Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to downgrade the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station’s safety rating for the second year in a row, following another inspection violation at the New Jersey plant, which is owned by Exelon Corp. NRC’s “white” finding, which signifies a low to moderate safety issue, stems from a Jan. 4 failure […]

Entergy, owner of the shuttered Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, has reached a property tax agreement with Vernon, Vt., that will see the utility pay the town significantly less annually as the plant moves toward decommissioning. The plant’s value is now set at $78 million, down from the previous $250 million valuation. The agreement was […]

The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station continues to operate safely, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s second of three increased-oversight inspections at the troubled Massachusetts plant. Following a series of unplanned shutdowns and safety relief valve concerns, NRC in September lowered Pilgrim’s safety rating to Column 4, which is the lowest rating a facility can have […]

U.S. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved on Tuesday the transfer of the license for the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor in Genoa, Wis., from the Dairyland Power Cooperative to EnergySolutions subsidiary LaCrosseSolutions LLC. The license transfer, which Dairyland requested in October, allows LaCrosseSolutions to expedite decommissioning activities at the site, NRC said in a press […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner William Ostendorff offered a frank assessment Friday on the events that led to former Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko’s resignation in 2012. Ostendorff, who is leaving his post in June, said Jaczko’s colleagues tried for many months to form a collegial, working relationship before reaching last resort and sending a letter to the […]

Perma-Fix Environmental Services on Tuesday announced a steep acceleration in both operating and net loss for the first quarter of 2016. Net loss attributable to common stockholders rose from $2.1 million ($0.18 per share) in first-quarter 2015 to $3.8 million ($0.33 per share) this year, while the operating loss jumped from $1.8 million to $3.6 […]

International Isotopes on Tuesday reported a 118 percent spike in year-over-year net loss for the first quarter of 2016, which it attributed to a lower gross profit and rising research and development costs. The Idaho company listed a $374,518 net loss for the three months ended March 31, up from $171,548 in the first quarter […]

South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill said Tuesday the government will ultimately decide the fate of the state’s proposed nuclear waste disposal facility, the same day he approved a new government agency to facilitate community engagement on the project. In its final report issued last week, the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission recommended that South Australia […]

The estimated $16.8 million cost increase for the now-$51.5 million STURGIS barge decommissioning is largely due to the anticipated 12-month extension in completing the project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday. The STURGIS, a onetime World War II Liberty Ship that was fitted with a nuclear reactor that powered military and civilian operations in the […]

An anti-nuclear advocate and adviser to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission warned officials on Tuesday not to make the same mistake as the Japanese in letting industry overpower the regulator. A Japanese parliamentary panel in 2012 found that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster the year before was profoundly man-made and a result of “regulatory […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has denied two petitions from 34 environmental groups, which claim the regulator’s “piecemeal” approach to its continued storage rule hides the environmental significance of certain regulations on spent fuel storage and disposal at nuclear power plants. The continued storage rule, formerly known as the waste confidence rule, includes a sweeping, generic […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials on Wednesday defined the agency’s role in the Department of Energy’s consent-based siting effort for nuclear waste storage, saying the best approach is to monitor the effort’s progress rather than becoming involved in the direction of the program NRC Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation Director Mark Lombard and Yucca Mountain Directorate chief James […]

U.S. The Department of Energy will host another of its consent-based nuclear waste storage siting roadshows on Tuesday in Denver. DOE has said the purpose of its public meetings is to gather public feedback as it develops its consent-based siting program. The three-part effort envisions plans for a pilot storage facility, interim facilities, and eventually one […]

The Senate on Thursday at last united to pass a fiscal 2017 spending bill with $31 billion for the Department of Energy, but the House cannot even begin floor votes on its own backlog of spending bills until Monday because Congress still has not agreed on overall spending levels for the next budget year. It […]

NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes said Wednesday it is upgrading its production operations at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR), adding a new high-capacity filling line the company says will ultimately quadruple its dispensing capacity for the medical radioisotope molybendum-99. Moly-99 is used in imaging procedures for cancer, heart disease, and bone and kidney disease. The […]

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) announced Monday that it is reopening the settlement case that resulted in state ratepayers shouldering $3.3 billion of the $4.7 billion cost to prematurely shut down the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in San Diego County. CPUC said it will re-evaluate whether the settlement is still reasonable, in […]

The Department of Energy on Monday said the national nuclear waste repository planned at Yucca Mountain in Nevada remains unworkable, despite the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s finding last week that the facility would have a “small” impact on local groundwater. Department spokesman Bill Wicker said by email that the NRC’s final supplement to DOE’s Yucca Mountain […]

The cost to decommission and dismantle the STURGIS barge is estimated to grow from $34.6 million to $51.5 million, resulting in part from compatibility issues between a 440-ton crane and the surrounding dock, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced this week. The timeline for completion of the project has also been pushed back an […]

Australia’s Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission on Monday recommended that South Australia aggressively pursue international nuclear waste disposal agreements estimated to deliver more than AUS $100 billion in state profit. The commission released its final recommendation to South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill on a plan for the state to tap into Asia’s market for nuclear […]

U.S. A representative for Battelle Memorial Institute said Thursday he is “eternally optimistic” the company will submit a zoning application to Spink County, N.D., for its proposed deep borehole nuclear wast storage field test. Battelle spokesman T.R. Massey said that Wednesday’s third public meeting in Spink County was attended by about 150 people, including field test […]

Nuclear waste management technology developer (and procurer) Kurion has been given the proverbial keys to the kingdom in being bought by French multinational Veolia – access to the resources of a far larger organization with a global scope. Now it must prove itself worthy of those keys, according to Kurion co-founder John Raymont. The Paris-based […]

A manager with Battelle Memorial Institute said Wednesday the company is in final discussions with multiple landowners for a potential borehole field test site in South Dakota, and organizers will hold an additional public meeting next week. After abandoning its original planned test site in North Dakota in the face of public opposition, Battelle is […]

U.S. Power company Entergy reduced the workforce at its Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant to 136 employees on Thursday, down from 343 employees in January 2015, when the plant entered SAFSTOR decommissioning. According to an Entergy press release, 80 employees either retired or left the company on Thursday, while 13 employees transferred to another Entergy […]

Waste, water, and energy management multinational Veolia on Wednesday reported a first-quarter dip in revenue and a steeper slide in net income over the prior-year period. Revenue dropped by 3.4 percent, from €6.31 billion in first-quarter 2015 to €6.09 billion for the three-month period ending March 31 of this year. The France-based company, which provides […]

Entergy, owner of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, improperly withdrew $282,000 from the site’s $600 million decommissioning trust fund last year for spent fuel management purposes, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Wednesday. However, Entergy will not be fined, as the regulator admitted there are “issues associated with the clarity of NRC regulatory guidance.” Entergy […]

The Department of Energy official leading the agency’s consent-based nuclear waste storage siting initiative will meet with officials and residents near Southern California’s San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in response to a request from U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). The program is DOE’s latest attempt to find a permanent home for U.S. nuclear waste, […]

Southern California Edison’s first-quarter 2016 net income from continuing operations decreased by $18 million, or 5 cents per share, to $287 million and 88 cents per share, from the same period in 2015, parent company Edison International reported Monday. Edison’s earnings report said the decrease was mainly due to the timing of revenue recognized in […]