Reactor Licensing & Regulation

A watchdog group fired back at Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s staff on Tuesday, saying it would be wrong for the regulator to deny a hearing over potentially relaxing post-Fukushima safety rules at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. NRC staff last week recommended the commission deny Pilgrim Watch and seven other petitioners’ request for a public hearing […]

Consumer rights group Public Citizen is asking that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reject Entergy’s application to sell its James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant to Exelon, arguing that the utilities failed to address the impact the $110 million deal would have on New York state’s power market. If the deal goes through, Exelon […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has concluded that the contractor for the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility project in South Carolina committed two violations involving structural welding. A Sept. 28 letter from the NRC to CB&I AREVA MOX Services said the base civil penalty of $35,000 would be waived “to encourage prompt and comprehensive […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Inspector General’s Office said in a new report the agency has an opportunity to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) oversight program through centralizing regulatory guidance documents. Guidance documents aid NRC licensees and applicants in implementing specific regulations, NRC staff techniques for evaluating specific problems or postulated […]

Despite continuing calls to shutter the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission maintains the Massachusetts plant is “operating safely.” The NRC restated its position in an Oct. 5 letter to a cooperative of residents from Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket, who on Aug. 21 demanded the regulator close the beleaguered facility, which […]

At the request of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NextEra Energy Resources has fleshed out its plans to address concrete degradation at the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire. Since 2013, lawmakers have hammered NextEra and the NRC on the concrete degradation issue, known as alkali-silica reaction, which has plagued the nuclear facility’s foundation […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering action against Waste Control Specialists for an apparent license violation in 2014 in which the company improperly moved some 70 waste box containers of transuranic waste between two facilities at its storage complex in Andrews, Texas. According to NRC documents, WCS moved the containers from a storage pad outside […]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Nuclear industry representatives voiced concerns Monday that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s 2019 decommissioning rulemaking could force unnecessary burdens on current facility decommissioning projects. Southern California Edison (SCE) has received everything it needs from NRC’s exemption process to proceed with decommissioning of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, but the company will require […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has identified a “white” inspection finding, or low to moderate safety issue, concerning an emergency cooling system at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California. The agency detailed the Sept. 12 finding in a letter to operator Pacific Gas & Electric on Monday. Located about 12 miles southwest of San Luis […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering action against Waste Control Specialists for an apparent license violation in 2014 in which the company improperly moved some 70 waste box containers of transuranic waste between two facilities at its storage complex in Andrews, Texas. According to NRC documents, WCS moved the containers from a storage pad outside […]

U.S. The Nuclear Energy Institute on Tuesday announced the selection of Chief Operating Officer Maria Korsnick as the industry lobbyist’s next president and chief executive officer. Korsnick will take over for Marvin Fertel upon his retirement on Dec. 31 of this year. Fertel has led NEI for nine years. “Maria is well known throughout the […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff on Monday recommended the agency deny a watchdog group’s call for a public hearing on Entergy’s request to forgo certain NRC Fukushima lessons learned program requirements at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The utility is asking the agency to relax requirements for installing a hardened containment venting system (HCVS) at the Massachusetts […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff on Monday recommended the agency deny a watchdog group’s call for a public hearing on Entergy’s request to forgo certain NRC Fukushima lessons learned program requirements at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The utility is asking the agency to relax requirements for installing a hardened containment venting system (HCVS) at the Massachusetts […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has identified a “white” inspection finding, meaning a potentially low to moderate safety issue, at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California. In a letter Monday to operator Pacific Gas & Electric, the agency detailed the Sept. 12 finding, which is associated with an apparent failure to develop adequate instructions for the […]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Nuclear industry representatives voiced concerns Monday that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s 2019 decommissioning rulemaking could force unnecessary burdens on current facility decommissioning projects. Southern California Edison (SCE) has received everything it needs from NRC’s exemption process to proceed with decommissioning of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, but the company will require further […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering action against Waste Control Specialists for an apparent license violation in 2014 in which the company improperly moved 73 waste box containers between two of its facilities in West Texas. According to NRC documents, WCS moved the containers from a storage pad outside of its “Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility” building […]

The Nuclear Energy Institute on Tuesday announced the selection of Chief Operating Officer Maria Korsnick as the industry lobbyist’s next president and chief executive officer. Korsnick will take over for Marvin Fertel upon his retirement on Dec. 31 of this year. Fertel has led NEI for nine years. “Maria is well known throughout the nuclear industry […]

U.S. Holtec International said last week its HI-STAR ATB-1T cask design for nuclear waste transport successfully passed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s 30-foot “free drop” test. According to Holtec, the HI-STAR ATB-1T is the first “large, rectangular” cask for high-level waste to pass the test without any breach of containment boundary. The tests require that casks […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects to make a decision late this winter on whether to exempt the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station from certain Fukushima program initiatives, NRC spokesman Scott Burnell said this week. In the wake of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, the NRC implemented its Fukushima Lessons Learned program, an initiative meant […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission needs to establish clear and consistent expectations for staff when completing its significance determination process (SDP) for nuclear reactors, the agency’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recommended in a report released Monday. The NRC uses SDP in determining the significance of safety or security concerns identified during inspections at nuclear power […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s third and final increased oversight inspection at Entergy’s downgraded Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station is tentatively set to begin Nov. 28, NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said Wednesday. The agency in September 2015 moved the 44-year-old Massachusetts facility to column 4 of its Action Matrix, the lowest safety rating a plant can have while […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s third and final increased oversight inspection at Entergy’s downgraded Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station is tentatively set to begin Nov. 28, NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said Wednesday. NRC in September 2015 moved the 44-year-old Massachusetts facility to column 4 of its Action Matrix, the lowest safety rating a plant can have while […]

Holtec International said last week its HI-STAR ATB-1T cask design for nuclear waste transport successfully passed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s 30-foot “free drop” test. According to Holtec, the HI-STAR ATB-1T is the first “large, rectangular” cask for high-level waste to pass the test without any breach of containment boundary. The tests require that casks maintain […]

Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station returned to full power early Monday morning, after a nearly two-week shutdown brought on by excessive water levels in the plant’s reactor vessel. The Massachusetts facility, which is scheduled for closure by 2019, was reconnected to the electrical grid Saturday and returned to 100 percent power at about 3 a.m. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is requesting additional information from the owner of the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant to better address concrete degradation issues that have plagued the New Hampshire facility’s foundation and vertical structures. NextEra Energy Resources has submitted a license amendment request for Seabrook Unit 1 that would revise the plant’s updated final […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should uphold all emergency preparedness and response requirements at shuttered nuclear power plants until spent fuel is moved into dry storage, a host of lawmakers suggested in a recent letter to the agency. The NRC’s issuing of safety exemptions has drawn criticism from lawmakers and residents near closed nuclear power plants. […]

Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station returned to full power early Monday morning, after a nearly two-week shutdown brought on by excessive water levels in the plant’s reactor vessel. The Massachusetts facility, which is scheduled for closure by 2019, was reconnected to the electrical grid Saturday and returned to 100 percent power at about 3 a.m. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should uphold all emergency preparedness and response requirements at shuttered nuclear power plants until spent fuel is moved into dry storage, a host of lawmakers suggested in a recent letter to the agency. The NRC’s issuing of safety exemptions has drawn criticism from lawmakers and residents near closed nuclear power plants. In […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is requesting additional information from the owner of the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant to better address concrete degradation issues that have plagued the New Hampshire facility’s foundation and vertical structures. NextEra Energy Resources has submitted a license amendment request for Seabrook Unit 1 that would revise the plant’s updated final safety […]

Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station returned to full power early Monday morning, after a nearly two-week shutdown brought on by excessive water levels in the plant’s reactor vessel. The Massachusetts facility, which is scheduled for closure by 2019, was reconnected to the electrical grid Saturday and returned to 100 percent power at about 3 a.m. Monday, according […]