Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

A recent D.C. appeals court decision shows that the state of Texas had no right to sue the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, the commission said this week. NRC, which is facing a lawsuit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals […]

A Massachusetts state senator who attempted to use a recently-passed economic development bill to block proposed wastewater discharges from a nuclear power plant under decommissioning said this week that she could try to override the governor’s veto of her provision. State Sen. Susan Moran (D) told RadWaste Monitor in a statement Wednesday that she was […]

As final votes were tabulated across the country following last week’s midterm elections, Nevada’s incumbent senior senator, a staunch opponent of a national nuclear waste repository there, managed to hold onto her seat, state election stewards reported this week. Although she trailed former state attorney general Adam Laxalt (R) heading into the weekend, Catherine Cortez […]

Nuclear waste management should not go overlooked as the U.S. weighs expanding its carbon-free energy market with more nuclear power, one of the newest members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said during an industry conference this week. “Progress on nuclear waste management must keep pace with our renewed efforts to bring more carbon free nuclear […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. For you Formula One fans out there, today is the first session of the Brazilian Grand Prix, one of your rad waste reporter’s favorites of the season. Before we tuck into the weekend, though, here are some other stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking from across the civilian nuclear power space. A […]

Daniel Ogg will lead the federal government’s independent board of technical experts on nuclear waste, the board announced this week. Ogg had been the acting executive director of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) since the organization’s former head, Nigel Mote, retired in September 2021. Ogg assumed the role full time on Sunday, the […]

The operator of more than a dozen U.S. nuclear power plants aims to extend the life of its fleet by up to two decades using federal tax incentives approved this year, its CEO said this week. Nuclear production tax credits made law under the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law in August, have had a […]

The legislative process could prove an obstacle to the Department of Energy’s goal to get a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel up and running within a decade or so, an agency official said during a recent webinar. DOE’s prediction that its proposed interim storage site could be open in 10-15 years is, […]

The governor of Massachusetts this week signed into law a proposal that could throw a wrench in a decommissioning company’s plans to discharge irradiated wastewater from a nuclear power plant it is currently dismantling in the Bay State. A sweeping economic development package greenlit by Boston lawmakers last week and signed Thursday by Gov. Charlie […]

Three days after Americans went to the polls for the midterm election, it remains unclear whether two staunch opponents of a Nevada geologic repository will remain in power in the Silver State, according to election data. As of Friday, incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) trailed her Republican opponent, former state attorney general Adam Laxalt, […]

WASHINGTON — Lawyers representing a coalition of anti-nuclear groups’ seeking to block a proposed commercial interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel faced sharp questioning from a three-judge federal appeals court panel here Thursday.  Thursday’s oral argument session in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals provided an opportunity for the interim storage critics, which include […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. With Halloween behind us and the holiday season spooling up, here are some other stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking from across the civilian nuclear power space this week. The California congressman at the forefront of nuclear waste policy on Capitol Hill introduced legislation this week that would require the Nuclear Regulatory […]

The shrinking U.S. nuclear fleet was factored into the decreased number of violations found during security inspections last year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week in a report to Congress. Of 176 inspections conducted at nuclear plants during the 2021 calendar year, NRC identified 66 security violations of mostly low severity, the agency said […]

Entergy Corp., New Orleans, reported this week losses in its nuclear power segment during the third quarter of 2022, which it attributed in part to the recent closure of a Michigan nuclear power plant, according to a press release. According to an earnings press release published Wednesday, losses at Entergy Wholesale Commodities (EWC), which manages […]

A senior official at Entergy Corp. said this week that the energy company believes a sweeping federal legislation package passed over the summer that includes tax incentives for nuclear power plants could bring value to its stakeholders. Entergy is “optimistic” about the potential benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law in August by […]

An Illinois nuclear power plant that just last year had been slated for closure could be getting a new lease on life, the facility’s operator said this week. Constellation Energy, which owns Dresden Nuclear Generating Station, has applied with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 20-year license extension for the Morris, Ill., plant, the company […]

Members of Massachusetts’ congressional delegation this week pushed Holtec International to respond to charges that a federal permit bars the company from discharging irradiated wastewater from a nuclear power plant under decommissioning in the commonwealth. In a Wednesday press release, Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), alongside Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.), said they […]

The parties in New Mexico’s ongoing lawsuit over two proposed interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel will no longer have to present their cases next month, a federal court ruled last week. Although oral arguments in New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas’s lawsuit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had been scheduled for Nov. 15, […]

The utility in charge of California’s last operating nuclear power plant has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to pick up where it left off on a decade-old request to extend the facility’s license, according to agency filings. If approved, Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) Monday request would see NRC revisit the utility’s 2009 license extension […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has again delayed its final licensing decision for a commercially-operated interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel proposed for southeast New Mexico, the agency said in a webinar this week. Although NRC said in May that it would decide whether to approve Holtec International’s application for its proposed interim storage site […]

Happy Friday, and happy early Halloween, nuke-watchers. Before we head off into the weekend (and before your rad waste reporter dives into the latest Call of Duty installment), here are some other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking from across the civilian nuclear power space this week. The Department of Energy’s nuclear power chief joined the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission told a Nevada congresswoman in a recent letter that it was still considering a motion from the Silver State aimed at killing the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. NRC has Nevada’s Sep. 20 request to reopen the agency’s licensing proceedings for the Yucca Mountain site “under advisement in its adjudicatory […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission wants Holtec International to explain why the company has proposed giving itself the power to manage investments from a shuttered New York nuclear plant’s decommissioning trust fund — something the agency said is illegal. In a request for additional information document sent to Holtec Oct. 21, NRC took issue with a […]

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals this week allowed consumer advocacy group Public Citizen to pull out of a joint lawsuit challenging a proposed commercial interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in west Texas, court filings show. Public Citizen, which until Monday was part of a coalition of anti-nuclear groups suing the Nuclear Regulatory […]

A California congressman last week unveiled legislation that, if made law, would establish a dedicated public engagement office within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Rep. Mike Levin’s (D-Calif.) proposed bill, introduced Oct. 21, would establish an “Office of Public Engagement and Participation” within NRC that would, among other things, “support public participation” in agency proceedings and […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not take disciplinary action against the operator of a California nuclear power plant despite finding that it ran afoul of federal regulations governing the storage of radioactive materials, the agency said in a letter this week. Although NRC’s Sep. 30 inspection of Diablo Canyon Power plant revealed that operator Pacific […]

Holtec International is still waiting on more information regarding a federal bailout crucial to efforts to restart a recently-shuttered nuclear power plant in Michigan, a spokesperson said this week. Holtec, which in September applied for financial assistance from the Department of Energy as part of its civil nuclear credits program, expects to hear from DOE […]