Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we head off into the weekend, here are some other stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. While disconnected from grid, shelling causes further damage at Zaporizhzhia plant Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant has sustained more damage amid ongoing hostilities between the Ukrainian military and invading Russian forces, the United […]

In a meeting with state lawmakers in New Mexico last week, a Holtec International executive sought to allay fears that the company’s proposed spent fuel storage facility in Eddy County would become a permanent repository for nuclear waste. “Interim storage — and it is interim — will be measured in decades,” Ed Mayer, the project […]

In a report published this week, utility company Constellation Energy pointed to its operating nuclear fleet as a main driver of its sustainable energy goals. “​​With 24/7 generation capacity, our nuclear plants support the expansion of renewables by stabilizing the grid against the intermittent nature of wind and solar generation,” Constellation said in the report […]

The owner of California’ last operating nuclear power plant last week bid for a chunk of federal bailout cash to help the facility’s twin reactors running, a utility spokesperson said this week. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) Sep. 2 applied for a portion of the $6 billion in civilian nuclear power credits administered by the […]

Operators of financially-troubled nuclear power plants are out of time to apply for the first round of federal bailouts through the Department of Energy’s civil nuclear credits program. Tuesday was the deadline for the first $1.2 billion funding cycle under DOE’s nuclear credits program, unveiled as part of the White House’s November bipartisan infrastructure bill. […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we kick off the last week of summer, here are some other stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. IAEA director Grossi visits embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) this week visited Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant amid reports that it had again become the site […]

The U.S. Navy has said that it would like to ship the country’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to a commercial shipyard for dismantlement rather than use its own resources to do the job, according to a recent draft environmental impact statement. “The workforce of the public shipyards of the Navy has been under tremendous pressure […]

The Department of Energy this week unveiled a framework for increasing its workplace diversity as directed by the White House, the agency said in a press release. Under DOE’s new Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) strategic plan, the agency aims to “sustain an inclusive and accessible work environment by strengthening recruitment, retention and promotion, […]

As the California legislature this week passed a billion-dollar bailout to keep the state’s last operating nuclear power plant running through the next decade, opponents of the proposal are sounding the alarm about the safety and transparency of such action. Representatives from anti-nuclear groups such as Beyond Nuclear, San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace and […]

The Department of Energy expects next month to publish its key findings from a review of hundreds of public comments on its ongoing effort to site a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, an agency spokesperson said this week. DOE is “going through the formal review process” for its November request for information […]

California lawmakers this week passed an eleventh-hour bill that, if signed into law, would help keep the Golden State’s last operating nuclear power plant running into the next decade. The state Senate passed the proposed measure 31-1 late on Wednesday night, the final scheduled day of the legislative session. The bill would give the California […]

In oral arguments this week, two federal appeals judges appeared skeptical of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s power to license commercial storage of spent nuclear fuel.  Those two judges, by themselves, have the power to undo the commission’s September 2021 license of Interim Storage Partners’ (ISP) proposed spent-fuel storage site in Andrews County, Texas, which by […]

In oral arguments this week, two federal appeals judges appeared skeptical of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s power to license commercial storage of spent nuclear fuel.  Those two judges, by themselves, have the power to undo the commission’s September 2021 license of Interim Storage Partners’ (ISP) proposed spent-fuel storage site in Andrews County, Texas. The site […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before RadWaste Monitor begins its two-week hiatus, here are some other stories from across the civilian nuclear power space we were tracking this week. Indian utility orders first spent fuel casks from Holtec Holtec International last week announced that India’s only nuclear plant operator is buying spent fuel storage racks from the […]

The federal government, slow to return to normal contracting operations after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, was largely to blame for continued operating losses at Perma-Fix Environmental Services during the second quarter of 2022, CEO Mark Duff said in the company’s latest earnings call with investors. For the second quarter, Perma-Fix reported a net […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week submitted its last set of arguments against a coalition of anti-nuclear and other groups suing the agency over a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, court documents show. In its wrap-up brief, filed Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, NRC doubled […]

With less than a month left for nuclear plant operators to apply for the Department of Energy’s civil nuclear credits program, the agency is leaving open the possibility that it will need extra time to review submissions, a spokesperson said this week. Although DOE said in April that it would notify awardees around 30 days […]

The House of Representatives on Friday passed a sweeping spending package that would, if enacted, give economically-troubled nuclear power plants another financial boost in addition to the Department of Energy’s ongoing bailout program. Among the provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, which the House passed Friday evening on a 220-207 party line vote, the bill […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is one step closer to having its executive committee back at full strength, as one of the agency’s two new top regulators took her oath of office this week, a spokesperson said. Annie Caputo was sworn in as an NRC commissioner Tuesday, the agency said in a press release dated Thursday. […]

RadWaste Monitor will not be published on Aug. 19, 2022 or Aug. 26, 2022, as part of the Exchange Monitor’s annual August recess. Look for the next issue in your inbox on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022.

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Your rad waste reporter is headed off to Maryland’s eastern shore this weekend, but before that, here are some other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking from across the civilian nuclear power space this week. NRC licenses Vogtle operations, fuel loading The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week said it cleared one of the […]

The nuclear energy industry accounted for just nearly a tenth of all power grid retirements in the first half of this year, the government’s independent energy reported this week. The decline stems from one plant closure: Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, which shuttered for good May 20 and removed roughly 769 megawatts (MW) of electricity […]

Nuclear services company NuScale’s advanced reactor design should soon be certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to be built in the United States, the agency said in a press release last week. The commission directed its staff to draw up a final rule approving NuScale’s small modular reactor (SMR) design, first proposed in 2016, according […]

A bevy of safety violations at a New Jersey nuclear power plant under decommissioning have been resolved, the company dismantling the site told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in a recent letter. Since NRC on Jan. 26 slapped Holtec International with around $50,000 in fines for several security violations at Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, Holtec […]

Entergy, New Orleans, reported this week increased earnings in its nuclear power segment for the second quarter of 2022, which the utility company credited largely to the recent sale of one of its nuclear plants. According to earnings documents published Wednesday, income for Entergy Wholesale Commodities, which manages the company’s nuclear fleet, was around $87 […]

The state of Michigan is still working to find a potential buyer who will save Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, a spokesperson for the state governor said this week. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) office continues to work with “potential buyers, operators, and stakeholders to keep this vital energy source and the 600 good-paying jobs right here […]