Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

The company looking for state approval to purchase a Wisconsin nuclear power plant for decommissioning sought Wednesday to counter an advocacy group’s last-minute push for an independent technical review of the transaction, new filings show.  EnergySolutions told the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (WPSC) in a filing Wednesday that commissioners should ignore evidence submitted last week […]

The state of New Mexico hasn’t proven to a federal court that it has sufficient legal standing to challenge the licensing of a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Texas, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission argued this week. NRC’s Monday filing with the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals aims to derail New Mexico […]

The company in charge of decommissioning a Massachusetts nuclear power plant won’t discharge the site’s irradiated wastewater into a nearby bay without getting a green light from the community and environmental experts, its CEO told a member of Congress during a field hearing last week. During the remote hearing of the Senate Environment and Public […]

Companies that want to help the Department of Energy evaluate bids for financial aid from struggling nuclear power plants have until the end of the week to bid for the work, according to a recent procurement notice. DOE’s request for proposals, published May 6, says the selected contractor would help the agency ensure nuclear plants’ […]

Kathryn Huff officially became the head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear energy office this week following her strongly bipartisan confirmation last week by the Senate. Huff, confirmed in a landslide May 5, was sworn in by Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm as DOE’s assistant secretary for nuclear energy, or NE-1, according to a Wednesday […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission might not decide whether to license the second of two proposed commercial interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel until around Labor Day, the agency said this week. Although Holtec International has said that it expected NRC to license its proposed consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) in the second quarter of […]

By John Stang The attorney for a pipefitter exposed to radiation recently questioned the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about why the worker was not interviewed in the aftermath of a May 2021 incident at the Columbia Generating Station north of Richland, Washington.  Last week, Washington, D.C. labor attorney Billie Pirner Garde sent a letter seeking answers […]

Kathryn Huff, the White House’s pick for assistant secretary of energy for nuclear energy, cleared the full Senate this week, clinching her spot as head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear energy office. The Senate voted 80-11 Thursday to confirm Kathryn Huff, who the Joe Biden administration first nominated in January to lead DOE’s Office […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. As we head into what looks like a rainy weekend here in Washington, here are some other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking across the civilian nuclear power space this week. Granholm visits Michigan nuclear research facility The Secretary of Energy this week attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony at a new Michigan State University […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission took issue Tuesday with a report from its inspector general suggesting that the agency had been lax in its inspection of a soon-to-close nuclear power plant, according to new documents. Although NRC’s inspector general alleged in a March report that an improper inspection of Diablo Canyon Power Plant back in 2020 […]

A decommissioning company intervening in state-level proceedings necessary for EnergySolutions’ purchase of a Wisconsin nuclear power plant wants to drag out the process with last-minute contentions, EnergySolutions argued this week. NorthStar’s April request to include Kewaunee Power Station’s annual decommissioning funding status report in the Wisconsin Public Service Commission’s (WPSC) review of the plant’s sale […]

The interested public now has until the end of the summer to provide their feedback on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proposed rules change for decommissioning nuclear power plants, the agency said this week.  August 30 is now the deadline for comments on NRC’s proposed decommissioning rulemaking, the agency said in presentation slides for an upcoming […]

In what could be a reversal of fortune for Diablo Canyon Power Plant, the governor of California is weighing whether to bid on a federal bailout for the Golden State’s last operating nuclear power facility, he said last week. State Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) told the LA Times editorial board Friday that a bid on […]

A round-up of public comments on how the Department of Energy should go about siting a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel should be published before Labor Day, the agency said this week. DOE “is working to analyze the comments” on its interim storage request for information (RFI) unveiled in November, an agency […]

The White House this week announced its nominees to fill the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s two open executive seats, including one former commissioner who left the agency last summer. If Annie Caputo and Bradley Crowell’s nominations, which the Joe Biden administration announced in a press release Tuesday, get through Congress, they would fill two seats on […]

Kathryn Huff, the White House’s pick for assistant secretary of energy for nuclear energy, cleared the full Senate this week, clinching her spot as head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear energy office. The Senate voted 80-11 Thursday to confirm Kathryn Huff, who the Joe Biden administration first nominated in January to lead DOE’s Office […]

After the summer, DOE could launch a competitive funding opportunity aimed at potential host communities for an interim storage site for spent nuclear fuel, the Secretary of Energy told Senators Thursday. The award, which the Department of Energy has been planning for some time as part of its quest to site an interim storage facility, […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before we head off for the weekend, here are some other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking across the civilian nuclear power space this week. Situation at Ukraine nuke plants ‘challenging,’ but no rad threats to public yet, IAEA says Although the Russian invasion of Ukraine poses some danger to the country’s nuclear […]

U.S. electricity generation from nuclear power plants fell behind output from renewable energy sources last year, the government’s independent energy auditor said this week. Renewable energy sources, which include wind, hydropower, solar, biomass, and geothermal power, generated around 800 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity in 2021, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report […]

Holtec International late last week withdrew some sharp criticism it made against the company selected to provide spent-fuel management services at a California nuclear power plant, framing its comments as a heat-of-the-moment reaction. Comments directed at Orano USA in an April 6 letter “reflected an emotional response in the immediate wake of the disappointing news,” […]

The company aiming to build an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Texas joined the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in calling for a state lawsuit to be kicked out of a federal appeals court, according to a new filing on the docket. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s arguments against Interim Storage Partners’ (ISP) proposed […]

The Department of Energy requested $10 million to fund local and tribal participation in a quest to find a host community for a federally operated interim spent fuel storage site, according to a detailed fiscal year 2023 budget request released late last week. For the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, DOE says it wants […]

The company in charge of a Michigan nuclear plant scheduled to close this summer doesn’t have any plans to keep the facility running despite the state government’s aims to save it, a spokesperson said this week. Entergy, which currently owns Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, “acknowledge[s] having recently been contacted by government officials about the facility […]

The Joe Biden administration’s pick to lead the Department of Energy’s nuclear power section is one step closer to the job after clearing the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Thursday on a voice vote. Kathryn Huff, who the White House nominated in January to become assistant secretary for nuclear energy (NE-1)  in DOE’s Office […]

Happy Friday and happy Earth Day, nuke-watchers. Before you head out and enjoy all our little blue marble has to offer, here are some other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking across the civilian nuclear power space this week. DOE unveils $1.6 million for help on nuclear power community outreach Awardees under a funding opportunity announced […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week continued to poke holes in the state of Texas’s lawsuit over an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel proposed for Andrews County, arguing that the Lone Star State had no right to sue — and even if it did, that its case was badly flawed. Texas hasn’t shown […]

The prototype of a mobile nuclear reactor under development at the Department of Defense will be powered by advanced fuel sourced from within the U.S., the project lead said last week. The Project Pele micro-reactor prototype “will use fully unencumbered nuclear fuel,” program manager Jeff Waksman told RadWaste Monitor in an emailed statement Friday. The […]