White” breach, representing low-to-moderate increased safety significance, according to an Aug. 3 letter to Michael Strope, site director for NextEra Energy […]

Pending legislation from Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) would require the Department of Energy to each year account for continuing and anticipated costs for management of the nation’s growing inventory of radioactive waste. The American Nuclear Infrastructure Act of 2020 contains a series of measures intended to sustain the United States’ existing nuclear power fleet and […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission aims by the end of August to decide on enforcement measures for apparent license and regulatory violations by International Isotopes that contributed to the release of cesium-137 last year at a hospital facility in Seattle. An NRC official noted the schedule at the end of a teleconference Tuesday that gave the […]

The United States must find an innovative solution to its growing inventory of radioactive waste even as it takes steps to strengthen its nuclear power sector, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said Wednesday. Whitehouse focused his comments and questions on the waste issue during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on Chairman John Barrasso’s […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week preliminarily cited NextEra Energy with violating federal regulations in mischaracterizing a shipment of radioactive waste from its Point Beach Nuclear Plant in Wisconsin. The incident would constitute a “White” breach, representing low-to-moderate increased safety significance, according to an Aug. 3 letter to Michael Strope, site director for NextEra Energy […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission aims by the end of August to decide on potential enforcement measures for apparent license and regulatory violations by International Isotopes that contributed to the release of cesium-137 last year at a hospital facility in Seattle. An agency official noted the schedule at the end of a teleconference Tuesday with the […]

International Isotopes has agreed to a pre-decisional enforcement conference with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over apparent breaches of federal regulations and its license in connection with the May 2019 spill of cesium-137 at a hospital research building in Seattle. The teleconference is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon Central time on Tuesday, Aug. 4. The […]

International Isotopes has agreed to a pre-decisional enforcement conference with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over apparent breaches of federal regulations and its license in connection with the May 2019 spill of cesium-137 at a hospital research building in Seattle. The teleconference is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon Central time on Tuesday, Aug. 4. The […]

A deal could be approaching to resolve Pennsylvania’s concerns about the planned sale and decommissioning of the long-retired reactor Unit 2 at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. In a motion filed Monday, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to wait at least until Aug. 11 to rule […]

International Isotopes has agreed to a pre-decisional enforcement conference with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over apparent breaches of federal regulations and its license in connection with the May 2019 spill of cesium-137 at a hospital research building in Seattle. The teleconference is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, Aug. 4. The meeting notice […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has voted 4-1 to approve an exemption for some emergency planning requirements for the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The commissioners’ votes and comments were collected during the past couple weeks, and posted Monday to the NRC website. Commissioner Jeff Baran cast the sole vote against the exemption. […]

Texas’ provider of low-level radioactive waste disposal, plus its state regulator and other stakeholders, have firmly opposed a potential interpretation of federal rules that could make it easier to ship so-called “very low-level waste” to landfills around the nation. That puts Waste Control Specialists in line with most comments submitted in recent months, in writing […]

The number of Nuclear Regulatory Commission employees who continue to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic has ticked down slightly in recent weeks. The percentage was 94% as of Thursday, compared to 95% cited at the beginning of July, according to NRC Director of Public Affairs David Castelveter. He noted that some personnel are not […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday said it would give stakeholders another three months to comment on a potential update to rules for disposal of very low-level radioactive waste. The new deadline to submit input on the proposed interpretive rule is Oct. 21, according to a tweet from the federal agency. The previous deadline had […]

It will take at least until 2021 before the University of Washington can reopen a building contaminated with cesium-137 by a 2019 radiological source-removal gone wrong — and some of the facility might have to be torn down and rebuilt, a university official said Wednesday. “The current timeline has remediation going basically to the end of […]

It will take at least until 2021 before the University of Washington can reopen a building contaminated with cesium-137 by a 2019 radiological source-removal gone wrong — and some of the facility might have to be torn down and rebuilt, a university official said Wednesday. “The current timeline has remediation going basically to the end of […]

It will take at least until 2021 before the University of Washington can reopen a building contaminated with cesium-137 by a 2019 radiological source-removal gone wrong — and some of the facility might have to be torn down and rebuilt, a university official said Wednesday. “The current timeline has remediation going basically to the end […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic could further extend its timeline to rule on two applications for facilities in Texas and New Mexico for storage of spent nuclear fuel. The agency’s reviews are now expected to wrap by next summer, but that is subject to change. They are already off their […]

The vast majority of Nuclear Regulatory Commission personnel continue to work remotely, even as the agency last month began reopening its offices after a months-long drawdown forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. About 98% of the NRC’s full-time staff of nearly 3,000 had been teleworking from March to mid-June. That percentage has since dropped slightly, to […]

Like death and taxes, the federal regulatory process continues amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as evidenced by Centrus Energy’s submission of a license application to enrich a 19.75% enriched uranium fuel. The review should be finished by June 2, 2021, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). That is almost a year sooner than the deadline […]

International Isotopes’ failure to adequately address the 2018 breach of a radioactive source at its Idaho headquarters contributed to a similar, larger event months later in Seattle, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Following a routine inspection earlier this year, the agency on Monday cited the Idaho Falls-based nuclear medicine company with apparent individual violations […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has formally accepted for review an Energy Department proposal to dispose of vitrified low-activity waste inside the fence at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The Energy Department on April 23 filed its draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing (WIR) evaluation with the NRC, which in this case is serving as […]

By John Stang A draft federal environmental impact statement (EIS) for a proposed used nuclear fuel storage site in southeastern New Mexico focuses on a 40-year licensing period, and does not sufficiently consider that the radioactive material might remain there long past that point, opponents of the project argued Tuesday. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on June 19 locked in its fee collection levels for the current federal fiscal year. The agency collects 90% of its annual budget through annual and service fees, with the rest appropriated by Congress. Lawmakers set the NRC’s budget at $855.6 million for fiscal 2021, which ends on Sept. 30, according […]

By John Stang A coalition of environmental organizations on Wednesday petitioned a federal appeals court to overturn a Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision against several challenges to a proposed consolidated interim used nuclear fuel installation in southeastern New Mexico. This is the second lawsuit from organizations that say the agency has unlawfully prevented them from intervening in […]

International Isotopes’ failure to adequately address the 2018 breach of a radioactive source at its Idaho headquarters contributed to a similar, larger event months later in Seattle, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Following a routine inspection earlier this year, the agency on Monday cited the Idaho Falls-based nuclear medicine company with apparent individual violations […]

Like death and taxes, the federal regulatory process continues amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as evidenced by Centrus Energy’s submission of a license application to enrich a 19.75% enriched uranium fuel. The Bethesda, Md.-based company is building a new 16-machine cascade based on its AC100M technology at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site near Piketon, Ohio. The […]