Vol. 11, No. 35 
Congress Blanks Yucca Mountain Again
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
NRC, Utilities Brace for Impact from Hurricane Florence
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and nuclear utilities said they took steps this week to ensure that power plants in the Carolinas and Virginia were ready for possible impact by Hurricane Florence, which made landfall Friday morning on the Atlantic Coast. Duke Energy by Thursday afternoon had already begun shutting down its Brunswick nuclear power […]
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Decommissioning
NRC Conducts Inspection at SONGS After Spent Fuel-Transfer Mishap
By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week conducted its on-site inspection of an August mishap in loading used reactor fuel into a storage pad at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. The agency declined to discuss details of the special inspection beyond those laid out in an Aug. […]
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Decommissioning
Nebraska Utility Could Expedite Fort Calhoun Decommissioning
The Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) is considering cutting decades off the time it planned to complete decommissioning of the shuttered Fort Calhoun Station nuclear power plant. Expediting the process could save more than $200 million and nearly 40 years of work, according to an analysis presented to the OPPD Board of Directors this week. […]
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Decommissioning
Holtec, Exelon See Savings in Oyster Creek Sale
By John Stang A new approach to decommissioning the nearly retired Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey could save $200 million, according to owner Exelon and prospective buyer Holtec International. The plant’s single boiling-water reactor is scheduled to shut down on Monday. The two companies’ license transfer application was filed with the Nuclear […]
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International
Contaminated Soil Removed From Pier in Port Hope Cleanup
The Port Hope Area Initiative has completed transport of radioactively contaminated soil from the Center Pier in Port Hope, Ontario, to a nearby long-term holding facility. The Canadian Nuclear Laboratories-managed cleanup program last week tweeted before and after photos of the pier – the first showing the tarp that previously covered the soil and the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
ICE Fires Back at Rival in Patent Infringement Lawsuit
ICE Service Group on Monday denied patent infringement claims made in a lawsuit from a competitor, instead accusing the company of “brazen industrial espionage.” Clinton, La.-based PacTec, which makes industrial containment bags used at government and commercial radioactive waste cleanup sites, filed its lawsuit in June in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of […]
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
Texas Researchers Receive $567K DOE Grant for Nuclear Waste Storage Research
A research team at the University of Texas at Arlington has received a $567,831 grant from the Department of Energy to study the rock materials that best prevent the escape of radiation from nuclear waste disposal facilities. The researchers led by earth and environmental sciences associate professor Qinhong Hu will examine the movement of fluids […]
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Decommissioning
Wrap Up: NRC Ruling on Vermont Yankee Sale Imminent
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Thursday it remains on track to rule by the end of this month whether to approve the license transfer for the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. An agency spokesman did not give a more specific schedule for the decision, which the NRC has said only would occur in the […]