Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

RadWaste Monitor will not be published on Dec. 28 in observance of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Please look for the next issue in your inbox on Friday, Jan. 4, 2019.

The nominee for the top nuclear energy position at the Department of Energy could get another trip through the Senate confirmation process for Christmas, according to a spokesperson for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Asked whether there was any chance that Rita Baranwal might be allowed a confirmation vote as assistant energy secretary for nuclear energy […]

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the Senate’s lead appropriator for the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commisson, announced this week that he will leave the Senate after 2020. Alexander chairs the Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee, in which capacity he is the gatekeeper for upper chamber funding of a host of programs incluidng management […]

Last-minute efforts this week on Capitol Hill to funnel money into programs for storage and permanent disposal of the nation’s nuclear waste sputtered out quietly, overshadowed by Congress’ showdown with President Donald Trump over the federal budget. The seeminly quixotic endeavors were connected to congressional efforts to craft a budget funding the Homeland Security Department […]

After a fair amount of fanfare, a House bill to push forward development of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada appears to have run out of time in the waning days of the 115th Congress. But, in securing strong votes of approval in committee and on the House floor, Rep. John Shimkus’ (R-Ill.) […]

A panel of three administrative judges at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday rejected a motion that it be disqualified from adjudicating the license application for a planned spent nuclear reactor fuel site in West Texas. The matter now goes to the full commission for a final ruling, according to the memorandum and order from […]

The sitting leaders of the Senate Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee plan to remain in place when the next Congress convenes in January. Staffers for both subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) this week confirmed their bosses’ intentions for the 116th Congress. Alexander has held the post since 2015, […]

By John Stang Holtec International has requested a meeting with the U.S. Regulatory Commission to discuss two potential significant violations identified during a routine agency inspection in May of the corporation’s New Jersey headquarters. The site visit from May 14-18 was intended to evaluate “the adequacy of Holtec’s activities” related to federal regulations on licensing […]

By John Stang Companies that want to assist in decommissioning the retired Fort Calhoun Station nuclear power plant have until Dec. 28 to submit requests for proposals. Staff at the Omaha, Neb., Public Power District told its board of directors that three companies are expected to submit bids, but did not identify the firms. The […]

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy said Monday it plans before the close of the year to buy a South Carolina company that produces equipment for decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear facilities. The Wilmington, N.C., nuclear services provider did not say how much it will pay to acquire REI Nuclear and “certain assets.” Founded nearly six years […]

By John Stang Holtec International and Exelon are urging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reject requests from Lacey Township, N.J., and the Sierra Club for intervention and public hearings on the proposed transfer of the federal operations license for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station. The 49-year-old Oyster Creek boiling-water reactor ended operations on Sept. […]

The United States needs an all-new organization separated from the federal government if it hopes to finally end the decades-long impasse in building a permanent resting place for the nation’s nuclear waste, a panel of experts said Monday. That was one of a long series of recommendations listed in the 126-page “Reset of America’s Nuclear […]

Pacific Gas and Electric said Thursday it will need an additional $1.6 billion from ratepayers to fund the anticipated $4.8 billion price tag for decommissioning its Diablo Canyon Power Plant. The California utility plans to shut down the San Luis Obispo County nuclear facility’s two reactors on the dates their Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses expire: […]

Holtec International announced this week it would increase the minimum wage for employees at its U.S. manufacturing facilities to $15 per hour. “This pay raise is a small measure of my appreciation for the hard-working individuals at all Holtec campuses,” President and CEO Kris Singh said Tuesday during a nuclear industry event. The energy technology […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in October spent $14,325 from its remaining Nuclear Waste Fund balance on federal court costs, according to its latest monthly update to Congress. That represented the large majority of the $15,727 spent from the fund during the month and left the agency with an unspent, unobligated balance of $415,019 as […]

The United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) said this week it expects to spend £3.1 billion ($3.9 billion) in its upcoming 2019-2020 budget year. Just over £2.9 billion ($3.7 billion) of that will be spent on its nuclear cleanup, reprocessing, and waste management operations around the nation. The remaining money be directed toward non-site-specific activities, […]

The Energy Department is giving interested parties more time to weigh in on the proposed new interpretation of high-level radioactive waste (HLW). The public comment deadline has been pushed back from Dec. 10 to Jan. 9, according to a DOE notice Tuesday in the Federal Register. Comments can be emailed to HLWnotice@em.doe.gov. After the department […]

Vocal proponents for establishing a permanent strategy for disposal of the nation’s nuclear waste, possibly at the always controversial Yucca Mountain site in Nevada, are preparing to ascend to leadership posts in Congress that have central roles in advancing the issue. When Democrats take control of the House of Representatives next month, Rep. Frank Pallone […]

The Port Hope Project in Ontario, Canada, is scheduled Monday to begin retrieval of radioactively contaminated soil from a third and final location in the municipality. The project, involving 2,000 cubic meters of historic low-level radioactive waste near a sewage treatment plant, is scheduled to be completed by the end of the month. Contractor Amec […]

In approving a very-short-term federal appropriations bill this week, Congress postponed a possible tussle over funding for the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Several federal agencies are still waiting on a full budget for fiscal 2019, operating on a continuing resolution since Oct. 1. That bill expires today. Rather than try to […]

By John Stang The Vermont Public Utility Commission (VPUC) on Thursday approved the sale of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant from owner Entergy to a New York company for decommissioning. The three-person panel authorized an amendment to the 2002 certificate of public good regarding the ownership and operation of the single-reactor facility. This […]

By John Stang Southern California Edison (SCE) hopes to restart moving used nuclear fuel to dry storage at its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station between Jan. 15 and Jan. 20, 2019. The utility announced that target Thursday at a San Onofre Community Engagement Panel meeting focused on an Aug. 3 mishap in placing a canister […]

Holtec Decommissioning International (HDI) expects to move all of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station’s used fuel assemblies from wet storage to dry storage by 2023, according to documents submitted earlier this month to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The data point is included in a set of documents provided as part of the Nov. 16 […]

By Darrell Proctor POWER A research group that provides information to institutional investors said cost estimates to decommission U.S. nuclear plants fell in 2017 for the first time in a decade. The Callan Institute, headquartered in San Francisco, California, in a report released November 28 said decommissioning cost estimates dropped by 2.5% last year, to […]

The federal government has paid $7.4 billion to resolve dozens of lawsuits from nuclear utilities over the Department of Energy’s failure to meet its legal obligation to dispose of spent nuclear fuel from commercial power reactors, the DOE Inspector General’s Office said in a new report. The Energy Department estimates its ultimate liability could exceed […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday signed off on the Trump administration’s nominee to lead the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy. Rita Baranwal, currently director of DOE’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) program, now waits for a vote by the full Senate in the waning days of the […]

Three administrative judges of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel have been selected to rule on requests for intervention in the agency’s review of a license application for a planned spent nuclear reactor fuel storage facility in Texas. However, a number of environmental organizations quickly petitioned that the judges be disqualified […]