Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Exelon hopes to close its $110 million purchase of the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant by late March or early April, a company executive said Thursday. Site owner Entergy had planned to permanently close the 41-year-old facility this year, but the two utilities struck a deal in August following the New York Public Service Commission’s (NYPSC) […]

After AECOM quantified a long-projected earnings gain made possible by a smaller-than-expected fine to settle alleged misuse of federal funds, the Los Angeles-based company continued pounding its war drum about the billions of dollars of bid proposals its Management Services division hopes to convert into contract wins this year. AECOM, among the biggest contractors in […]

U.S. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday issued its proposed fees charged to license applicants and licensees for fiscal 2017. Most annual fees would drop from the fiscal 2016 fee schedule, but the NRC proposed to slightly increase the hourly rate for NRC staff work, from $265 to $267, or 0.8 percent. The proposed rule […]

We welcome and publish comments from our readers. Write us a short letter to the editor (300 words) or a fuller commentary (800 words) about your work in either the decommissioning or commercial nuclear-waste industries, and send it to us by Wednesday for publication in the following Friday’s RadWaste Monitor newsletter. Write about any nuclear-waste topic you like. […]

A highly critical congressional report this week could open the door for Energy Secretary-designate Rick Perry to reverse the Obama administration’s finding that the Energy Department should build a deep-underground disposal site specifically for nuclear waste created by Cold War weapons programs. “DOE did not show that benefits outweighed costs in recommending to the President […]

Nevada’s Commission on Nuclear Projects on Tuesday finalized its biannual report to state lawmakers, which outlines an aggressive strategy in contesting potential resumption of licensing activities for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The commission was established in 1985 to advise the governor and the Nevada Legislature on radioactive waste disposal activities in the state. […]

The U.S. branch of French multinational nuclear company AREVA and decommissioning specialist NorthStar on Wednesday announced the formation of a joint venture for cleanup of closed U.S. nuclear power facilities — beginning with plants now owned by major utility Entergy. Accelerated Decommissioning Partners (ADP) is intended to offer the decommissioning and dismantlement expertise of both […]

Officials from Vermont on Wednesday requested a public meeting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to discuss the potential sale and license transfer of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, as Entergy prepares for decommissioning. The Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel, which consists of local and state officials and lawmakers, penned the letter to NRC Chairwoman Kristine Svinicki. […]

Holtec International said this week it plans by March 31 to submit its license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility in southeast New Mexico. The company plans to build a 120,000-metric-ton capacity facility about 12 miles from the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday fielded an onslaught of complaints from the public about the safety culture at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, following a controversial email leak in December that revealed troubling inspection findings at the beleaguered Massachusetts plant. At the request of a host of officials from the state, NRC staff held a public […]

President Donald Trump has chosen Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Kristine Svinicki to replace Stephen Burns as NRC chairman, an official with the agency said Thursday, confirming the first significant decision from Trump concerning the agency. Svinicki, a Republican who disagreed with discontinuing Yucca Mountain licensing proceedings in 2010, started her second five-year term in 2012. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting in Massachusetts on Jan. 31 to discuss preliminary findings from an ongoing inspection at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, the agency announced Monday. The agency scheduled the meeting after Gov. Charlie Baker and other state officials raised concerns about an NRC email leak in December that […]

Waste Control Specialists’ (WCS) application to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility for nuclear waste in West Texas is ready for Nuclear Regulatory Commission review, the agency said in a letter to the company Thursday. The NRC in June said the application filed two months earlier lacked the technical detail needed for the […]

U.S. Entergy has withdrawn its plan submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to permanently shut down its James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant – a potential signal the utility is confident of closing the sale of the facility to fellow power company Exelon. The $110 million deal, which would allow the struggling plant to remain […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not be affected by President Donald Trump’s new federal hiring freeze, as the agency has been under a self-imposed suspension on hiring for more than a year as part of Project Aim. Trump signed a presidential memorandum Monday, effectively suspending hiring in most of the executive branch, save for positions in military, […]

Holtec International this week revealed a “cutting-edge” decommissioning approach it said will allow utilities to convert nuclear plant sites to greenfield status about five-and-a-half years after reactor shutdown. The “proto-prompt” system features a friction-stir welded Metamic HT fuel basket, which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensed in 2008. The nuclear waste company developed the concept to […]

A group of scientists with decades of experience consulting for the federal government sent a letter on Monday to Secretary of Energy-designate Rick Perry, urging the Energy Department to complete the Yucca Mountain licensing process. The Sustainable Fuel Cycle Task Force Science Panel, a five-member board that includes scientists from DOE’s Sandia National Laboratories, urged […]

DAY 1 – JAN. 20, 2017: Inauguration Day. Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of quarterly news summaries and analyses about President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. We’ll check in with one long, big-picture update every 25 days, with a regular flow of updates in between to keep you up […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has identified six findings of very low safety significance at the Clinton Power Station in Illinois and is treating the issues as non-cited violations. Operator Exelon had planned to close the nuclear facility in 2017, but passage of a state energy subsidy program in late 2016 allowed the utility to forgo […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agreed to meet with Massachusetts officials and residents in response to the public backlash following an NRC email leak that revealed troubling inspection findings at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R), the state’s two senators and nine representatives, and a long list of local lawmakers demanded […]

Idaho National Laboratory officials still hope to bring in a shipment of spent nuclear fuel for a research project with South Korea this spring. But it appears unlikely that will be allowed due to ongoing delays at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit. Under Idaho’s 1995 settlement agreement with the Energy Department, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has cited Entergy for its failure to minimize introduction of residual radioactivity into subsurface groundwater at the Indian Point Energy Center. The NRC notified the utility of the violation, an issue the regulator regarded as “very low safety significance,” in a Jan. 17 letter, which was made public Wednesday. The citation […]

U.S. Mark Lombard, director of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Division of Spent Fuel Management, has been promoted to deputy director of the agency’s Office of Administration. Michael Layton, director of the Division of Security Operations in the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, will replace Lombard, who has spent five years in the position. […]

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, President Donald Trump’s pick for energy secretary, did not rule out the prospect of Nevada storing high-level radioactive waste during his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday, but he said he would explore alternatives. The Obama administration in 2009 cancelled plans to bury high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel at a repository […]

The Donald Trump administration could save a lot of money by building a deep geologic repository just for Cold War nuclear waste, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said here Wednesday after his farewell speech to the Beltway press corps. The key, Moniz told reporters after prepared remarks at the National Press Club, is whether the incoming […]

French multinational nuclear company AREVA on Wednesday announced the formation of a new subsidiary to manage its operations in the United States. The move is part of the troubled company’s broader restructuring, in which it is focusing on nuclear fuel cycle work and selling off its reactor business. Sam Shakir, an executive with AREVA for […]