Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

The Energy Department should prepare comprehensive assessments of Cold War nuclear sites now storing high-level radioactive waste to determine how much of it could safely be handled as low-level or transuranic waste, the Energy Communities Alliance said Monday. That is one of a set of recommendations in an ECA report, which aims to build on […]

By John Stang Officials from Nevada sent mixed signals this week to the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee regarding upcoming legislation intended to kick-start the stalled nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain. On Tuesday, nine of Nevada’s 17 counties indicated support for the legislation in a letter to committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wy.), […]

By John Stang As has been the case in previous quarterly earnings reports, California’s wildfires dominated the first-quarter financial picture for Edison International’s and subsidiary Southern California Edison. Executives made no mention of the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in Tuesday’s quarterly earnings announcement and accompanying teleconference call with analysts. Edison’s latest filing […]

The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) this week confirmed a 2018 finding that exposure to contaminants from former radioactive waste storage near St. Louis, Mo., could have heightened the risk for various cancers among residents of the area. The ATSDR on Tuesday issued its final report on cancer risks near Coldwater […]

A trio of U.S. senators on Tuesday took a third swing at legislation that would remove management of the federal nuclear waste program from the Department of Energy in hopes of finally driving it forward. The 2019 version of the Nuclear Waste Administration Act appears identical to the iterations of the bill introduced in 2013 […]

Vermont on April 10 formally applied to become the 39th agreement state to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. If the application is approved, per the terms of the 1954 Atomic Energy Act, Vermont would assume authority from the federal agency for licensing and regulation of radioactive byproduct materials, source materials, and limited amounts of special […]

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wy.) is reviving legislation aimed at moving the federal government closer to resolving the decades-long impasse over disposal of the nation’s nuclear waste. Barrasso on Wednesday unveiled the discussion draft of the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019, which is largely identical to the same-named bill introduced in 2017 by Rep. […]

Southern California Edison (SCE) plans in early May to hire a consultant to help develop a strategic plan for off-site relocation of spent reactor fuel now stored at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The anticipated hiring is one element in the utility’s effort to meet its commitments under a 2017 settlement over construction […]

Six corporate teams have been approved to compete for £400 million ($517 million) worth of decommissioning projects at the former Dounreay fast-reactor site in Scotland. Opportunities under a broad decommissioning services framework include building a size reduction facility, shaft and silo decommissioning, and teardown of historic active laboratories, according to a Tuesday announcement from decommissioning […]

By John Stang FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Corp. and FirstEnergy Solutions were due to submit a request today to the U.S. Nuclear Commission to transfer to their creditors the licenses to three nuclear power plants earmarked for closure in coming years. The two sister corporations, subsidiaries of FirstEnergy Corp. now going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, hope […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week it would not penalize Holtec International for two violations of federal regulations during an update to the design of a spent nuclear fuel storage cask. The Camden, N.J., energy technology company could have incurred a $36,250 fine for one safety violation, NRC Office of Enforcement Director George […]

By John Stang The state of North Dakota does not want a nuclear waste site within its borders, but it frets about being overruled by the federal government. Consequently, Gov. Doug Burgum (R) on Tuesday signed a bill into law to regulate the storage or disposal of high-level radioactive waste if that scenario materializes. The bill […]

WASHINGTON — While more than three months have passed since the public comment period closed, the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) is “trying to keep this conversation going” on reinterpreting what material should be deemed high-level radioactive waste (HLW) by the Department of Energy. That was the word Wednesday from the ECA’s director of nuclear energy […]

EnergySolutions said Thursday it has finished on-site remediation of the Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR) near Fayetteville, Ark. “The application of the EnergySolutions Decommissioning Management Model at SEFOR produced results that exceeded our expectations,” EnergySolutions Chief Nuclear Officer John Sauger said in a press release. “A site that pioneered research for reactivity control in […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expects in mid-June to issue the request for proposals for decommissioning of the long-retired SM-1 nuclear reactor at Fort Belvoir, Va., a senior official said Monday. This will be the final version of the solicitation, as the procurement schedule did not allow time for a draft document that could […]

The five members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission unanimously terminated a decade-long, multimillion-dollar program to update federal regulations on material control and accounting (MC&A) of special nuclear materials. “The Commission has disapproved the draft final rule,” Annette Vietti-Cook, secretary of the commission, wrote in an April 3 memorandum to NRC Executive Director for Operations Margaret […]

By John Stang Exelon plans to delay decommissioning of its soon-to-retire Three Mile Island nuclear plant reactor Unit 1 (TM-1) for nearly 60 years, with a roughly $1.2 billion cost estimate for full cleanup. The reactor will join the long-closed Three Mile Island Unit 2 in the long-term storage and monitoring condition known as SAFSTOR, […]

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) this week called for nearly tripling the Trump administration’s fiscal 2020 funding proposal for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). The $250 million plus-up advocated by Schumer would bring funding to $400 million for the nuclear cleanup program, compared to $150 million […]

Top casino and tourism executives in Nevada on Monday told Congress that moving forward with the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository could be devastating for the state’s economic future. In an open letter to the members of the House and Senate, Las Vegas Sands President and CEO Sheldon Adelson and 11 other executives said Yucca […]

By John Stang Holtec International said Tuesday it aims to buy a fourth nuclear power plant that nearing retirement, the Indian Point Energy Center in upstate New York. The announcement came less than a month after the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission asked Holtec to show it is not spread too thin to handle multiple nuclear […]

U.S. Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) said Tuesday he plans to introduce legislation that would expedite removal of spent reactor fuel from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. “Today, I was pleased to announce new legislation to ensure that the spent nuclear fuel here in Southern California receives top priority from the federal […]

By John Stang FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. (FENOC) says it will ensure its decommissioning trust funds are up to snuff for covering costs for cleanup of its three nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania. However, the company has not yet determined whether it will move to immediately decommission the facilities or let them sit […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in stepping on federal law and its own regulations in re-assuming authority over disposal of “very low-level” radioactive waste by power plants in agency agreement states, according to the trade group for the nuclear industry. In a Feb. 28 letter to the NRC, Nuclear Energy Institute General Counsel Ellen Ginsberg […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Monday issued the formal solicitation for nuclear cleanup around St. Louis, Mo., under its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). Under a single-award task order the Army Corps hopes to issue in 2019, the selected contractor would provide “any and all remediation work for remedial actions including […]

By John Stang Holtec International has determined that scratches and abrasions on spent nuclear fuel storage canisters do not represent a safety danger at a closed nuclear power plant in California, executives told U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials on Wednesday. However, Holtec critics at the same meeting argued that today’s scratches could lead to major […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a meeting for April 25 in Florida to take public comment on Duke Energy’s request for the release of much of the property for its retired Crystal River nuclear power plant. In January, Duke filed the request for release of 3,854 acres of the 4,738-acre property from the […]

Entergy has asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to authorize the reduction of insurance for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts following its closure a few weeks from now. In two March 25 letters, the New Orleans-based power company asked the agency to by April 1, 2020, approve exemptions to federal regulations on financial […]