Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 1/15/2016 A Department of Energy official on Wednesday tried to quell skepticism that findings from deep borehole testing in North Dakota for the purpose of nuclear waste storage can be applied elsewhere. Peter Swift, national technical director for the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy Used Nuclear Fuel Disposition R&D Campaign and […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 1/8/2016 A reaction from rainwater and material from corroded steel drums led to an industrial fire in October at a closed low-level radioactive waste dump 115 miles northwest of Las Vegas, according to the Nevada State Fire Marshal. The agency released this and other details Wednesday concerning an investigation led by […]

Congress was out and Washington was empty, but that didn’t stop news from breaking during our annual publication break. As chronicled in the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, here are a few stories that we’ve been following.   DOE Formally Begins Nuclear Waste Storage Siting Process The Department of Energy on Monday said it is formally […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 1/8/2016 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it will build an isolation barrier at the West Lake Landfill Superfund site in Bridgeton, Mo., to ensure that an underground fire doesn’t come into contact with nuclear waste material. EPA Region 7 Administrator Mark Hague announced the decision last week for […]

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 1/8/2016 Initial preparations have begun on a Department of Energy project to drill a 16,000-foot borehole in North Dakota to test the use of such formations for storage of high-level radioactive waste, lead contractor Battelle Memorial Institute said Friday. In total, the project on 20 acres of land near the city […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 1/8/2016 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will stay the course with its $350.2 million cleanup effort at a nuclear waste site in the Pittsburgh area, which was originally estimated at $44.5 million in 2007. In a record of decision amendment issued in December for the Parks Township Shallow Land Disposal […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 1/8/2016 The Wylfa Nuclear Power Station in Anglesey, Wales, was shut down on Dec. 30, ending a 44-year run for the United Kingdom’s oldest nuclear plant. The closure comes five years later than originally planned. Operator Magnox ceased fuel supply to the plant in 2008, but in 2010 found a way […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 1/8/2016 SHINE Medical Technologies has raised $11.5 million of debt financing, bringing the total fundraising for its planned $100 million radioisotope production facility planned in Janesville, Wis., to nearly $50 million. Katrina Pitas, SHINE’s vice president of business development, confirmed Tuesday’s debt financing filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as […]

IN THE U.S. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources announced last week that it is testing storm-water runoff from the Bridgeton Landfill for contamination. An announcement posted on the department’s website Tuesday says the agency was notified the day before of surface water leaving the landfill along the northeast boundary of the site. Based on […]

IN THE U.S. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday announced that it had renewed for 40 years the license for the dry-cask independent spent fuel storage site the Prairie Island nuclear power facility in Minnesota. The Northern States Power license is now good through Oct. 31, 2053. The company in 2011 requested renewal of the […]

The RadWaste Monitor is beginning its annual holiday break and will return to your inboxes on Friday, Jan. 8. The Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will be published Monday through Wednesday next week, and we will publish special bulletins should any major news break in the interim.

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 12/18/2015 Entergy announced Wednesday that it plans to transfer its spent nuclear fuel at the shuttered Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant from wet to dry storage starting in 2017, two years earlier than expected. The $145 million project, under which nearly 3,000 spent fuel assemblies would be transferred into 45 dry […]

Staff report RW Monitor 12/18/2015 The Fiscal Year 2015 Appropriations omnibus bill adopted by Congress on Friday provides about $990 million for nuclear energy activities. The agreement includes no funding derived from the Nuclear Waste Fund. Legislators opted for a continuation of prior-year funding for the Yucca Mountain repository project, continuing Congress’ nuclear waste impasse. […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 12/18/2015 SHINE Medical Technologies moved one step closer this week to building its $100 million radioisotope production facility in Janesville, Wis., that is expected to satisfy more than half the U.S. demand for the medical isotope molybdenum-99. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff concluded during a hearing Tuesday that SHINE is both technically […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 12/18/2015 Environmentalists are condemning the recent transportation of unused nuclear fuel from Scotland to England, following major flooding that impacted the rail network used for the 400-mile trip. The fuel, originally intended for the Prototype Fast Reactor at Scotland’s shuttered Dounreay nuclear facility, arrived at the Sellafield site in Cumbria, England, […]

IN THE U.S. The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday released data on the growing amount of spent fuel left from operation of 118 commercial reactors from 1968 through June 2013. The latest data from the Nuclear Fuel Data Survey shows a total of 241,468 fuel assemblies, with a starting loading weight of about 70,000 […]

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 12/11/2015 Nuclear waste cleanup technology specialist Kurion on Tuesday announced its third acquisition in four years – Oxford Technologies, a robotic systems  maker based in the United Kingdom. Oxford Technologies provides expertise and technology for remote handling, complex plant assembly, and operations in irradiated areas. Its remote tools have been used […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 12/11/2015 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday granted Entergy’s request to alter the emergency preparedness plan at its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, meaning the shuttered facility will adhere to reduced safety requirements starting on April 15, 2016. The exemption reduces the requirement to only on-site emergency preparedness. State and local […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 12/11/2015 An environmentalist in North Dakota says legal action against the state is likely over recent rule changes that allow for higher radioactivity levels in oil-field waste. The rule changes, set to take effect Jan. 1, will boost annual radiation-level allowances for state landfills from 5 picocuries per gram of material […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 12/11/2015 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) last week released its feasibility study and proposed plan for cleanup of the Niagara Falls Storage Site, a 191-acre property that contains radioactive material linked to Manhattan Project operations. Though he said it could be some time before the cleanup project receives full […]

Chris Schneidmiller RW Monitor 12/11/2015 The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday ordered three businesses to develop and submit a plan for preventing surface fires at the West Lake Landfill Superfund Site in Bridgeton, Mo. The order is a response to an Oct. 24 brush fire at West Lake Landfill, which contains radioactive waste from former […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 12/11/2015 A Vermont official on Wednesday voiced concerns over the direction he perceives the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is taking in considering changes to how licensees of nuclear power plants undergoing decommissioning access dedicated trust funds set aside to pay for the work. NRC economist Mike Dusaniwskyj said Wednesday the agency is […]

IN THE INDUSTRY Amec Foster Wheeler has announced details in its survey of about 1.2 million cubic meters of historic low-level radioactive waste from multiple sites in Ontario, Canada. The company announced Tuesday it is using an ORION ScanPlotSM overland radiation survey system in collecting radiological data. The work is a result of a Canadian […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 12/4/2015 In deciding whether Canada will move forward with building a deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel near Lake Huron, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency said Monday that officials must decide whether Ontario Power Generation’s proposal is likely to cause “significant adverse environmental effects.” The agency’s statement follows Friday’s announcement […]

Staff report RW Monitor 12/4/2015 Southern California Edison (SCE) said this week it expects three bids in January from contractors for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s estimated $4.4 billion decommissioning general contract. SCE spokeswoman Maureen Brown said the company anticipates bids from the following groups: Bechtel and Westinghouse; Team Holtec, a newly established, wholly […]

Karl Herchenroeder RadWaste Monitor 12/4/2015 Congress should establish and oversee an independent body to manage the multibillion-dollar Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF), a Montana state official told a congressional panel on Thursday. The NWF was created to fund radioactive waste disposal activities authorized by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, a federal law that established […]