Reactor Licensing & Regulation

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has launched a “Click With Care” campaign, after an inadvertent email leak revealed candid details of a special inspection at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station and caused a public uproar in Massachusetts. “Many of us are aware of the impact of erroneously sending an email to the wrong person,” NRC Chief […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is tentatively scheduled to conclude its special inspection of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station on March 21 with a public meeting in Massachusetts, NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said Tuesday. An NRC report will be due 45 days after that date to detail inspection findings at the 44-year-old facility, which is due to […]

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 administration appointee […]

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 Specialists. DOJ argues that […]

U.S. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday issued its proposed fees charged to license applicants and licensees for fiscal 2017. Most annual fees would drop from the fiscal 2016 fee schedule, but the NRC proposed to slightly increase the hourly rate for NRC staff work, from $265 to $267, or 0.8 percent. The proposed rule […]

Officials from Vermont on Wednesday requested a public meeting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to discuss the potential sale and license transfer of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, as Entergy prepares for decommissioning. The Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel, which consists of local and state officials and lawmakers, penned the letter to NRC Chairwoman Kristine Svinicki. […]

Holtec International said this week it plans by March 31 to submit its license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility in southeast New Mexico. The company plans to build a 120,000-metric-ton capacity facility about 12 miles from the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday fielded an onslaught of complaints from the public about the safety culture at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, following a controversial email leak in December that revealed troubling inspection findings at the beleaguered Massachusetts plant. At the request of a host of officials from the state, NRC staff held a public […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday fielded an onslaught of complaints from the public about the safety culture at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, following a controversial email leak that revealed troubling inspection findings at the beleaguered Massachusetts plant. In a rare move, and at the request of a host of officials from the state, […]

Nuclear Energy Institute Chief Executive Officer Maria Korsnick voiced support Tuesday for President Donald Trump’s new executive order curtailing federal regulations in order to increase flexibility for businesses. The so-called “one-in, two-out” plan requires that federal agencies designate two regulations to abolish for every new regulation approved. Korsnick, who spoke on a panel at the United States […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday issued its proposed fees charged to license applicants and licensees for fiscal 2017. Most annual fees would drop from the fiscal 2016 fee schedule, but the NRC proposes to slightly increase the hourly rate for NRC staff work, from $265 to $267, or 0.8 percent. The proposed rule was published Monday […]

EnergySolutions last week subpoenaed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, requesting documents and communications concerning federal low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) regulations, as it gears up to fight a civil antitrust lawsuit the Department of Justice filed against the company’s $367 million acquisition of Waste Control Specialists. The subpoena is considered routine for such a case, as both sides […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s legal counsel and new Chairwoman Kristine Svinicki are determining the impact of President Donald Trump’s regulatory freeze on the agency. The White House on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, issued an executive memorandum halting all proposed new or proposed federal regulations under consideration in executive departments and agencies, with exceptions to rules impacting […]

Waste Control Specialists is encouraged that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is moving forward with a formal review of the company’s application to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility for nuclear waste in West Texas, President and CEO Rod Baltzer said Friday. WCS is seeking a 40-year NRC license for a facility designed to hold 40,000 […]

President Donald Trump has chosen Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Kristine Svinicki to replace Stephen Burns as NRC chairman, an official with the agency said Thursday, confirming the first significant decision from Trump concerning the agency. Svinicki, a Republican who disagreed with discontinuing Yucca Mountain licensing proceedings in 2010, started her second five-year term in 2012. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting in Massachusetts on Jan. 31 to discuss preliminary findings from an ongoing inspection at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, the agency announced Monday. The agency scheduled the meeting after Gov. Charlie Baker and other state officials raised concerns about an NRC email leak in December that […]

Waste Control Specialists’ (WCS) application to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility for nuclear waste in West Texas is ready for Nuclear Regulatory Commission review, the agency said in a letter to the company Thursday. The NRC in June said the application filed two months earlier lacked the technical detail needed for the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not be affected by President Donald Trump’s new federal hiring freeze, as the agency has been under a self-imposed suspension on hiring for more than a year as part of Project Aim. Trump signed a presidential memorandum Monday, effectively suspending hiring in most of the executive branch, save for positions in military, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not be affected by President Donald Trump’s new federal hiring freeze, as the agency has been under a self-imposed suspension on new hires for more than a year as part of Project Aim. Initiated in 2014, Project Aim is the regulator’s attempt to re-evaluate and reduce its staffing and workload to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting in Massachusetts on Jan. 31 to discuss preliminary findings from an ongoing inspection at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, the agency announced Monday. The agency scheduled the meeting after Gov. Charlie Baker and other state officials raised concerns about an NRC email leak in December that revealed […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has identified six findings of very low safety significance at the Clinton Power Station in Illinois and is treating the issues as non-cited violations. Operator Exelon had planned to close the nuclear facility in 2017, but passage of a state energy subsidy program in late 2016 allowed the utility to forgo […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agreed to meet with Massachusetts officials and residents in response to the public backlash following an NRC email leak that revealed troubling inspection findings at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R), the state’s two senators and nine representatives, and a long list of local lawmakers demanded […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has cited Entergy for its failure to minimize introduction of residual radioactivity into subsurface groundwater at the Indian Point Energy Center. The NRC notified the utility of the violation, an issue the regulator regarded as “very low safety significance,” in a Jan. 17 letter, which was made public Wednesday. The citation […]

U.S. Mark Lombard, director of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Division of Spent Fuel Management, has been promoted to deputy director of the agency’s Office of Administration. Michael Layton, director of the Division of Security Operations in the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, will replace Lombard, who has spent five years in the position. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has identified six findings of very low safety significance at the Clinton Power Station in Illinois and is treating the issues as non-cited violations. Operator Exelon had planned to close the nuclear facility in 2017, but passage of a state energy subsidy program in late 2016 allowed the utility to forgo […]

Mark Lombard, director of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Division of Spent Fuel Management, has been promoted to deputy director of the agency’s Office of Administration. Michael Layton, director of the Division of Security Operations in the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, will replace Lombard, who has spent five years in the position. The […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agreed to meet with Massachusetts officials and residents in response to the public backlash following an NRC email leak that revealed troubling inspection findings at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R), the state’s two senators and nine representatives, and a long list of local lawmakers demanded the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday approved Entergy’s request for additional time to comply with a safety equipment update at the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in New York. The NRC ordered a series of design improvements for American nuclear reactors following the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday approved Entergy’s request for additional time to comply with a safety equipment update at the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in New York. The NRC ordered a series of design improvements for American nuclear reactors following the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in […]

Public Citizen on Friday requested that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reconsider its approval of the $110 million sale of the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in New York from Entergy to Exelon. The consumer advocacy organization in October asked that the commission reject the sale, claiming the deal would adversely affect New York’s power market. Entergy […]