Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Matthew Marzano, President Joe Biden’s (D) third and final Democratic appointee to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was sworn in Tuesday, the agency said. The civilian regulator for nuclear power and nuclear waste announced the ceremony in a press release. Marzano was narrowly confirmed by the 118th Congress’ Democratic Senate majority. He survived an intense pressure campaign […]

Wyoming lawmakers will return to Cheyenne, Wyo., on Jan. 14 to consider, among other proposals, legislation to allow for the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel in the state. The bill, written by Wyoming Rep. Donald Burkhart (R), would not mandate an interim storage site. In October, after the previous session of the Wyoming legislature […]

A Texas senator this week introduced a bill that could lower costs for certain out-of-state users of the Lone Star’s sole disposal site for low-level radioactive waste. The bill by Texas Sen. Kevin Sparks (R-Texas 31), an oil and gas businessman representing the Midland, Texas, area, would lower to 15% from 20% a disposal surcharge levied on […]

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine seeks submissions for experts to serve on its Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board, the body said Monday. The deadline to submit a nomination is Feb. 2, according to a press release. The Board is seeking four new members with expertise in nuclear engineering and fuel cycle, nuclear waste management, […]

Officials in Fort Smith, Arkansas on Tuesday unanimously opposed construction of an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel anywhere near the city. The seven members of the board all voted in favor of a resolution that the city “opposes the establishment of a facility for the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel materials within or in […]

The United Kingdom-owned Nuclear Waste Services this week released its sustainability report, which outlines the ways the Kingdom’s nuclear cleanup company aims to minimize waste and harmful emissions from its own operations. The state-owned corporation said, among other things, that building a U.K. deep geologic repository for radioactive waste “will create transformational opportunities while challenging […]

The Senate this week passed the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, sending the annual defense policy bill, this year with a provision about radioactive waste disposal near the Great Lakes, to the White House. The Senate approved the bill 85-14. Voting no were three Republicans, 10 Democrats and one independent who caucuses with Democrats. President […]

Earnings fell at Amentum Holdings, Chantilly, Va., in fiscal 2024, although the company, which merged this summer with the government contracting and cyber wings of Jacobs, sees better days ahead with new contracts entering the pipeline The most notable of these is a long-term defense-nuclear cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington. […]

Federal and state agencies on Tuesday said they did not look for a radiation source, since recovered, that went missing in New Jersey earlier this month. Spokespersons for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration and New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection all said in emails Tuesday that they did […]

Centrus Energy Corp. said its domestic supply chain is in place to produce uranium usable in defense as well as commercial programs.  A spokesperson for Centrus told the Exchange Monitor in an email last week that Centrus’ manufacturing supply chain spans 13 states and 14 major suppliers, all of which are American companies.  “That gives […]

A partial government shutdown loomed after President-elect Donald Trump this week told congressional Republicans to oppose a three-month continuing resolution.  With about 12 hours to go until a shutdown at deadline for RadWaste Monitor, lawmakers were still scrambling to find a bill that could pass the House.  A backstop continuing resolution favored by Trump did […]

In observance of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, RadWaste Monitor will not publish on Friday, Dec. 27 or Friday, Jan. 3. Look for the next issue in your inbox on Friday, Jan. 10.

Reps. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Scott Peters (D-Calif.) last week introduced a bill that they said would “streamline” licensing requirements for nuclear fuel recycling facilities. Latta, the Republican, took the lead on the bill, announcing the filing Dec. 6 in a press release that linked to the text of what he has titled the Nuclear […]

Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) will chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the 119th session of Congress, beginning in January, the committee announced Monday. The Energy and Commerce committee authorizes and oversees civilian nuclear programs at the Department of Energy. Guthrie has represented Kentucky’s second congressional district since 2009. The western edge of the […]

An antinuclear group got a free pass to press its case against interim storage in a court it should have been locked out of, Holtec International wrote Monday in a Supreme Court brief. The company’s friend-of-the-court brief is part of a landmark case about commercial storage of spent nuclear fuel, set for arguments March 5 […]

Congress informally discouraged storage of radioactive waste near the Great Lakes in an annual defense policy bill the House approved Wednesday. The Senate had yet to vote on the bill as of deadline for RadWaste Monitor. The compromise National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2025 was negotiated behind closed doors by House and […]

The Department of Energy said Monday it added half a dozen companies to an indefinite-quantity, indefinite contract to supply low-enriched uranium for commercial nuclear power generation. The contract has a total value of $3.4 billion over 10 years. Each company will get at least a task order worth $2 million, DOE said in its solicitation for […]

A bill that would cap the amount of radioactive waste allowed Michigan awaits floor consideration this week in the state Senate after a committee vote. The state Senate’s Energy and Environment Committee last week approved an amended version of Senate Bill 1052 10-4. Michigan Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D), whose 4th Michigan Senate District is just […]

The Senate on Thursday narrowly approved President Joe Biden’s (D) nominee to fill the last open spot on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The nominee, Matthew Marzano, made it through 50-45, with five Senators not voting. He needed the support of a majority of voting Senators and got it, ensuring that for most of the second […]

EnergySolutions, Salt Lake City, will consider putting nuclear reactors under development at Terrestrial Energy, a Charlotte, N.C., on some of the Utah-based company’s sites, the companies said Wednesday. In a joint press release, the companies said they signed a memorandum of understanding “to collaborate on the siting and deployment of Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) plants […]

Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation and the Township of Ignace will host a deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel, Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization announced Thursday. The Canadian agency made the announcement on the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday only a few days after the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation gave its consent to host the repository. The […]

In a sort of paperwork anti-milestone, the Department of Energy last week asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to terminate a materials license for an unbuilt nuclear fuel handling facility once planned for Butte County, Idaho. “The decision has been made that the facility will not be constructed and therefore the License should be terminated,” reads a […]

A 2023 ban on commercial interim storage was a judicial power grab that flouted the law and ignored the authority of other courts, according to a Monday Supreme Court brief. In its final brief before oral arguments scheduled for March, Interim Storage Partners (ISP) told the Supreme Court that the U.S. Fifth Circuit engaged in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this month gave the formal go-ahead for stranded transuranic waste from the Los Alamos Laboratory to remain in commercial storage for another two years. NRC cleared Waste Control Specialists to hold on to the waste until Dec. 31, 2026, according to a letter dated Nov. 22 and posted online by the commission […]

Orano on Nov. 29 signed contracts to return radioactive waste to Japan from the company’s Orano La Hague plant in France.  The waste came from reprocessing Japanese uranium fuel, Orano wrote in a press release. The two contracts helped boost Orano’s financial outlook for 2024, the company said.   Orano separately this week said it […]

WASHINGTON — Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), chair of the energy and water appropriations subcommittee in the House, told the Exchange Monitor he does not know when a vote on the federal budget would be. “I have not been privy to that,” Fleischmann said here Wednesday in the U.S. Capitol. “But I sure wish we could’ve come up […]