Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/30/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted 4-1 this week against expediting the transfer of spent nuclear fuel from storage pools to dry cask storage. In a draft study issued last year, NRC staff determined that U.S. spent fuel pools were not in danger from severe earthquakes and that calls for […]

RW Monitor 5/30/2014 IN NRC The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted an exemption to Dominion’s Kewaunee Station to enable access to the site’s decommissioning trust fund, according to a notice in the Federal Register this week. The funds from the trust will go towards paying for activities related to irradiated fuel management. Kewaunee plans to begin […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/30/2014 The Bipartisan Policy Center announced this week the makeup of an advisory council for its efforts to address the nation’s high-level nuclear waste problem. Among the council’s 13 members are industry representatives, former regulatory officials and former members of Congress.  “These are well-informed people that have had experience on […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/30/2014 Southern California Edison expects to completely transfer the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s spent fuel pool inventory to dry storage by 2019, according to a draft Irradiated Fuel Management Plan the company presented at last week’s Community Engagement Panel meeting. Local stakeholders have been vocal about their desire to […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/30/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will exclude NRC-conducted force-on-force inspections from the normal security requirements and inspections for decommissioning plants. The unanimous vote from the Commission, the results of which were released this week, helps address an omission from the 10.CFR.Part 73 rule update completed by the NRC in 2009, […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/30/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency wrapped up late last week radiation screening at the Bridgeton Municipal Athletic Complex, located next to the West Landfill near St. Louis, but the results have yet to be made public. The EPA had faced mounting community pressure to test the site after a private […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/30/2014 ZionSolutions could face a civil penalty of $17,500 for security-related violations stemming from a routine agency security inspection at the Zion nuclear power station, according to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission release issued this week. Details about security-related violations are not made public, but the NRC did say the violations […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/23/2014 A group of Michigan state lawmakers introduced a set of legislation this week that aims to protect the Great Lakes region from a proposed Canadian deep geologic repository for low and intermediate radioactive waste in Kincardine, Ont. Ontario Power Generation’s planned repository has received sharp criticism from both state […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/23/2014 As part of efforts to move spent nuclear fuel at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to dry cask storage, owner Entergy plans to submit a formal request to the Vermont Public Service Board by the end of June. As part of the agreement between the state of Vermont and […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/23/2014 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District has begun planning a new procurement to award a new security contract for the Shallow Land Disposal Area, a Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program site in Armstrong County, Pa. According to a pre-solicitation notice issued late last week, the new […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/23/2014 The Tokyo Electric Power Company announced this week that it has begun the process of bypassing clean groundwater around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Water management issues and the prevention of contamination spread to clean groundwater have been problem areas for TEPCO throughout the beginning phases of the […]

RW Monitor 5/23/2014 IN CONGRESS House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) handily won this week the Republican primary for the Idaho House 2nd District, an election that had gained national attention due to a strong challenge by a Tea Party-backed candidate. “I’m grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support by the […]

IN THE INDUSTRY Uranium enrichment firm URENCO USA has appointed David Sexton as its new president and CEO, the company announced this week. Sexton will take over for Gregory OD Smith, who has been named the chairman of the URENCO UK Board and chief cultural officer for the URENCO Group starting Feb. 1. Sexton has […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/24/2014 The Texas Compact Commission rule review experienced a delay this month after a meeting with stakeholders to discuss possible changes was pushed back due to scheduling conflicts, according to Compact Chairman Bob Wilson during the Commission’s public meeting last week.  Wilson had previously said that this meeting—originally scheduled for […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/24/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Inspector General determined that the Commission’s process for addressing bankruptcy of NRC materials licensees needs improvement, according to a report released this week. The report concluded that the NRC’s initial efforts to learn of bankrupt licensees could be more effective and more efficient. “NRC’s methods […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/24/2014 The Sierra Club will continue its challenge against the Barnwell low-level waste disposal facility license renewal early next month in the South Carolina Court of Appeals. The Sierra Club initially loss its challenge in the Administrative Law Court, which upheld the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control’s […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/24/2014 The United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has concluded that reusing its separated plutonium stock as fuel for potential new reactor technology remains the preferred disposition option, according to a position paper released by the NDA this week. The position paper stressed that MOX fuel remains the preferred option for […]