Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week joined the licensee of a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in rejecting arguments that a recent Supreme Court decision invalidated the project’s license, court filings show. The new argument from local stakeholders and environmental groups center on the so-called major questions doctrine the Supreme Court invoked […]

Members of the public interested in how the Department of Energy interpreted community input about siting a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel may not have to wait much longer, the agency’s nuclear energy chief said this week. A summary of responses to DOE’s November request for information (RFI) on its consent-based process […]

The Senate this week proposed shifting federal funding for the Department of Energy’s interim storage inquiry into the government’s nuclear fuel cycle account, as the White House requested, according to budget documents published this week. The proposed energy and water appropriations act would provide about $1.76 billion for civilian nuclear power and waste programs at […]

Members of the public interested in how the Department of Energy interpreted community input about siting a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel may not have to wait much longer, the agency’s nuclear energy chief said this week. A summary of responses to DOE’s November request for information (RFI) on its consent-based process […]

The full House this week approved a multi-billion dollar Department of Energy appropriations bill for fiscal year 2023 that would reorganize the book-keeping for the federal interim storage budget. The House version of the 2023 Energy and Water Appropriations Act, part of a package of six spending bills approved on a party-line, 220-207 vote Wednesday […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we head off into the weekend, here are some other stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. Oral arguments set in Texas interim storage suit The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals this week officially scheduled oral arguments in the state of Texas’s lawsuit over an interim storage facility for spent nuclear […]

The New Mexico chapter of a prominent environmental group voiced its opposition over the weekend to Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff’s recent recommendation that the commission license a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the state. The Sierra Club’s Rio Grande chapter joins New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) in her fight […]

National utility Entergy is considering working with Holtec International to build advanced nuclear reactors at existing generation sites, the nuclear services company announced this week. Entergy and Holtec have entered into a memorandum of agreement under which the utility will “evaluate the feasibility” of deploying small modular reactors (SMRs) at one or more existing sites […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is trying to kickstart a solution to U.S. nuclear waste storage problems, usurping Congress’ constitutional authority in the process, an anti-nuclear group argued this week in its lawsuit over commercial interim storage. Beyond Nuclear’s Wednesday comments to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals were the latest in the anti-nuclear group’s ongoing […]

A Senate committee had to delay its plan to vote this week on the White House’s picks to fill two open seats on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, according to an announcement from the panel. Although the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee was scheduled Wednesday to consider Annie Caputo and Bradley Crowell for roles as […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Your RadWaste reporter is out of town this weekend for some much-needed vacation at Anna Maria Island, Fla., but before the beach, here are some other stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. Holtec won’t transport Pilgrim wastewater offsite, CEO tells Markey After weighing its options, Holtec International has narrowed down […]

The utility company in charge of California’s last operating nuclear power plant this week suggested some flexibility on its plans to close and decommission the facility as scheduled, according to a company spokesperson. “Given the recent amendment to the Dept. of Energy’s Civil Nuclear Credit program guidance, as well as the Governor’s request that we […]

The Department of Energy is planning to continue this year a legally-mandated working group aimed at developing incentives for communities impacted by spent nuclear fuel transportation efforts, the agency told the government’s independent nuclear waste technical committee in a recent letter. DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy plans to resume operation of its Nuclear Fuels Storage […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission asked a federal appeals court this week to let its lawyers file a full response to the state of Texas’s claim that the agency’s decision to license a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the state was nullified by a recent Supreme Court decision, court documents show. If […]

An anti-nuclear group spearheading a legal challenge to a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Texas took a page out of the state attorney general’s playbook this week, citing a recent Supreme Court ruling as evidence that the government cannot license the site. Beyond Nuclear, which is suing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff this week recommended that the agency grant an operating license to an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel proposed for eastern New Mexico, according to a new report. In the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for Holtec International’s proposed interim storage project published Wednesday, NRC staff recommended “issuance of a […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we head off for the weekend, here are a couple of other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking across the civilian nuclear power space this week. WCS sponsors Paducah chamber of commerce event featuring McConnell Nuclear services company Waste Control Specialists (WCS) this week bought lunch for a Kentucky business community hosting […]

Congress needs to amend federal nuclear waste law, not only allow the government to build an interim storage facility for spent fuel, but also to allow private companies to develop spent fuel reprocessing technologies, the CEO of such a company told RadWaste Monitor this week. “Congress is in the key role right now, because the […]

United States consumption of electricity produced by nuclear power plants last year hit its lowest point in nearly a decade, the government’s independent energy auditor said last week. According to a report published Friday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA),  electricity consumption in 2021 from nuclear power decreased to around 8.12 quadrillion British Thermal […]

Two of the newest additions to Holtec International’s inventory of former nuclear power plant sites could be good candidates for a future advanced reactor facility, the company said last week. Among the viable proposals for repurposing Michigan’s Palisades and Big Rock Point plants is a plan to build SMR-160 small modular reactors (SMRs) at both […]

The Environmental Protection Agency does not share Holtec International’s position that the company’s plan to release irradiated wastewater from a shuttered Massachusetts nuclear power plant into a nearby bay meets federal regulations, the agency’s water chief told the company in a recent letter. EPA “does not agree” with Holtec’s claim that discharging wastewater from Pilgrim […]

Nevada’s congressional delegation wants to codify the consent-based siting of future nuclear waste repositories, an amendment filed for the House’s 2023 National Defense Authorization Act shows. If the House adopts Rep. Dina Titus’ (D-Nev.) amendment to the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the law would prohibit the Department of Energy from unilaterally using cash […]

A recent Supreme Court ruling nullifies the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority to issue a license for a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Texas, the state argued in court this week. The high court’s June 30 ruling in West Virginia v. EPA “demonstrates that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission lacks statutory authority” to […]

Happy Friday and happy Fourth of July, nuke-watchers. Before you fire up the grill for the weekend, here are some other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking across the civilian nuclear power space this week. Jacobs to decommission Norwegian nuclear facilities Engineering and professional services company Jacobs announced this week that it had been selected by Norway’s […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week freshened its records to reflect EnergySolutions as the new owner of a Wisconsin nuclear power plant after the company earlier this week finalized its purchase of the site, agency documents show. Kewaunee Power Station’s operating license now shows EnergySolutions as the plant’s owner, NRC told the company in a […]

Almost a month after it shut down a Michigan nuclear power plant for good, Entergy has finalized the facility’s sale to the decommissioning company that will dismantle it, according to a press release this week. Completing the sale of Palisades Nuclear Generating Station to Holtec International “​​completes Entergy’s planned exit from the nuclear merchant power […]