Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

By Wayne Barber The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has not patronized Trump hotels or other businesses since Donald Trump became president, the regulator officially told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. In an Aug. 8 letter to NRC Chair Kristine Svinicki, Democrats on the committee asked if the agency had expended funds “on products or […]

By Wayne Barber Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna this week again requested more information from Ontario Power Generation on its proposed deep geologic repository for low-and-intermediate-level radioactive waste in Kincardine, Ontario. This comes almost two months after Canada’s Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) seemed ready to move ahead with a draft report that […]

International Isotopes’ revenue increased by 5 percent in the second quarter of 2017, even as its net loss spiked by 36 percent on the back of higher expenses. For the quarter that ended June 30, the Idaho Falls nuclear medicine specialist reported nearly $1.8 million in revenue, up from about $1.7 million in the same […]

HBO’s satirical “Last Week Tonight” on Sunday gave over much of its 30-minute broadcast time to the potential threat posed to the United States by its growing stockpile of nuclear waste. Using data from sources including the Nuclear Energy Institute and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, host John Oliver called attention to more than 71,000 tons of spent […]

Congress skipped town, and so did many other readers, but that didn’t stop news from breaking during the ExchangeMonitor’s annual August publication break. As chronicled in the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, here are a few stories that we’ve been following. NRC Planning Yucca Info Gathering for Fall Although it has yet to officially rematerialize, the […]

By Wayne Barber The parties to the 2014 ratepayer settlement for the premature retirement of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) told the California Public Utilities Commission on Aug. 15 that they have failed to negotiate a compromise on potential revisions to the deal. The commission had given the parties until that date to hammer […]

The ExchangeMonitor is following Congress into August recess, and RadWaste Monitor will not be published during the second and third weeks of the month. We’ll still be in the office, so keep the news tips coming, and look for the next weekly newsletter in your inbox on Friday, Aug. 25.

Power provider Exelon’s clean energy branch, which includes its nuclear power plants, lost $250 million in the second quarter. That was a drastic drop from the $8 million non-adjusted loss Exelon Generation reported for the same three-month period of 2016, according to the company’s earnings update Wednesday. Still, executives had cause for optimism about their […]

By Wayne Barber Executives at two U.S. radioactive waste disposal companies said this week they aren’t worried that the Energy Department is taking longer than initially anticipated to report to Congress on plans for disposal of Greater Than Class C (GTCC) waste. In February 2016, DOE issued the final environmental impact statement for disposal of GTCC […]

French waste management company Veolia plans to acquire Ohio-based Wastren Advantage in a move that would further boost the Paris-based company’s reach into the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup market. “I can confirm we are in the process of being acquired by Veolia subject to the necessary approvals from DOE for our mitigated entity,” Wastren Chief […]

Paris-based waste and water management giant Veolia on Monday reported higher revenue for the first half of 2017, while the net income picture was mixed based on whether net capital gains are included. Revenue spiked even higher for the company’s “Rest of the World” segment, which includes its Veolia Nuclear Solutions subsidiary. Total company revenue […]

Holtec International must submit dozens of pieces of additional data before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission can proceed with its initial review of the company’s license application for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel in southeastern New Mexico. To start, the Camden, N.J.-based energy services company must, per NRC rules, affirm under oath that all the […]

The Environmental Protection Agency announced July 27 that it had developed a nearly $40 million plan for cleanup of a radioactively contaminated site in Queen, N.Y. From about 1920 to 1954, the Wolff-Alport Chemical Co. retrieved rare earth minerals via processing of monazite sand, a process that produced radioactive waste that the company through 1947 dumped […]

By Wayne Barber Entergy CEO Leo Denault said this week the company is determined to “finish strong” as it winds down operations at its non-utility nuclear power plants including the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. “With critical decisions behind us, our strategy to execute a planned orderly exit of our Merchant business remains on […]

By Wayne Barber Entergy’s efforts to sell the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear plant after its retirement could set a pattern for the nuclear power plant operator, Chairman and CEO Leo Denault said Wednesday. “As we move toward the complete wind-down of our merchant operations we will continue to look for opportunities to divest our nuclear […]

The Vermont Public Service Board order that approved the certificate of public good for a second dry cask storage pad for the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, as reported on July 21 by RadWaste Monitor, was issued in June 2016 rather than June 2017. The ExchangeMonitor regrets the error.

Swedish nuclear technology company Studsvik said a deal inked Monday should open the door for deployment of its fluid bed steam reforming (FBSR) radioactive waste treatment system at multiple nuclear power plants in China. A new framework agreement gives Beijing Dynatech Co. the exclusive license to employ the technology in the nation, according to a […]

The Vermont Public Utility Commission this week issued a new schedule that extends by several months its review of the planned sale of the shuttered Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station from owner Entergy to decommissioning specialist NorthStar Group Services. The schedule updates specific dates for document filings and hearings through the week of Jan. 29, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in June spent $17,699 of its remaining available Nuclear Waste Fund balance contesting a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas over the future of the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada. In total, the regulator used $145,842 of its unexpended Nuclear Waste Fund money last month, according to the latest update […]

A local advisory board this week voiced its opposition to using the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina for interim storage of nuclear waste, but could not come to agreement on a request for DOE to prohibit shipments to the facility of highly enriched uranium from Germany. The Energy Department should […]

By Wayne Barber It appears increasingly likely that the two remaining Trump administration nominees to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission won’t get a vote by the full U.S. Senate until this fall – at which time their confirmation might be tied to a potential second term for Commissioner Jeff Baran. On July 12, the Senate Committee […]

By Wayne Barber The House of Representatives on Thursday approved fiscal 2018 appropriations legislation that would provide more than $939.1 million for Nuclear Regulatory Commission salaries and expenses. The NRC funding is included within the energy appropriations section of the so-called “mini-bus” bill, which also covers defense, legislative, military construction, and veterans affairs operations. It […]

Edison International is “intellectually open” to revising the $4.7 billion settlement for the early closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) that best serves its customer and ownership base, President and CEO Pedro Pizarro said Thursday. Speaking to financial analysts during the company’s quarterly earnings call, Pizarro also made it clear the utility […]

Holtec International announced Thursday that it had hired a longtime nuclear energy industry executive as its new president and chief operating officer, assuming some of the responsibilities held by current President and CEO Kris Singh. William Levis will start work at the New Jersey-based energy technology company in October, according to a Holtec press release. […]

By Wayne Barber Environmental services and waste management provider US Ecology said Thursday that its operating and net incomes dropped in the second quarter, on a year-over-year basis, even as company-wide revenue spiked by nearly $4 million. Revenue landed at $126.1 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2017, up from $122.4 million in the […]

The House of Representatives has approved a fiscal 2018 Energy Department budget that would allow the agency to restart its application to license Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev., as a permanent nuclear-waste repository — something the Senate’s corresponding spending plan would prohibit. The House voted 235 to 192, on a highly partisan line, to […]

By Wayne Barber The U.S. Court of Federal Claims continues to be an active venue for nuclear power companies to seek reimbursement from the U.S. government for the Energy Department’s ongoing breach of its legal obligation to take possession of spent nuclear fuel from commercial reactors. The Federal Circuit held in 2000 that the department […]