Reactor Licensing & Regulation

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission would get a sizable budget boost in fiscal 2019, almost entirely from funding for its review of the license application for the Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository in Nevada, under the House Appropriations energy and water bill to be marked up today. The nuclear industry regulator asked for $958.1 million for […]

The federal Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board has scheduled a June 13 meeting in Idaho to consider key technical issues to be dealt with prior to transport of radioactive waste from around the country for interim storage or permanent disposal. The meeting could lead to recommendations to Congress and Energy Secretary Rick Perry as they […]

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Waste Control Specialists and Orano USA plan within the next two months to formally request that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission resume its review of a stalled license application for consolidated interim storage of spent fuel in West Texas, according to the executive leading their partnership. The companies expect in the second quarter […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday authorized Northwest Medical Isotopes (NWMI) to build a molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) production facility in Missouri. “We find that, with respect to the safety and environmental issues before us, the Staff’s review of NWMI’s construction permit application was sufficient to support issuance of the construction permit. We authorize the Director […]

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Proponents of advancing disposition of the U.S. stockpile of used nuclear reactor fuel must make their voices heard in Congress, speakers said Tuesday at an industry conference here. The need for advocacy on Capitol Hill was a common refrain during the first day of the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Used Fuel Management Conference […]

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Waste Control Specialists and Orano plan within the next two months to formally request that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission resume its review of a stalled license application for consolidated interim storage of spent fuel in West Texas, according to the executive leading their partnership. The companies expect in the second quarter to […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission should establish a new classification for radioactive waste – “Class D” – to replace the more nebulous Greater-Than-Class C designation, according to disposal provider EnergySolutions. “The NRC should designate a new waste category specifically defining what it is. It should not be defined by what it is greater than, or […]

By John Stang Transporting spent nuclear reactor fuel across the country and through New Mexico topped public concerns during a public event Wednesday on plans for an interim storage facility in the state. That included wondering which routes would be used. “An accident with this material will take decades, if not centuries, to deal with,” said […]

FirstEnergy Solutions formally confirmed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday that it plans to permanently shut down three nuclear power plants unless it gets government help. The three-paragraph message simply certifies FirstEnergy’s March 28 announcement that it would end power production at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio, by May 31, […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has sufficient funds in its current budget and proposed spending plan for the next fiscal year to review license applications for two interim spent nuclear fuel storage sites proposed for New Mexico and Texas, NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki told a U.S. Senate subcommittee Wednesday. “We have sufficient resources for two spent […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission should establish a new classification for radioactive waste – “Class D” – to replace the more nebulous Greater Than Class C designation, according to disposal provider EnergySolutions. “The NRC should designate a new waste category specifically defining what it is. It should not be defined by what it is greater […]

The Sierra Club intends to intervene in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s technical review of Holtec International’s application for a consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel, an attorney representing the environmental organization said Monday. The intervention request would be filed when the regulatory agency releases its schedule for that process, Wallace Taylor, of […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved Pacific Gas & Electric’s request to withdraw its application to renew the licenses for its Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant reactors. The utility in 2009 filed to renew the licenses for Units 1 and 2 at the San Luis Obispo County facility, which respectively began operations in 1985 […]

The three current members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission are scheduled to appear before the Senate Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee Wednesday to testify on the agency’s fiscal 2019 budget proposal. The nuclear industry regulator has requested $971 million for the budget year starting Oct. 1. That would be up from the $911 […]

About two months after he left the federal ranks, the former top Department of Energy official at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., joined Atkins in a new role created for him. Jack Craig, who in February retired as manager of DOE’s Savannah River Site office after three years in that role and over […]

Declining profit margins, in some cases just 2 to 4 percent, are a major reason for the wave of mergers and acquisitions by companies that do business in the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup sector, a senior executive with one contractor said last week. Contractors can expect to receive 5 to 7 percent if everything […]

By John Stang Entergy said this week it has not determined yet when it will restart moving spent nuclear fuel at its retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The power company halted spent fuel transfer from wet to dry storage on March 10 after a broken bolt was found in a Holtec International spent fuel […]

URENCO USA’s uranium enrichment plant in New Mexico passed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s latest performance review in all operational areas. The review covered safety, safeguards, radiological controls, facility support, and additional matters from Jan. 1, 2016, to Dec. 31, 2017, the agency said Wednesday in a press release. “The NRC staff review determined that […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking confirmation that no financial pitfalls await the transfer of the license for the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant from Entergy to NorthStar Group Services. In an April 5 request for additional information, the industry regulator said “NRC staff is unable to find that the […]

FirstEnergy Solutions’ recent bankruptcy filing does not absolve it of legal obligations cemented in its nuclear-power licenses, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “The NRC licenses remain in full effect, even beyond their stated expiration date, until terminated in writing by NRC,” Louise Lund, director of the NRC’s Division of Licensing Projects, wrote in an April 6 […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday rejected a request from several environmental and anti-nuclear groups for a hearing to oppose an application for a license to export up to 10,000 metric tons of radioactively contaminated material from Tennessee to Canada. Massachusetts-based UniTech Services Group in 2016 requested authorization to ship the material back customers […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled four public meetings in late April and early May to receive input on the scope of its environmental impact statement for Holtec International’s application for a license to build an interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico. “At the meeting, the NRC will receive comments […]

The U.S. Energy Department has officially supported keeping millions of documents related to licensing of its planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., in their current home in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s public electronic records database. Other parties, though, said this month more consideration is necessary before a final decision is made. The Licensing […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has awarded the Southwest Research Institute a contract worth as much as $52 million over five years to continue operating the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses. The San Antonio-based research and development organization has managed the center since its inception 31 years ago. Its original mission was to provide […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has denied a request from a group of New Mexico lawmakers to extend its public comment period on the scope of its environmental review of Holtec International’s license application to build an interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the state. In February, nine state senators and 21 state representatives asked […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled four public meetings in late April and early May to receive input on the scope of its environmental impact statement for Holtec International’s application to build an interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico. “At the meeting, the NRC will receive comments from the public […]

The nearly $50 million the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requested for fiscal 2019 could be enough to restart the quasi-judicial, and long-moribund, adjudication on licensing Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev., as a permanent nuclear waste repository, the head of the commission wrote in a letter to Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.). NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is taking public comment through June 5 on a request for an update to federal regulations regarding storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel. Once the comments are received, NRC staff will review the petition for 12 to 18 months, depending on the number and complexity of the […]

The nearly $50 million the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requested for fiscal 2019 could be enough to restart the quasi-judicial, and long-moribund, adjudication on licensing Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev., as a permanent nuclear waste repository, the head of the commission wrote in a letter to Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.). NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki […]

There was no word Monday on whether three nominees for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission might finally get up-or-down votes on the Senate floor after the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada was blanked on funding for fiscal 2018. There had been chatter on Capitol Hill that zeroing out the underground repository might […]