Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/31/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has received a petition for rulemaking from the Nuclear Energy Institute concerning the physical protection of Category 1 and Category 2 Quantities of Radioactive Material, according to a notice in the Federal Register this week. NEI said the rulemaking is needed to “remove unnecessary and […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 10/31/2014 Honeywell is still determining how much uranium hexafluoride leaked after an Oct. 26 equipment failure at its Metropolis Works uranium conversion facility in Illinois. The leak began at about 7:35 p.m. and was active for less than an hour. The cause of the release was traced to an equipment failure […]

RW Monitor 10/31/2014 IN NRC The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced this week that it has officially enacted the exemptions for emergency preparedness at the Kewaunee Power Station. The Commission had approved the exemptions back in August after Staff had recommended the changes would not have a significant impact on public safety. Dominion will still need […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/24/2014 The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy is recommending separate repository disposal pathways for DOE-managed high-level waste (HLW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from commercial HLW and SNF, according to its report on co-mingling, released this week. The report “considers whether DOE-managed HLW and SNF should be disposed […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/24/2014 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Allison Macfarlane will step down from her position at the end of this year for a position at George Washington University starting Jan. 1, the NRC announced this week. Macfarlane, who took over the chairmanship in 2012, followed a tumultuous period at the Commission under […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/24/2014 The Vermont Yankee decommissioning project will cost an estimated $1.24 billion, up from previous estimates of approximately $1 billion, according to Entergy’s latest site assessment study released late last week. Entergy completed the study as a way to consolidate and begin discussions with the state of Vermont over the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/24/2014 With the release of Volume Three of the NRC’s Yucca Mountain Safety Evaluation Report last week, the state of Nevada is pushing back against assertions that the report shows the suitability of the site for a repository. Volume Three, which found that repository design adequately addresses Nuclear Regulatory Commission […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/24/2014 While litigation looms around the corner, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s final ruling on the Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, formerly known as Waste Confidence, went into effect this week, 30 days after it was published in the Federal Register. The rule going into effect allows the Commission to […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/24/2014 The Army Corp of Engineer’s St. Louis District issued a sources sought notice this week seeking contractors for remediation efforts at its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program sites, according to a posting on FedBizOpps. The notice is meant to identify small businesses capable of handling the radioactive waste […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/24/2014 Duke Energy Progress and Duke Energy Florida, both subsidiaries of Duke Energy, last week filed the “third round” of litigation against the Department of Energy in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims over DOE’s failure to remove spent nuclear fuel from the utility’s nuclear stations. Previously, Duke successfully sued […]

RW Monitor 10/24/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY AREVA CEO Luc Oursel announced he will step down from his position citing health reasons, the company said this week. Oursel will pursue treatment for an undisclosed illness, but he told the French government he would remain available to help the transition to a new CEO. “Under these very […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/17/2014 The Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Solid Waste Management Program is requiring the Bridgeton Landfill to develop corrective action plans to prevent the spread of a smoldering fire toward the ‘neck’ area separating it from the radioactively-contaminated West Lake Landfill, according to a letter sent to the landfill, released […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/17/2014 The Yucca Mountain repository design adequately addresses Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulatory requirements, according to Volume Three of the NRC’s Yucca Mountain Safety Evaluation Report, released this week. Volume Three, which is a review of repository safety after closure, has been the focus of pro-Yucca lawmakers since the project was […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/17/2014 An EnergySolutions worker died this week after suffering a fall of approximately 25 feet at the company’s Erwin, Tenn., facility. The worker was identified as Gary Reedy, 51.  EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker said Reedy had been employed at the facility for “a couple of years.” Walker also emphasized that […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/17/2014 Perma-Fix Environmental Services and Philotechnics, Ltd. reached a settlement late last week in a lawsuit over the handling of leftover waste containers. Terms of the settlement are not known, and Perma-Fix declined to comment this week beyond confirming that a settlement has occurred. Philotechnics could not be reached for […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/17/2014 Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) last week called on the Army Corps of Engineers to publicly release the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that would allow the remediation of the Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA) site in Armstrong County, Pa. to continue. The MOU is needed to clarify the roles of […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/17/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is set to hold the public meeting for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s decommissioning plan Oct. 27. The NRC will meet with the public from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Carlsbad, Calif. to discuss and answer questions on Southern California Edison’s Post-Shutdown Decommissioning […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/17/2014 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, through operator Battelle Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwest Division, issued a sources sought notice this week for the transportation, treatment, final packaging, and disposal of low-level radioactive waste and mixed waste, according to a FedBizOpps posting. The contractor will have the responsibility of treating and transporting […]

RW Monitor 10/17/2014 IN NRC Jeff Baran has taken his place as the 34th Commissioner on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, after being sworn in this week. Baran was confirmed by the Senate last month to fill the position left by former-NRC Commissioner William Magwood, who left the Commission to serve as Director General of the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/10/2014 As the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission moves forward with its rule update, competitor EnergySolutions is raising questions about the legitimacy of Waste Control Specialists’ ability to accept exempt waste in its RCRA hazardous waste landfill. The Compact is currently undergoing a general rules update with a focus […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/10/2014 Even if the Senate flips to Republican control this coming November, don’t expect any rapid movement on the revitalization of the now-shuttered Yucca Mountain high-level waste repository project, industry officials said this week. As polls indicate right now— Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight website gives the Republicans a 58 percent chance […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/10/2014 SHINE Medical Technologies has entered into a $125 million term sheet with Deerfield Management Company to provide debt and equity financing for its production of molybdenum-99, the company announced this week. SHINE is one of several companies trying to get through the regulatory hurdles to begin the production of […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/10/2014 A New York state senator announced late last week plans to introduce a legislative package aimed at banning the disposal of Naturally-Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) resulting from the fracking process in the state’s landfills. State Senator Ted O’Brien (D), who serves as the Ranking Member on the state Senate’s […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/10/2014 This week marked the start of operation for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s reincorporated Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. With the NRC’s changing workload, the NRC staff launched a working group last year to review the organizational structure of the materials and waste management programs, and determined that […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 10/10/2014 The Mitsubishi Research Institute, the Japanese organization responsible for the awarding of contracts for the conceptual study and feasibility study for fuel debris removal the Fukushima Daii-chi Power Station, announced late last week it had awarded subsidies to 11 organizations under three subject areas to better study cleanup techniques. […]

RW Monitor 10/10/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY International Isotopes has entered into an agreement with the Department of Energy to use its Advanced Test Reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory for the irradiation of cobalt targets for the production of cobalt-60, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week. The agreement […]