Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/2/2014 Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster this week called on the Environmental Protection Agency to expand its efforts in testing for radiological contamination outside the fence-line of the West Lake Landfill near St. Louis. The EPA has maintained that no contamination has spread beyond the landfill and that the site […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/24/2014 IN DOE The Department of Energy saved $412 million in cost avoidance by shuttering the Yucca Mountain geologic nuclear waste repository in 2010, according to a DOE Inspector General’s audit report released last week. The report examined the Department’s management of unneeded real estate. DOE calculated the cost avoidance […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/25/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledged this week that it has received a petition to consolidate all regulations that relate to the environmental impacts of spent fuel storage and disposal. The petitioners include a group of 34 activist organizations that also grouped together to petition the NRC to consider the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/26/2014 The Department of Energy has begun conducting market research in preparation for two planned procurements for the lease and loading of casks with spent nuclear fuel, as well as the transportation of the fuel from non-commercial research reactors to the Idaho National Laboratory, according to a pair of Sources […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/25/2014 Studsvik decreased the company’s risk exposure with the sale of its U.S. operations, according to the company’s first quarter interim report posted this week. Studsvik sold its processing facilities in Erwin and Memphis, Tenn.,  acquisition of the THOR technology for the commercial North American and Chinese markets, and Studsvik’s […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/25/2014 The Drigg low-level waste repository in the United Kingdom is pushing back against media reports this week that the site is at risk of coastal erosion over the long-term. The London Guardian newspaper obtained internal documents from the U.K.’s Environmental Agency that said that anticipated rising sea levels in […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/25/2014 The Army Corps of Engineers will assist in the construction of the isolation barrier at the West Lake Landfill, near St. Louis, according to an agreement announced by the Environmental Protection Agency late last week. The Corps will provide technical assistance, design review, pre-construction and construction observation, and community […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/25/2014 The agreement between EnergySolutions and Waste Control Specialists to ship Class B and C low-level radioactive waste from the Zion decommissioning appears to remain intact, but it is unclear when, or if, shipments are likely to occur, according to EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker. Previously, the agreement appeared to have […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/25/2014 Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) this week called on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, and the Army Corps of Engineers to finalize a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that would allow the remediation of the Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA) site in Armstrong County, Pa. to continue.  Casey […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/25/2014 Kurion’s robotic remote systems division will ship an inspection system to Japan next week that will help in the inspection of Reactor 2 at the Fukushima-Daiichi cleanup site to identify any leaks within the primary containment vessel. The system will be delivered to the IHI Corporation, a Japanese company […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/18/2014 Japan’s International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning (IRID), along with the Mitsubishi Research Institute (MRI), is set to host a workshop on April 25 in Tokyo that will discuss the results of the Request For Information that IRID issued last year on innovative approaches to fuel debris removal at […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/18/2014 A Texas state court of appeals judge earlier this month denied a challenge by the Sierra Club against the byproduct disposal permit issued to Waste Control Specialists by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The case centered on TCEQ’s denial to hold a contested-case hearing during the permitting process, […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/18/2014 Westinghouse Electric Company and Canadian Nuclear Partners, a subsidiary of Ontario Power Generation, announced an agreement this week that enables the two companies to work more closely together on global nuclear projects. The agreement includes potential joint projects in refurbishment, maintenance and outage services, decommissioning and remediation of existing […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/18/2014 Waste Control Specialists has begun to reach out to the local community in Andrews, Texas, to help determine if there is local interest in potentially hosting an interim storage facility for high-level nuclear waste. With state officials having expressed an interest in potentially hosting such a site, WCS met […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 4/18/2014 While a Department of Energy program supporting USEC’s American Centrifuge technology had been set to expire this week, some savings have allowed USEC and DOE to undertake a “no-cost” extension of the program until the end of the month. The extension will allow details to be worked out for current […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/18/2014 An individual with property adjacent to the West Lake Landfill near St. Louis has filed a class action lawsuit against the parties associated with contamination at the site, including site operator Bridgeton Landfill, LLC and its parent company Republic Services. John James is alleging that his property has suffered […]

Company Reports Net Loss of $36M for Q4 2013, But Optimistic About This Year Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/18/2014 Perma-Fix Environmental Services this week reported down financial results for the fourth quarter of 2013, and warned in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its future could be at risk. However, company […]

In the April 4, 2014 issue of RadWaste Monitor, the “Wrap Up” section included a mistake concerning the amount awarded in an Army Corps of Engineers contract for the decommissioning of the MH-1A nuclear reactor currently installed on the STURGIS barge. The story said the contract was worth approximately $37.7 million. The correct amount for […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/11/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY Perma-Fix Environmental Services announced this week that it has received a contract from Kemron Environmental Services to help in the cleanup of the Safety Light Superfund Site, located in South Centre Township, Pa. The contract, valued at more than $500,000, calls for Perma-Fix “to provide radiation […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 04/11/14 The URENCO USA uranium enrichment plant in New Mexico wrapped up Phase II activities this week when it introduced uranium hexafluoride gas into the plant’s last cascade. With the second phase completed, the facility’s enrichment capacity now stands at 3.7 million separative work units. “This represents a significant accomplishment for […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/11/2014 A group of Mississippi state lawmakers proposed a resolution last week that would voice the state’s opposition to potentially hosting a high-level radioactive waste site. The proposed resolution, introduced by four Republican Representatives from southern Mississippi, followed a separate attempt by the state’s Public Service Commission to pass a […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/11/2013 If the radioactive waste at the West Lake Landfill near St. Louis were to come in contact with a smoldering fire nearby, it is unclear if an explosive event could occur, but there is a potential risk to public health, according to a review by the Environmental Protection Agency […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/11/2014 The Navajo Nation last week received approximately $1 billion in a settlement that will aid in the cleanup of 50 abandoned uranium mine sites across the tribe’s land. The money comes in conjunction with a larger settlement from the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, the parent company of Kerr-McGee Corporation, which […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/11/2014 The issue of Compatibility ‘B’ distinction between the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s regulations and Agreement State regulations dominated the discussion during a Commission meeting held this week to discuss on-going efforts from the Organization of Agreement States (OAS) and the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD). Compatibility categories refer […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 4/11/2014 While a Department of Energy program supporting the American Centrifuge Project is set to come to an end next week, DOE is deciding how to reprogram National Nuclear Security Administration funds to keep the project alive. Last week, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said the Oak Ridge National Laboratory will […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/11/2014 Several potential candidates have begun to emerge for a spot set to open on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission later this year. Current Commissioner William Magwood has been named to take over as Director General of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency in September. Among […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/11/2014 US Ecology, Inc. this week announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire EQ – The Environmental Quality Company, an environmental services and waste management company based in Wayne, Mich., with facilities throughout the Eastern United States. EQ is owned by an affiliate of New York-based private […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/11/2014 A group of nine House lawmakers from five states with permanently shut down reactors are calling for funding to be provided in Fiscal Year 2015 so the Department of Energy can move forward with its plans for developing a consent-based siting approach for nuclear waste storage facilities. In a […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/11/2014 Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) accused the Department of Energy this week of attempting to drain the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Nuclear Waste Fund appropriations so it cannot complete the Yucca Mountain Safety Evaluation Reports. During a House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing, Johnson noted DOE’s  change of heart towards […]