Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

The U.S. Senate will continue to reject the Department of Energy’s requests for funding to resume work on the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) told Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Wednesday. In a tense exchange during a Senate commerce committee hearing on national infrastructure, Heller asked Perry to […]

WASHINGTON — The head House appropriator for the Department of Energy still does not see much hope for any funding for the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the 2018 spending bill that could be published Monday. The energy portion of the 2018 omnibus the House and Senate are negotiating behind the scenes “has […]

By John Stang Complications in waste treatment operations and closure costs of a facility in Tennessee trimmed Perma-Fix Environmental Services’ revenue and produced an operating loss in the fourth quarter of 2017. However, executives said the company’s outlook is strong in 2018 as it vies for new government and commercial contracts and looks toward a potential […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has less than $500,000 left in its available balance from the Nuclear Waste Fund, which pays for the agency’s work on the proposed Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository in Nevada. In its latest update to Congress on activities related to licensing of Yucca Mountain, the NRC said its unobligated Nuclear […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission should extend its public scoping comment period on a proposed spent reactor fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico to allow the state’s Legislature and public agencies to review and comment on the project, New Mexico lawmakers said recently. In a series of identical Feb. 27 letters, […]

By John Stang The owner and prospective buyer of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant have agreed to a set of financial assurance and site-cleanup terms that should help the sale pass the state’s regulatory review. All but one of the parties authorized to intervene in the Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC) process signed […]

Former Waste Control Specialists President and CEO Rod Baltzer has opened a new consulting firm, and is not straying far from his specialty in low-level radioactive waste disposal. “I haven’t Tweeted in a while, but wanted you to know I have started a consulting firm since leaving WCS,” Baltzer said in a March 2 message […]

Remediation of radioactively contaminated residential properties in the Canadian municipality of Port Hope is expected to begin no later than summer, the Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) said Tuesday. The residential project is one part of the much broader PHAI program of remediation and disposal of low-level radioactive waste in Port Hope and nearby Port […]

U.S. Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) on Monday said he believes 300 members of the House of Representatives would line up behind his bill on advancing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository if it could get a floor vote. In an evening speech on the House floor, Shimkus noted that H.R. 3053, the Nuclear Waste Policy […]

The House’s top energy appropriator appeared to quash any hope that a fiscal 2018 budget being put together in advance of a March 23 federal-funding deadline would contain any money for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste repository in Nevada. In the face of that ominous prediction, Yucca booster-in-chief Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) told news outlets […]

A U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission advisory panel on Wednesday suggested which options it opposes for re-establishing a massive database of documents on licensing the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, but ended a two-day meeting without recommending a clear path forward. Members of the Licensing Support Network Advisory Review Panel (LSNARP) now have […]

Federal tax reform legislation passed by the U.S. Congress in December impaired Entergy’s earnings for its latest quarter and full-year 2017. For the fourth quarter, the utility company reported a $479 million loss ($2.66 per share) on an as-reported basis, compared to a gain of $138 million ($0.76 per share) on an operational, non-generally accepted […]

A United Kingdom House of Commons committee on Wednesday lashed the government’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority for its handling of a multibillion-pound contract for nuclear-reactor decommissioning that is being canceled early following an expensive legal challenge. An excessively complicated contract process led to selection of the “wrong supplier,” Cavendish Fluor Partnership, and then to a nearly […]

A hearing has been set for April 5 on motions to dismiss a California watchdog group’s lawsuit against storage of spent reactor fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). Public Watchdogs has no standing to sue in the matter, among several breakdowns in its case, SONGS primary owners Southern California Edison (SCE) and […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday said it would conduct a full technical review of Holtec International’s application for a license to build and operate an interim spent-fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico. The Camden, N.J.-based energy technology company filed its application on March 30, 2017, for authorization to store as much as […]

By John Stang There was no word early Friday afternoon on an anticipated memorandum of understanding among the parties authorized to intervene in the state of Vermont’s regulatory review of the sale of the shuttered Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. A number of the parties said last week they anticipated an agreement addressing remaining points […]

Colorado-based engineering firm Merrick & Co. announced Tuesday it has selected a familiar face to lead its Nuclear Services & Technology (NST) unit. Effective April 1, Merrick Vice President Scott Gustafson will become business unit lead for the NST team. Gustafson will replace John Buckle, who will become a part-time consultant to the firm. In […]

There is no need to rebuild the database of documents for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s review of the license application for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, according to the lobbying body for the nuclear industry. The Nuclear Energy Institute earlier this month threw its weight behind keeping the Licensing Support […]

Orano TN, the nuclear logistics subsidiary of the company formerly known as AREVA, said Wednesday it had secured a contract worth tens of millions of dollars for used nuclear fuel dry storage operations with a U.S. utility. An Orano press release did not identify the customer, which a company spokesman said requested confidentiality. The company […]

A Colorado lawmaker has introduced legislation that would mandate state adoption of rules for disposal of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM). The state Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) had been seeking a sponsor for legislation that would relieve the prohibition in Colorado’s Radiation Control Act […]

By John Stang A California watchdog organization has petitioned the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to significantly increase the required longevity of the dry casks used for storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel at power plants around the country. On Jan. 2, Citizens’ Oversight submitted the petition for rulemaking that argued the 40-year design life required […]

By John Stang Parties to a state regulatory review of the planned sale of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant said Wednesday they anticipate within two weeks reaching agreement on remaining points of contention. “The Parties anticipate that a Memorandum of Understanding will be filed with the Commission by March 2, 2018, that addresses […]

By John Stang A major chunk of Edison International’s fourth-quarter 2017 net loss of $545 million can be linked to the settlement over costs for premature closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), according to the utility’s latest earnings report Thursday. Edison International lost $1.67 per share in the three-month period ended Dec. 31, […]

The chief executive at French waste and water management company Veolia on Thursday hinted at additional acquisitions in the corporate segment that encompasses its nuclear services business line. “[A]s in 2017, growth in 2018 will be complemented by some targeted acquisitions, for example, in the following areas: plastics recycling, energy efficiency, or hazardous waste treatment,” […]

SNC-Lavalin President and CEO Neil Bruce on Thursday praised the early benefits of his company’s acquisition of British engineering rival Atkins, which he called “the largest and most transformative in our history.” The Montreal-based infrastructure and engineering company in July 2017 completed its $3.6 billion (CAN) deal for Atkins, a significant player in cleanup of […]

Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), who has pledged to stop the Department of Energy from building a permanent nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain in his state, is still preventing the White House from filling a key nuclear regulatory position in the U.S. government, Politico reported last week. President Donald Trump nominated Republican Annie Caputo for a […]