Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Sam Brinton is the Department of Energy’s new deputy assistant secretary for spent nuclear fuel and waste disposition, Brinton announced this week. “It’s official. As of June 19th, I now serve my nation as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy in the Department of Energy,” […]

The Department of Energy this week gave nuclear plant operators, such as the one in charge of California’s last operating nuclear power plant, the rest of the summer to apply for a federal bailout. Sep. 6 is now the deadline for interested plant operators to submit their bids on the first chunk of DOE’s roughly […]

House appropriators during a budget markup this week came out swinging against two proposed commercial interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel in Texas and New Mexico. “The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is racing to license the construction of high level [nuclear waste] storage sites both in New Mexico and in Texas,” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) […]

House appropriators this week reversed course and agreed to the White House’s request to move interim spent fuel funding out of the Department of Energy’s dedicated Nuclear Waste Disposal account, according to a draft budget report. Interim storage funding proposals in the House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee’s 2023 budget report, published Monday, appeared […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we wrap up this short week, here are some other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking across the civilian nuclear power space this week. Huff discusses DOE priorities at industry conference The Department of Energy’s nuclear power chief laid out her office’s plans for supporting the industry this week during a conference held […]

EnergySolutions planned to purchase a Wisconsin nuclear power plant by the end of the month, the company told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week. EnergySolutions received “all required regulatory approvals” for its purchase of Kewaunee Power Station, according to a letter to NRC dated Tuesday. The company and plant owner Dominion Energy were expected to […]

Members of the public have about a week to submit their input on a proposed change to the Department of Energy’s civil nuclear credits program that would make a California nuclear power plant eligible for part of the federal bailout, the agency said last week. If adopted, the proposed amendment to DOE’s nuclear credits guidance […]

The ranking member of the House’s energy and water appropriations subcommittee said this week he wants more clarity on a White House proposal to move cash for its consent-based interim storage effort out of the Nuclear Waste Fund Oversight program. “I don’t know what the reasoning behind it is,” Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) told RadWaste […]

Proposed funding in the House for the Department of Energy’s nuclear power office was up slightly compared with the White House’s request, according to a draft of the lower chamber’s 2023 energy and water spending bill reported out of an appropriations subcommittee this week. If it became law, the House’s proposed budget would allocate around […]

Environmental groups cannot use a lawsuit centered on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s conduct during the licensing of a commercial interim storage site for spent nuclear fuel as a backdoor for canceling the license, the company in charge of the project argued this week in court. The environmentalists, led by anti-nuclear group Don’t Waste Michigan, are […]

Constellation Energy can use funds set aside for decommissioning a Pennsylvania nuclear power plant to cover site management expenses after the plant is dismantled, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week. The NRC on June 8 allowed Constellation to dip into a decommissioning trust fund for Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station’s Unit 1 reactor […]

The state of Michigan is still holding out hope that it can secure a federal bailout to breathe some life back into Palisades Nuclear Generating Station despite its closure last month, a spokesperson said this week. “We are working with potential buyers, operators, and stakeholders to keep this vital energy source and the 600 good-paying […]

In less than two months, a federal judge may hear oral arguments in the state of Texas’s lawsuit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the Lone Star State, court documents show. If the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals holds such an oral session, tentatively scheduled […]

Common environmental hazards and transportation corridors give New Mexico the right to sue the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over a proposed interim storage facility in west Texas, the Land of Enchantment’s top lawyer said in court this week. In May, NRC argued that New Mexico has no jurisdiction to challenge the agency’s September decision to license […]

California’s senior senator announced in an op-ed this week that she had changed her mind about the closure of the state’s last operating nuclear power plant and now supports keeping the facility online as a source of carbon-free power. With climate change and worsening drought conditions threatening California’s electricity supply, “Pacific Gas and Electric Co. […]

The American public might be broadly receptive to recycling spent nuclear fuel, the Department of Energy’s recently confirmed assistant secretary for nuclear energy told a professional gathering this week. “I really hope that we can kind of bring some attention to the value in recycling spent nuclear fuel,” Kathryn Huff, the new head of DOE’s […]

It might be years before there is any legal way for the Department of Energy to build a federally operated interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel before first building a permanent repository, the agency’s acting head of nuclear waste management said at an industry conference this week. “We recognize that there are a limited […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Your RadWaste Monitor reporter took the red-eye back into D.C. last night and is looking forward to a much-needed weekend break — but before that, here are some other stories from this week across the civilian nuclear power space. BWXT secures Project Pele microreactor contract from DOD The Department of Defense’s Strategic […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — The final version of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s updated rule for decommissioning nuclear power plants should be ready in a little under two years, the agency said this week. NRC staff plan to send the updated decommissioning rule to the commissioners for approval in October 2023, teeing up final publication in the […]

Spent fuel reprocessing operations will cease next month and work will shift totally to cleanup at the Sellafield Magnox plant in northern England, according to a recent press release from the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Sellafield Ltd. Since 1964, the plant has reprocessed about 55,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel from the […]

Continuing its support for a long-awaited spent fuel storage solution, the federal government’s independent nuclear waste experts recommended that the Department of Energy open its aperture to new approaches for including the public in its quest to site a federal interim storage facility, according to a letter sent to the agency’s nuclear power chief this […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — Although its Nuclear Regulatory Commission license has been delayed four times now, Holtec International’s proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel could be up in running in New Mexico, at least partially, by 2025, an executive said here. NRC’s May announcement that it would hold off on licensing the proposed Holtec […]

In a hearing this week, Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said two would-be commissioners should stake out clearer positions on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proposed decommissioning rule for nuclear power plants. Markey spoke at the tail end of a nomination hearing Wednesday in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for Annie Caputo and Bradley Crowell, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission again urged a federal appeals court this week to scrap a lawsuit filed by a coalition of anti-nuclear groups aimed at blocking a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, court documents show. Despite arguments to the contrary from the coalition, which includes environmental group Beyond Nuclear and Texas-based minerals […]

A New England conservation group last week added its voice to the growing chorus of opposition to Holtec International’s strategy for dealing with irradiated wastewater from a shuttered Massachusetts nuclear power plant. The Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) urged Holtec “to abandon all plans” to release water from Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station into the nearby […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering allowing the company that owns Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station’s Unit 1 reactor to dip into plant funds set aside for decommissioning to cover costs incurred after the plant has been fully dismantled, the agency said Monday. In a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) notice published on […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — One of the biggest challenges facing researchers looking into the advanced nuclear fuel cycle at Idaho National Laboratory is bringing down spent fuel management costs, a lab official said here this week. “It is strategically very important to us to show that, on the advanced reactors program, we are able to close […]