Reactor Licensing & Regulation

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission blasted as unbalanced a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found the small civilian agency should consider tighter regulation of nuclear material that terrorists could use in a radioactive dispersal device. In the report published April 4, the GAO said the NRC’s regulation of radioactive material storage should be stricter because of […]

The Department of Energy has issued a small business sources-sought notice on nuclear remediation activities currently provided by Fluor Idaho and Spectra Tech at the Idaho National Laboratory. Fluor Idaho holds the full five-year, $1.6 billion Idaho Cleanup Project contract, which runs through May 2021. Spectra Tech has a five-year, $41 million contract for environmental […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in stepping on federal law and its own regulations in re-assuming authority over disposal of “very low-level” radioactive waste by some facilities in agency agreement states, according to the trade group for the nuclear industry. In a Feb. 28 letter to the NRC, Nuclear Energy Institute General Counsel Ellen Ginsberg […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission blasted as unbalanced a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found the small civilian agency should consider tighter regulation of nuclear material that terrorists could use in a radioactive dispersal device. In the report published Thursday, the GAO said the NRC’s regulation of radioactive material storage should be stricter because of the […]

By John Stang Two Democratic senators this week pressed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to explain its reasoning for leaving out certain requirements in a final rule intended to safeguard nuclear power plants from flooding and earthquakes. The commission in January voted 3-2 in favor of the rule on mitigation of beyond-design-basis events. The proceeding had been […]

Two Democratic senators this week pressed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to explain its reasoning for leaving out certain requirements in a final rule intended to safeguard nuclear power plants from flooding and earthquakes. The commission in January voted 3-2 in favor of the rule on mitigation of beyond-design-basis events. The proceeding had been in the works […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it was continuing to monitor one operational nuclear power plant and a closed facility in Nebraska amid widespread flooding in the region from the Missouri River. “We are keeping an eye on the situation at both plants,” NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said. However, the agency said in a […]

Stakeholders have nearly two months to request intervention and a hearing in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s review of plans for a waste repository at the Church Rock uranium mine cleanup site in New Mexico. General Electric subsidiary United Nuclear Corp. in September 2008 submitted an amendment request for its remediation project near the city of […]

A Senate Appropriations Committee staffer and former Department of Energy nuclear fuel cycle specialist confirmed this week he is being considered for nomination to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. An informed source said Christopher Hanson is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) preferred candidate to fill the vacancy that will open when Commissioner Stephen Burns retires […]

By John Stang Pacific Gas & Electric has asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to chime in on whether it believes the California utility’s bankruptcy proceeding will affect the future decommissioning of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. In doing so, PG&E is following the order of a California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge. In […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday it had promoted a nearly three-decade agency staffer to the position of director for the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS). Later in March, John Lubinski will formally succeed Marc Dapas, who retired in January after nearly four years as director. Acting NMSS Director Scott Moore […]

A Senate Appropriations Committee staffer and former Department of Energy nuclear fuel cycle specialist confirmed Tuesday he is being considered for nomination to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. An informed source said Christopher Hanson is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) preferred candidate to fill the vacancy created when Commissioner Stephen Burns retires on June 30 […]

The members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday affirmed an adjudicatory body’s decision not to recuse itself from ruling on petitions for intervention in the licensing proceeding for a planned spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Texas. In their memorandum, the five commissioners said they concurred with the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) […]

Pacific Gas & Electric has asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its opinion on whether the California utility’s bankruptcy proceeding will affect the future decommissioning of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. In doing so, PG&E is following the order of a California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge. In a Feb. 26 letter to […]

The trade organization for the U.S. nuclear industry has expressed deep reservations about the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s fee collection plan for the current federal budget year. The NRC said in February it anticipated collecting $781.9 million in service and annual fees from licensees in fiscal 2019, the large majority of its $911 million budget through […]

PHOENIX, Ariz. — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the next couple months should issue a draft regulatory basis for a potential rulemaking on disposal of Greater-Than-Class C low-level radioactive waste, a senior official said Monday. “That’s probably our No. 1 priority right now,” given stakeholder interest on the matter, according to John Tappert, director […]

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects in the next couple months to issue their findings regarding potential updates to the regulatory approach for disposal of so-called very low-level radioactive waste. The study initiated in 2016 considered a wide range of options, from maintaining the status quo to a full rulemaking […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week moved Entergy’s soon-to-be-retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station out of the lowest safety ranking allowed for an operational power plant. The agency had indicated last month it was preparing to elevate the facility from Column 4 to Column 1 of the its Action Matrix. The agency in 2015 placed the single-reactor […]

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) has requested cooperating agency status in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s review of the license application for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility planned for the state. Then-NMED Secretary-designate James Kenney made the request in a Feb. 14 letter to the NRC, which was posted Tuesday to the federal […]

PHOENIX, Ariz. — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the next couple months should issue a draft regulatory basis for a potential rulemaking on disposal of Greater-Than-Class C low-level radioactive waste, a senior official said Monday. “That’s probably our No. 1 priority right now,” according to John Tappert, director of the NRC’s Division of Decommissioning, […]

The trade organization for the U.S. nuclear industry has expressed deep reservations about the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s fee collection plan for the current federal budget year. The NRC said in February it anticipated collecting $781.9 million in service and annual fees from licensees in fiscal 2019, the large majority of its $911 million budget through […]

An Atomic Safety and Licensing Board at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has pushed back an earlier schedule for ruling on requests to intervene in licensing of a planned spent nuclear fuel storage facility in New Mexico. The three-person panel last month indicated it would issue its decision in March. But that was before oral […]

In a paperwork milestone that marks another coffin nail for the canceled project, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Feb. 8 terminated MOX Services’ license to build the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. A 1998 federal law gave the industry regulator responsibility for authorizing construction of the […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — The second of two Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear power reactors could this year obtain a license to start producing tritium for U.S. nuclear weapons, a National Nuclear Security Administration official said here Thursday. The government-owned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) already produces tritium for U.S. nuclear weapons by irradiating tritium -roducing burnable absorber […]

In a paperwork milestone that marks another coffin nail for the canceled project, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday terminated MOX Services’ license to build the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. A 1998 federal law gave the industry regulator responsibility for authorizing construction of the MFFF, […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in December spent $1,566 of its remaining balance from the fund intended to pay the agency’s licensing activities for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. That left the industry regulator with an unobligated, unexpended balance of $412,552, according to its latest report to Congress, posted this week on […]

A Chicago-based environmental organization has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reconsider a proposed decision to dismiss a petition against nuclear power operator FirstEnergy Corp. over the state of decommissioning funding for three power plants due to close in coming years. The facts that form the basis for the proposed NRC director’s decision will be […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday formally rejected a petition to establish a rule requiring nuclear sites to evaluate and address seismic and flooding dangers once per decade. The nongovernmental Natural Resources Defense Council filed the petition on July 26, 2011, just over four months after an earthquake and tsunami caused three reactors to […]

After decades on staff and one term as a member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Stephen Burns plans to retire in June — for the second time. Burns noted his decision during an all-staff meeting Monday near NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md. “At the All Hands, the Commissioner reiterated (not for the first time) […]

A member of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to step down at the end of his term later this year. Stephen Burns noted his decision during an all-staff meeting Monday near NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md. “At the All Hands, the Commissioner reiterated (not for the first time) his intention to retire again after his […]