Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission should establish a new classification for radioactive waste – “Class D” – to replace the more nebulous Greater-Than-Class C designation, according to disposal provider EnergySolutions. “The NRC should designate a new waste category specifically defining what it is. It should not be defined by what it is greater than, or […]

By John Stang Transporting spent nuclear reactor fuel across the country and through New Mexico topped public concerns during a public event Wednesday on plans for an interim storage facility in the state. That included wondering which routes would be used. “An accident with this material will take decades, if not centuries, to deal with,” said […]

By John Stang FirstEnergy Solutions formally confirmed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday that it plans to permanently shut down three nuclear power plants unless it gets government help. The three-paragraph message to the agency simply certifies FirstEnergy’s March 28 announcement that it would end power production at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in […]

Power company Entergy said Wednesday its earnings rose -m the first quarter of 2018 with assistance from the federal tax break and better weather. The numbers in the company’s nuclear power-intensive Wholesale Commodities segment also improved, though it remained a drag on the overall business. The New Orleans-based utility owner reported consolidated earnings of $133 […]

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) this week expressed concerns about the potential dangers climate change could pose to long-term storage of used nuclear reactor fuel on-site at nuclear power plants around the country. In an April 23 letter to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Kristine Svinicki, Markey drew attention to what he said were plans by […]

Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who is running for the Senate seat now occupied by Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), this week introduced legislation to turn Yucca Mountain into a non-nuclear economic hub. The text of the measure, which Rosen calls the Jobs, Not Waste Act, had not been published at deadline Friday for RadWaste Monitor. In […]

Despite its lack of movement for nearly a year, there remains hope for legislation intended to give a strong push for building a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, a senior official with the nuclear industry’s policy organization said this week. Rep. John Shimkus’ (R-Ill.) H.R. 3053, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act […]

FirstEnergy Corp. and its subsidiaries should be found in breach of their federal regulatory requirement to ensure they can fund decommissioning of three nuclear power plants scheduled for closure in coming years, a nongovernmental environmental organization said in a petition to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Saying the facilities were no longer economically viable, FirstEnergy […]

URENCO USA’s uranium enrichment plant in New Mexico passed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s latest performance review in all operational areas. The review covered safety, safeguards, radiological controls, facility support, and additional matters from Jan. 1, 2016, to Dec. 31, 2017, the agency said Wednesday in a press release. “The NRC staff review determined that […]

By John Stang Entergy said this week it has not determined yet when it will restart moving spent nuclear fuel at its retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The power company halted spent fuel transfer from wet to dry storage on March 10 after a broken bolt was found in a Holtec International spent fuel […]

Declining profit margins, in some cases just 2 to 4 percent, are a major reason for the wave of mergers and acquisitions by companies that do business in the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup sector, a senior executive with one contractor said last week. These companies might also eye new opportunities in the commercial nuclear […]

BWX Technologies, known primarily as a contractor for the Defense and Energy departments, said Tuesday it plans to acquire a medical isotopes business from a Canadian health company. Pending regulatory approvals in the United States and Canada, BWXT hopes by the end of this year to complete its buyout of Nordion’s medical isotopes operation. Nordion, […]

The Australian government on Tuesday issued the outlines of its approach to management of what is expected to be at least 13,500 cubic meters of low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste. The Australian Radioactive Waste Management Framework is intended to “guide the principles, policies and institutional arrangements of radioactive waste management” in the nation, according to […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking confirmation that no financial pitfalls await the transfer of the license for the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant from Entergy to NorthStar Group Services. In an April 5 request for additional information, the industry regulator said “NRC staff is unable to find that the […]

International Isotopes’ net loss doubled in 2017, but the company said the spike was driven by three factors that are not expected to repeat. It also has a number of growing business opportunities this year and beyond that should further bolster the bottom line, President and CEO Steve Laflin told RadWaste Monitor. The Idaho Falls, […]

By John Stang FirstEnergy Solutions’ recent bankruptcy filing does not absolve it of legal obligations cemented in its nuclear-power plant licenses, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “The NRC licenses remain in full effect, even beyond their stated expiration date, until terminated in writing by NRC,” Louise Lund, director of the NRC’s Division of Licensing Projects, wrote […]

By John Stang Two California activist organizations are feuding over their legal standings in a proposed settlement agreement that would trim charges to ratepayers for the premature closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The stakes include legal fees and possible input in future discussions on the agreement reached in late January between the […]

WASHINGTON — After the first wave of hearings on the Department of Energy’s fiscal 2019 budget, key House members still want to turn Yucca Mountain in Nevada into a permanent nuclear-waste repository as soon as possible, while key senators continue to hedge their bets. On Thursday, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee […]

In a wonkishly detailed descent into the weeds of Yucca Mountain policy, a U.S. congressman on Thursday asked Energy Secretary Rick Perry who is to blame for the continued lack of an Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management: a moribund bureaucratic organ for managing the Energy Department’s work on the proposed nuclear waste repository. The […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday rejected a request from several environmental and anti-nuclear groups for a hearing to oppose an application for a license to export up to 10,000 metric tons of radioactively contaminated material from Tennessee to Canada. Massachusetts-based UniTech Services Group in 2016 requested authorization to ship the material back customers […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers anticipates completing decommissioning of the reactor on the radioactively contaminated STURGIS barge by June, after which what remains of the former floating nuclear power plant will be transported for shipbreaking. “We’re getting really close. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we can tell […]

By John Stang President Donald Trump said Thursday his administration will look into a corporate request to keep FirstEnergy Solutions’ four nuclear power reactors afloat — a statement made after having a Wednesday dinner with a lobbyist for the Ohio company’s parent corporation, FirstEnergy Corp. In the wake of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection […]

By John Stang Holtec International has sought to allay concerns about a broken bolt in one of the canisters being used to move and store spent fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. “All of the safety criteria in the SONGS (interim dry storage facility) are fulfilled even if one postulates that […]

The U.S. Energy Department will provide the University of Arkansas with $10 million to complete the environmental remediation of the Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR). Two members of the state’s congressional delegation, Sen. John Boozman (R) and Rep. Steve Womack (R), announced the funding this week. The money is included in the fiscal 2018 […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled four public meetings in late April and early May to receive input on the scope of its environmental impact statement for Holtec International’s application for a license to build an interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico. “At the meeting, the NRC will receive comments […]

The U.S. Energy Department has officially supported keeping millions of documents related to licensing of its planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., in their current home in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s electronic records database. Other parties, though, said this month that more consideration is necessary before a final decision is made. The Licensing […]