Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 2/5/2016 The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would transfer remediation authority over the mixed-use West Lake Landfill from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. Missouri Sens. Roy Blunt (R) and Claire McCaskill (D), who have criticized the EPA’s […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 2/5/2016 French waste group Veolia announced Wednesday that it has purchased California-based nuclear waste cleanup technology company Kurion for $350 million. “With the addition of Kurion’s expertise and technology, Veolia is rounding out its portfolio of services to the nuclear industry and will now be able to provide all existing solutions […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 2/5/2016 International nuclear technology company Studsvik released its year-end earnings report this week, which showed that year-to-year sales decreased by 5 percent in fourth-quarter 2015. Fourth-quarter sales decreased from 247.8 million Swedish krona (SEK) ($29.3 million) in 2014 to 241.9 million SEK ($28.6 million) in 2015. Full-year sales decreased year-to-year from […]

Chris Schneidmiller RW Monitor 2/5/2016 Lawmakers in New Mexico are throwing their weight behind plans for an interim spent fuel storage facility in the state. The New Mexico Senate Conservation Committee on Thursday approved in a 6-3 decision a nonbinding “memorial” that calls on the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance to develop a consolidated interim storage site […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 2/5/2016 A potential equipment mismatch is likely to mean increased cost and an extended deadline for the estimated $34.6 million decommissioning of the STURGIS barge, a project that was suspended in January. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore District project manager Brenda Barber said Monday that an 80-ton crane might not […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 2/5/2016 New York lawmakers have initiated another effort to save the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant, despite power provider Entergy’s insistence that the facility will close in early 2017 or sooner. New York state Assemblyman Will Barclay (R), whose district includes the facility, recently introduced two bills meant to incentivize […]

The Department of Energy’s plan to conduct a feasibility study for deep-borehole storage of high-level radioactive waste has been put on hold in North Dakota, as the Pierce County Commission this week placed a moratorium on drilling amid growing concern from area residents. The estimated five-year, $35 million project, proposed across 20 acres of state […]

Chris Schneidmiller RW Monitor 2/5/2016 U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) this week said she has urged the State Department to partner with the Canadian government to ensure a deep geologic repository for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste is not built less than a mile from Lake Huron in Ontario. The agency, though, does not appear […]

U.S. Centrus Energy said last week it has received approval from NYSE MKT for a plan to ensure it remains listed on the stock exchange after falling out of compliance last year. “As a result, the Company’s common stock will continue to be traded on the NYSE MKT, subject to ongoing monitoring by the exchange […]

Chris Schneidmiller RW Monitor 01/29/2016 Waste Control Specialists is on track to in April submit a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate a consolidated interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility on its property in Andrews County, Texas, company CEO and President Rod Baltzer said last week. “So, what does this mean exactly? […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 01/29/16 Bidding for the estimated $4.4 billion decommissioning contract at San Diego County’s San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station has closed with three suitors emerging. Maureen Brown, spokeswoman for plant operator Southern California Edison (SCE), confirmed Wednesday that the company is no longer accepting bids. The finalists are Team Holtec, a partnership […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 01/29/16 The Missouri Department of Natural Resources said this week that further radiological analysis is needed for two soil samples taken from the West Lake Landfill this fall. The agency drew this conclusion in an interim report released this week, after wrapping up results from a radiological survey that took place between […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 01/29/16 Top officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Union convened last week in Vienna, Austria, where officials vowed to strengthen cooperative efforts on international nuclear safety, waste management, decommissioning, and emergency preparedness and response. IAEA Chief Coordinator Cornel Feruta said during the senior officials meeting that frequent […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 01/29/16 A partnership of four companies has been confirmed to support decommissioning of Britain’s Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing and decommissioning site, with a stipulation that the group funnel an estimated £500 million into a socioeconomic benefits package expected to create 1,140 jobs per year until 2025. Located in Cumbria, England, Sellafield […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 01/29/16 When Nuclear Regulatory Commission safety requirements are reduced at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in April, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont will leach lose millions of dollars in funding for emergency planning and groundwater monitoring from plant operator Entergy. In December the NRC granted Entergy a standard safety requirement […]

Chris Schneidmiller RW Monitor 1/29/2016 Power provider Entergy this week dismissed New York’s new proposed strategy to keep nuclear power plants in the state solvent and operating, saying it is proceeding with the planned closure of the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant. In December, Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the state Department of Public Service […]

U.S. Crews at the Zion Nuclear Power Station last year completed the largest commercial dry cask storage campaign in the U.S. history, loading 61 vertical, concrete casks in 366 days. That’s according to Tony Orawiec, decommissioning plant manager at the Illinois facility that closed in 1998, who spoke at the EnergySolutions Customer Conference on Jan. […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 01/22/16 Department of Energy officials addressed some pointed questions Wednesday at the kickoff event for the agency’s national search for consent-based interim sites that would house spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Three speakers were pressed on issues concerning how DOE will define “consent,” how the effort will withstand an […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 01/22/16 A Vermont Department of Health official said Monday that groundwater monitoring crews on a few occasions in recent months have found contaminated samples near the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, but further investigation determined no public health risks. Radiological Health Chief Bill Irwin said crews both from Vermont and plant owner […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 01/22/16 Using lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi event, America’s nuclear power plants are now “dramatically safer” in the event of a major disaster, having added flexible, mobile cooling equipment. That was one of the messages Marvin Fertel relayed Thursday at the National Press Club during the United States Energy Association’s […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 01/22/16 The Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 7 is urging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to consider all significant environmental impacts before licensing Northwest Medical Isotopes’ plan to build a medical isotope reactor in Columbia, Mo. The Clean Air Act dictated that the agency submit the comments. Northwest plans to build the $50 […]

IN THE U.S. Two contractor teams have submitted bids for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s estimated $4.4 billion decommissioning general contract. AECOM and EnergySolutions have submitted a bid together, and a Bechtel-led team has been confirmed as the second bidder in the process. San Onofre owner Southern California Edison has also said previously that […]

IN THE U.S. Republic Services, owner of the West Lake Superfund site, said late last week that it remains “ready” as the Environmental Protection Agency moves forward with plans to build an isolation barrier at the landfill meant to prevent a nearby underground fire from reaching nuclear waste material. Republic Services spokesman Richard Callow weighed […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 1/15/2016 Because the plan to develop America’s first geologic repository for high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain has been halted for five years, does the Department of Energy’s environmental impact statement (EIS) still apply at the site? This was one of the questions posed Wednesday to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission official […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 1/15/2016 A Nuclear Regulatory Official said this week that if the agency receives the two quality applications it expects for consent-based siting for spent nuclear fuel in Texas and New Mexico, and there are zero contentions with the filings, the NRC could complete application its review in three years. NRC DIrector […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 1/15/2016 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was scheduled Friday to wrap up the first of three inspections at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts, as plant oversight ramps up due to safety relief valve concerns. The first inspection, termed Phase A, was initiated Monday. Three inspectors worked throughout the week to […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 1/15/2016 The Wisconsin State Assembly on Tuesday approved legislation that would lift a 33-year moratorium on building nuclear power plants in the state. Under current law, power plants cannot be built in Wisconsin because the federal government has not established a storage facility capable of taking the state’s waste. Assembly Bill […]