Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

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 […]

By John Stang Entergy does not expect the ongoing shutdown of the Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station to affect its longer-term plans to close the plant next year, a spokesman said Wednesday. However, members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation want Pilgrim to dramatically improve its performance before then. The utility company declined to say this week […]

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has approved the Chapter 11 reorganization plan for Westinghouse Electric, which said the authorization paves the way for its sale to a Canadian asset management company. The reorganization plan was overwhelmingly supported by Westinghouse’s creditors, the company said in a Tuesday news release. Brookfield […]

The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission has approved a revised rule aimed at providing additional information about low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) being imported into the state. Among a number of changes to the original proposal, waste disposal providers covered by the rule would now only be required to issue semiannual reports on their […]

Nuclear services provider EnergySolutions supports allowing use of nuclear power plant decommissioning trust funds for certain operations even before the facility ceases operation, an executive said last week. “We are very supportive of using the decommissioning funds early for legitimate decommissioning activities at nuclear power plants,” Daniel Shrum, senior vice president for regulatory affairs at […]

The nearly $50 million the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requested for fiscal 2019 could be enough to restart the quasi-judicial, and long-moribund, adjudication on licensing Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev., as a permanent nuclear waste repository, the head of the commission wrote in a letter to Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.). NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is taking public comment through June 5 on a request for an update to federal regulations regarding storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel. Once the comments are received, NRC staff will review the petition for 12 to 18 months, depending on the number and complexity of the […]

By John Stang Teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, FirstEnergy Solutions announced Wednesday it would close its four nuclear power reactors in Ohio and Pennsylvania in coming years if it does not get rapid assistance from the federal and state governments. The four reactors are the 908-megawatt Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station at Oak Harbor, Ohio; the […]

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert on Wednesday signed legislation that will cut radioactive waste disposal fees paid by EnergySolutions by more than $1.7 million per year. State Rep. John Knotwell (R) in January filed the bill to reduce the flat fee paid by radioactive waste disposal facilities in Utah by the amount they paid in taxes in […]

By John Stang Holtec International is studying why an aluminum pin broke off inside a cask designed to store spent nuclear fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. Tom Palmisano, vice president and chief nuclear officer at SONGS for majority owner Southern California Edison (SCE), briefed the public on the matter at a […]

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has formally requested to withdraw its application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for renewal of reactor Units 1 and 2 at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. The utility instead plans to shut down California’s last operational atomic energy facility within a decade. “PG&E hereby requests to withdraw the […]

By John Stang It might take up to six months after the approval of the 2019 federal budget for U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal facility in Nevada to get back on track, a pair of U.S. House subcommittees were told Tuesday. That is because the regulator’s Yucca team […]

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Orano USA and Waste Control Specialists (WCS) are just weeks from formalizing their partnership to license, build, and operate a facility for centralized interim storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel, new WCS CEO Scott State said Monday. The joint venture, announced last week, will be called Interim Storage Partners. Its first job […]

By John Stang Valhi Inc. apparently kept former subsidiary Waste Control Specialists financially afloat with money borrowed from one of its other businesses over a number of years, according to the holding company’s latest 10-K document. The same March 15 filing with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission also said Valhi believes it will be in […]

The fiscal 2018 omnibus spending bill that passed Congress this week provided no funding for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, but it also did not incorporate language from a Senate appropriations package that some in industry dubbed a “Yucca-mountain position pull.” The House of Representatives passed the $1.3 trillion spending measure Thursday, […]

By John Stang Honeywell International recently sued the federal government in an effort to reclaim almost $2 million in payments made to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2013 and 2014. The lawsuit was filed Feb. 16 in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Honeywell’s Metropolis Works plant in Illinois converts natural uranium into uranium hexafluoride […]

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Kristine Svinicki on Tuesday touted the benefits of full membership in the five-person panel, without directly mentioning the U.S. Senate’s extended inaction on nominees waiting to fill two vacancies. Svinicki noted that the commission has been at three members “for some period of time” – specifically since William Ostendorff stepped […]

Nearly a year after putting it on ice, Waste Control Specialists aims to revive its application for a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission license to build and operate a facility for consolidated interim storage of used nuclear reactor fuel. It is doing so in a joint venture planned with Orano USA, the nuclear services and technology […]

Several parties to the state regulatory review of the sale of the shuttered Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant on March 9 called for approval of the new memorandum of understanding that lays out financial-assurance and site-restoration commitments for the deal. All but one of the parties to the Vermont Public Utility Commission proceeding agreed to […]

The majority owner of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California is still waiting for state approval to begin full decontamination and decommissioning of the plant following its permanent closure in 2013. In a March 8 inspection report for SONGS, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said decommissioning general contractor SONGS Decommissioning Solutions (SDS) […]