Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Keeping California’s last operating nuclear power plant running past its planned shutdown date would be a tall order for the utility company in charge of the facility, its CEO told investors during a conference call last week. Amid pressure from the nuclear industry, activists and state Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) […]

The full Senate this week confirmed the White House’s nominees to fill out the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, bringing the nuclear safety regulator’s executive committee to five members for the first time in over a year. Annie Caputo and Bradley Crowell, who the upper chamber approved to become NRC commissioners on a voice vote Tuesday night, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the state of Texas traded blows this week about whether a recent Supreme Court decision moves the needle in the Lone Star State’s ongoing lawsuit against a proposed, privately owned interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, court documents show. Wednesday’s filings with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals are […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before the weekend starts, here are a couple of other stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. Testing reveals non-nuclear pollutants in Pilgrim wastewater A state test on spent fuel pool wastewater planned for release from a Massachusetts nuclear power plant under decommissioning revealed non-nuclear pollutants, local media reported this week. […]

The Department of Energy has formalized its plans to build an advanced reactor at one of its national laboratories, the agency said in a press release this week. In a record of decision document, DOE said it would aim to build its Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) at Idaho National Laboratory, the agency said. If Congress […]

The utility company in charge of decommissioning a California nuclear power plant is preparing to ship some heavy reactor parts out of state to a low-level disposal facility, according to a recent press release. The reactor pressure vessel head of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s (SONGS) Unit 2 reactor “will be leaving the site soon,” […]

A proposed bill currently awaiting debate in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that would create an independent federal agency to oversee the development of nuclear waste storage sites. The new organization proposed in Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) Nuclear Waste Administration Act would assume all of the nuclear waste management authority given to the […]

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted unanimously this week to advance the White House’s nominees to fill out the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the panel said in a press release. If the full Senate gives the green light to Annie Caputo and Bradley Crowell, they will fill two positions on the nuclear safety regulator’s […]

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 […]