Reactor Licensing & Regulation

By Wayne Barber It appears increasingly likely that the two remaining Trump administration nominees to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission won’t get a vote by the full U.S. Senate until this fall – at which time their confirmation might be tied to a potential second term for Commissioner Jeff Baran. On July 12, the Senate Committee […]

By Wayne Barber The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday easily passed a fiscal 2018 energy and water spending bill that includes a $25 million cut to the budget request for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The nuclear industry regulator requested $952 million for the budget year beginning Oct. 1, encompassing all salaries and expenses and funding […]

Former Nuclear Regulatory Commission member William Ostendorff has become a senior adviser for decision-support consulting firm Predicus, the company announced Tuesday. Ostendorff served just over six years on the commission, leaving in June 2016 to become a visiting professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. He previously served in the Navy from 1976 to his retirement […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a “white” safety finding to the Columbia Generating Station in Washington state after completing an evaluation of a waste shipping incident to US Ecology on leased land at the Hanford Site. Energy Northwest, operator of the nuclear power plant near the city of Richland, was notified of the decision on […]

The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday advanced a $37.6 billion energy and water funding bill that would give the Nuclear Regulatory Commission slightly more money than it requested for fiscal 2018. The appropriations legislation passed on a voice vote following a markup session that featured no discussion of the nuclear industry regulator. The full House […]

By Wayne Barber The Trump administration’s remaining two nominees to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were approved Wednesday, with significant Democratic resistance, by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. David Wright, an energy consultant and former head of the South Carolina Public Service Commission and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, squeaked by […]

By Wayne Barber Computer systems used in management of spent fuel at U.S. nuclear power plants are not connected to the Internet or business networks, a key line of defense against cyber threats, representatives for industry and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week. Nonetheless, a U.S. senator is seeking information from the NRC and […]

The Trump administration’s remaining two nominees to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were approved Wednesday, with significant Democratic resistance, by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. David Wright, an energy consultant and former head of the South Carolina Public Service Commission and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, squeaked by on an 11-10 […]

The House of Representatives’ $37.6 billion energy and water appropriations bill would give the Nuclear Regulatory Commission slightly more funding than it requested in its latest budget, according to the detailed legislative report released Tuesday. The document was posted one day ahead of the House Appropriations Committee markup of the funding legislation. The committee recommendation […]

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) highlighted the potential for sabotage of spent nuclear fuel storage pools Monday in asking the heads of several federal agencies for details about recent reports of foreign cyberattacks on U.S. nuclear power installations. “Given the consequences of a breach of safety at a nuclear power station – including the deliberate […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on June 29 issued a notice of violation to Mallinckrodt Nuclear Medicine for an incident in which a worker spread contamination at the company’s nuclear medicine production facility in Maryland Heights, Mo. The October 2016 incident, identified in a routine NRC inspection from Jan. 23-27 of this year, represents a Severity […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a “white” safety finding to the Columbia Generating Station in Washington state after completing an evaluation of a waste shipping incident to US Ecology on leased land at the Hanford Site. Energy Northwest, operator of the nuclear power plant near the city of Richland, was notified of the decision on […]

After twice delaying the vote, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is set Wednesday to consider President Donald Trump’s appointments to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Annie Caputo and David Wright Caputo and Wright both sailed through their confirmation hearings in June. If they are confirmed by the committee and then the full Senate, the NRC would […]

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission working group will in August provide recommendations on improving the security of industrial radiological sources, according to a new letter from NRC Chair Kristine Svinicki to Gene Dodaro, comptroller general of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office. In her June 23 letter, Svinicki provided an update on NRC […]

By Wayne Barber The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not impose fines against U.S. uranium producer Cameco Resources for nine violations of federal regulations identified in the agency’s November 2016 inspection of the company’s radioactive waste transportation program. The regulator determined after the inspection that Cameco had committed five Severity Level III violations, along with four […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a regulatory conference for Thursday, July 13, to discuss a preliminary “Greater than Green” safety finding at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Plant operator Entergy requested the meeting to provide its perspective on the finding, which involves its apparent failure to monitor or maintain a valve installed in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission must bill $805.9 million to its licensees for operations in the current fiscal year, the large majority of its annual budget. The nuclear-industry regulator has a total budget authority of $940.1 million for fiscal 2017, under the omnibus appropriations budget signed into law on May 5, according to the NRC’s final […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not impose fines against U.S. uranium producer Cameco Resources for nine violations of federal regulations identified in the agency’s November 2016 inspection of the company’s radioactive waste transportation program. NRC Deputy Region IV Administrator Scott Morris said in a June 29 letter to Cameco Resources President Brent Berg that he […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a regulatory conference for Thursday, July 13, to discuss a preliminary “Greater than Green” safety finding at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Plant operator Entergy requested the meeting to provide its perspective on the finding, which involves its apparent failure to monitor or maintain a valve installed in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission must bill $805.9 million to its licensees for operations in the current fiscal year, the large majority of its annual budget. The nuclear-industry regulator has a total budget authority of $940.1 million for fiscal 2017, under the omnibus appropriations budget passed in May, according to the NRC’s final fee rule, published […]

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission working group will in August provide recommendations on improving the security of industrial radiological sources, according to a new letter from NRC Chair Kristine Svinicki to Gene Dodaro, comptroller general of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office. In her June 23 letter, Svinicki provided an update on NRC […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday issued a notice of violation against the owner of the shuttered Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station for a onetime employee’s repeated failure to check radiation detection systems. The NRC’s Office of Investigations found that a senior radiation protection technician, who is no longer working at the Entergy plant, from […]

By Wayne Barber The U.S. Senate on Monday overwhelmingly approved the nomination of Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Kristine Svinicki to another five-year term on the body. Meanwhile, two other nominees will have to wait until July for a committee vote on confirmation. Svinicki was confirmed in an 88-9 floor vote. Most of the opposition came […]

Two of President Donald Trump’s picks to the Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners will wait one more day, until today, for the the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to vote on their nominations. Annie Caputo and David Wright are now up for a committee vote as part of a business meeting scheduled for noon Eastern time. The meeting […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday issued a notice of violation against the owner of the shuttered Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station for a onetime employee’s repeated failure to check radiation detection systems. The NRC’s Office of Investigations found that a senior radiation protection technician, who is no longer working at the Entergy plant, from […]

The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Kristine Svinicki to another five-year term on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to June 30, 2022. Svinicki, a former staffer for Republican senators and an NRC commissioner since 2008, has chaired the primary regulator for U.S. civilian nuclear operations since the early days of the Donald Trump administration. Monday’s 88-9 vote averted […]

Exelon last week formally notifed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of its plans to permanently close the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The company’s Exelon Generation subsidiary on May 30 announced the planned closure of the plant’s reactor Unit 1. Official notice to the agency that regulates commercial nuclear power operations is a […]

By Wayne Barber In a race to beat the clock, the Senate on Thursday invoked closure on the nomination of Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chair Kristine Svinicki to a new five-year term. Senators approved the cloture measure, effectively ending any debate on the renomination, by a vote of 89-10, according to Congress.gov. An actual vote […]

By Wayne Barber Now that Entergy has completed its final refueling for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Mass., the company and other stakeholders are increasingly looking toward plant retirement in 2019 and the decommissioning process. Entergy completed its final refueling in May. On June 15, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) held an agency […]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has moved to trigger an imminent floor vote on the nomination of current Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chair Kristine Svinicki for a new five-year term. McConnell has filed for cloture on Svinicki, a Senate source told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing on Tuesday. Cloture is a procedure for ending debate […]