Reactor Licensing & Regulation

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 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, […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has formally accepted SHINE Medical Technologies’ application to obtain a 30-year operating license for a proposal 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. That license application will now […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is still reviewing two petitions for intervention in the license transfer proceeding for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts, even though it approved the transfer in August ahead of the sale of the retired plant. The “presidentially appointed Commission that oversees the NRC still has to rule on the […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is still reviewing two petitions for intervention in the license transfer of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts, even though it approved the transfer in August ahead of the sale of the retired plant. The “presidentially appointed Commission that oversees the NRC still has to rule on the requests […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has formally closed out a regulatory update to expand the scope of stakeholders who would be required to provide “complete and accurate information” in applying for a regulatory approval. The rulemaking was initiated by a petition filed in April 2013 by James Lieberman, a former NRC official who consults on […]

Vermont on Monday officially became the 39th agreement state to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It now assumes primary responsibility for regulatory oversight of radioactive materials within state borders, though that does not include the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant being decommissioned. The four NRC commissioners in early September voted unanimously in favor of giving […]

NAC International is asking the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to waive $632,398 in fees from its review of the company’s new transportation package for spent reactor fuel. The costs were an unfair outcome of incorrect thermal modeling of the MAGNATRAN cask by an unidentified contractor for the federal agency, according to the Peachtree, Ga.-based manufacturer […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has suspended work on a study of potential regulatory updates for disposal of very low-level radioactive waste (VLLW) while it considers other approaches to the matter. As recently as March, the agency said it expected to issue its findings before the end of spring. However, staff is now separately gearing […]

Vermont on Monday officially became the 39th agreement state to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It now assumes primary responsibility for regulatory oversight of radioactive materials within state borders, though that does not include the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant being decommissioned. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott and NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki signed the agreement on […]

By John Stang The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office sued in federal court on Wednesday in an effort to roll back the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s recent approval of the license transfer of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The commonwealth’s top lawyer wants the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to vacate rulings and […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in October plans to reorganize its Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS), including combining two divisions. The reorganization will take effect on Oct. 13, officials said during a meeting Wednesday with nuclear fuel cycle industry representatives at NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md. It will be headlined by the […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in October plans to reorganize its Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS), including combining two divisions. The reorganization will take effect on Oct. 13, officials said during a meeting Wednesday with nuclear fuel cycle industry stakeholders at NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md. It will be headlined by the […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s timeline for completing its regulatory update on disposal of low-level radioactive waste has slid further to the right, though an agency official cautioned Wednesday the latest schedule remains tentative. During a meeting with nuclear industry stakeholders, the NRC presented a Sept. 17 schedule update on the Part 61 rulemaking. That […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is giving stakeholders an additional 60 days to comment on a document that could lay the groundwork for an update to regulations on disposal of Greater-Than-Class C (GTCC) low-level radioactive waste. The public comment period for the draft regulatory basis had been scheduled to close on Sept. 20. But the […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week it would not withdraw a 2016 finding re-establishing the scope of its authority to regulate disposal of very low-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. The Nuclear Energy Institute, the trade association for the nuclear industry, in February requested the agency rescind Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2016-11. […]

The U.S. Senate is considering a steep cutback in funding for most operations at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the upcoming 2020 federal budget year. The $841.2 million budget recommendation unveiled last week would be just over $66.5 million less than the federal agency requested for salaries and expenses in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is giving stakeholders an additional 60 days to comment on a document that could lay the groundwork for an update to regulations on disposal of Greater-Than-Class C (GTCC) low-level radioactive waste. The public comment period for the draft regulatory basis had been scheduled to close on Sept. 20. But the […]

By John Stang Appeals were filed Tuesday with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission over petitions to intervene in the federal licensing of a proposed site in western Texas for temporary storage of used fuel from commercial nuclear reactors. On Aug. 23, an NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled that only the Sierra Club has […]

Appeals were filed Tuesday with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission over which entities should be allowed to intervene legally in the federal licensing of a proposed site in western Texas for temporary storage of used fuel from commercial nuclear reactors. On Aug. 23, an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled that only the Sierra Club […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday affirmed that directives in recent years regarding disposal of very low-level radioactive waste (VLLW) do not apply to a facility operated by Waste Control Specialists (WCS) on its West Texas property. John Lubinski, director of the agency’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, was responding to a […]

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee is recommending an $841.2 million budget for most operations at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the upcoming 2020 federal budget year. That would be just over $66.5 million less than the federal regulator requested for salaries and expenses for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. However, the committee directed that the nuclear […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is giving stakeholders an additional 60 days to comment on a draft regulatory basis that could lay the groundwork for an update to regulations on disposal of Greater-Than-Class C low-level radioactive waste. The comment period had been scheduled to close on Sept. 20. But the agency, in a Federal Register […]

Interim Storage Partners (ISP) on Monday petitioned for dismissal of the sole permitted contention against federal licensing of its planned consolidated interim storage facility in West Texas for spent fuel from nuclear power plants. Upon rejecting the contention from the Sierra Club, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board should close out the […]

Interim Storage Partners (ISP) on Monday petitioned for dismissal of the sole permitted contention against federal licensing of its planned consolidated interim storage facility in West Texas for spent fuel from nuclear power plants. Upon rejecting the contention, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board should then close out the entire proceeding of […]

A former employee at the URENCO USA uranium enrichment facility in New Mexico has been barred from conducting Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed activities for one year. Justin Roberts was working as a contract assembler at the plant in Eunice in September 2016 when he placed an unidentified, confidential part into another worker’s lunchbox, according to an […]

Massachusetts’ government on Tuesday pressed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for “a stay of the effectiveness” of agency staff’s approval of the license transfer and decommissioning trust fund exemption for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Former owner Entergy completed the sale of the retired single-reactor plant to Holtec International on Aug. 26 after receiving NRC […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects to give stakeholders more time to provide input on its draft regulatory basis for a potential rulemaking on disposal of Greater-Than-Class C (GTCC) low-level radioactive waste. “No extension yet, but one is likely,” agency spokesman David McIntyre said by email Tuesday. On Aug. 29, the Texas Commission on Environmental […]

Three members of Massachusetts’ congressional delegation want the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to keep emergency preparedness and planning regulations in place for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Staff at the agency has already recommended that Pilgrim be exempt from certain regulations following the end of operations and removal of used fuel from the reactor. Power […]

The Sierra Club will be allowed to argue one environmental contention against U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing of a facility in West Texas for temporary storage of spent reactor fuel from nuclear power plants. An NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) ruled on Aug. 23 that the environmental organization had proved standing for intervention […]