Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/19/2015 A Canadian environmental group has asked a federal court to squash the Joint Review Panel’s environmental assessment report on Ontario Power Generation’s proposed deep geologic repository, the group announced late last week. Save Our Saugeen Shores, the group filing the appeal, argued the Panel failed to adhere to its […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/19/2015 The Department of Energy began a public comment period late last week to gather input into the proposed shipments of commercial spent nuclear fuel to the Idaho National Laboratory for a research study. Controversy surrounding the shipments erupted earlier this year when word of a compromise between the Idaho […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/19/2015 Argonne National Laboratory this week announced that it has successfully validation a key component of SHINE Medical’s molybdenum-99 production process. Argonne successfully demonstrated the production, separation and purification of Mo-99 from SHINE’s liquid target, known as Mini-SHINE, which will be used in the company’s production process, further validating SHINE’s […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/12/2015 Perma-Fix Medical doubled the scale-up of its process to produce Technetium-99m only a week after announcing it had reached an initial milestone in its design, the company announced this week. Earlier this year, Perma-Fix said that it needed to reconfigure its production process after realizing the market demand for […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/12/2015 As the Nuclear Regulatory Commission makes plans to reorganize the agency under the direction of Project Aim 2020, industry officials and NRC Staff predicted this week that the effort could end up growing divisions within the NRC dealing with waste issues. The Commission directed staff this week to begin […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/12/2015 Nevada should not waste the opportunity to participate in a conversation on safeguards and other potential benefits relating to Yucca Mountain, Nye County Nevada Commissioner Dan Schinhofen wrote to Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) late last week. Sandoval recently sent a letter to House lawmakers saying the state is […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/12/2015 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s request to exempt the decommissioning facility from some emergency preparedness requirements, the NRC announced late last week. Southern California Edison, the plant operator, argued in its request that a decommissioning facility does not pose as much as […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/12/2015 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied again this week an appeal of its Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel Rule as it relates to the licensing/re-licensing reviews of nuclear power reactors. The appeal, filed by a collection of environmental groups, sought to halt licensing/re-licensing reviews of a series of nuclear […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/12/2015 The Sacramento Municipal Utility District filed this week in a federal court a third round of litigation against the Department of Energy for its failure to manage its spent nuclear fuel from the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant. The litigation is the latest in a long line of lawsuits […]

RW Monitor 6/12/2015 IN THE INDUSTRY AREVA TN announced this week the successful delivery of eight NUHOMS  61BTH dry shielded canisters for used nuclear fuel storage to the Limerick Generating Station in Pennsylvania.  According to the company, the canisters can safely store 61 used fuel assemblies, and they are specifically designed to handle high heat […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/5/2015 The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is taking public comments on an application for a new landfill to manage oilfield solid waste, including Technologically-Enhanced, Naturally-Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM), the regulator announced this week. The proposed landfill from Clay Butte Environmental would be located five miles north of Culbertson in […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/5/2015 Kurion and AREVA announced this week a joint partnership to provide decommissioning and remediation services for the Department of Energy’s cleanup complex. The companies said that the alliance’s initial emphasis centers on cleanup and closure work at the Hanford site in Washington state, but they indicated that it could […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/5/2015 Funding for a pilot interim storage facility for spent fuel is dependent on whether Yucca Mountain funding can be worked into the final version of Fiscal Year 2016 spending legislation, House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said this week. The House has passed its version […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/5/2015 The Department of Energy this week issued seven Basic Ordering Agreements for the treatment of Low-Level Waste and Mixed Low-Level Waste. Included among the seven BOAs are: Babcock Services, Environmental Dimensions, EnergySolutions, Omega Consultants, Perma-Fix Environmental Services, UniTech Services Group, and Waste Control Specialists. Each BOA covers a five […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/5/2015 Perma-Fix Environmental Services announced this week the new leadership team for its medical isotopes subsidiary, including new Perma-Fix Medical S.A. CEO Steve Belcher and Executive Vice President John Climaco. Perma-Fix had been looking for more medical isotopes experience in its leadership team to lead the subsidiary. “We are extremely […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 6/5/2015 Former Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman’s appointment to lead Centrus Energy should not impact funding support from Congress for the American Centrifuge technology, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) said late this week.  Poneman, who left DOE last fall, was appointed as CEO of Centrus Energy in March in a move that […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/5/2015 The Canadian government this week extended into December the federal review process for Ontario Power Generation’s deep geologic repository proposal to allow for an additional public comment period. Canada’s Minister of the Environment originally had 120 days to make a decision on the proposal following the submittal last month […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/5/2015 Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) initiated the final phase of the Maxey Flats Disposal Site cleanup project this week in a symbolic ceremony meant to kick off the construction of a $35.2 million permanent protective cap over the site. Maxey Flats previously served as a disposal site for the […]

RW Monitor 6/5/2015 IN THE INDUSTRY Swedish energy company Vattenfall has partnered with German-based E.ON to decommission and dismantle their joint nuclear power plants, the two companies announced late last week. Following the Fukushima disaster in Japan, Germany moved to shut down all of its nuclear plants in an effort to avoid any future accidents. […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/29/2015 Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy Peter Lyons will step down from his position at the end of June, according to an internal memo from Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz this week. Lyons has served in his current role since 2011 and contributed widely […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/29/2015 Six months after Entergy shut down operations at the Vermont Yankee Power Station, the utility continues to make preparations to enter the SAFESTOR state, Vermont Yankee spokesman Marty Cohn said this week. Vermont and Entergy came to an agreement at the end of 2013 that stipulated the utility will […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/29/2015 Perma-Fix Environmental Services is looking into ways to leverage its medical isotope resin technology in its core business of radioactive waste treatment, Perma-Fix Chief Financial Officer Ben Naccarato said this week during a presentation at the Marcum Microcap Conference. The company originally developed the technology for technetium-99m production, but […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/29/2015 Australia will dedicate $22.3 million over the next four years to expand and refurbish two existing waste storage facilities, according to the country’s 2015/2106 budget allocation issued earlier this month. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO), the Australian government-body responsible for overseeing the country’s nuclear sites, will […]

Majority of Water Treated for Strontium Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/29/2015 The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) announced this week that almost all stored water at that Fukushima Daiichi cleanup site that was contaminated with radioactivity has been treated to remove strontium. Only three percent of water in storage still requires treatment for strontium, […]

RW Monitor 5/29/2015 IN NWTRB The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board plans to meet June 24 in Golden, Colo. to discuss the Department of Energy’s activities related to transporting spent nuclear fuel, the Board announced late last week. The main focus of the meeting will center on DOE’s efforts to prepare for the transportation of […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/29/2015 Studsvik AB has acquired patents and other intellectual property and equipment for a freezing technology that can be used in remediation projects, the company announced this week. The technology comes from FriGeo AB, a partner that Studsvik has been working with to apply the technology across radioactive waste platforms. […]