Vol. 9, No. 47 
Entergy Plans to Shut Down Palisades Plant in 2018
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
Chatter Continues on Trump’s Yucca Mountain Plans
While President-elect Donald Trump has yet to offer an official stance on the canceled nuclear waste geologic repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, speculation that the next administration will revive the project persists around Washington, D.C. Sources close with the Trump transition team say his still-developing administration is exploring restarting the project licensing process with the […]
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
Company Explores South Dakota Site for DOE Borehole Project
South Dakota-based energy and mining company Respec is attempting to secure a site within the state and submit a proposal for the Energy Department’s deep borehole nuclear waste storage field test, joining a handful of other companies preparing bids. Respec is exploring a private site in Haakon County, which is about 100 miles east of […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
NRC Official Discusses Collaboration Versus Collusion
A senior Nuclear Regulatory Commission official discussed Wednesday the caution the agency takes to avoid colluding with the nuclear industry and to instead collaborate on regulatory issues. This has been a topic of conversation since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster. A year after a 9.0 earthquake triggered a 15-meter tsunami and triple meltdown […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
Entergy IDs Degradation Threats to 885 Spent Fuel Panels at Pilgrim
Entergy has notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that 885 spent fuel panels at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Massachusetts are susceptible to degradation that could challenge their effectiveness by September 2017. The panels act as neutron absorbers. A decline in their effective use increases the possibility of fissioning reactions in spent fuel pools, which […]
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Commercial Decommissioning
FERC Approves FitzPatrick Sale
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday approved the $110 million sale of the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in New York from Entergy to Exelon, while also dismissing Public Citizen’s challenge to the deal. The consumer rights’ group in an October filing asked FERC to reject the application, claiming it will adversely affect […]
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Budget & Policy
Illinois Governor Signs Legislation to Save Quad Cities, Clinton Plants
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) on Wednesday signed into law the Future Energy Jobs Bill, an energy subsidy package intended to stave off closures at Exelon’s Quad Cities Generating Station and the Clinton Power Station. “The Future Energy Jobs bill protects taxpayers, ratepayers, and the good-paying jobs at the Clinton and Quad Cities’ plants,” Rauner […]
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Contracts & Procurement
NNSA Approves Phase II Funding for Mo-99 Supply Agreement
The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration on Wednesday awarded phase II funding to General Atomics for its molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) supply agreement with Sterigenics International subsidiary Nordion and the University of Missouri Research Reactor Center. Mo-99 decays into technetium-99m, which is used in imaging procedures for cancer, heart disease, bone disease, and kidney disease. […]
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Commercial Low-Level Waste
Perma-Fix Exec Moves to FireWater Associates
Renee Echols, a longtime executive at nuclear services provider Perma-Fix Environmental Services, has been named president of FireWater Associates. The nearly 8-year-old Maryville, Tenn., company offers a wide range of nuclear waste management, transport, regulatory and environmental compliance, and supply chain management services, for government and commercial clients, including radioactive waste profiling, waste management plans […]