Vol. 12, No. 34 
Yucca Mountain Advocate Shimkus to Leave Congress
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
Congressional Outlook Bleak for Yucca Mountain Funding
HENDERSON, Nev. — Congress appears set to again deny the Trump administration’s request to appropriate funding for licensing of a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain, Nev., one issue watcher said Tuesday. The White House for fiscal 2020 requested $116 million for Yucca Mountain and interim storage of radioactive waste, the large majority of that […]
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
DOE Nuclear Energy Chief Backs ‘Parallel Paths’ for Rad Waste Management
HENDERSON, Nev. – Assistant Energy Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal on Wednesday said there is value in “parallel paths” for management of the nation’s nuclear waste, encompassing consolidated storage and a permanent repository. Speaking at the ExchangeMonitor’s RadWaste Summit, Baranwal said she last week walked 5 miles through the planned underground disposal site at […]
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Decommissioning
Mass. AG Presses for Stay of Pilgrim Plant License Transfer
By John Stang Massachusetts’ government and a Cap Cod activist organization this week pressed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a stay of agency staff’s approval of the license transfer and decommissioning trust fund exemption for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Former owner Entergy completed the sale of the retired single-reactor plant to Holtec International […]
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Commercial Decommissioning
Watchdog Group Sues Over SONGS Spent Fuel Transfer
By John Stang An activist organization is legally challenging the movement of spent fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California as too dangerous to the public. The Aug. 29 lawsuit from Public Watchdogs in U.S. District Court for Southern California seeks to nullify SONGS’ current decommissioning plan; to have the site’s […]
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Decommissioning
Nuclear Industry Backs Rule Revision on Use of Decommissioning Trusts
By John Stang In just a handful of comments to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, representatives from the nuclear industry signaled support for a proposal to allow some power plant decommissioning funds to be applied before shutdown. The deadline for comments was Aug. 26. The Regulations.gov web page for the rulemaking petition showed only six […]
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International
U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Takes Over Magnox Ltd.
The United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority last week formally assumed management of the company that is decommissioning the nation’s Magnox reactors. Magnox Ltd. shifted just before midnight on Aug. 31 from the privately operated Cavendish Fluor Partnership to the nondepartmental executive agency of the U.K. government. “This is a very exciting time for Magnox,” new […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap Up: Cesium-137 Spill in Seattle Will Take Several Months to Clean Up
It will take at least “the next several months” to clean up a cesium-137 spill from May at a University of Washington medical research building in Seattle, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Thursday. The public has been barred from the seven-floor Research and Training Building near the Harborview Medical […]