Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission since July has conducted more than a dozen unannounced inspections of spent fuel transfer operations at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. The inspections are part of the agency’s response to several problems in the project, notably an August 2018 incident in which a canister was put […]

The members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday rejected requests for an immediate stay of agency staff’s approval of the license transfer for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. All four of the serving commissioners, without discussion, voted in favor of a memorandum and order upholding the earlier decision. The staff order […]

A group of 11 nuclear security and health experts on Wednesday urged the heads of the U.S. Departments of Energy and Health and Human Services to find that the federal government no longer needs to export weapon-grade uranium for foreign production of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). Allowing exports to continue would present a continued […]

An Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected a clean-energy advocacy organization’s petition to submit a late argument against licensing a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in West Texas. The Austin-based Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition said it should be allowed to file the late contention […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be budgeted at $842.2 million for salaries and expenses in the current federal fiscal year, under a wide-ranging appropriations package passed by Congress this week. The Senate on Thursday voted 71-23 in favor of the domestic priorities and international assistance minibus, two days after the House’s 297-120 vote. President […]

RadWaste Monitor will not be published on Friday, Dec. 27, in observance of the Christmas holiday. Look for the next issue in your inbox on Friday, Jan. 3, 2020.

Unanimously and without discussion, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday recommended confirmation of Department of Justice attorney Robert Feitel as the new inspector general for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Feitel would succeed Hubert Bell, who retired last December after more than 22 years as NRC inspector general. “We cannot be […]

Congress again provided no direct funding for nuclear waste storage or disposal in a massive fiscal 2020 appropriations bill that was waiting on President Donald Trump’s signature Friday afternoon. While the House and Senate had left little doubt they would reject the administration’s latest request for money for the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada, they […]

Four members of Michigan’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 6 urged Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ensure his nation does not build a radioactive waste disposal site near the Great Lakes. The lawmakers said they were concerned by reports that the Canadian government is approaching a decision on the location […]

Idaho Gov. Brad Little has expressed concern that a current proceeding at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission could open the door for disposal of certain radioactive wastes in his state. The Republican governor was among dozens of individuals to submit comments by the Nov. 19 deadline on the agency’s draft regulatory basis on disposal of […]

A major defense policy bill would effectively block the U.S. Department of Energy from applying its new interpretation of high-level radioactive waste during fiscal 2020 in Washington state. That would cover the Hanford Site, a former plutonium production complex that is DOE’s largest cleanup project and home to much of its high-level waste. The fiscal […]

Just before becoming the 15th U.S. secretary of energy this month, Dan Brouillette skirted a Nevada senator’s questions regarding his position on requiring consent from states and local and tribal communities in selecting the site for disposal of nuclear waste. The issue of consent is of keen interest to Nevada’s state leadership and congressional delegation, […]

By John Stang U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff expect next spring to issue draft environmental impact statements (EIS) for two planned consolidated interim storage sites for used fuel from nuclear power plants. The environmental documents are central to the agency’s decision on whether to issue licenses for construction and operation of the facilities. The draft […]

By John Stang A legal tug-of-war is underway between a San Diego law firm and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission over the release of paperwork related to federal oversight of used-fuel management at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. In March and June of this year, attorney Michael Aguirre submitted three […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has signed off on transferring the reactor and spent-fuel storage licenses for the Zion nuclear power plant in Illinois from decommissioning contractor EnergySolutions to site owner Exelon. The order from agency staff took effect on Nov. 26, according to a Dec. 6 notice in the Federal Register. It is good […]

The Nuclear Energy Institute is asking a federal appeals court to undo the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s determination that it has full authority to regulate disposal of very low-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, even in states that have taken on much of the agency’s oversight of radioactive materials. At issue is Regulatory Issue […]

The federal fund intended to pay for the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., held $40.9 billion in U.S. Treasury securities at the end of fiscal 2019 on Sept. 30, according to the latest audit from the Department of Energy. That was up from $39.2 billion in the Nuclear Waste Fund at the close […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Nov. 22 urged a federal appeals court to dismiss two requests from the commonwealth of Massachusetts to freeze the license transfer of the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit does not yet have jurisdiction to rule on the matter, […]

Workers at Westinghouse Electric’s Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF) in South Carolina violated federal safety codes in September when they shipped contaminated barrels of uranium hexafluoride to Washington state, adding to the growing list of safety issues that have plagued the plant in recent years. The incident resulted in a Level IV violation from the […]

The U.S. Department of Energy is studying whether to sign off on an extension of the legal deadline to end exports of weapon-grade uranium for foreign production of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). The agency’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is accepting comments from the public through Dec. 27 ahead of the secretarial certification […]

The White House on Nov. 22 announced its intention to nominate David Wright to a full term on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Wright has served on the commission since May 2018. He assumed a seat vacated by Commissioner Jeff Baran, which expires on June 30, 2020. Baran, a commissioner since 2014, last year was […]

The U.S. Department of Energy spent $8.6 million during the last fiscal year on remediation of a cesium-137 spill at a hospital research facility in Seattle. Remediation is ongoing at the Research and Training Building for the University of Washington’s Harborview Medical Center, according to Al Stotts, a spokesman for DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security […]

By John Stang A federal judge ruled Tuesday against an activist organization’s lawsuit seeking a halt to the transfer of spent reactor fuel into dry storage at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. Following oral arguments on Nov. 25, Judge Janis Sammartino, of U.S. District Court for Southern California, ruled in favor of […]

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) said on Nov. 26 it had narrowed to three the number of communities being considered to host a deep geologic repository for spent fuel from nuclear power plants. In a site-selection process that began in 2010 with 22 candidate sites, the remaining locations are the township of Ignace in […]

By John Stang Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) expects full cleanup of its Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant to cost at least $5.1 billion, according to paperwork filed Wednesday with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. That breaks down to $3.16 billion for decommissioning the complex, $1.26 billion for spent fuel management, and about $738,000 for […]

Congress had not produced a compromise National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2020 as of early Friday afternoon, prolonging a lack of authorization for key nuclear programs. It was a week of whiplash predictions from top defense authorizers Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who in the aggregate appeared less certain of […]

Dan Brouillette was sworn in Wednesday as the 15th U.S. secretary of energy, after the Senate voted 70-15 to confirm him for the Cabinet spot earlier this week, a Department of Energy spokesperson said. Brouillette had served since 2017 as the deputy secretary of energy under Rick Perry, who resigned as secretary effective Sunday. The […]