Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/4/2014 Rep. John Shimkus (R- Ill.) reiterated his frustrations with the Department of Energy’s decision to shutter the Yucca Mountain waste repository project and to pursue a new approach for developing interim storage sites in an exchange with Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz this week.  “Your job is to comply […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/28/2014 IN NRC The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will renew the charter for the Advisory Committee On The Medical Uses Isotopes for a period of two years, according to a notice in the Federal Register late last week. The purpose of the committee is to provide the Commission with advice dealing […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/28/2014 The Department of Energy has begun conducting market research on companies capable of treating low-level radioactive waste and mixed low-level waste, according to a Sources Sought Synopsis/Request For Information posted this week. The current set of Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contracts for waste treatment services ends next year in June, […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/28/2014 Robatel Technologies received a Certificate of Compliance from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week that enables its Type-B shipping cask design to begin transporting waste. Waste Control Specialists contracted with Robatel to provide three Type B casks capable of shipping Class B and C low-level radioactive waste. The first […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/28/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency has reached out to the Army Corps of Engineers to help in the construction of an isolation barrier at the West Lake Landfill near St. Louis, according to a letter from EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks to Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster late last […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/28/2014 Language referring to the availability of a repository "when needed" within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Waste Confidence rulemaking may change or be deleted altogether when the final ruling comes out, Andy Imboden of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards said during a Commission meeting late last […]

Addl. Details Released of FY 2015 FUSRAP Budget Request Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/28/2014 The Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) has elected to add a new site to its cleanup list. The Middlesex North Site, also known as the Middlesex Municipal Landfill, located in New Jersey, will join […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/28/2014 Perma-Fix Medical Corporation, a recently created subsidiary of Perma-Fix Environmental Services, has reportedly entered into a financial deal to conduct a reverse takeover of a Polish firm. According to reports from Reuters this week, CEE Opportunity Partners Poland SA has reached an agreement to purchase 100 percent of Perma-Fix […]

NUCLEAR SHUTDOWNS DOMINATES ENERGY APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/28/2014 The Congressional appropriations process may go faster this year than in previous years, according to House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho).  The Appropriations Committee is making an effort to hasten the pace of its effort to try and […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/28/2014 House Environment and the Economy Subcommittee Chairman John Shimkus (R-Ill.) may bring in the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as well as contractors, to get answers on potential project deadlines and estimated costs figures for Yucca Mountain, according to a statement issued this week. Shimkus has […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/21/2014 IN THE NRC The Department of the Navy has submitted a request for an alternate decommissioning schedule to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its Space and Naval Warfare Centers Pacific (SPAWARS) site, located in San Diego, Calif., according to a posting in the Federal Register this week. If the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 3/21/2014 A lawsuit between Perma-Fix Environmental Services and Philotechnics, Ltd. concerning the handling of leftover waste containers appears to be heading towards a settlement agreement, according to a scheduling order issued earlier this month by U.S. Magistrate Judge C. Clifford Shirley. The lawsuit originates from an alleged breach of contract […]

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 […]