Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/14/2014 IN DOE The Department of Energy awarded Waste Control Specialists a task order this week to dispose of Class C mixed low level waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory Legacy Waste Project. The fixed-price task order calls for the disposal of 364.9 cubic yards of waste generated at […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/14/2014 The International Atomic Energy Agency backed the decommissioning plan that Japan and Tokyo Electric Power Company are using for the cleanup of the Fukushima Daiichi Power Station, according to a report issued by the IAEA to the Japanese government this week. The two-part report, led by a team of […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/14/2014 The United Kingdom’s Office of Nuclear Regulation last week granted permission to Magnox Limited to move ahead with the decommissioning of its Wylfa nuclear power station. Originally, Magnox had planned on beginning decommissioning in 2009, but an opportunity arose to transfer fuel from one reactor to another that extended […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/14/2014 The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners suggested that the Department of Energy can fix the Nuclear Waste Fund fee without the need for a rehearing en banc, according to NARUC’s response to DOE’s en banc motion filed this week. DOE is arguing that the court has placed it […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/14/2014 It appears that the chairmanship for the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety has opened up as current Chairman Tom Carper (D- Del.) seeks to fill the chair position on the EPW’s Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure left open by the confirmation of […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/14/2014 The “Nuclear Waste Administration Act” is unlikely to see any movement during this year due to the change in leadership of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, according to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) during her remarks at the at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Winter Meeting, […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/14/2014 U.S. Ecology experienced its best year ever in 2013 with record revenue and gross profits, according to U.S. Ecology President and CEO Jeff Feeler in an investor’s call held this week. In previous investor’s calls, the company had warned that record revenues may not hold up through the fourth […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/14/2014 EnergySolutions is set to purchase Studsvik’s U.S. operations in a deal worth $23 million. The sale includes Studsvik’s operations in Erwin and Memphis, Tenn., as well as its holding in Semprasafe. Additionally, EnergySolutions acquires patents related to the THOR treatment technology in China and the rights to use the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/14/2014 Exelon warned that it may shut down some of its nuclear plants if the economic environment does not improve, Exelon President and CEO Christopher Crane said during an investor’s call late last week. Exelon, which operates 10 nuclear plants in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, said the competition from […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/7/2014 IN THE NRC The Staff Related Memorandum related to the revision of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s 10 CFR Part 61 waste classification system should be issued “soon,” NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane said this week at the Platts 10th Annual Nuclear Energy Conference, held in Washington. For the SRM to […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 2/7/2014 A group of 12 lawmakers this week expressed concern about the impact on the uranium mining industry of the Department of Energy’s Excess Uranium Inventory Management Plan. “We are very concerned about the impact of DOE’s recent and planned uranium sales and transfers on the domestic industry. While we recognize […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/7/2014 Although International Isotopes has had to place its proposed uranium de-conversion largely on hold, the company remains hopeful that it will eventually secure enough contracts to move forward with the project, INIS President Steve Laflin said during a call with investors this week. The company announced in its third […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 2/7/2014 A working group between the Department of Energy and the state of Nevada met a second time last week to discuss a controversial batch of uranium-233 that DOE hopes to dispose of at the Nevada National Security Site. The group was formed after objections from the state last year regarding […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/7/2014 The owners of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station announced late last week that they would decommission the facility “expeditiously” with the spent fuel pools being moved to dry-cask storage as quickly as possible. With the two-year anniversary of the discovery of a leak that forced the premature shutdown […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/7/2014 Waste Control Specialists has received the first of three Type B casks— capable of shipping Class B and C low-level radioactive waste—and will begin entering into contracts with customers for its cask transportation services. The new casks, manufactured by Robatel, fill a glaring industry need as only four casks […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/7/2014 Texas state lawmakers are set to consider the logistics and economic impact of potentially hosting a high-level radioactive waste disposal site or interim storage facility, according to the Interim Committee Charges issued by Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus (R) late last week. The Charge asked the Committee […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/7/2014 House lawmakers are open to discussions on the possible creation of interim spent fuel storage sites, but Yucca Mountain needs to be involved in that process, House Environment and the Economy Subcommittee Chairman John Shimkus (R-Ill.) said this week at an event hosted by POLITICO. Shimkus, along with most […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/31/2014 The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit this week ordered that the petitioners in the Nuclear Waste Fund Fee case respond to the Department of Energy’s motion for a re-hearing en banc, effectively extending the time period the court has to decide if the motion should be granted. […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/31/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied requests late last week for clarification on the timeline and cost figures associated with the NRC Yucca order issued last year, citing that nothing in the court’s writ of mandamus requires detailed time and budgetary outlines. Nye County, Nev., the States of South Carolina […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 1/31/2014 USEC and the Department of Energy this week launched a nearly three-month extension of a cost-share program supporting USEC’s American Centrifuge technology during which additional tests will be performed. The extension, running from Jan. 29 until April 15, will use about $5.9 million of USEC funds and $23.05 million in […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/31/2014 State legislators from Missouri are considering a resolution that would call on the Army Corps of Engineer’s Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) to take over control of the West Lake Landfill site remediation project, located in Bridgeton, Mo., just outside of St. Louis. The resolution stems from […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/31/2014 The markup of the “Nuclear Waste Administration Act” currently under consideration in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has been delayed once again after the sponsors of the bill sent the proposed legislation to the Congressional Budget Office for additional scoring. Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) had expressed […]

Republicans Press on Yucca Allocations; Saunders Wants More State Involvement in Decommissioning Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/31/2014 Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) chastised the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for failing to produce documents and for allegedly taking actions to circumvent Congressional oversight during a Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/31/2014 Kurion has acquired Vista Engineering Services, tripling the size of the company. Vista Engineering Services, based in Richland, Wash., offers a variety of engineering services including environmental remediation capabilities, and its base work at the Department of Energy’s Hanford site offers Kurion a larger influence within the DOE cleanup […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/31/2014 With Waste Control Specialists securing approval earlier this month to dispose of exempt low level waste in its RCRA landfill, many in the disposal and treatment industry have varied views on how the market will be impacted. The license approval granted from the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality has […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/16/2014 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) reiterated her desire for the expedited transfer of spent fuel to dry cask storage while chastising the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for granting safety and security regulation exemptions for reactors undergoing decommissioning during a hearing on nuclear reactor decommissioning held […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/16/2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) led a chorus of state stakeholders criticizing the lack of state and local input into the decisions behind a utility’s decommissioning plan for commercial reactors during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on nuclear reactor decommissioning held this week. Sanders, whose home state […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/16/2014 The Nuclear Waste Fund fee was reduced to zero May 16 as the Department of Energy complied with a federal court’s ruling from late last year that said the fee should be eliminated until a time when DOE either makes progress on the now-shuttered Yucca Mountain waste repository or […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/16/2014 The Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District issued a presolicitation notice this week to help begin the planning for a procurement to award a new contract, expected to be worth up to $100 million over 10 years, for environmental remediation services and ancillary construction to support the cleanup of […]