Reactor Licensing & Regulation

Members of the public will have an opportunity on Wednesday, May 31, to question Nuclear Regulatory Commission technical staff on the decommissioning of the Fort Calhoun Station nuclear power plant in Nebraska. A public meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the DoubleTree Omaha Downtown hotel, 1616 Dodge St. in Omaha. Staff […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it has scheduled a meeting to address apparent violations of federal low-level radioactive waste transportation regulations by U.S. uranium producer Cameco Resources. The regulator said in an April 3 letter to Cameco that it is considering “escalated enforcement action” after identifying nine seeming breaches of NRC and U.S. Transportation Department […]

The state of Vermont is calling on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to withdraw a series of decisions allowing utility Entergy to use money from the decommissioning trust fund for the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station for management of the plant’s spent fuel. The state government has fought this battle for years, worried about draining funds […]

Environmental services provider US Ecology on Thursday reported year-over-year dips in both revenue and net income for the first quarter of 2017. Company-wide revenue for the three-month period ending March 31 slipped from $113.3 million in 2016 to $110.2 million this year, according to a company press release. US Ecology recorded $5.2 million in net […]

The Trump administration appeared to harden its resolve to open the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository over host state Nevada’s objections this week, even as word leaked that a site contractor was marshalling its workforce to restart the project and a House panel held a hearing on new pro-Yucca legislation. On Wednesday, after the hearing […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week it would begin its technical review of the Energy Department’s application for a 20-year extension of its license to store Three Mile Island nuclear power plant debris in Idaho. Renewal would push back the expiration date for the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) Independent Spent Fuel Storage […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is still reviewing Centrus Energy Corp.’s plan for decommissioning an industrial-scale uranium enrichment demonstration in Piketon, Ohio, an official said Monday. Centrus sent NRC its plan for dismantling the 1-square-mile American Centrifuge plant at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth site March 1, but the document “has not yet been approved,” Marvin Sykes, […]

The state of Texas on Monday objected to Nevada’s attempt to intervene in the lawsuit demanding that the federal government move ahead with the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. “Texas’s Petition seeks equitable remedies for decades of federal inaction on growing, above-ground stockpiles of nuclear waste. By contrast, Nevada’s intervention seeks to reinvigorate a policy […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it has scheduled a meeting on apparent violations of federal low-level radioactive waste transport regulations by uranium producer Cameco Resources. The regulator said in an April 3 letter to Cameco that it is considering “escalated enforcement action” after identifying nine seeming breaches of NRC and U.S. Transportation Department rules […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is still reviewing Centrus Energy Corp.’s plan for decommissioning an industrial-scale uranium enrichment demonstration in Piketon, Ohio, an official said Monday. Centrus sent NRC its plan for dismantling the 1-square-mile American Centrifuge plant at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth site March 1, but the document “has not yet been approved,” Marvin Sykes, […]

An article in the April 20 edition of Weapons Complex Morning Briefing should have stated that Nuclear Regulatory Commission meetings on the draft regulatory basis for its 2019 decommissioning rulemaking are scheduled from May 8-10 at agency headquarters in Rockville, Md.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet virtually with Centrus Energy Corp. April 24 to discuss the results of a year’s worth of oversight at the now-defunct American Centrifuge uranium enrichment demonstration in Ohio. The Energy Department in 2015 canceled the industrial-scale uranium enrichment demonstration at the Portsmouth Site near Piketon, Ohio. The NRC, which regulates the […]

Waste Control Specialists on Tuesday requested a temporary suspension of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission review of the company’s license application for a consolidated interim spent nuclear fuel storage site in West Texas. The Dallas-based waste management provider said the licensing process currently is an “unsupportable” financial burden as it seeks to wrap up its merger with […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has extended the public comment period for a license application to export 10,000 tons of radioactive material from Oak Ridge, Tenn., to Canada, after fielding concerns from a New York lawmaker. Massachusetts-based UniTech Services Group in October 2016 filed an application with the NRC to import and export the radioactive material from […]

NorthStar Group Services could wrap up decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station by 2026. That’s according to a new post-shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR), which the New York company submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this month. The updated timeline is nearly 50 years earlier than Vermont Yankee owner Entergy had estimated in […]

In a decision drawing criticism from activists and lawmakers, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday granted utility Entergy permission to forgo certain post-Fukushima safety measures at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. The regulator ordered a series of safety improvements at U.S. reactor sites after the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled three days of meetings next month on the draft regulatory basis for its 2019 decommissioning rulemaking. The meetings from May 8-10 at NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md., follow the March publication of the draft document and the anticipated late-April release of the preliminary draft regulatory analysis for the rulemaking. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is moving quickly to meet Waste Control Specialists’ request that the agency suspend review of its license application for a spent nuclear fuel storage site in West Texas. “As requested by WCS, the staff is taking the appropriate actions to properly suspend its review and contract support.  Managers are working with […]

In a decision drawing criticism from activists and lawmakers, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday granted utility Entergy permission to forgo certain post-Fukushima safety measures at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. The regulator ordered a series of safety improvements at U.S. reactor sites after the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power […]

Waste Control Specialists on Tuesday requested a temporary suspension of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission review of the company’s license application for a consolidated interim spent nuclear fuel storage site in West Texas. The Dallas-based waste managment provider said it first wants to wrap up its sale to rival EnergySolutions. The Justice Department in November sued to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has extended the public comment period for a license application to export 10,000 tons of nuclear material from Oak Ridge, Tenn., to Canada, after fielding concerns from a New York lawmaker. Massachusetts-based UniTech Services Group in October 2016 filed an application with the NRC to import and export the radioactive material […]

NorthStar Group Services could wrap up decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station by 2026. That’s according to a new post-shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR), which the New York company submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission earlier this month. The updated timeline is nearly 50 years earlier than Vermont Yankee owner Entergy had estimated in its […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet virtually with Centrus Energy Corp. on April 24 to discuss the results of a year’s worth of oversight at the now-defunct American Centrifuge uranium enrichment demonstration in Ohio. The Energy Department in 2015 canceled the industrial-scale uranium enrichment demonstration at the Portsmouth Site near Piketon, Ohio. The NRC, which regulates […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a two-month extension to the deadline for stakeholders to request intervention or a hearing in Waste Control Specialists’ license application to build and operate an interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in West Texas. The deadline has been shifted from March 31 to May 31, according to an NRC […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a May 2 conference with Energy Northwest to give the utility an opportunity to explain an incident in which it allegedly shipped low-level radioactive waste from the Columbia Generating Station in Washington state to a nearby disposal facility, where it was rejected for under-reported radiation levels. The NRC is […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a May 2 conference with Energy Northwest to give the utility an opportunity to explain an incident in which it allegedly shipped low-level radioactive waste from the Columbia Generating Station in Washington state to a nearby disposal facility, where it was rejected for under-reported radiation levels. The NRC is considering […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday it has proposed a $7,000 fine against a Puerto Rico diagnostic medical treatments provider for several errors, including failing to decommission its former facility in a timely fashion. San Juan-based Somascan Inc. employed radiopharmaceuticals and scanning systems that contained sealed nuclear sources for its work, according to an NRC […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will license the nuclear waste interim storage facility Holtec International intends to build in southeastern New Mexico, company President and CEO Kris Singh proclaimed Wednesday, noting that the prospect is now a matter of political will. “We gave an exquisite and consequential gift to our nation,” Singh said of Holtec’s license application […]

A handful of cities and counties in Texas have started speaking out against the potential for nuclear waste to roll through their territory on the way to a planned storage site in the far west of the state. Waste Control Specialists is about a year into the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing process for an Andrews County […]

The Department of Energy has applied for a 20-year renewal of the license for storage in Idaho of debris from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, according to documents made public Tuesday. The regulator issued the license for Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) on March 19, 1999. […]