Reactor Licensing & Regulation

In his first site visit as energy secretary, Rick Perry on Monday toured the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository site and afterward met with Gov. Brian Sandoval, a fierce opponent of reviving the project. The state and federal governments are gearing up for potential resumption of licensing activities with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the […]

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. […]

Waste Control Specialists has filed its last updates with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the company’s license application to build and operate an interim storage site for spent nuclear fuel, CEO Rod Baltzer said Wednesday. That wraps up the Dallas-based company’s responses to the regulator’s request for additional information to the application filed last April, Baltzer […]

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. […]

In his first site visit as energy secretary, Rick Perry on Monday toured the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository site and afterward met with Gov. Brian Sandoval, a fierce opponent of reviving the project. The state and federal governments are gearing up for potential resumption of licensing activities with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the mothballed […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff on Monday expressed no objection to a 60-day extension for affected parties to request a hearing on Waste Control Specialists’ license application to build and operate a storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel. Staff, though, opposed a 120-day extension sought by a coalition of 20 environmental and anti-nuclear organizations. There was […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff on Monday expressed no objection to a 60-day extension for affected parties to request a hearing on Waste Control Specialists’ license application to build and operate a storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel. Staff, though, opposed a 120-day extension sought by a coalition of 20 environmental and anti-nuclear organizations. There was […]

The deadline for comment on a proposed deep-geological repository for defense-only high-level radioactive waste wraps up today, only days after the Trump administration announced that it wants to restart the licensing process for the combined civil-military Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada. The Obama administration wanted to start searching for a Defense Waste Repository site this […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is beyond reach of many of the executive orders President Donald Trump has signed in his early months in office, but the agency will continue to consider the spirit of those directives, NRC Chairwoman Kristine Svinicki said Wednesday. The White House’s orders include a freeze on all new or proposed federal […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet on April 6 to take additional public input on the scope of an environmental impact statement (EIS) for a planned interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in West Texas. Waste Control Specialists last April submitted a license application for a facility with a capacity to hold 40,000 metric tons […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on March 10 released a preliminary draft regulatory basis for its 2019 decommissioning rulemaking, which moves the agency a step further in developing new decommissioning regulations for nuclear reactors. The 2019 rulemaking is the regulator’s effort to clarify and improve the decommissioning process, with a focus on reducing the need for safety […]

New Energy Secretary Rick Perry this week found himself on the pointy end of a lawsuit from the state he once led, which is demanding that the federal government halt all work on consent-based siting of U.S. nuclear waste and instead complete licensing of the Yucca Mountain geologic repository. The lawsuit filed late Tuesday by […]

President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2018 budget proposal calls for $120 million to restart licensing activities for the mothballed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, and in the meantime for a “robust” interim storage program. “These investments would accelerate progress on fulfilling the Federal Government’s obligations to address nuclear waste, enhance national security, and reduce […]

New Energy Secretary Rick Perry this week found himself on the pointy end of a lawsuit from the state he once led, which is demanding that the federal government halt all work on consent-based siting of nuclear waste and instead complete licensing of the Yucca Mountain geologic repository. The lawsuit filed late Tuesday by the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is beyond reach of many of the executive orders President Donald Trump has signed in his early months in office, but the agency will continue to consider the spirit of those directives, NRC Chairwoman Kristine Svinicki said Wednesday. The White House’s orders include a freeze on all new or proposed federal regulations […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet on April 6 to get additional public input on the scope of an environmental impact statement (EIS) for a planned interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in West Texas. Waste Control Specialists last April submitted a license application for a facility with a capacity to hold 40,000 metric tons […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday released a preliminary draft regulatory basis for its 2019 decommissioning rulemaking, which moves the agency a step further in developing new decommissioning regulations for nuclear reactors. The 2019 rulemaking is the regulator’s effort to clarify and improve the decommissioning process, with a focus on reducing the need for safety […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday approved Entergy’s request to transfer the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant’s operating license and estimated $700 million decommissioning trust fund to Exelon. The decision marks the final federal approval required for Entergy to complete its $110 million sale of FitzPatrick to Exelon, which will allow the struggling 41-year-old upstate […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of the Inspector General recommended in a new report that the agency update fitness-for-duty requirements to improve security at nuclear reactors undergoing decommissioning. Fitness for duty activities include drug and fatigue testing for plant employees. The IG recently conducted an audit of the NRC’s security oversight for decommissioning reactors, completing its […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday approved the export of up to 144 kilograms of nuclear weapon-grade uranium to Belgium. The fuel elements, enriched to 93.2 percent, would be used to reload the Belgian Reactor No. 2 at the Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie-Centre d’Etude de l’Energie Nucléaire (SCK-CEN). The regulator, though, ruled that the license issued […]

An anti-nuclear activist on Thursday slammed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its handling of a planned interim nuclear waste storage site in West Texas, accusing the agency of collusion with applicant Waste Control Specialists. Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste watchdog at Beyond Nuclear, criticized the regulator for inappropriately supporting the plan, rushing the licensing process, and violating […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has denied a petition from a retired Department of Energy physicist calling for the agency to mandate increased monitoring of nuclear plants’ spent nuclear fuel pools and reactors to prevent a disaster similar to the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi triple-meltdown in Japan. The regulator said in a Federal Register notice posted Tuesday that […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should enhance its oversight of source material export licensees, the agency’s Inspector General’s Office said in an audit report released Wednesday. The report noted that from 2011 to 2015, the NRC issued 14 export licenses for source material, defined primarily as uranium or thorium or a combination of the two radioactive elements. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should enhance its oversight of source material export licensees, the agency’s Inspector General’s Office said in an audit report released Wednesday. The report noted that from 2011 to 2015, the NRC issued 14 export licenses for source material, defined primarily as uranium or thorium or a combination of the two radioactive elements. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday approved the export of up to 144 kilograms of nuclear weapon-grade uranium to Belgium. The fuel elements, enriched to 93.2 percent, would be used to reload the Belgian Reactor No. 2 at the Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie-Centre d’Etude de l’Energie Nucléaire (SCK-CEN). The regulator, though, ruled that the license issued […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is denying a petition from a retired Department of Energy nuclear physicist calling for the agency to mandate augmented monitoring of reactor spent fuel pools and reactor coolant and fuel. Alexander DeVolpi, who worked at the Argonne National Laboratory for more than 40 years to 1999, “requested that the NRC amend its […]

U.S. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled briefings for next week on the lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the ongoing progress of Project Aim. The briefings represent the first commission meetings under new Republican Chairwoman Kristine Svinicki, who President Donald Trump chose last month to replace Chairman Stephen Burns, an Obama […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected EnergySolutions’ subpoena for information in a civil antitrust lawsuit, arguing that the request is burdensome, vague, and fails to follow agency guidelines. EnergySolutions’ filed the subpoena on Jan. 24, as it prepares to contest the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit challenging the company’s $367 million acquisition of Waste Control […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has identified a problem with loose bolts used for HVAC ductwork during construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina, sending as a result a notice of violation to project contractor CB&I AREVA MOX Services. The MOX facility is being built to convert 34 metric tons of […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has identified a problem with loose bolts used for HVAC ductwork during construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina, sending as a result a notice of violation to project contractor CB&I AREVA MOX Services. The MOX facility is being built to convert 34 metric tons of […]