Vol. 13, No. 11

Reactor Licensing & Regulation

‘Small Number’ of NRC Staff Self-Isolating After Possible Coronavirus Exposure

A “small number” of Nuclear Regulatory Commission employees are in self-imposed isolation after attending an event in which other participants subsquently tested positive for infection by the 2019 novel coronavirus, the agency said Friday. “To our knowledge, all of those employees are asymptomatic; however, out of an abundance of caution these employees have elected to […]
  • Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

    NRC Staff Offers Early Support for Licensing New Mexico Spent-Fuel Site

    Staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday preliminarily recommended licensing a facility in New Mexico for temporary storage of spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. The tentative support is provided in the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for Holtec International’s planned consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) in Lea County, in the state’s southeast. […]

  • Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

    Deep Isolation Eyes DOE Procurement for Interim Storage Design

    PHOENIX – Another company indicated Monday it would be ready to bid on an anticipated procurement from the Department of Energy to design a facility for interim storage of nuclear waste. “We are interested in interim storage,” Rod Baltzer, chief operating officer for Deep Isolation, told RadWaste Monitor. “With our design, we do think you […]

  • Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

    NRC Nominees Sail Through Senate Hearing

    By John Stang Incumbent David Wright and newcomer Christopher Hanson sailed through a Senate committee hearing Wednesday on their way toward confirmation as members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In a nomination hearing, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee quizzed Hanson, Wright, and Douglas Benevento, the Trump administration’s candidate for deputy administrator at the Environmental […]

  • Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

    Menezes Nominated to No. 2 Spot at Energy Department

    President Donald Trump on Thursday formally nominated Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes to the No. 2 position at the Department of Energy. If confirmed by the Senate, Menezes would assume the DOE deputy secretary position left vacant in December when Dan Brouillette was sworn in as secretary of energy. “Congratulations to my friend and colleague […]

  • Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

    NRC Considers Three-Year Cycle for Spent-Fuel Storage Inspections

    A working group of staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recommended downshifting the standard schedule for inspections of spent reactor fuel storage pads from roughly every two years to three years. That was the No. 1 recommendation in the draft final version of Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) Inspection Enhancement Initiative, issued on […]

  • Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

    NRC Might Merge Two Waste Disposal Rulemakings

    PHOENIX – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering merging two long-running efforts to update federal regulations on disposal of radioactive waste, a senior official said here Monday. Agency staff is currently determining the paths forward for both a potential rulemaking on Greater-Than-Class C Waste and the continuing Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Rulemaking, according to Patricia […]

  • Decommissioning

    Landfills Could Receive Ongoing Federal Exemptions for Very Low-Level Waste

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering a means for simplifying the process by which very low-level radioactive waste (VLLW) can be shipped to certain landfills for disposal. The agency on March 6 announced plans for an interpretive rule to issue “specific exemptions” that would enable landfills to receive VLLW without needing approval for each shipment. […]

  • Decommissioning

    Wrap Up: Feinstein Interim Storage Pilot Amendment Stalled in Senate

    Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) latest legislative push to establish a pilot program for interim storage of radioactive waste got stuck in Senate gridlock this week when the big, bipartisan energy bill stalled out amid a fight about climate change. Feinstein’s proposal was one of many amendments being balled up into a legislative package known as […]

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