Reactor Licensing & Regulation

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/17/2014 A majority of the commissioners on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have voted to reduce the proposed standard for the time of compliance in its revision of the NRC’s 10 CFR Part 61 waste classification system, RW Monitor has learned. The new revision would reduce the initial time of compliance […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/11/2014 The issue of Compatibility ‘B’ distinction between the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s regulations and Agreement State regulations dominated the discussion during a Commission meeting held this week to discuss on-going efforts from the Organization of Agreement States (OAS) and the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD). Compatibility categories refer […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/11/2014 Several potential candidates have begun to emerge for a spot set to open on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission later this year. Current Commissioner William Magwood has been named to take over as Director General of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency in September. Among […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/21/2014 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Commissioner William Magwood is leaving the NRC to serve as Director General of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency. Magwood will be taking over the position in September, but according to the NRC, he has not yet set a departure date […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/28/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering updating its rulemaking process for power reactor license renewals in anticipation of an upcoming wave of renewal applications that if approved would extend the plant life past 60 years, according to a policy issue options paper released last week by the NRC staff.  […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/28/2014 As the industry and state regulators evaluate the recently issued 10 CFR Part 61 Staff Requirements Memorandum from the NRC Commissioners, the biggest concern arising from the Commissioner’s direction focuses on how the staff will divide what goes into the actual rule and what goes into the guidance document. […]

Time of Compliance Reduced To 1000 Years; New Three-Tiered Approach Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/21/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is moving to implement a three-tiered approach for performing a performance analysis for a low-level waste disposal site, including an initial time of compliance of 1,000 years—down significantly from previous proposals, according to the 10 […]

Republicans Press on Yucca Allocations; Saunders Wants More State Involvement in Decommissioning Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/31/2014 Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) chastised the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for failing to produce documents and for allegedly taking actions to circumvent Congressional oversight during a Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/17/2014 A majority of the commissioners on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have voted to reduce the proposed standard for the time of compliance in its revision of the NRC’s 10 CFR Part 61 waste classification system, RW Monitor has learned. The new revision would reduce the initial time of compliance […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/10/2013 A majority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission voiced support, or indicated through their questioning, that expedited transfer of spent fuel pools to dry cask storage is not needed during a briefing held this week to discuss the NRC’s staff’s findings on the subject. The NRC’s draft study on spent […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/17/2014 A majority of the commissioners on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have voted to reduce the proposed standard for the time of compliance in its revision of the NRC’s 10 CFR Part 61 waste classification system, RW Monitor has learned. The new revision would reduce the initial time of compliance […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/10/2013 A majority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission voiced support, or indicated through their questioning, that expedited transfer of spent fuel pools to dry cask storage is not needed during a briefing held this week to discuss the NRC’s staff’s findings on the subject. The NRC’s draft study on spent […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/10/2013 A majority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission voiced support, or indicated through their questioning, that expedited transfer of spent fuel pools to dry cask storage is not needed during a briefing held this week to discuss the NRC’s staff’s findings on the subject. The NRC’s draft study on spent […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/16/2014 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) reiterated her desire for the expedited transfer of spent fuel to dry cask storage while chastising the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for granting safety and security regulation exemptions for reactors undergoing decommissioning during a hearing on nuclear reactor decommissioning held […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/16/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Low-Level Radioactive Waste Program is soliciting public comment on a new update to its 2007 Strategic Assessment to address developments in the national program for LLRW disposal as well as changes in the regulatory environment since it originally formed its assessment, according to a notice […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/9/2014 A group of senators called on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission late last week to stop granting exemptions to security and emergency response requirements at shutdown reactor sites.  The senators, made up of Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), said […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission late last week denied requests for clarification on the timeline and cost figures associated with the NRC Yucca Order issued last year, citing that nothing in the court’s writ of mandamus required detailed time and budgetary outlines. Nye County, Nev., the States of South Carolina and Washington, Aiken County, S.C., and […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety Licensing Board won’t provide an initial ruling on the operating license application for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility until next month, the NRC said late last week. The ASLB had expected to provide its assessment of the licensing request by Shaw AREVA MOX Services by late January. In […]

The Staff Related Memorandum related to the revision of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s 10 CFR Part 61 waste classification system should be issued “soon,” NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane said yesterday at the Platts 10th Annual Nuclear Energy Conference. For the SRM to be issued, all five commissioner’s votes need to be in. “Sometime soon,” Macfarlane […]

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission risk assessment report has found that the transportation of spent nuclear fuel would cause low radiological impact to the environment or public, even in the case of an accident. The report, commissioned by the NRC to analyze the effects advancements in transportation technology have had on shipment risks, concluded that “if […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has directed a three-tier approach as the performance assessment analysis for a low-level waste disposal site, including a time of compliance of 1,000 years, according to the 10 CFR Part 61 Staff Requirements Memorandum issued this week. Previously, the NRC staff’s draft rulemaking would require low-level radioactive waste disposal sites to […]

A group made up of 34 organizations is petitioning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to halt all reviews of new licenses and license renewals due to new findings the NRC Staff reported in its Expedited Spent Fuel Transfer Proceeding that said a small nuclear reactor pool fire could render 9,400 square miles uninhabitable and displace 4.1 […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering updating its rulemaking process for power reactor license renewals in anticipation of an upcoming wave of renewal applications, according to a policy issue options paper released last week by the NRC staff.  With an aging reactor fleet, this potential update would create clearer guidance in the rulemaking to ensure […]

The case for Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Allison Macfarlane’s recusal from all Yucca Mountain licensing review decisions was dismissed late last week by the Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit due to a lack of jurisdiction. The petitioners, made of a group led by Nye County, called for Macfarlane’s recusal due to her […]

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission legal panel late last week ruled in favor of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility contractor in a longstanding challenge to the facility’s license application over security concerns. The NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board released an initial decision Feb. 27, but said the details of the decision will need to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced yesterday that Renee Simpson has taken over as the director of the Office of Congressional Affairs. Simpson previously served on the House Appropriations and Senate Intelligence Committees in senior staff positions, as well as in positions with the Offices of Legislative Affairs for the U.S. Marine Corps and Director of […]

The government shutdown in October cost the Nuclear Regulatory Commission $10 million in lost productivity, said NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane in a speech earlier this week at the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations CEO Conference in Atlanta, Ga. “Our preliminary assessment indicates that the shutdown cost the agency over $10 million in productivity,” she said. “It […]

Sen. Barbra Boxer (D-Calif.) sent a letter to NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane criticizing the Commission’s new policy limiting the release of sensitive documents to members of Congress. Boxer, who chairs the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, called for an end to this new policy to ensure that Congressional oversight could continue to monitor the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission highlighted its planned regulation reviews for the fall of 2013 as well as for Fiscal Year 2014 in the Unified Agenda of Regulatory and De-regulatory Actions released by the Office of Management and Budget last week. The NRC actions include a review of station blackout mitigation strategies in regards to maintaining […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane filed a motion this week in the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for a dismissal of the petition for her recusal from all decisions dealing with Yucca Mountain. The motion cites a lack of jurisdiction as evidence for the dismissal. “This Court lacks jurisdiction […]