Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

By John Stang US Ecology said Friday it agreed to a $50,000 federal fine for safety violations related to a Nov. 17, 2018, explosion in Idaho that killed one employee and injured eight others. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration had originally proposed a fine of $66,300 for five “serious” safety-related violations that led to […]

Legislation introduced Wednesday in the New Mexico Senate would update the responsibilities of the state’s Radioactive Waste Consultation Task Force to include oversight of commercial spent nuclear fuel storage. The task force was established in the 1978 state Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Act, largely to act as the New Mexico government’s negotiator for siting, licensing, […]

Decommissioning trust funds for 119 operational and retired nuclear power reactors in the United States together held $64.7 billion at the end of 2018, according to the latest update from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Two power providers initially failed to demonstrate “decommissioning funding assurance” for a handful of reactors, though those issues were all […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday formally rejected a petition from a California advocacy group to update federal regulations to require toughening of dry-cask storage of spent fuel at nuclear power plants. The agency said the regulatory infrastructure already in place obviates the need for the Hardened, Extended-Life, Local, Monitored Surface Storage (HELMS) approach […]

The White House on Jan. 6 nominated Nuclear Regulatory Commission member David Wright to a full five-year term, through June 30, 2025. The move came as no surprise – the Trump administration had stated in November it intended to reappoint Wright. Wright’s nomination was referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. As of […]

By John Stang Two California advocacy organizations pitched their cases this week to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission against on-site storage of all spent reactor fuel at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). This was essentially both groups — Public Watchdogs and Oceansiders Against San Onofre Corruption— trying to persuade the federal regulator […]

New York state’s elected leaders are leaving no doubt that they have questions and concerns about the planned sale of the soon-to-close Indian Point Energy Center. As the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday began accepting requests for hearings on the federal license transfers needed for the deal to proceed, New York Attorney General Letitia […]

The Louisiana branch of power company Entergy last week filed another lawsuit seeking to recoup ongoing expenses for management of spent reactor fuel that the federal government is legally obligated to remove from the River Bend Station nuclear power plant. This is the third such lawsuit filed by Entergy Louisiana and its predecessor, Entergy Gulf […]

By John Stang A proposed settlement agreement contends that decommissioning of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California later this decade can be done for $900 million less than previously estimated. On Jan. 10, plant owner Pacific Gas & Electric Co., San Luis Obispo County, and five other entities filed a proposed settlement agreement […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week it has reduced the liability insurance requirements for both on-site and off-site damage at the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. The agency issued the regulatory exemptions to subsidiaries of plant owner Holtec International on Jan. 6, according to separate notices Monday and Tuesday in the […]

In a New Year’s boon for Belgium’s Institute for Radioelements, the U.S. Department of Energy has postponed by two years a ban on exporting U.S.-origin, weapon-usable uranium for the production of medical isotopes. “[C]urrent global supplies of Mo-99 [Molybdenum 99] produced without the use of HEU [highly enriched uranium] are not sufficient to meet U.S. […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week cited a Westinghouse fuel facility in South Carolina with two violations of federal nuclear rules, but details were scarce this week. The two Severity Level IV violations were identified in an inspection of the Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF) from Nov. 18-21, 2019, according to a Jan. 10 […]

The state of New York is objecting to a request by power company Entergy for federal approval to reduce staffing at the Indian Point Energy Center as its two remaining operational reactors are retired over the next 16 months. Three separate state agencies have reviewed the plan, filed last April with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory […]

The Trump administration is less than a month away from releasing its latest annual budget request, but so far no one is saying officially whether it will feature another attempt to revive the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The White House’s fiscal 2021 spending proposal is due on Feb. 10, a senior administration official confirmed […]

By John Stang One senator expressed concern Wednesday about the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s consideration of cutting back on inspections of spent fuel storage facilities at the nation’s nuclear power plants. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) raised the issue during a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee featuring testimony from two senior NRC […]

U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette has started off the new year by giving more authority to DOE Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes, effectively making him acting second in command at the agency until a deputy is in place. Brouillette said in a Jan. 10 email to Energy Department staff that to “ensure continued operational effectiveness,” […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled the first in a planned series of workshops for next week to consider a set of recommendations from the nuclear industry to increase efficiency in licensing of dry storage systems for radioactive spent fuel at power plants. The meeting is set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. […]

The U.S. Department of Energy expects in June 2022 to complete its program for designing and certifying railcars intended to be used to transport spent fuel from nuclear power plants, but has not determined what it will do with the designs at that point. The agency does not anticipate transport of the radioactive material in […]

By John Stang Deep Isolation, a nuclear waste disposal startup wants to raise $10 million to $15 million in venture capital investment, the company said this week. The company is developing a borehole disposal concept, in which fuel assemblies containing spent fuel rods are placed in a canister and buried some 2,000 feet below the […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering a significant reduction in the number of hours dedicated annually to inspection of loading operations for used fuel into dry-cask storage at the nation’s nuclear power plants. At least one member, Commissioner Jeff Baran, expressed concerns about the potential change during a public briefing last […]

By John Stang A year into the first-of-its-kind arrangement, decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant appears to be proceeding smoothly, according to the head of a local citizens organization. NorthStar Group Services completed the purchase of Vermont Yankee from power company Entergy in January. The New York City-based demolition specialist assumed ownership of all […]

By John Stang A California environmental organization called this week for a second utility to justify a request for a threefold spending increase from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s decommissioning trust fund. On Tuesday, San Diego County-based Public Watchdogs asked the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to hold an evidentiary hearing on San Diego […]

By John Stang The Omaha Public Power District calculates that switching to an accelerated decommissioning will cost roughly $165 million less in the long run for its Fort Calhoun reactor near Omaha. The OPPD submitted its revised post-shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Dec. 16, 2019. The revised PSDAR figure, […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) expects to complete decommissioning of a long-retired nuclear power plant at Fort Belvoir, Va., in 2025, after which the property would be available for unrestricted use. The five-year schedule would cover the full scope of decommissioning the SM-1 reactor and associated infrastructure: site preparation, material removal, disassembly, cleanup, […]

David Blee, president, founder, and CEO of the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council business consortium, died Sunday apparently while visiting family in Kentucky. His death was confirmed Monday by USNIC Director Caleb Ward. “From what I understand, David had a negative reaction with the medication he was taking to get over his cold,” Ward said in […]

The Trump administration is not saying yet whether it will try again to transfer a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers nuclear cleanup program to the Department of Energy, even as it continues to argue the benefits of the move. Congress blocked the White House request for the 2020 federal fiscal year to relocate the Formerly […]