Reactor Licensing & Regulation

By John Stang Holtec International argued Thursday that several advocacy groups do not have legal standing to contest the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing of the company’s planned New Mexico interim storage site for used nuclear fuel Jay Silberg, an attorney for the New Jersey energy technology company, made the case during the second day of […]

A split Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday narrowly signed off on a new rule intended to further protect U.S. nuclear power plants from a disaster akin to the March 2011 reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan. Commissioners voted 3-2 along party lines to approve the rule on mitigation of beyond-design-basis events. It […]

The advocacy group Beyond Nuclear has asked a federal appeals court to order the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to revisit its 2018 decision against dismissing two licensing proceedings for facilities for interim storage of spent fuel from nuclear power plants. The agency erred in kicking the legal question raised by Beyond Nuclear to a quasi-judicial NRC […]

A three-member Atomic Licensing and Safety Board at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects in March to decide which organizations can intervene in the agency review of the license application for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in New Mexico. The board has scheduled oral arguments on the intervention and hearing petitions for Wednesday and […]

A three-member Atomic Licensing and Safety Board at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects in March to decide which organizations can intervene in the agency review of the license application for a planned spent nuclear fuel storage facility in New Mexico. The board has scheduled oral arguments on the intervention petitions for Jan. 23 and […]

Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expect in late spring to issue a draft regulatory basis for disposal of Greater-Than-Class C low-level radioactive waste. The finalized version of the document would evaluate whether there is justification to conduct a rulemaking to update federal regulations for disposal of the material. The draft regulatory basis would […]

The partial shutdown of the federal government has forced relocation of oral arguments next week on requests to intervene in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license application for a planned spent nuclear fuel storage site in New Mexico. The oral arguments will now be held at the State Bar of New Mexico in Albuquerque rather than […]

The partial shutdown of the federal government appears likely to force relocation of oral arguments on requests to intervene in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license application for a planned spent nuclear fuel storage site in New Mexico. The NRC has received its full-year funding for the current fiscal 2019, but federal courts are expected to […]

Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects in late spring to issue a draft regulatory basis for disposal of Greater-Than-Class C low-level radioactive waste. The finalized version of the document would evaluate whether there is justification to conduct a rulemaking to update federal regulations for disposal of the material. The public would have the […]

Oral arguments scheduled later this month on petitions for interventions and hearings in the license application for a planned spent nuclear fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico will not be livestreamed, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission board adjudicating the requests ruled. Eighteen entities have claimed standing to intervene in Holtec International’s request for a 40-year […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved significant reductions in the amounts of insurance the newly retired Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station must carry. The reductions cover both on-site and off-site insurance plant owner Exelon must keep at the single-reactor New Jersey facility, according to Dec. 28 notices in the Federal Register. Exelon […]

A federal appeals court has dismissed the state of Nevada’s petition seeking to force a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to recuse himself from any decision-making on licensing the planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The ruling arrived as issue observers anticipate the Trump administration will in a matter of weeks again request […]

A federal appeals court has dismissed the state of Nevada’s petition seeking to force a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to recuse himself from any decision-making on licensing the planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. There is no cause yet to require Commissioner David Wright’s recusal because he might never be called on […]

Oral arguments scheduled later this month on petitions for interventions and hearings in the license application for a planned spent nuclear fuel storage facility in New Mexico will not be livestreamed, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission board hearing the case ruled. Eighteen entities have filed claimed standing to intervene in Holtec International’s request for a 40-year […]

Representatives from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Holtec International are scheduled to meet on Jan. 9 to discuss two possible violations in the energy services firm’s design for a spent nuclear fuel storage cask. The apparent violations, identified during an inspection in May of Holtec headquarters in Camden, N.J., could lead to fines or other […]

The U.S. Senate late Wednesday approved a short-term appropriations bill to keep all federal agencies operating through Feb. 8, but once again left the Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository in Nevada unfunded following an apparent push by supporters of the long-delayed project. Senators passed the latest continuing resolution by voice vote just after 10 p.m. […]

Despite chatter in recent weeks on Capitol Hill, it appeared unlikely Tuesday that Congress would provide the Department of Energy with funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in a federal appropriations bill needed to keep a number of federal agencies open past Friday. “Members and staff are working on completing [the] year-end spending […]

The majority owner of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California has requested a public meeting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to discuss potential safety violations connected to an Aug. 3 mishap in transfer of spent reactor fuel. “As discussed, SCE has decided to use Pre-decisional Enforcement Conference (PEC} for the two apparent […]

A panel of three administrative judges at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday rejected a motion that it be disqualified from adjudicating the license application for a planned spent nuclear reactor fuel site in West Texas. The matter now goes to the full commission for a final ruling, according to the memorandum and order from […]

The sitting leaders of the Senate Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee plan to remain in place when the next Congress convenes in January. Staffers for both subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) confirmed their bosses’ intentions this week. Alexander has held the post since 2015, taking over from Feinstein […]

The United States needs an all-new organization separated from the federal government if it hopes to finally end the decades-long impasse in building a permanent resting place for the nation’s nuclear waste, a panel of experts said Monday. That was one of a long series of recommendations listed in the 126-page “Reset of America’s Nuclear […]

Despite some pushback from members of his own party, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) will become the Democrats’ ranking member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Manchin, a former West Virginia governor, has been a member of the committee since being elected to the Senate in 2010. He has served as a champion for […]

The Sierra Club should be allowed to intervene in part in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s review of a license application for a planned spent nuclear reactor fuel storage facility in Texas, according to agency staff. However, staff said a coalition of environmental groups led by Don’t Waste Michigan failed to show standing or submit viable […]

Energy services multinational Wood said Monday it has won a contract to remove and process 47 cubic meters of radioactive waste from the retired Dungeness A nuclear power reactor at Kent in the United Kingdom. The contract covers designing, building, and managing systems for retrieving the wet material, currently held in tanks at the facility, […]

Staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have recommended rejection of a motion to dismiss a board of administrative judges that will adjudicate the license application for a spent nuclear reactor fuel site in West Texas. The central concern from the Sierra Club, Don’t Waste Michigan, and a number of other advocacy organizations and one individual […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in October spent $14,325 from its remaining Nuclear Waste Fund balance on federal court costs, according to its latest monthly update to Congress. That represented the large majority of the $15,727 spent from the fund during the month and left the agency with an unspent, unobligated balance of $415,019 as […]

Vocal proponents for establishing a permanent strategy for disposal of the nation’s nuclear waste, possibly at the always controversial Yucca Mountain site in Nevada, are preparing to ascend to leadership posts in Congress that have central roles in advancing the issue. When Democrats take control of the House of Representatives next month, Rep. Frank Pallone […]

In approving a very-short-term federal appropriations bill this week, Congress postponed a possible tussle over funding for the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Several federal agencies are still waiting on a full budget for fiscal 2019, operating on a continuing resolution since Oct. 1. That bill expires today. Rather than try to […]

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce this week joined a coalition of labor unions and other nongovernmental organizations in pressing Congress to end the long impasse over management of the nation’s spent nuclear reactor fuel. “Another year without progress on the Yucca Mountain repository license application and consolidated interim storage in untenable. It is time for […]

Longtime Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) is expected to become the new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee next month when Democrats take over leadership in the House of Representatives. Pallone, elected last month to his 16th term in the lower chamber, is currently ranking Democrat on the panel. He would succeed current […]