Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

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 […]

By John Stang Power company Exelon repeated Tuesday that it still needs additional legislative help from states to keep its nuclear plants open. The message from President and CEO Chris Crane, speaking to financial analysts during a teleconference on the company’s 2019 earnings, echoed concerns he has raised repeatedly – most recently during the company’s […]

By John Stang The New York state Attorney General’s Office and three other parties this week filed petitions for hearings with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the proposed license transfer and sale of the Indian Point Energy Center. Along with the Attorney General’s Office, the petitioners are: jointly the town of Cortlandt, village of Buchanan, […]

The Trump administration this week again proposed transferring management of the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to the Department of Energy. The plan is laid out in fiscal 2021 budget documents for both entities, employing similar language to that used last year in the White […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is requesting $863.4 million in funding for the upcoming 2021 fiscal year, a small step up from the $855.6 million authorized by Congress for the current spending cycle. But the agency noted Monday that amount would be 17% below its spending for fiscal 2014, just over $1 billion. In that time, the […]

Nevada’s political leaders voiced skepticism and cautious praise over the White House announcement that it would forgo requesting congressional appropriations to resume licensing of the Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository in their state. But lawmakers representing states with stranded waste urged the Trump administration to rethink its decision even before it was official. This is […]

Even as it abandoned efforts to revive the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, the Trump administration on Monday signaled plans for the federal government to resume collecting fees for the fund intended to pay for the facility. The White House budget for fiscal 2021 provides nothing to resume the long-moribund licensing for radioactive […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects in March to issue a final report on revising its inspection regime for independent spent fuel storage installations (ISFSIs) at U.S. nuclear power plants. “The final report and recommendations, incorporating internal and external feedback, is undergoing internal review,” agency spokesman David McIntyre said by email on Jan. 29. “Once this […]

The Australian government on Saturday announced the selection of property in the town of Kimba in South Australia as the site for its National Radioactive Waste Management Facility. “I am satisfied a facility at Napandee will safely and securely manage radioactive waste and that the local community has shown broad community support for the project […]