Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

The state of Montana is revising a set of proposed rules issued last year for management of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM) waste. The state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said in a Jan. 24 memo it believes “revisions of the rules are warranted to address public concern and stakeholder input” received since […]

The Utah House of Representatives this week passed legislation that would reduce radioactive waste disposal fees paid by EnergySolutions by more than $1.7 million annually. The bill from Rep. John Knotwell (R) would cut the flat fee paid by radioactive waste disposal facilities in the state by the amount they paid in taxes in the […]

Two lawmakers from Vermont are again pressing legislation intended to provide states with more say in the planning for decommissioning of nuclear power plants. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) and Rep. Peter Welch (D) filed the Nuclear Plant Decommissioning Act of 2018 in their respective chambers on Wednesday. They previously introduced largely identical legislation in the […]

Parties to the state regulatory review for the planned sale of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant on Friday reported “substantial progress” in resolving two key points of dispute in the deal. That could open the door for the Vermont Public Utility Commission to reschedule hearings postponed from last month and continue its decision-making process. […]

Department of Energy contractor AECOM on Tuesday reported $4.9 billion in revenue for the first quarter of its fiscal year, ended Dec. 31, 2017. That was 12.7 percent higher than the $4.35 billion recorded in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. The Los Angeles-based global infrastructure company reported quarterly net income and diluted earnings per […]

Jacobs Engineering Group reported $2 million in net earnings for its latest financial quarter, a steep year-over-year dive from $61 million linked to its recent acquisition of CH2M. Earnings for Jacobs’ fiscal 2018 first quarter ended Dec. 31, 2017, took a hit from the $3.27 billion CH2M acquisition and a one-time tax charge, the company […]

When completed, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission rulemaking on decommissioning nuclear reactors could save millions of dollars over six decades, according to a new analysis of the costs and benefits of the process. As it approaches the end of the process started in 2015, agency staff plans to submit a draft of new proposed rules […]

The Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission will remain frozen at fiscal 2017 spending levels through at least late March, under the stopgap spending bill passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump on Friday morning after an overnight government shutdown — the second of fiscal 2018. The bill is the fifth continuing resolution of […]

The Trump administration Department of Energy has failed to follow through on its commitment to take decisive action on permanent disposal of the nation’s ever-growing stockpile of nuclear waste, the head of a nuclear industry group said in a Jan. 23 letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry. U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council Executive Director David Blee […]

By John Stang Utilities Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric have agreed to trim $775 million from the $3.3 billion charge to ratepayers for the premature closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), according to a settlement announced Tuesday. That translates to $68 per SCE residential customer over the next […]

By John Stang The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it has selected partial excavation as its first choice to remove a massive amount of radioactive soil from the West Lake Landfill in Missouri. In a Thursday press release, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said the proposed five-year project would cost $236 million. But a 2017 […]

The Nevada agency charged with leading the fight against the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the state has launched a new salvo, this time against federal legislation aimed at advancing the project. The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017, introduced last June by Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), has a number of negative […]

An executive with a U.S. affiliate of French multinational Veolia on Jan. 25 said the waste management company’s acquisition of Piketon, Ohio-based Wastren Advantage is “a great fit,” according to slides for a presentation to the Energy, Technology and Environmental Business Association in Tennessee. The presentation by VNS Federal Services Senior Vice President for Business […]

By John Stang A week after announcing that private-equity firm J.F. Lehman had acquired Waste Control Specialists (WCS), the companies are largely closed-mouth about details of the deal. The involved parties – Lehman, WCS, and former owner Valhi Inc. – announced the sale in three separate press releases after market close on Friday, Jan. 26. […]

Utility company Exelon announced Friday that it would in October retire the Oyster Creek Generating Station in New Jersey at the close of its current operational cycle. That is more than a year ahead of the December 2019 closure date mandated in a 2010 agreement with the state of New Jersey, according to a press […]

By John Stang Northwest Medical Isotopes (NWMI) made it through a Nuclear Regulatory Commission public hearing Tuesday without major warning signs for its plan to build and operate a medical isotope production plant in Missouri. It could take the commission anywhere from one to four months to rule on the construction permit for the facility, […]

All used fuel at Duke Energy’s retired Crystal River Nuclear Plant in Citrus County, Fla., has been moved to dry storage, the utility announced recently. For security purposes, Duke is not publicly stating the number of fuel assemblies removed from the Crystal River spent fuel pool, spokeswoman Heather Danenhower said. However, the entirety of the […]

The first borehole has been fully drilled in Canada’s search for a location to dispose of radioactive spent fuel from the nation’s nuclear reactors, according to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO). Drilling began on Nov. 6, 2017, and wrapped up on Jan. 16 at the site roughly 22 miles west of the township of […]

The federal government reopened Tuesday following a three-day shutdown, after Senate Democrats largely dropped their opposition to a stopgap budget bill to keep agencies open through Feb. 8. President Donald Trump signed the bill late Monday evening after it quickly passed through both chambers of Congress. The measure funds the Department of Energy (DOE) at […]

Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission aims by the end of February to determine whether to transition to a full technical review of Holtec International’s application to build a facility for interim storage of spent fuel from commercial nuclear reactors. The pending completion of the NRC acceptance review of the 2017 application comes as […]

French nuclear fuel cycle company New AREVA officially has a new name as of Tuesday: Orano. Orano is the result of a corporate restructuring AREVA initiated in 2016 that late last year resulted in the sale of the company’s nuclear power business to French utility EDF and other entities. What was left was almost entirely […]

The U.S. Department of Energy remains committed to meeting its legal mandate for permanent disposal of spent nuclear reactor fuel, but is waiting on Congress to provide the funding needed to push that program forward, a senior DOE official said Tuesday. Resolving the decades-long impasse on the disposition of what is now more than 75,000 […]

By John Stang The Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC) this week postponed a status conference on talks over the sale of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to Feb. 5 because negotiations are still unresolved. The PUC had scheduled the status conference for Thursday with representatives from plant owner Entergy, prospective buyer NorthStar Group […]

Two informed industry sources said this week that multinational waste management company Veolia has completed its purchase of Piketon, Ohio-based Wastren Advantage for an undisclosed sum. The sources said the deal closed on Jan. 16 following federal approval of the U.S. Department of Energy’s foreign-owned, control, or influence (FOCI) analysis. News of the pending deal […]

By John Stang Power companies Entergy and NextEra Energy have left the Nuclear Energy Institute, the lobbying arm of the nuclear power industry, for reasons not made clear this week. Entergy and NEI cited business-related causes for the departures, but declined to elaborate. “While we will no longer be a member of NEI, we will continue […]

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said Wednesday it plans by Jan. 30 to request a 90-day extension to its rulemaking on management of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) waste. The request, which will be submitted to Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton, is intended to give DEQ additional time to consider […]

The Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC) on Tuesday canceled a public hearing and set of evidentiary hearings in its review of the proposed sale of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The move is intended to give the various parties to the process time to review and discuss a revised financial assurance proposal for […]