Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle

The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky lost power for several hours Tuesday, which prompted plant managers to declare an “operational emergency,” according to documents posted on the Energy Department’s Daily Occurrence Reports website. The site experienced a loss of power to different switchyards because of a problem with a Tennessee Valley Authority electric line […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has formally closed an August 2016 confirmatory action letter to Cameco Resources — indicating the U.S. uranium producer has met the agency’s expectations in addressing problems with its radioactive waste transport procedures. The NRC opened an investigation of Cameco Resources last year following the discovery that an intermodal container of barium sulfate sludge […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last month formally closed an August 2016 confirmatory action letter to Cameco Resources — indicating the U.S. uranium producer has met the agency’s expectations in addressing problems with its radioactive waste transport procedures. The NRC opened an investigation of Cameco Resources following the discovery that an intermodal container of barium sulfate sludge had […]

International Isotopes’ revenue increased by 5 percent in the second quarter of 2017, even as its net loss spiked by 36 percent on the back of higher expenses. For the quarter that ended June 30, the Idaho Falls nuclear medicine specialist reported nearly $1.8 million in revenue, up from about $1.7 million in the same […]

International Isotopes announced this week that it has assumed management of a New Hampshire company that manufactures quality control products for the nuclear medicine and imaging industries. The Idaho Falls-based company already owned 25 percent of RadQual LLC, and International Isotopes CEO Steve Laflin, the firm’s current and former board chairmen, and an unidentified major […]

Pike County, Ohio, Auditor Erica J. Snodgrass has added her voice to the growing list of opponents of a nuclear waste disposal facility to be built at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site. “I want to see more economic development in Pike County. I want more jobs in Pike County. However, we should pursue these […]

International Isotopes said Wednesday its revenue increased by 5 percent in the second quarter of 2017, even as its net loss spiked by 36 percent on the back of higher expenses. For the quarter that ended June 30, the Idaho Falls nuclear medicine specialist reported nearly $1.8 million in revenue, up from about $1.7 million […]

International Isotopes said last week it has secured multiple contracts from the U.S. Department of Energy and the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency retrieve and ship disused radioactive sources for storage. The radiological field services operations will be conducted in the United States and South America and are scheduled for completion by the end of […]

Bruce Power and AREVA NP have agreed to advance their efforts at joint commercial production of medical radioisotopes at the Bruce nuclear power station in Ontario. The two companies’ memorandum of understanding, signed Tuesday, follows from their December 2014 agreement to evaluate the feasibility of developing online radioisotope production capabilities at the power plant. Radioisotopes […]

Progressing toward the end of decontamination and decommissioning of an industrial-scale uranium-enrichment demonstration in Ohio, uranium fuel broker Centrus Energy Corp. saw its quarterly losses widen and revenue shrink in the three months ended June 30. The results were not a surprise to the company, CEO Daniel Poneman, the former U.S. deputy energy secretary, said in […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry postponed a visit this week to the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said. The meeting had not been rescheduled at deadline Friday for Weapons Complex Monitor. “While I’m disappointed that Secretary Perry cannot make it to Piketon on Monday I’m pleased he has indicated that he […]

The mayor of Piketon, Ohio, bitterly opposed to the Energy Department’s strategy for disposal of nuclear waste from demolition of the Portsmouth Site’s uranium facilities, is angling for few minutes alone with Energy Secretary Rick Perry — whenever the DOE chief actually visits the Buckeye State. “I sent a letter about a month ago asking for a […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry has postponed his scheduled Monday visit to the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said Saturday. “While I’m disappointed that Secretary Perry cannot make it to Piketon on Monday I’m pleased he has indicated that he will reschedule the visit soon,” Portman said in a prepared […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry is scheduled to travel to Ohio on July 31 to view the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant and American Centrifuge Project, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) announced on July 21. “I’m excited to announce that Secretary Perry has accepted my invitation to visit the cleanup site of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant to get […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry is scheduled to travel to Ohio on July 31 to view the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant and American Centrifuge Project, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) announced Friday. “I’m excited to announce that Secretary Perry has accepted my invitation to visit the cleanup site of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant to get a firsthand […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, along with technical experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency, China, and Ghana, last week finished converting Ghana’s GHARR-1 miniature neutron source reactor (MNSR) to run on low-enriched uranium fuel rather than highly enriched uranium. The NNSA said in a Wednesday announcement that this work, part of its effort to […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, along with technical experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency, China, and Ghana, last week finished converting Ghana’s GHARR-1 miniature neutron source reactor (MNSR) to run on low-enriched uranium fuel rather than highly enriched uranium. The NNSA said in a Wednesday announcement that this work, part of its effort to […]

By Wayne Barber The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not impose fines against U.S. uranium producer Cameco Resources for nine violations of federal regulations identified in the agency’s November 2016 inspection of the company’s radioactive waste transportation program. The regulator determined after the inspection that Cameco had committed five Severity Level III violations, along with four […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) on Monday issued a request for proposals for a technical services support contract for its Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract line item number is a small-business set aside with a maximum value of services of $40 million. It covers cybersecurity, information-technology support services, quality […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not impose fines against U.S. uranium producer Cameco Resources for nine violations of federal regulations identified in the agency’s November 2016 inspection of the company’s radioactive waste transportation program. NRC Deputy Region IV Administrator Scott Morris said in a June 29 letter to Cameco Resources President Brent Berg that he […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) on Monday issued a request for proposals for a technical services support contract for its Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. The RPF is a small-business set aside for an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract line item number with a maximum value of services of $40 million. It covers cybersecurity, information-technology […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff on Tuesday authorized shipment by road of various forms of waste from the shuttered American Centrifuge project in Ohio to the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site. The approval was signed on the same day that the NRC posted a Federal Register notice of its finding of no significant impact from the […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff on Tuesday authorized shipment by road of various forms of waste from the shuttered American Centrifuge project in Ohio to the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site. The approval was signed on the same day that the NRC posted a Federal Register notice of its finding of no significant impact from the […]

The head of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s naval reactors program suggested Wednesday the use of highly enriched uranium for naval propulsion offers a significant advantage over conversion to low-enriched uranium – indicating the U.S. Navy’s longstanding preference for HEU is unlikely to change. Adm. James Caldwell Jr., the NNSA’s deputy administrator for naval reactors, said […]

The head of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s naval reactors program suggested Wednesday the use of highly enriched uranium for naval propulsion offers a significant advantage over conversion to low-enriched uranium – indicating the U.S. Navy’s longstanding preference for HEU is unlikely to change. Admiral James Caldwell Jr., the NNSA’s deputy administrator for naval reactors, said […]

Closure of the reactor fuel cycle is among the technical challenges facing the nuclear industry that must be addressed by 2030, the American Nuclear Society said Monday. The organization’s “Nuclear Grand Challenges” report highlighted nine issues that need to be resolved “in order to help solve some of the economic, sociological, or political issues that […]

The Energy Department this week was to debrief the runners-up for the potentially 10-year, $1.5 billion contract won by a CH2M-led team for continued cleanup of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky. DOE received four bids for the contract, which the agency announced May 26 went to Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership. The team also includes […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in the final steps of an environmental assessment that would clear the way for Centrus Energy Corp. to start shipping radioactive debris out of a shuttered, next-generation uranium-enrichment demonstration in Piketon, Ohio, an NRC spokesperson said Tuesday. NRC “is currently working on an Environmental Assessment of the environmental impacts of transporting […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in the final steps of an environmental assessment that would clear the way for Centrus Energy Corp. to start shipping radioactive debris out of a shuttered, next-generation uranium-enrichment demonstration in Piketon, Ohio, an NRC spokesperson said Tuesday. NRC “is currently working on an Environmental Assessment of the environmental impacts of transporting […]

Savannah River Remediation expects to save about $10 million by repairing, rather than replacing, a piece of equipment essential for chemical separations operations at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, a company executive told a citizens group Monday. The equipment, a nearly 30-foot-high evaporator pot that last year leaked some 3,000 gallons […]