Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is giving stakeholders an additional 60 days to comment on a document that could lay the groundwork for an update to regulations on disposal of Greater-Than-Class C (GTCC) low-level radioactive waste. The public comment period for the draft regulatory basis had been scheduled to close on Sept. 20. But the […]

By John Stang Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects completion by 2021 of an overhaul of regulations covering nuclear power reactors making the transition from operations to decommissioning. That is two years later than anticipated when the NRC commissioners in 2014 told staff to proceed with the rulemaking, Bruce Watson, chief of the […]

By John Stang Appeals were filed Tuesday with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission over petitions to intervene in the federal licensing of a proposed site in western Texas for temporary storage of used fuel from commercial nuclear reactors. On Aug. 23, an NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled that only the Sierra Club has […]

By John Stang A federal judge has denied a watchdog organization’s request for a temporary restraining order to halt the transfer of used reactor fuel into dry storage at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. U.S. District Court Judge Janis Sammartino on Monday also gave the defendants until Sept. 20 to file motions […]

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday rolled out and quickly passed energy and water development legislation that would again give nothing for licensing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Instead, the $48.9 billion Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill for fiscal 2020 would provide funding for a pilot program […]

A senior official at the U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday placed the onus squarely on Congress to provide the means for permanent disposal of the nation’s nuclear waste. For now, that is the long-planned Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada, as directed under the 1987 amendment to the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act, Undersecretary of […]

Senate appropriators on Thursday joined their House counterparts in nixing a request from the Trump administration to transfer the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers back to its former home at the Department of Energy. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 31-0 in favor of the $48.9 billion […]

Interim Storage Partners (ISP) on Monday petitioned for dismissal of the sole permitted contention against federal licensing of its planned consolidated interim storage facility in West Texas for spent fuel from nuclear power plants. Upon rejecting the contention from the Sierra Club, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board should close out the […]

Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission have formally determined there would be no significant environmental impact in a 20-year renewal of the Department of Energy’s license for storage of radioactive waste from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant at the Idaho National Laboratory. The agency is expected to formally post the final environmental […]

The U.S. Energy Department announced on Sept. 6 it would keep BWX Technologies as a contractor for storage of radioactive hot cell waste and spent nuclear fuel. The department’s Idaho Operations Office and Office of Nuclear Energy announced plans to issue the sole-source, five-year contract for continued waste storage at a BWXT facility in Lynchburg, […]

The United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority last week formally assumed management of the company that is decommissioning the nation’s Magnox reactors. Magnox Ltd. shifted just before midnight on Aug. 31 from the privately operated Cavendish Fluor Partnership to the nondepartmental executive agency of the U.K. government. “This is a very exciting time for Magnox,” new […]

HENDERSON, Nev. — Congress appears set to again deny the Trump administration’s request to appropriate funding for licensing of a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain, Nev., one issue watcher said Tuesday. The White House for fiscal 2020 requested $116 million for Yucca Mountain and interim storage of radioactive waste, the large majority of that […]

Longtime Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), perhaps the loudest voice on Capitol Hill in favor of building a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada, on Aug. 30 announced he would not seek re-election in 2020. Shimkus will until his retirement continue to press for a solution to the long impasse over permanent disposal of […]

By John Stang Massachusetts’ government and a Cap Cod activist organization this week pressed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a stay of agency staff’s approval of the license transfer and decommissioning trust fund exemption for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Former owner Entergy completed the sale of the retired single-reactor plant to Holtec International […]

HENDERSON, Nev. – Assistant Energy Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal on Wednesday said there is value in “parallel paths” for management of the nation’s nuclear waste, encompassing consolidated storage and a permanent repository. Speaking at the ExchangeMonitor’s RadWaste Summit, Baranwal said she last week walked 5 miles through the planned underground disposal site at […]

It will take at least “the next several months” to clean up a cesium-137 spill from May at a University of Washington medical research building in Seattle, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Thursday. The public has been barred from the seven-floor Research and Training Building near the Harborview Medical […]

By John Stang In just a handful of comments to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, representatives from the nuclear industry signaled support for a proposal to allow some power plant decommissioning funds to be applied before shutdown. The deadline for comments was Aug. 26. The Regulations.gov web page for the rulemaking petition showed only six […]

By John Stang An activist organization is legally challenging the movement of spent fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California as too dangerous to the public. The Aug. 29 lawsuit from Public Watchdogs in U.S. District Court for Southern California seeks to nullify SONGS’ current decommissioning plan; to have the site’s […]

By John Stang Entergy Corp. on Monday completed the sale of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts to Holtec International for an undisclosed amount of money. The move came quickly on the heels of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval on Aug. 22 of the transfer of Pilgrim’s federal operational and spent fuel storage […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Aug. 23 began the official procurement process for decommissioning of its long-retired SM-1 reactor on the ground of Fort Belvoir, Va. Prospective vendors have until 11 a.m. Nov. 4 Eastern time to submit bids, according to the procurement notice. The Army Corps expects to select its contractor in […]

RadWaste Monitor took a break over the past two weeks for Congress’ annual summer recess. Our affiliate publication, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, kept up on the latest news around the nuclear security enterprise and its industry partners. Here’s a recap of what happened while we were out.   NRC Schedules Meetings on Decommissioning Advisory Boards […]

By John Stang Workers at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California have successfully moved the first two canisters of used reactor fuel to dry storage since restarting transfers on July 18. A third canister is on deck to begin movement this week. Officials with plant majority owner Southern California Edison (SCE) on Aug. […]

By John Stang The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is still reviewing a US Ecology report on the cause of a fatal explosion at its Grand View waste treatment and disposal facility. It is unknown when that review will be finished, said Albert Crawshaw, DEQ waste and remediation manager. Submitted in midsummer, the report blames […]

The Sierra Club will be allowed to argue one environmental contention against U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing of a facility in West Texas for temporary storage of spent reactor fuel from nuclear power plants. An NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) ruled on Aug. 23 that the environmental organization had proved standing for intervention […]

International Isotopes on Aug. 14 reported a net loss of nearly $1.2 million for the second quarter of 2019, primarily due to expenses for ongoing remediation of a May radioactive contamination incident in Seattle. The $1.16 million net loss was close to four times the $332,279 loss reported in the same period of 2018, the […]

Jacobs Engineering announced on Aug. 20 it would pay £250 million ($304.5 million) to acquire the nuclear business of the Scotland-based John Wood Group. The deal is expected to be sealed in the first quarter of 2020, pending regulatory approval in the United Kingdom, according to the companies. The acquisition will bring proprietary technology and […]

The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission on Aug. 22 approved reserving a set amount of disposal capacity at the compact facility for certain “small quantity” generators. The addition to the Texas Administrative Code passed unanimously without discussion by the commissioners present at a meeting in Austin, alongside an amendment redefining small-quantity generator. Texas and […]