Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

During a congressional visit to Japan this week, one of the House’s most politically-progressive members took to social media to talk about the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle — in particular, recycling spent nuclear fuel. “When we discuss the risk and controversial parts of nuclear, a lot of it centers on nuclear waste […]

Although its 2022 losses were less severe than a year ago, Constellation Energy, Baltimore, was still in the red thanks to higher operating costs and lower revenues, the utility said in earnings reports published last week. Net losses for Constellation, the company that spun off from Exelon’s generation business in February 2022 and which manages […]

The company in charge of decommissioning a shuttered New York nuclear power plant has finished packing spent fuel from one of the facility’s three reactors into storage canisters, a senior official said last week. Holtec International wrapped up fuel loading operations at Indian Point Energy Center’s Unit 2 reactor Feb. 1, site vice president Rich […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission can allow California’s last nuclear power reactor to operate with an expired license, the plant’s owner wrote in a recent regulatory filing  Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) was rebuffing claims by a coalition of anti-nuclear groups who told the NRC the utility was asking the government to break the law in […]

Two Illinois nuclear power plants — one of which recently avoided a premature shutdown — are getting a multi-million cash injection thanks to a federal nuclear production tax credit, owner Constellation Energy announced this week. The roughly $800 million infusion, which Constellation unveiled in a Tuesday press release, will be used to increase the generation […]

Happy Friday, nuke watchers! Your RadWaste reporter is Phoenix-bound for the annual Waste Management Symposium, and will have the new season of Netflix’s Formula One documentary prepped for the flight. Before that, though, here are a few more stories from around the civilian nuclear-power space we were tracking this week. A train derailment in Ohio […]

In yet another setback for opponents of two proposed private interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel, a second federal court has dismissed the state of New Mexico’s lawsuit over the projects, court filings show. In a ruling published Feb. 10, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that state Attorney General Hector Balderas’s suit […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Your RadWaste Monitor reporter is still reeling from the Eagles’ tragic loss last Sunday — but at least we got Rihanna. Before we head off into Presidents’ Day weekend, here are some other stories we were tracking from across the civilian nuclear power space this week. Regulatory standards used to develop the […]

In a new rulemaking action this week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it had is considering an extension on design certifications for a spent fuel storage cask design used at nuclear power plants, according to a Federal Register Notice. The 40-year Certificate of Compliance (CoC) renewal amends Holtec International’s cask design certification to include […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a plan to dispose of radioactive waste from the site of a 1979 mine spill in New Mexico, the agency announced this week. NRC Wednesday greenlit a license amendment for the shuttered United Nuclear Corporation Church Rock site, allowing a General Electric-led cleanup crew to transfer nearly a million tons […]

Two anti-nuclear groups said this week that they would try to use a federal public records law to get the original version of Holtec International’s heavily-redacted plan to restart a shuttered Michigan nuclear power plant. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Tuesday by lawyers for Beyond Nuclear and […]

A bill aimed at keeping a privately-run interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel out of New Mexico cleared a legislative milestone this week after passing a floor vote in the state Senate. If signed by the governor, the proposed legislation would amend state law to ban the storage of spent nuclear fuel in New […]

Two members of Nevada’s congressional delegation this week reintroduced a bill that, if made law, would spell the final end of the proposed Yucca Mountain permanent nuclear waste repository. The Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act, unveiled in a Tuesday press release by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev), “will ensure that […]

Earnings for wholesale energy distribution at Entergy Corp., New Orleans, rose in 2022, largely due to the sale of the company’s last two unprofitable nuclear power facilities, according to earnings results published this week. Net income for Entergy Wholesale Commodities (EWC), the merchant nuclear business that Entergy exited over the summer with the two plant […]

The president of a New Mexico-based conservative nonprofit organization in a recent op-ed railed on what he called “ignorance and hysteria” among the opposition to two proposed interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel in the southwest U.S. “[S]tate and federal politicians, working with anti-nuclear agitators, have been fiercely resistant” to proposed consolidated interim storage […]

The company in charge of California’s last operating nuclear power plant is seeking new members for a stakeholders’ group focused on plant decommissioning activities. According to an application released by Diablo Canyon Power Plant operator Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), March 7 is the deadline for interested individuals living in the vicinity of the Avila […]

A recent inspection at a shuttered Massachusetts nuclear power plant revealed that multiple contract workers at the site were inadvertently exposed to radiation during decommissioning work, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a letter to the company in charge of the facility. Holtec International, which is currently decommissioning Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, failed to “perform […]

The Department of Energy is looking for someone to directly oversee the agency’s efforts to find a willing host for a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, according to a press release this week. DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy is seeking “highly qualified candidates” to become director of the agency’s Office of Integrated […]

A New Mexico state senator’s latest attempt to keep a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel out of the Land of Enchantment should soon see a floor vote, after clearing a second state senate committee this week. The measure, which proposes amending state law to ban the storage of spent nuclear fuel in […]

ROCKVILLE, MD. — A company seeking federal funds to restart a shuttered Michigan nuclear power plant is in for a heavy lift, one of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s newest members said during an exclusive interview this week. “When you have a reactor that has ceased operations, and you’ve offloaded the fuel, that’s a major milestone,” […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Although your RadWaste Monitor reporter is a Ravens fan on a good day, he’ll be cheering on the other birds at the big game this weekend. Before Super Bowl festivities get underway, though, here are some other stories we were tracking from across the civilian nuclear power space this week. The only […]

For Bradley Crowell, the phrase ‘corner office’ has taken on a double meaning in recent months. The newest commissioner at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission occupies an office near the top floor of the agency’s Rockville, Md., headquarters in a jarringly angular concrete building that tapers off into a near 45-degree angle along the front wall. […]

Texas is fighting to keep its lawsuit against commercial interim storage of spent nuclear fuel in the state from getting tossed on a technicality, as a similar suit was last week, a court filing shows. The state on Friday argued that a site proposed in Andrews County by the Interim Storage Partners (ISP) joint venture […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Your RadWaste Monitor reporter headed up to his Bethlehem, Pa., field office and only just now found out about the upcoming arctic wind chill. Before we head off into the freezing weekend, though, here are some other stories we were tracking from across the civilian nuclear power space this week. Deputy Secretary […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is waiting for more information before it assesses the potential impacts of the White House’s announcement this week that the three-year-old COVID-19 national emergency declaration would end this summer, a spokesperson said this week. In an Office of Management and Budget policy statement Monday, the Joe Biden administration announced that it […]

The company in charge of decommissioning a shuttered Massachusetts nuclear power plant affirmed this week that it would not discharge radioactive water from the facility until it gets a required federal permits modification later this year. Holtec International “will fully comply” with the terms of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station’s National current Pollutant Discharge Elimination System […]