Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Nuclear power plant operators looking to take advantage of a federal bailout scheme may have to wait a bit longer to apply for the program’s second funding round, according to a Department of Energy spokesperson. DOE expects to release “application guidance” for the second round of its civil nuclear credits program in the first quarter […]

The Department of Energy expects to begin awarding funds from its multi-million dollar interim storage funding program by midyear, an agency spokesperson said this week. Roughly $26 million is up for grabs in DOE’s interim storage funding opportunity announcement, aimed at bringing together communities and other stakeholders to hash out how the department should go […]

The congressman representing a west Texas community that could one day play host to an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel nabbed an assignment on the House’s primary nuclear-waste policy committee. Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), who represents the Lone Star State’s 11th district, was assigned Jan. 11 to the House Energy and Commerce Committee […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we head off into the last weekend in January, here are some other stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking from across the civilian nuclear power space this week. The ranking member of the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee this week pressured the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in a letter to explain […]

A federal court this week dismissed a 2021 lawsuit by a coalition of environmental and mining groups who tried to block the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s license of a proposed private storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday that the plaintiffs, led by anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear, were not, […]

By Lake Barrett Lake Barrett is a former Department of Energy official who served as both principal deputy director and acting director of the Office of Civilian Nuclear Waste Management, where he helped implement the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act. Before that, Barrett worked for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where he was onsite director of […]

The Department of Energy is once again seeking candidates to run the agency’s spent nuclear fuel disposal programs, according to a job posting listed last week. DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy is looking for a “seasoned executive” to join the agency as its Deputy Assistant Secretary for Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition, according to the […]

The Department of Energy cannot sign off on a decommissioning company’s gambit to restart a shuttered Michigan nuclear power plant, a coalition of anti-nuclear groups told the Secretary of Energy in a letter this week. Holtec International’s proposed bid on DOE’s civil nuclear credits program, aimed at securing federal funding for Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, […]

A bill aimed at preventing a private company from building a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in New Mexico without prior state approval cleared this week its first legislative hurdle in Santa Fe. The measure, sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D), was favorably reported out of the state Senate Conservation Committee […]

The Department of Energy’s ongoing funding opportunity for communities interested in hosting a federal interim storage facility got a little larger this week after the agency announced it would tack on roughly $10 million in additional funding for the program. The agency increased the total award for its interim storage funding opportunity to around $26 […]

ARLINGTON, VA. — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission needs another month to review Holtec International’s application for a proposed consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, an agency official said here this week. NRC is “in the process” of reviewing new information submitted this week by Holtec, so the agency will not be ready to […]

California’s last nuclear power plant must start its federal relicensing process anew, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week, derailing its operator’s plan to put huge chunks of bailout money to quick work via a regulatory shortcut. In 2022, Diablo Canyon Power Plant operator Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) secured more than $2 billion in […]

ARLINGTON, VA. — The two companies aiming to build privately-owned interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel should apply for financial aid under a multi-million-dollar Department of Energy program, a senior agency official said here this week at a conference. Holtec and Interim Storage Partners (ISP) are “welcome to apply to the funding opportunity announcement,” […]

ARLINGTON, VA. — Just because Republicans took control of the House does not mean that Congress has any more desire to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain than it had before the midterms, a senior Department of Energy official said here this week. Asked Tuesday after a speech at the Institute of Nuclear […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we head off into the weekend, here are some other stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking from across the civilian nuclear power space this week. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week granted regulatory approval to NuScale Power’s small modular reactor design, the agency said Thursday in a Federal Register notice. The […]

In a little less than a month, the Department of Energy will start doling out fines for the unauthorized sharing of nuclear technology and know-how overseas, the agency said last week. On Thursday, the agency published its final rule in the Federal Register for implementing those penalties. They will go into effect Feb. 13, DOE said. The […]

The Department of Energy this week announced that Michael Goff has started as the number-two official for the agency’s nuclear energy office, according to a press release. Goff, who most recently served as a senior advisor to DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), will now oversee the division’s research and development portfolio as its principal […]

California’s public utilities commission last week agreed to kick off a new rulemaking that, if finalized, would allow the Golden State’s last operating nuclear power plant to operate into the next decade, documents show. During a Thursday meeting, the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) voted unanimously to greenlight the proposed rulemaking, which would, among other […]

The U.S. should develop a series of scientific criteria that can be used to extend the operating lifetimes of nuclear power plants through the middle of the century, the Department of Energy’s lead nuclear power official said this week. “If we would like our existing fleet to make it to 2050, we should establish a […]

A recent poll conducted by New Mexico-based environmental organizations found that more than half of respondents opposed a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the Land of Enchantment, local media reported over the weekend. The December survey from the Southwest Research and Information Center and the Center for Civic Policy, viewed by […]

Citing water use violations, a Pennsylvania-based environmental group this week asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to consider another challenge to decommissioning a shuttered nuclear power plant in the Keystone State, agency documents show. In its Wednesday filing, Three Mile Island Alert (TMIA) told NRC that a 2021 license amendment request for Three Mile Island Nuclear […]

The New Mexico legislature will again try to legally prohibit Holtec International from building an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the state, according to a bill filed this week. The legislation, introduced Wednesday by state Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D), would if signed amend state law to ban disposal of spent nuclear fuel […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we head off into the long weekend, here are some other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking from across the civilian nuclear power space this week. In a press release this week, Holtec International announced a “technical breakthrough” that would allow the company to deploy its advanced reactor design at retired coal […]

The operator of California’s last nuclear power plant, which just got a new lease on life, said that the facility’s system for managing reactor coolant pressure was leaking, according to a recent letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. During an October refueling outage at Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) discovered a […]

The company in charge of decommissioning a shuttered Massachusetts nuclear power plant is pulling together the required information for a federal permit modification that would let the company discharge irradiated wastewater from the facility, a spokesperson said this week. Holtec International, which is currently dismantling Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, is “preparing the modification request” for […]

The newly-elected governor of Massachusetts last week signaled that she would stand against a proposal from Holtec International that would see irradiated wastewater from a shuttered nuclear power plant released into the Cape Cod Bay, local media reported. Speaking at a community event in South Yarmouth, Mass., Gov. Maura Healey (D) said that the Bay […]

As the company in charge of California’s last operating nuclear power plant seeks federal approval to operate the facility for an extra five years, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is weighing whether to extend the plant’s license to store spent nuclear fuel on site. NRC is considering an application from Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) that, […]