Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

NextEra Energy is still considering, but not committed to, restarting Iowa’s only nuclear power plant, which shut down in 2020, the head of the company told investors Tuesday. “We are currently evaluating the recommissioning of our Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa,” John Ketchum, chief executive officer of NextEra Energy said Tuesday in prepared remarks during a […]

The Republican candidate for Nevada’s contested U.S. Senate Seat, Sam Brown, said the magic words again during a debate with incumbent Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.). “Yucca Mountain is dead.” Brown, who found himself on the wrong side of the politically charged issue earlier in his race, said in 2022 that developing Yucca could be a […]

Larry Cutlip, Centrus Energy Corp.’s senior vice president of field operations, last week said he would retire from the company in July, according to a Friday regulatory filing. Cutlip gave his notice on Oct. 16, according to a form 8-K Centrus, Bethesda, Md., filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cutlip “will retire his position at […]

The Department of Energy’s $900-million solicitation for proposals to deploy small light-water reactors includes an “opportunity” for nuclear security aid that, the agency said, could make the reactors more exportable. DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations dropped the long-expected solicitation on Thursday, offering domestic teams of power consumers, utilities, reactor designers and construction contractors a […]

Environmental groups want an appeals court to rehear a case that affirmed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority to license commercial consolidation and storage of spent nuclear fuel. The groups led by Beyond Nuclear last week filed for a rehearing en banc, or by all the members of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission could take until February to issue its final updated rule for decommissioning nuclear power plants, according to a document from the agency’s Inspector General. That would be about five months later than an estimate of August that an NRC spokesperson provided to the Monitor in February, after the final proposed rule went to […]

Internet search giant Google signed an agreement to purchase electricity from future small modular reactors made by Kairos Power, the company announced this week in a statement posted online. “The initial phase of work is intended to bring Kairos Power’s first SMR online quickly and safely by 2030, followed by additional reactor deployments through 2035. […]

Restarting the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan will create some 33,000 cubic feet of solid, low-level radioactive waste, Holtec International said in a regulatory filing published this week. That would be a very small fraction, only 3% or so, of the roughly 1 million cubic feet of low-level waste that decommissioning the plant would […]

As part of a suit filed in April against New York, Holtec International this week asked a federal judge to void a state law that prohibits a company subsidiary from discharging irradiated water from the decommissioning of a nuclear-plant into the Hudson River. The company’s motion for summary judgment against New York, which Holtec said violated […]

Robert Lewis is the new deputy executive director for operations at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Craig Erlanger is the new director of the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, the commission said Thursday.  The new appointments for the two long-time agency hands will be effective Oct. 20, NRC wrote in a Thursday press […]

The Department of Energy last week awarded six contracts for turning future stocks of government-owned, high-assay low-enriched uranium into forms suitable for use as nuclear reactor fuel. DOE made the awards a little less than a year after soliciting bids for the work. The six contracts combined are worth up to $800 million over 10 […]

As part of a review of its new responsibilities under a bill passed this year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission might create a new branch focused on exports, or it might not, the agency’s head told media Tuesday. “We may do that, but that’s a discussion that we’re still taking a look at,” Christopher Hanson, chair […]

The city of Oak Ridge, Tenn., could delay development of a long-sought airport on remediated Department of Energy land after Orano-USA selected Oak Ridge as its preferred site for a new uranium enrichment plant. The September announcement by Orano means the city could pause development of the general aviation airstrip and reconsider the proposed location, according […]

The West Virginia legislature this week approved a bill that would let Charleston regulate nuclear materials in cooperation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The final bill now awaits the signature of Gov. Jim Justice (R), who is also running for U.S. Senate and who media reported had a commanding lead in recent polls in the […]

A joint interim committee of the Wyoming legislature on Tuesday adopted a draft bill that would allow for the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel in the state. The state legislature’s joint interim Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee voted 8-5, with one excused absence, to take up what had to that point been a […]

Three companies that used to operate New England power plants were to meet Wednesday to consider a federal settlement offer in a lawsuit over spent nuclear fuel, a Friday court filing shows. The board of directors for Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company, Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company, and Yankee Atomic Electric Company will jointly consider […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not keep track of some radioactive materials used in industrial equipment, but it should, and Congress should make it, the Government Accountability Office said this week. That was one of the big takeaways from the office’s report, “Preventing a Dirty Bomb Nuclear Regulatory Commission Has Not Taken Steps to Address […]

Steven Becker, Allen Croff, Tissa Illangasekare and Kenneth Peddicord left the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board Friday as part of a major membership facelift finalized last week by President Joe Biden. A board spokesperson confirmed the four people had left in an email sent Tuesday to the Exchange Monitor. The White House on Friday said it […]

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and other senior officials from President Joe Biden’s (D) administration toured the Palisades Training Center in Covert County, Mich., this week, the Department of Energy said. The training center, operated by Holtec International, supports the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, which the Jupiter, Fla.-based company is trying to restart by September […]

Amentum, which last week absorbed Jacobs Solutions’ government service business, is eyeing business opportunities at U.S. nuclear-weapon sites and in nuclear energy, its CEO told the ExchangeMonitor this week. Prior to Friday’s merger, Amentum, spun off from Aecom in 2020, was part of three big nuclear-weapons-cleanup contractors serving the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. […]

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear oral arguments in cases arising from a lower-court’s 2023 ban of commercial interim storage of spent nuclear fuel. The high court had not scheduled arguments as of Friday.  In a lawsuit filed by Texas, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2023 voided spent-fuel […]

WASHINGTON — After passing the House and being rushed to the Senate, a three-month continuing resolution was agreed to by both chambers days before the end of fiscal year 2024. The bill, voted on Wednesday as Congress prepared to leave town until November, passed 341-82 in the House, with unanimous Democratic approval, 132 Republicans for […]

The Department of Energy should prioritize U.S. companies as it awards billions of dollars worth of uranium enrichment subsidies over the next 10 years, the CEO of Centrus Energy said during a Capitol Hill briefing this week. “There is a strong case for investing in an American supply chain,” Amir Vexler, Centrus’ chief executive, said […]

With less than a month of legislative work days remaining in the 118th Congress, lawmakers from California and Texas on Tuesday introduced a bill that would create a Nuclear Waste Administration. Sponsored by a bipartisan pair whose districts contain or border large nuclear constituencies, it was the latest show of support for an old idea […]

The Department of Energy on Oct. 2 will host a webinar for people interested in shaping a request for information about conducting a series of violent tests on a container being developed to transport spent nuclear fuel. DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy announced the webinar on Monday in a press release. On Friday, the office […]

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said it planned to vote in November on whether Matthew Marzano should join the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The vote was set for the top of a committee business meeting scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. on Nov. 13 in room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in […]