Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 2/12/2016 A federal appeals court said this week’s it’s too soon to hear the state of Vermont’s challenge against federal regulators concerning use of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant’s decommissioning trust fund. In a decision filed Monday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Vermont’s petition, essentially saying the state […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 2/12/2016 Legislation that would allow the Department of Energy to spend annual interest from the $34 billion Nuclear Waste Fund on the storage of U.S. spent nuclear waste is likely a nonstarter, an inside source told RadWaste Monitor this week. According to a GOP aide, who requested anonymity, the House Energy […]

IN THE U.S. Representatives the deep borehole nuclear waste storage demonstration project in North Dakota will host an informational meeting on the controversial plan on Feb. 15 in the city of Rugby. Officials from the Department of Energy and representatives from the contract team, a partnership between Battelle and the University of North Dakota Energy […]

The Army Corps of Engineers’ is requesting $103 million for its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) in fiscal 2017. FUSRAP was initiated in 1974 to identify, investigate, and clean up or control sites contaminated from the nation’s early atomic weapons and energy programs during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The program includes 20 […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 2/9/2016 The Obama administration’s fiscal 2017 budget proposal lays out an aggressive funding plan to enact a nuclear waste management program to replace the Yucca Mountain deep geologic repository in Nevada.   The money is to be used for the department’s phased, adaptive, consent-based approach to finding permanent storage for tens […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 2/9/2016 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has requested $970.2 million in funding for fiscal 2017, which would represent a roughly 2 percent decrease from the current funding level of about $990 million. The proposed budget encompasses $757.4 million for nuclear reactor safety operations and $212.8 million for nuclear materials and waste safety, […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 2/9/2016 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has requested a budget of $6.65 billion for fiscal 2017, which compares to current funding of $6.71 billion through fiscal 2016. The budget request, released Tuesday, would cover 97.9 percent discretionary and 2.4 percent mandatory spending. The request would include funding for the Corps’ […]

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 […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 2/5/2016 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed its review of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant’s post-shutdown decommissioning activities report, concluding that plant owner Entergy’s decommissioning plan is on schedule and in compliance with NRC rules. Submitted in December 2014, Entergy’s report includes cost estimates for decommissioning and an affirmation that […]

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. […]