Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Power company Entergy on Wednesday reported a $583.6 million loss for 2016, a massive dropoff from the $176.6 million loss reported for 2015. The utility reported a $1.8 billion loss for the fourth quarter, compared to a $99.6 million gain for the same time period in 2015. In discussing the loss in a statement, Chairman […]

The United Kingdom’s Sellafield site has started placing sludge from one of its two legacy fuel storage ponds into an interim holding site, the nuclear facility’s operator said Tuesday. Sellafield Ltd. in mid-December transported the initial batch of sludge from the Pile Fuel Storage Pond to the Cumbria nuclear site’s waste encapsulation plant (WEP). The […]

U.S. The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station returned to the grid Sunday, following a malfunction with the Massachusetts plant’s condenser system and operator Entergy’s decision to power the facility down ahead of winter storm Niko. The 44-year-old facility, which is due to close in 2019, was reduced to 28 percent power on Feb. 7, after Entergy […]

The United States and Russia have significant opportunities to collaborate on cleanup of nuclear contamination and the prevention of nuclear terrorism, even as they remain antagonists in other spheres, according to a report issued this week by nongovernmental groups from both nations. The report, “Pathways to Cooperation,” resulted from a February 2016 meeting of experts […]

Editor’s note: This is the second 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 to date on news affecting Department of Energy […]

Reps. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Feb. 10 toured the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California while discussing solutions for managing American nuclear waste. Shimkus, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which holds congressional jurisdiction over nuclear waste management, has long voiced his support for the planned […]

North American environmental services company US Ecology recorded $477.7 in total revenue for 2016, down 15.2 percent from the $563.1 million recorded in 2015, according to the company’s latest earnings report Thursday. The company pulled in $117.2 million in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2016, compared to $138.3 million in the same quarter of 2015. […]

In the face of public opposition, the Quay County Commission has rescinded its support for using a site in Nara Visa, N.M., for the Energy Department’s deep borehole nuclear waste storage field test. Enercon Federal Services and DOSECC Exploration Services have been exploring a site about 300 miles north of DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Citing […]

A group of utilities on Tuesday sued the state of Illinois, arguing that a recently passed package of nuclear subsidies improperly intrudes on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authority over the wholesale electric market. Led by the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA), the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of […]

U.S. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled briefings for next week on the lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the ongoing progress of Project Aim. The briefings represent the first commission meetings under new Republican Chairwoman Kristine Svinicki, who President Donald Trump chose last month to replace Chairman Stephen Burns, an Obama […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is tentatively scheduled to conclude its special inspection of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station on March 21 with a public meeting in Massachusetts, NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said Tuesday. An NRC report will be due 45 days after that date to detail findings of the inspection at the 44-year-old facility, which […]

Selling off a nuclear plant to a specialist for decommissioning allows for a much more efficient process, an Entergy executive said Thursday in discussing a recent agreement. Entergy in November agreed to sell its Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant to New York-based decommissioning specialist NorthStar Group Services, a deal that is expected to shorten the […]

Legislation supporting consolidated interim storage for nuclear waste is unlikely to get consideration in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, a committee aide said Wednesday. The Interim Consolidated Storage Act, the latest version of which was introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) in January, would allow the Department of Energy to enter into public-private […]

The South Dakota House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill that would require the Legislature’s or governor’s approval for processing or depositing high-level nuclear waste in the state. House Bill 1071, introduced by Rep. Lana Greenfield (R), will need confirmation from the Senate and Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R). Nuclear waste has been a controversial issue in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected EnergySolutions’ subpoena for information in a civil antitrust lawsuit, arguing that the request is burdensome, vague, and fails to follow agency guidelines. EnergySolutions’ filed the subpoena on Jan. 24, as it prepares to contest the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit challenging the company’s $367 million acquisition of Waste Control […]

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 […]