Reactor Licensing & Regulation

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is evaluating potential updates to its process for revising federal rules on licensed nuclear operations, including tightening the timeline to publish the documents that serve as the basis for a rulemaking. “We are taking a hard look at why we do our activities the way we’ve been doing them,” according […]

By John Stang Perma-Fix Environmental Services said Thursday it nearly doubled its earnings for the third quarter of 2019, aided by contract wins and increased efficiencies. The Atlanta-based nuclear services and waste management provider posted $22.5 million in revenue for the latest quarter, up 88% from $12 million for the same period last year. The […]

The U.S. branch of French nuclear company Orano said Wednesday it is preparing to deploy the first of its next-generation radioactive waste transport casks. Columbia, Md.-based Orano TN has manufactured the initial NUHOMS MP197HB, but still must assemble the container, according to a press release. It is expected by the end of 2019 to be ready for […]

The state lawmaker who has headed Wyoming’s latest exploration of hosting a spent nuclear fuel storage facility has shifted that leadership role over to Gov. Mark Gordon (R). On Tuesday, state Sen. Jim Anderson (R) told the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Minerals, Business, and Economic Development Committee he has withdrawn a proposed bill to allow the […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in September continued its nearly yearlong trend of spending just a few hundred dollars per month of its balance from the federal Nuclear Waste Fund. The total for the month was $699 for unspecified program planning and support, according to the agency’s latest report to Congress. That is primarily how […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday formally approved a reduction in the emergency preparedness requirements for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. The changes include elimination of a dedicated 10-mile emergency planning zone in the license for the Cape Cod property. The requirement for a specific off-site radiological emergency response plan will […]

The White House on Wednesday nominated a new inspector general for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Robert Feitel is currently a trial attorney for the section of the Department of Justice that assists with federal death penalty cases. He would succeed Hubert Bell, who retired on Dec. 31, 2018, after more than 22 years as […]

A new report from the federal Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) is providing grist for environmental groups to refresh their cases against U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing of temporary spent fuel storage sites in Texas and New Mexico. The Sierra Club used the report as the backbone of its Oct. 23 petition to file […]

Edison International on Tuesday reported lower third-quarter 2019 income for itself and subsidiary Southern California Edison, taking hits from increased costs for fighting wildfires linked to its power lines. Company-wide net income came in at $471 million, $1.36 per share, dropping from $513 million, $1.57 per share, in the same quarter of 2018. However, adjusted […]

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office on Monday asked a federal appeals court to order a stay on the already-completed transfer of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. That action, plus two related measures by the federal regulator, should be frozen while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the […]

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), a longtime supporter of cleaning up the U.S. Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, said Monday he would not run for re-election in 2020. “I will not seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, nor election to any other office, but instead I will close the public service […]

A panel of the Wyoming Legislature is recommending that lawmakers consider new legislation that would advance tentative plans for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the state. The recommendations are included in a report submitted for next week’s meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Minerals, Business, and Economic Development Committee. Specifically, according to the committee’s […]

The White House on Wednesday nominated a new inspector general for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Robert Feitel is currently a trial attorney for the section of the Department of Justice that assists with potential federal death penalty cases. He would succeed Hubert Bell, who retired on Dec. 31, 2018, after more than 22 years […]

Prospects for timely passage of a permanent 2020 budget for the Department of Energy and other agencies dimmed a little this week, when most Senate Democrats refused to curtail debate on spending legislation that includes funding for President Donald Trump’s proposed southern border wall. The Senate failed Thursday to invoke cloture on a basket of […]

By John Stang As it faces a federal investigation over its lobbying practices, power company Exelon said Thursday it might close four nuclear power plants in Illinois if that state’s legislature does not pass legislation in 2020 to help keep them afloat. President and CEO Chris Crane said Exelon needs zero-emission credits for four plants […]

A panel of the Wyoming Legislature is recommending that lawmakers consider new legislation that would advance tentative plans for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the state. The recommendations are included in a report submitted for next week’s meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Minerals, Business, and Economic Development Committee. Specifically, according to the committee’s […]

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has asked a federal appeals court to order a stay on the already-completed transfer of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Monday’s action, plus two related measures by the federal regulator, should be frozen while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Tuesday effectively selected an Argentine diplomat as its new director general. Rafael Mariano Grossi received a majority vote in closed balloting by the Board of Governors for the U.N. nuclear watchdog – 24 of 35 members, according to an IAEA press release. Grossi would receive formal appointment from […]

The Sierra Club is seeking permission to file a late argument against licensing by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission of a temporary spent nuclear fuel storage facility in New Mexico. The environmental organization said its Oct. 23 motion is based on previously unavailable information contained in a new report from the federal Nuclear Waste Technical […]

The House of Representatives’ Science, Space, and Technology Committee last week advanced legislation that would assign the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to assist in disposal of radioactive waste. Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson’s (D-Texas) ARPA-E Reauthorization Act of 2019 now awaits action by the full House. There was no word this […]

Both AECOM and the investment group planning to buy its government contracting and nuclear decommissioning business could call off the deal if it takes too long to complete, according to a recent financial filing. AECOM plans to sell its Management Services business to Maverick Purchaser Sub LLC, a joint venture formed by investment firms American […]

Three workers at a Westinghouse plant in South Carolina were briefly hospitalized last week after reporting an “unusual taste in their mouths” while handling equipment contaminated with hydrofluoric acid. The incident occurred Oct. 14 at the Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility, according to an Oct. 16 event notification report submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission […]

An organization representing 20 Pueblo nations in New Mexico and Texas has formally voiced its opposition to plans for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel in the states. During a meeting last week, the All Pueblo Council of Governors adopted a resolution against federal licensing for construction and operations of the facilities planned by Holtec […]

The members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission are considering a staff recommendation to terminate a limited update to regulations on security of special nuclear material. “The staff conducted a preliminary cost and benefit analysis in which it has identified that the rulemaking is not cost justified,” Margaret Doane, NRC executive director for operations, wrote […]

It could be two years before a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission board holds a hearing in the single contention it allowed against licensing of a consolidated interim storage facility in West Texas for spent nuclear power reactor fuel. The anticipated “trigger date” for parties to begin filing various paperwork and then conduct the evidentiary hearing […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is accepting hearing petitions on proposed license transfers for the retired Crystal River nuclear power plant in Florida. Owner Duke Energy wants to transfer the facility’s operations and spent-fuel storage licenses to a subsidiary of Accelerated Decommissioning Partners (ADP). That company, a joint venture of NorthStar Group Services and Orano, […]

Just two days after officially completing the reorganization of its nuclear materials office, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday announced it had combined two offices that provide oversight for nuclear power reactors. As of Sunday, the federal agency has merged its Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation with its Office of New Reactors. The new […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has closed out a regulatory update to expand the scope of industry stakeholders who would be required to provide “complete and accurate information” in applying for a regulatory approval. A Sept. 19 notice in the Federal Register formally terminated a petition filed in April 2013 by former NRC official James […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has formally accepted SHINE Medical Technologies’ application to obtain a 30-year operating license for its planned medical isotope production facility in Wisconsin. The agency said in a Federal Register notice, issued Saturday and dated Tuesday, that it had docketed the application following its acceptance review. The license application will […]

By John Stang Eden Radioisotopes plans simultaneous submission of construction and operations license applications to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its planned molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) production facility in New Mexico. The Albuquerque, N.M.-based startup discussed its plans during an Oct. 8 pre-application meeting with the NRC at the agency’s headquarters in Rockville, Md. The facility […]