Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 7/11/2014 The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware this week approved USEC’s disclosure statement for its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, paving the way for a vote by USEC’s creditors for final approval of the plan. Votes are due by August 11, and a court hearing to confirm approval is […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 7/11/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has no plans to change its exemption process for decommissioning sites, according to a letter NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane sent to a group of Senators this week. Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) along with four other Senators from states with decommissioning sites, sent a letter in […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 7/11/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is seeking Commission approval to enable a speedier and more efficient review of Shine Medical Industries’ low-energy neutron source design for the production of molybdenum-99. Shine is one of several companies trying to get through the regulatory hurdles to begin the production of the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 7/11/2014 Exelon does not “intend” to close any of its nuclear plants, Chief Strategy Officer Bill Von Hoene said during an interview with Platts Energy Week early this week. The utility announced earlier this year that it would be undertaking a strategic assessment of its nuclear fleet to determine if […]

RW Monitor 7/11/2014 ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) had to stop the cooling of a spent fuel pool in Unit 5 at the Fukushima Daiichi power station after a seawater leak was discovered in a pipe, the company announced this week. The leak has since been repaired partially, with some work […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 7/3/2014 George Apostolakis’ tenure as a Commissioner on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission came to an end this week, and it remains to be seen who the Obama Administration will nominate as a replacement. Apostolakis, who has served on the Commission since 2010, confirmed two weeks ago that he would not […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 7/3/2014 USEC’s stock share price saw a rapid rise this week, quadrupling on the heels of notice of additional $2.5 million in funding for American Centrifuge, though the program still only has enough money for about another week. USEC’s share price stood at about $11 at the July 2 market close, […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 7/3/2014 Waste Control Specialists received its first shipment this week using its new Type-B shipping container. WCS contracted with Robatel Technologies to provide three Type B casks capable of shipping Class B and C low-level radioactive waste. The first of the three casks was delivered by Robatel in January, while […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 7/3/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission appears to have taken on the responsibility to complete the Yucca Mountain supplemental Environmental Impact Statement needed to complete the Yucca licensing review, according to a letter NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane sent to members of Congress this week. The NRC originally requested that the Department […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 7/3/2014 The baseball field near the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton, Mo. is suitable for public use, the Environmental Protection Agency concluded this week after conducting a gamma radiation screening of the site. The results of the test, conducted in early May, revealed that the Bridgeton Municipal Athletic Complex has […]

RW Monitor 7/3/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY Perma-Fix Environmental Services has settled an insurance claim for a fire that occurred at its hazardous waste facility in Valdosta, Ga. for approximately $8.5 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week. The fire, which occurred last August, badly damaged the facility and resulted […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/27/2014 While the radiological release that occurred at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant earlier this year and the ongoing shutdown of the facility has not scared away potential host communities for a pilot interim storage facility in the United States, the incident has sent ripples through the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/27/2014 The shipments of class B and C waste from the Zion decommissioning project to Waste Control Specialists are back on track after a slight delay. EnergySolutions had originally planned to ship the waste back in March using one of its type-B casks under an exemption from the Nuclear Regulatory […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/27/2014 As Waste Control Specialists continues to expand its role in the disposal industry, an editorial that appeared in the Dallas Morning News last week criticized the disposal site for “stealthily” seeking to expand the types of radioactive waste the site can accept without a proper public dialogue. Notably, the […]

Todd Jacobson RW Monitor 6/27/2014 House lawmakers are expected to take up the Energy and Water Appropriations Act after taking a break for the Independence Day recess, though the prospects for completing the bill have been thrown into turmoil with the Senate version of the bill stalled. The bill will be considered under a modified […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 6/27/2014 The Department of Energy officially asked Congressional appropriators this week to reprogram about $33 million in National Nuclear Security Administration funds to support the American Centrifuge Project through the remainder of the fiscal year.  USEC is currently continuing work on the American Centrifuge Project under an 18-month subcontract with Oak […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/27/2014 Michigan’s U.S senators sent a second letter last week to Secretary of State John Kerry urging him to engage the Canadian government to stop the construction of a proposed low-level radioactive waste deep geologic repository near the Great Lakes. The two senators, Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Carl Levin […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/27/2014 The Sacramento Municipal Utility District was awarded late last week $53.1 million by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from the United States government for the Department of Energy’s failure to manage its spent nuclear fuel. The decision is the latest in a long line of payouts […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/27/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week withdrew its direct final ruling issued in April that would have enabled the storage of high burnup spent nuclear fuel in Areva’s Standardized Advanced NUHOMS Horizontal Modular Storage System. Areva was seeking an amendment to its certificate of compliance for its storage casks, […]

Staff Reports RW Monitor 6/27/2014 A rad-waste shipment that arrived June 12 at EnergySolutions’ Bear Creek treatment facility in Oak Ridge failed to pass a survey inspection and that resulted in a Notice of Noncompliance for the shipper, Philotechnics, a waste-management firm with offices in Oak Ridge and California. The Tennessee Department of Environment and […]

RW Monitor 6/27/2014 AT FUKUSHIMA The advanced water treatment system (ALPS) at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is back on line, TEPCO announced this week. The two of the three systems suffered a malfunction and had to be shut off, but TEPCO was able to repair and upgrade all three units. On May 23, […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/20/2014 Although the radiological release that occurred at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant earlier this year and the ongoing shutdown of the facility continue to send ripples through international waste repository planning efforts, communities looking to potentially host a storage site for high-level waste remain unfazed by […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/20/2014 NRC Commissioner George Apostolakis will not be re-nominated for another term as commissioner after his current one expires at the end of the month, his office confirmed this week.  It was widely speculated that Apostolakis would not return at the end of his term, but this marks the first […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/20/2013 The proposed Senate Energy and Water Appropriations bill includes a reform to the nation’s nuclear waste policy that would enable the construction of a pilot interim storage facility, Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said during the subcommittee markup this week. This reform would […]

Mike Nartker RW Monitor 6/20/2014 After five years, Daniel Poneman is stepping down as Deputy Energy Secretary this fall. Poneman’s departure plans were announced in a message Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz sent to employees late this week. “It has been my pleasure to work with Dan in many settings over a couple of decades—from […]

The following interview with Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman, who announced this week plans to leave DOE in the fall, was conducted by ExchangeMonitor Publications Editor-in-Chief Mike Nartker. RW Monitor 6/20/2014 As the Department of Energy looks to move forward with a consent-based approach to siting new interim and permanent facilities for high-level waste, how […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/20/2014 The Department of Energy’s loss of credibility in the handling of the nation’s high-level nuclear waste was the dominate obstacle impeding  a successful waste management program identified last week during the Bipartisan Policy Center’s first regional meeting held in Boston. The BPC’s project, named “America’s Nuclear Future: Taking Action […]