Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/21/2014 A group of scientists from the Sustainable Fuel Cycle Task Force called on Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz this week to take a more active role in the handling of the nation’s radioactive waste. The group expressed its concerns in a letter to Moniz following the release of DOE’s Fiscal […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 3/21/2014 With funding for a program supporting the American Centrifuge project set to run out in the coming weeks, USEC sent out layoff notices to 400 employees late last week, according to spokesman Paul Jacobson. The WARN Act notices for potential layoffs within 60 days went out to 400 USEC employees […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/21/2014 Valhi Inc., the parent company of Waste Control Specialists, expects WCS to begin operating profitably in 2014 after suffering an operating loss in 2013, although the company warned it would not be opposed to seeking “strategic alternatives” if cash flow does not improve, according to a Securities and Exchange […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/21/2014 The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied two separate motions this week that would have re-opened the court’s decision to reduce the Nuclear Waste Fund fee to zero. The Department of Energy filed a motion for a re-hearing in front of the three judge panel that unanimously […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/21/2014 A former Ontario Power Generation employee claims that OPG’s calculations for radionuclide inventories that would go into its proposed Deep Geological Repository, located in Kincardine, Ont., underestimate the waste’s true values. The charge comes from Frank Greening, a retired research scientist for OPG since 1978, in a letter dated […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/21/2014 Changes should be made to the current regulatory system in place for disused sources to incentivize licensees to reuse, recycle, or disposal the disused sources promptly, a Low-Level Radioactive Waste Forum working group recommended in a report presented this week at the LLW Forum in Austin, Texas. Working under […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/21/2014 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Commissioner William Magwood is leaving the NRC to serve as Director General of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency. Magwood will be taking over the position in September, but according to the NRC, he has not yet set a departure date […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 3/21/2014 While the Department of Energy this week announced that it plans to send transuranic waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory to Waste Control Specialists for temporary storage, there is a tight time frame for completing preparations for the shipments.  DOE has committed to New Mexico to completing its campaign for […]

URENCO USA Says Significant Inventory On Hand Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 3/21/2014 While the Nuclear Energy Institute is warning lawmakers of the potential impacts of sanctions under consideration on Russian low enriched uranium, URENCO USA says there is significant inventory on hand. The White House is considering including LEU among sanctions against Russia, and this […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/21/2014 Work to build a new remote-handled low-level waste disposal facility at the Idaho National Laboratory appears to be moving forward, with the lab expected to award a subcontract for design and construction sometime this fiscal year. The facility is needed to help meet the waste disposal needs of INL […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/21/2014 The Department of Energy’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request includes $30 million to support DOE’s nuclear waste management program, of which $24 million would come from the Nuclear Waste Fund, according to detailed budget documents released late last week. The Obama Administration is seeking to access the funds in […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/7/2014 IN DOE Ahsha Tribble is joining the Department of Energy as a Senior Advisor to the Office of the Secretary, DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz said in a message to employees this week. Tribble previously served on the White House National Security Council Staff, serving as the Director for Critical […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/7/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s funding next year would remain relatively flat compared to previous years under the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request, submitted to Congress this week. The Commission is seeking $1.059 billion, of which only $124.2 million would be from appropriations due to the NRC collecting licensee […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/7/2014 Members of Missouri’s Congressional delegation are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to relinquish control of the West Lake Landfill cleanup to the Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. In a letter sent late last month to to EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks, the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/7/2014 The Department of Energy will not complete a supplemental environmental impact statement that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requested to support its review of the Yucca Mountain license application, although DOE will give NRC all the information it has and has suggested the NRC complete the EIS itself. DOE had […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/7/2014 EnergySolutions this week wrapped up its acquisition of Studsvik’s commercial U.S. operations. The deal includes the purchase of Studsvik’s processing facilities in Erwin and Memphis, Tenn., the acquisition of the THOR technology for the commercial North American and Chinese markets, and Studsvik’s portion of the joint venture it had […]

DOE, B&W to Look at American Centrifuge Alternatives Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 3/7/2014 USEC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week after reaching an agreement with the majority of bondholders and investors on its financial restructuring plan. The moves comes after the company announced in December it planned to file for bankruptcy due to a […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/7/2014 The Obama Administration is seeking to access the funds in the Nuclear Waste Fund to help off-set some off the costs of implementing pilot interim waste storage facilities, according to the Department of Energy’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request submitted to Congress this week.  The request includes a proposal […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/7/2014 PHOENIX, Ariz.—Kurion President John Raymont suggested this week that his company may soon have an increased role in the response to the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. Kurion has been involved in efforts to treat contaminated water at the site since 2011, and appears set to further expand its […]

CORRECTION: In the Feb. 21, 2014 issue of RadWaste Monitor, the article “NRC Issues SRM for Part 61” included a mistake concerning the dose of radiation allowed in the intruder analysis assessment. The story said that dose limit would be set at 25 mrem/year, which was incorrect. The correct dose limit should have been reported […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/28/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY Mott MacDonald has tapped Andrew Taylor as a projects director in the company’s program and commercial management team. Taylor will work on nuclear decommissioning projects and new nuclear power station construction along with Paul Roberts, the nuclear program director.  “Andrew is a great addition to our […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/28/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering updating its rulemaking process for power reactor license renewals in anticipation of an upcoming wave of renewal applications that if approved would extend the plant life past 60 years, according to a policy issue options paper released last week by the NRC staff.  […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/28/2014 The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee announced this week that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) would take over as head of the Clean Air and Nuclear Safety subcommittee. The chairmanship opened up after Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) sought to fill the chair position on the EPW’s Subcommittee on Transportation […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/28/2014 The case seeking Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Allison Macfarlane’s recusal from all Yucca Mountain licensing review decisions was dismissed late last week by the Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit. The petitioners, made up of Nye County, Nev., the state of South Carolina, and Aiken County, S.C., […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/28/2014 A New York county legislature passed a resolution last week calling on the Army Corps of Engineer’s Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) to quicken the cleanup of the Niagara Falls Storage Site. The Niagara County Legislature has concerns over the pace of the decision-making process and preliminary […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/28/2014 Nuclear Regulatory Chairman Allison Macfarlane does not support asking for more appropriations to complete the licensing review for the Yucca Mountain high level waste repository, according to comments she supplied this week to members of the House Energy and Commerce committee. Macfarlane stated that as she understood the Court […]

Jeremy L. Dillon and Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 2/28/2014 It appears the specter of Yucca Mountain has entered the negotiations on a batch of uranium-233 the Department of Energy hopes to dispose of at the Nevada National Security Site as DOE undertakes a Congressionally-mandated examination of disposal alternatives, RW Monitor has learned. DOE received indications […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/28/2014 House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) looked beyond Yucca Mountain this week at the Energy Communities Alliance Peer Exchange Meeting and supported movement forward on interim storage. House Republicans have maintained a ‘Yucca-or-bust’ mentality, although there appears to be growing support for interim storage. […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/28/2014 As the industry and state regulators evaluate the recently issued 10 CFR Part 61 Staff Requirements Memorandum from the NRC Commissioners, the biggest concern arising from the Commissioner’s direction focuses on how the staff will divide what goes into the actual rule and what goes into the guidance document. […]