Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

The ExchangeMonitor is heading into its annual August recess, and RadWaste Monitor will not be published during the second and third full weeks of the month. We’ll still be in the office, so keep the news tips coming, and look for the next weekly newsletter in your inbox on Friday, Aug. 30.

Waste Control Specialists has asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to confirm that certain prior directions on requirements for disposal of very low-level radioactive waste (VLLW) do not apply to its operation in West Texas. The federal agency’s 2016 regulatory issue summary on VLLW disposal (RIS 2016-11), along with its communication last year with the […]

The top brass at AECOM said this week it has received plenty of positive feedback since announcing June 17 that it would spin off the business segment that manages its federal government and nuclear decommissioning contracts. “We are moving ahead of schedule” toward separating the Management Services line into its own publicly traded company, Chairman […]

U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) joined three of his House colleagues on a trip to Yucca Mountain last week to argue his case against building a nuclear waste repository on the federal property in his state. “I visited Yucca Mountain today to ensure the information shared by the Department of Energy was as accurate as […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) said Tuesday it has delayed by about three weeks releasing a request for proposals for decommissioning its SM-1 nuclear power reactor at Fort Belvoir, Va. The procurement notice, previously expected around July 29, is now scheduled to be issued during the week of Aug. 19, according to Brenda […]

Perma-Fix Environmental Services on Thursday reported a 30.2% spike in its second-quarter revenue, from $13.2 million in 2018 to $17.1 million in 2019. That encompassed a 75.4% sales boost in the Atlanta-based waste management specialist’s business, from $4 million last year to $7 million in the latest reporting period, along with a more modest 10.4% […]

By John Stang Federal and internal investigators believe the fatal November 2018 explosion at a US Ecology waste facility in Idaho was the result of an unintended chemical reaction, though they don’t necessarily agree on all details of the event. US Ecology recently submitted its report identifying the cause of the explosion to the Idaho […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission should disregard the commonwealth of Massachusetts’ request for a 90-day stay on its review of the license transfer application for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, the plant’s owner and prospective buyer said Monday. Entergy and Holtec International argued that the delay is not needed even as they […]

Separate bills introduced in the House of Representatives would put the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) branch on the job of helping resolve the long impasse over disposition of the nation’s radioactive waste. Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) submitted his “ARPA-E Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2019” on July 23, followed a week […]

North Dakota’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is reviewing initial applications for disposal of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM) waste at existing landfills near the city of Williston. WISCO Inc. and Secure Energy Services are both going through the regulatory process, while IHD Solids Management has already withdrawn its radioactive material license application. […]

The commonwealth of Massachusetts on Thursday asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to place a 90-day stay on its consideration of the license transfer application for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The hold is needed to allow officials from Massachusetts and the plant’s owner and prospective buyer to reach a potential settlement addressing concerns the […]

NorthStar Group Services has requested approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to switch the means of transport to disposal of 200,000 gallons of contaminated wastewater from the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The company plans to move the wastewater primarily by rail to a disposal site in Idaho, rather than by truck as previously […]

Sonal Patel POWER Magazine An innovative nuclear wastewater treatment approach that could provide a cost-effective alternative to fixed-column ion-exchange plants is poised to enter the nuclear market. Atkins, a company that multinational engineering and construction firm SNC-Lavalin acquired in 2017, announced in June that it would team with Swedish technology firm SpinChem AB in a […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last week began inspecting two recent incidents at Westinghouse Electric’s Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. The event involved the May 12 discovery of leakage from a waste-transport carrier at the plant and a July 12 incident in which a drum of radioactively contaminated material pressurized and ignited. […]

Entergy on Wednesday said it took a revenue hit from the closure of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts during the second quarter of 2019. Even so, the New Orleans-based power company’s Entergy Wholesale Commodities (EWC) business slimmed its losses in the latest earning period. Entergy Wholesale Commodities reported a $26 million loss, or […]

Legislation introduced Wednesday in the U.S. Senate would authorize $200 million in annual spending by the Department of Energy for nuclear fuel cycle research and development focused on storage and disposal of the nation’s radioactive waste. The Nuclear Energy Renewal Act of 2019, from Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), primarily includes measures […]

Longtime Department of Energy manager Ed McGinnis has left the agency’s Office of Nuclear Energy to take a position at the White House, a source said Monday. McGinnis had served as principal deputy assistant secretary for nuclear energy from May 2017, leading the office until Rita Baranwal was sworn in as assistant secretary for nuclear […]

The White House is expected to submit two nominations in tandem for positions on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, an informed source said this week. Senate Appropriations Committee staffer Christopher Hanson would be nominated to succeed Stephen Burns, who retired from the commission in April ahead of the end of his term on June 30. […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on Monday issued a presolicitation notice for a contractor to provide environmental remediation under its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) and other federal cleanup programs. The pre-placed remedial action contract, with multiple indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity task orders, would be conducted under the Army Corps’ Multiple Environmental Government Acquisition […]

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) will participate in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s development of an environmental impact statement for Holtec International’s application to build and operate a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the state. The state agency’s role is formalized in a memorandum of understanding between the two organizations, which was […]

A federal court has awarded two southern utilities over $143 million for the U.S. government’s continued failure to meet its legal obligation to remove used reactor fuel from their nuclear power facilities. The June 12 ruling from U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith was made public on July 3. The case consolidates lawsuits […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday opened the public comment period on a new finding that most Greater-Than-Class C (GTCC) low-level radioactive waste could be disposed of via near-surface facilities. Stakeholders have until Sept. 20 to submit comments on the draft regulatory basis issued last week by NRC staff, according to a filing in […]

The nuclear industry wants to ensure the Department of Energy completes an ongoing research project on dry storage of high-burnup reactor fuel. The Nuclear Energy Institute, the trade association for the industry, on June 25 submitted its sixth update to the Energy Department regarding research and development priorities for the long-term storage and transportation of […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Monday it had issued three cooperative agreements, each worth $15 million in matching funds, to companies aiming to produce the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). The recipients are: Niowave, of Lansing, Mich.; NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, of Beloit, Wis.; and SHINE Medical Technologies, of Janesville, Wis. An agreement with […]

By John Stang Wyoming legislative leaders voted earlier this month to explore whether the state should host a consolidated interim storage site for used nuclear reactor fuel — similar to projects underway in New Mexico and Texas. The unannounced 7-6 email vote on July 8 by the state legislature’s management council paved the way for […]

The California Coastal Commission is expected in September to decide whether to issue a permit that is necessary for major decommissioning to begin on two retired reactors at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The commission had been scheduled in June to take up Southern California Edison’s application for a coastal development permit, but […]

By John Stang FirstEnergy Solutions will keep its two Ohio reactors open after the state this week approved a $150 million annual boost to the financially struggling company. After months of debate and revisions to the bill in the Ohio Legislature, it was sent to Gov. Mike DeWine (R) for a quick signature on Tuesday. […]