Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

President Donald Trump on Monday nominated a Democratic Party staffer on the Senate Appropriations Committee to fill a vacancy on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has already scheduled a March 11 hearing to consider Christopher Hanson’s nomination, along with the nomination of serving Commissioner David Wright to a full […]

The John Wood Group said Wednesday it expects later this month to complete the sale of its nuclear business to Jacobs, following regulatory approval in the United Kingdom. The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has signed off on the deal, the Scotland-based energy services multinational said in a brief press release. “Wood and Jacobs continue […]

By John Stang The Nuclear Regulatory Commission failed to adequately review questionable safety findings from one of its scientists regarding an underground gas line that passes through the property of the Indian Point Energy Center nuclear power plant in upstate New York, according to the agency’s inspector general. A New York senator voiced anger at […]

By John Stang The schedule for decommissioning of reactor Unit 2 at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania is being coordinated with the timetable for teardown of Unit 1, even though they have separate owners. There is a hint that the two reactors could together accelerate their schedules for decommissioning, possibly by […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday announced the cancellation of a major conference set to begin Tuesday just outside of Washington, D.C., as participants dropped out in the face of the spreading coronavirus outbreak. “In recent days, a number of organizations and presenters have changed their attendance plans, with indications that others would reach similar […]

A longtime nuclear industry executive has joined used fuel management specialist NAC International as chief strategy officer. William Gallo “will lead the development of business strategies, strategic partnerships, and acquisitions to drive NAC’s growth and profitability,” according to a press release Monday form the Peachtree Corners, Ga.-based company. President and CEO Kent Cole said Monday […]

WASHINGTON —Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette on Tuesday would not commit to supporting a congressional rewrite of the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act to exclude mandatory construction of a permanent nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “If we were to consider a repeal of the 1987 amendment that designated Yucca Mountain as the […]

The Department of Energy plans to take bids on the design of a facility for interim storage of used reactor fuel from nuclear power plants, a senior official said Tuesday. Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal discussed the upcoming procurement in a hearing on the Energy Department’s latest budget proposal before the House Appropriations […]

By John Stang The head of a suburban Seattle venture told a House of Representatives subcommittee Tuesday that a new type of nuclear power reactor now in development would dramatically cut the amount of spent fuel generated in operations. TerraPower, of Bellevue, Wash., is working on a breed-and-burn reactor, which would use depleted uranium — […]

A petition review board at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued final rulings against requests by two advocacy organizations to halt the decommissioning and spent-fuel offload at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. The petitions from Public Watchdogs and Oceansiders Against San Onofre Corruption do not meet the acceptance criteria for reviews […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers anticipates in late April issuing a formal request for proposals for environmental cleanup of the radioactively contaminated Luckey Site in Ohio under its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). A draft solicitation went out on Feb. 20 for comments through March 5. The Army Corps this week did […]

President Donald Trump on Feb. 21 reaffirmed his administration’s opposition to licensing a nuclear waste disposal facility under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “I also recently took action on an issue Nevada has been dealing with for over 30 years, Yucca Mountain, you know Yucca Mountain?” Trump said during a rally in Las Vegas. “My budget […]

The state of Montana expects within a couple months to complete a new, tightened set of rules for disposal of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) waste in landfills. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued the draft rules on Jan. 31 and plans to issue the notice of adoption by April, according […]

BWX Technologies said this week it had reached a significant milestone in preparing for production and commercialization of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), while acknowledging that its overall program has fallen behind schedule. Based in Lynchburg, Va., the company is best known as a manufacturer of naval reactors and contractor for the Department of Energy. […]

By John Stang US Ecology posted net income of $33.1 million on $685.5 million in revenue for 2019. That translated to income of $1.40 per diluted share, the Boise, Idaho-based waste management provider said Wednesday in its latest earnings report. By comparison for 2018, the corporation tallied $49.6 million in net income on revenue of $565.9 million. […]

Amentum, the Maryland-based successor to AECOM’s Management Services branch, announced a pair of executive promotions this week. Tom Foster, president and project manager at the Savannah River Remediation joint venture in South Carolina, on Wednesday was named chief operating officer for Amentum’s Nuclear & Environment business unit. On Thursday, the company said it is promoting […]

Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said Thursday he was not sure who developed the proposal to transfer management of a nuclear cleanup program back to his agency from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The proposed relocation of the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) is featured in the fiscal 2021 budget proposals for […]

By John Stang Southern California Edison on Thursday reported a significant turnaround in revenue and income for 2019, spurred by higher ratepayer fees. The utility went from a net loss of $310 million, or a $0.95 loss per share, on $12.6 billion in revenue in 2018 to a 2019 net income of $1.4 billion, or […]

The Department of Energy will seek neither to license a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, nor a federal facility for temporary centralized storage of the radioactive material, Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said Thursday. His comments come after Brouillette’s predecessor, Rick Perry, said last fall the agency also has no legal authorization […]

A working group of staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is scheduled in March to issue a formal set of recommendations to enhance financial assurances for decommissioning of nuclear power plants. Senior managers at the agency established the working group last September to consider the matter in the face of a growing trend in the […]

The New Mexico Senate on Monday voted down a bill intended to increase state oversight of a planned commercial storage facility for radioactive spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. Senators voted 25-16 against the legislation from Sen. Jeff Steinborn, a Democrat from Las Cruces. Senate Bill 95 would have instituted several updates to the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it will need to collect $728.5 million in fees to fund its operations for the current federal budget year. That figure meets the agency’s mandate under the 1990 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act to recover 90% of its yearly funding from licensee and service fees, according to a Federal Register […]

The federal Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) is requesting a $2 million increase to its annual budget as it eyes added authority. The small agency’s spending cap has held steady at $3.6 million since fiscal 2016. But in the congressional budget justification for the upcoming 2021 funding year, it asked for $5.6 million. Much […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is asking a federal appeals court to dismiss a petition challenging its sole authority to regulate disposal of very low-level radioactive waste (VLLW) from nuclear power plants in the agency’s agreement states. The Nuclear Energy Institute missed the 60-day window set under the Atomic Energy Act and Hobbs Act to file […]

By John Stang Strong investment returns on the decommissioning trust funds for the Pilgrim and Indian Point nuclear power complexes helped Entergy improve its financial pictures for 2019. The better numbers came from a mix of financial sources – along with the decommissioning trust returns, Entergy benefited from more favorable income tax returns, lower asset […]

The Trump administration this week publicly played down any appearance that recent comments from a senior Department of Energy official indicate continuing commitment to building a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain, Nev. Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes “and The Department of Energy fully support finding an alternative to Yucca Mountain for the storage of […]

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he plans to nominate Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes to take over as deputy secretary for the Department of Energy. Menezes would succeed Dan Brouillette, who in December was confirmed and sworn in as secretary of energy. The nomination for the No. 2 spot at DOE had not been […]