Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Global engineering company Amec Foster Wheeler said Tuesday it will lead a team of firms that will study the optimum means for decommissioning the ITER fusion device now being built in southern France. The yearlong project will encompass “a concept-level study of the duration, sequencing and cost for dismantling the ITER machine, once it comes to the […]

U.S. Republicans on Thursday elected Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) as the next chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Walden ran against committee member Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), who has been a proponent of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste geologic repository in Nevada, and former committee chairman Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas). Outgoing Chairman Fred […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday began its third and final increased oversight inspection at the troubled Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. In a conference call Monday with reporters, agency managers leading the inspection said there are no immediate safety concerns at the plant, but that the team of about 20 NRC officials will […]

Providing effective oversight for safe and secure interim storage of high-level radioactive waste until a permanent repository is operational will be a key challenge for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency said in a report to President Barack Obama, which was released publicly Wednesday. The agency’s Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2016 also […]

Illinois lawmakers on Thursday passed the Future Energy Jobs Bill, a controversial package of subsidies that power provider Exelon says will allow it to maintain operation of the Quad Cities Generating Station and the Clinton Power Station nuclear plants. The company had previously said it would close the facilities without nuclear subsidies. Both the Illinois House and […]

The Environmental Protection Agency said last week it is extending the schedule for proposing a final soil cleanup remedy at the West Lake Landfill Superfund site in Missouri, without offering a new date. The agency, which had originally expected to deliver a final remedy by the end of this year, cited delays in submission of […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission identified four “very low safety significance” findings at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station during its third-quarter inspection in September, which was released publicly Monday. The green inspection findings were added to a long list of complications at the beleaguered 44-year-old Massachusetts plant. The NRC in 2015 downgraded Pilgrim to Column 4 […]

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Wednesday called on the nuclear industry to support multiple solutions for dealing with America’s commercial nuclear waste storage impasse. The Obama administration in 2011 canceled plans for a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, eventually opting for a plan that prioritizes interim nuclear waste storage through a consent-based approach […]

RadWaste Monitor will not be published next week in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Look for the next edition in your inbox on Friday, Dec. 2.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday requested public input on the scope of its assessment of the potential environmental impacts of Waste Control Specialists’ proposed consolidated interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in West Texas. The review is one of two the NRC would conduct before deciding whether to sign off on the planned 40,000-metric-ton-capacity […]

The South Australian government is not moving ahead with a potential plan under which the state could take in about 13 percent of the world’s nuclear waste. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, of the Labor Party, issued an official response Tuesday to a Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission report supporting the proposed facility. In its […]

The New York Public Service Commission on Thursday approved Entergy’s $110 million sale of its James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant to Exelon, saying the deal will allow the state to achieve its 2030 carbon reduction goals. The transaction still requires approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Department of […]

Federal agencies including the Energy Department will remain funded at fiscal 2016 levels through at least the first two months of President-elect Donald Trump’s term, Republican congressional leaders decided this week. “To this end, my Committee will begin working immediately on a Continuing Resolution (CR) at the current rate of funding to extend the operations […]

The Department of Justice on Wednesday filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in federal court in an attempt to block EnergySolutions’ $367 million acquisition of Waste Control Specialists, arguing the deal would merge the two largest competitors for low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) disposal in dozens of states. “Since opening its LLRW disposal facility in 2012, Waste […]

U.S. A St. Louis, Mo.-area couple is suing the owner of the West Lake Landfill, among other companiess, claiming that contamination from the controversial Superfund site has been recorded in their home. Michael and Robbin Dailey filed the lawsuit Tuesday in St. Louis County Circuit Court against nine companies, including current landfill owner Republic Services. […]

Executives with radioactive waste management specialist Perma-Fix Environmental Services on Friday acknowledged rough earnings numbers for the latest quarter and entirety of 2016. But they said the outlook is improving, particularly with an opportunity to treat large amounts of waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. “We’ve been very disappointed with […]

Illinois is once again considering comprehensive energy legislation that utility Exelon claims is necessary to stave off closures of its Quad Cities Generating Station and the Clinton Power Station, despite critics’ claims that the bill is an unnecessary bailout for a profitable company. The Future Energy Jobs bill (SB 2814) was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly […]

International Isotopes in the first nine months of 2016 suffered a net loss of $1.36 million, “net of non-controlling interest and net cash used in operating activities of $269,647,” according to the company’s 10-Q submitted Monday to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. That is up from a net loss of $1.26 million for the […]

President-elect Donald Trump is exploring restarting the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage site in Nevada, a source close to the Trump transition team told RadWaste Monitor on Tuesday. The source, who requested anonymity, said that if the Trump administration resumes the Department of Energy licensing process with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it […]

Entergy had to shut down one of three cooling systems at its beleaguered Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station on Monday after the plant experienced excessive vibrations within the system, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday. The power provider identified the issue during a required quarterly test at the 44-year-old Massachusetts facility, which the NRC in 2015 […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is requesting additional information from power company Entergy concerning its application to transfer the license of its James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant to Exelon as part of a $110 million deal to sell the facility. The regulator wants to ensure the facility maintains proper staffing levels over the course of […]

Power company Exelon plans to produce molybdenum-99 at its Byron Nuclear Generating Station in Illinois, potentially submitting a license amendment request to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in early 2017. Mo-99 is an isotope that decays into technetium-99m, which is used in imaging procedures for cancer, heart disease, and bone and kidney disease. The Western Hemisphere […]

Entergy has agreed to sell its shuttered Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant to NorthStar Group Services, a deal the company said will shorten the timeline to fully decommission the facility from 2075 to 2030. The company announced the deal Tuesday, days after Vermont Public Service Commissioner Chris Recchia argued the Vernon plant could be decommissioned […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday formalized plans to spend $700,000 of $1.27 million in its remaining Yucca Mountain funding to update certain reports on repository plans, which would place the agency in a better position should project licensing activities resume. The Obama administration canceled the Nevada repository in 2011, opting instead for a plan that […]

U.S. There was extensive discussion and widespread agreement during Thursday’s meeting of the San Onofre Community Engagement Panel on the need to move forward with consolidated interim storage of U.S. nuclear waste, according to Chairman David Victor. Representatives from San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) owner Southern California Edison and local community members spoke at the panel’s meeting in […]

The Washington state Department of Ecology has fined Perma-Fix Northwest $36,400 for the improper handling of some mixed dangerous and radioactive waste apparently left by the last owner of the company’s plant in Richland. Perma-Fix purchased the facility from Pacific EcoSolutions in 2007. The plant treats, size reduces, and packages low-level radioactive and mixed waste […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has identified an apparent regulatory violation at the BWXT Nuclear Operations Group (NOG) Inc. facility in Lynchburg, Va. The incident occurred June 9 at BWXT’s Mount Athos Road manufacturing facility near Lynchburg, where the company found that an in-plant water line connection to a uranium recycling process had not been properly reviewed […]