Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

By John Stang Several New Mexico state legislators wondered last week if a proposed temporary used nuclear fuel storage site east of Carlsbad could become permanent by default. Opponents of Holtec International’s planned consolidated interim spent fuel facility also asked, during a May 18 hearing of the New Mexico Legislature’s Interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee, […]

The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed all three nominees to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, just hours after the chamber’s Appropriations Committee approved a budget proposal that provided no money for the Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository in Nevada. While no one would say so on the record, the connection appeared reasonably certain – particularly given […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a fiscal 2019 funding bill that provides nothing for development of the Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository, instead again backing consolidated interim storage of spent fuel from U.S. nuclear reactors. The $43.8 billion energy spending measure, covering the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and other agencies, could […]

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is planning a number of additional test boreholes as it continues to winnow down the number of potential sites for construction of a deep geologic repository for disposal of the nation’s spent nuclear reactor fuel. The nongovernmental nonprofit is within five years of identifying a preferred location for the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission would get a sizable budget boost in fiscal 2019, almost entirely from funding for its review of the license application for the Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository in Nevada, under the energy and water funding bill approved Wednesday by the House Appropriations Committee. The panel’s roughly 90-minute markup ended without any […]

By John Stang Nine states and the District of Columbia have formally called on Energy Secretary Rick Perry not to use the Federal Power Act to bail out FirstEnergy Solutions’ ailing nuclear and coal power plants. A few days later, Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) joined their opposition. Just before declaring bankruptcy in late March, Akron, […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration said Wednesday it is gearing up to provide another $40 million in cooperative agreements supporting commercial programs to develop production capabilities for the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). That would be on top of $100 million pledged in recent years to four projects led by three companies: NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission might not sign off on the sale of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant until the third quarter of the year, according to the head of prospective buyer NorthStar Group Services. NorthStar CEO Scott State made that observation on May 11 during an evidentiary hearing in the […]

The Omaha, Neb., Public Power District has issued a contract for the final move of spent reactor fuel into dry storage at the retired Fort Calhoun Station nuclear power plant. In a press release Wednesday, nuclear cleanup provider Orano USA (formerly AREVA) said its used fuel management branch Orano TN would move 944 fuel assemblies […]

The House Appropriations Committee again teed up an inter-chamber debate about the future of U.S. nuclear waste disposal this week when it voted along party lines to give the White House $100 million more than it sought in fiscal year 2019 for Yucca Mountain. In a Wednesday markup, the committee also shot down an amendment, […]

The House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee on Monday approved a $44.7-billion energy funding bill for fiscal 2019, including extra money for the planned Yucca Mountain radioactive waste disposal repository in Nevada. A full committee markup is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday. The bill report, which provides a more detailed look at proposed funding for […]

The members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday received a proposed package of rules for commercial nuclear power reactors making the transition from operations to decommissioning. “The proposed rule package was signed out by the Office of Executive Director and sent to the Office of the Secretary yesterday, so … the Commission has it,” […]

By John Stang Entergy and NorthStar Group Services are delaying providing extra financial information to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the planned sale of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant by just over two weeks. The NRC has questions about whether Entergy and NorthStar have their finances in order to complete decommissioning of the […]

By John Stang Perma-Fix Environmental Services executives said Wednesday they see the potential for at least $5 million in annual revenue from a specialized radioactive waste vitrification system now being tested. In a conference call to discuss Perma-Fix’s latest quarterly earnings, President and CEO Mark Duff said there is enough contaminated sodium wastes at nuclear […]

By John Stang BWX Technologies this week contended it by 2019 will begin operations to produce sufficient amounts of a critical medical isotope to fill all of North America’s needs. “We’d have enough capacity for all the North American supply right off the bat” for molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), BWXT President and CEO Rex Geveden said in […]

The growing market for decommissioning of commercial nuclear reactors could help offset revenue losses in other business lines at engineering and infrastructure giant AECOM, such as construction of gas-fired power plants, the company’s top executive said Tuesday. Like rival Fluor, AECOM is moving out of the market to build fixed-price natural gas power plants. When […]

In a vote more than a decade in the making, the House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would smooth the way for the Department of Energy to build a permanent nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev. The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2018 (H.R. 3053), shepherded through […]

After nearly a year, the full House of Representatives is expected next week to debate and vote on legislation intended to strengthen the federal government’s ability to build a radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. Rep. John Shimkus’ (R-Ill.) Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments (H.R. 3053) cleared the House Energy and Commerce Committee last June […]

By John Stang FirstEnergy Solutions contended Monday that the shutdown of four nuclear power reactors in Ohio and Pennsylvania will hurt the long-term energy picture for the area covered by transmission clearinghouse PJM Interconnection. The utility was responding to PJM’s report that day that “resource retirements” would not undermine the reliability of its power grid. […]

Costs related to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) were seemingly a nonfactor in the first-quarter 2018 balance sheet for its majority owner. In a Tuesday conference call on Edison International’s latest earnings, the retired nuclear power plant barely came up as analysts and executives at the California-based utility discussed wildfire recovery costs and […]

The federal Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board has scheduled a June 13 meeting in Idaho to consider key technical issues to be dealt with prior to transport of radioactive waste from around the country for interim storage or permanent disposal. The meeting could lead to recommendations to Congress and Energy Secretary Rick Perry as they […]

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Waste Control Specialists and Orano USA plan within the next two months to formally request that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission resume its review of a stalled license application for consolidated interim storage of spent fuel in West Texas, according to the executive leading their partnership. The companies expect in the second quarter […]

SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should next week receive agency staff’s proposed rule package for nuclear power reactors transitioning from operations to decommissioning, a senior official said Wednesday. The proposal is going through its final concurrence process by NRC offices, and as of this week was at the Office of the Executive Director […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday authorized Northwest Medical Isotopes (NWMI) to build a molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) production facility in Missouri. “We find that, with respect to the safety and environmental issues before us, the Staff’s review of NWMI’s construction permit application was sufficient to support issuance of the construction permit. We authorize the Director […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has acceded to a request to halt its review of a license amendment request intended to advance a project for production of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR). The request from the university was filed on April 5, one day after Canadian health science company […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved Pacific Gas & Electric’s request to withdraw its application to renew the licenses for the two reactors at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California. That takes the facility another step toward its planned closure in less than a decade. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in 2009 […]