Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Southwestern host states probably cannot stop construction of temporary spent-fuel depots in their territories by arguing that licensing such sites is against federal law, a couple of retired nuclear policy hands opined this week. Pending a few more reviews, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission could license Interim Storage Partners’ proposed commercial interim storage facility in west […]

RadWaste Monitor will not be published on Aug. 27, 2021 while the Exchange Monitor takes its annual August recess. Look for the next issue in your inbox on Friday, Sept. 3, 2021.

With growing federal alarm over the surging numbers of new COVID-19 cases, especially among the unvaccinated, the Department of Energy on Friday confirmed it is imploring government contractors to find ways to get workers to take their shots. The agency acknowledged the effort, spearheaded by Tarak Shah, chief of staff to Secretary Jennifer Granholm, after […]

A $1-trillion infrastructure bill with tax credits for financially-struggling nuclear power plants passed the Senate on a widely bipartisan vote this week.  The infrastructure package cleared the Senate in a 69-30 vote Tuesday and now heads to the House, whose members were scheduled to return to Washington on Aug. 23 to vote on the measure. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will end mandatory telework and allow in-person work to resume by the end of next month, the agency said in a recent letter to staff. As part of its “full re-entry” program, NRC staff can return to their offices September 26, the agency said in the letter dated July 30. Although […]

The company in charge of decommissioning Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear power station accused a nuclear watchdog of serious process fouls after the group’s latest attempt to halt the plant’s license transfer, according to a regulatory filing. NRC should no longer allow Three Mile Island Alert to “blatantly ignore” reasonable requirements of public participation in […]

The Senate on Monday confirmed a former Department of Energy lawyer with private sector experience to serve as the agency’s new general counsel. Samuel Walsh, who served at DOE under the Barack Obama administration, was confirmed to his new position as agency general counsel by voice vote in the Senate Monday evening. Walsh was nominated […]

Perma-Fix President and CEO Mark Duff said Wednesday he was “disappointed” with the environmental services company’s second quarter financial performance, which he blamed on complications related to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. For the quarter ended June 30, Perma-Fix posted company-wide net income of around $3 million or $0.25 per share, according to an earnings report […]

Members of the public have a bit more time to weigh in on how the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is handling issues of environmental justice, the agency said this week. September 22 is the new deadline for public comment on NRC’s current environmental justice posture, which it will use as part of a “systematic” review of […]

Although it was on the menu for a special session of the Texas legislature, the body didn’t debate this week legislation to address a proposed interim storage site for spent nuclear fuel in the state. Several days of special sessions of the state Senate ended without discussion on Interim Storage Partners’ (ISP) proposed interim storage […]

Lack of an Illinois legislative solution has convinced Exelon to proceed with its plans to close its Byron and Dresden reactor complexes in September and November, respectively. Exelon originally announced its plans to shut down the four reactors at the two sites in August 2020 because of revenue shortfalls in the hundreds of millions of […]

Bethesda, Md.,-based Orano USA has a new management team and several new board of directors for its Federal Services Business unit that does business with the Department of Energy, the company said early Wednesday. Orano Federal Services President Dorothy Davidson said in a press release that the new management team will include: Joe Faldowskim, chief […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should certify that the parties involved with decommissioning Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear power plant comply with environmental law and that there’s a plan in place for water use at the site, a watchdog group said in a filing with the agency last week. Citing new evidence in the form of […]

The Department of Energy needs to consolidate its agency-sponsored research on high-burnup spent nuclear fuel storage, the federal government’s nuclear waste panel said in a new report published this week. Although DOE funds “a variety of organizations” and their research on the viability of storing and transporting high-burnup fuel (HBF), there’s not currently a single […]

An inspection at a New Jersey nuclear plant being decommissioned by Holtec International revealed several security violations that might earn the company a civil penalty, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a letter to the plant’s owner last week. According to NRC’s letter, dated July 28, Holtec has a month to either contest the commission’s […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is planning to fire its next salvo this month in an ongoing legal battle over one of two proposed interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel, according to a court filing this week. NRC will file its next brief in the case over Holtec International’s proposed storage facility in New Mexico […]

The Joe Biden administration can’t achieve its “aggressive” climate goals without nuclear energy, the chairman of the Senate’s energy panel said during a hearing this week. Speaking with RadWaste Monitor during a break from the action at Tuesday’s Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to vet the Biden administration’s nominee for the Department of […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved all of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s funding request for the upcoming fiscal year at a markup this week. In a 25-5 vote Wednesday the Senate Appropriations Committee passed its version of the annual Energy and Water Development budget, which included every dime of NRC’s roughly $874 million request for fiscal […]

In a special session starting this weekend, the Texas state legislature will get another chance to pass laws that could make it harder to dispose of some radioactive waste in the state. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has called the special session of the legislature at a time when a privately operated waste disposal company […]

The Department of Energy will establish a process to auction off tax credits to financially-struggling nuclear power plants, according to the Senate-side version of a bipartisan infrastructure bill that may see a vote in the coming days. Senate majority leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) filed for cloture Thursday on the proposed measure that would allocate […]

After a Tuesday hearing to vet a nominee for a senior Department of Energy job, New Mexico’s senior senator pounded the table about making sure proposed interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel do not turn into permanent repositories. “The concern, really, is that the department does not have a plan to ensure that any […]

Senate appropriators proposed about the same funding for the Department of Energy’s nuclear energy programs, including for a proposed interim storage inquiry, during a markup this week. If the Senate’s energy and water budget recommendation becomes law, it will green-light around $27.5 million in federal funds for nuclear waste disposal. The vast majority of that […]

The full House on Thursday approved a Department of Energy budget that provides guns and gates for Yucca Mountain plus some money to begin siting a federally operated interim storage facility for nuclear waste — the same proposals with which the bill emerged from committee. The House’s seven-bill appropriations package, which passed on a 219-208 […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is officially doing away with a proposed rulemaking that would govern spent fuel reprocessing, according to an agency notice published this week. Declining industry interest in spent fuel reprocessing, higher priorities in spent fuel management and “budgetary constraints” were the main drivers in discontinuing the staff rulemaking activity that began in […]

A federal suit against a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel remains in limbo while the Nuclear Regulatory Commission works through licensing proceedings, according to a court filing from the agency this week. Holtec International’s application for a federal license to build an interim storage facility in Lea County, N.M. is “still under […]

Nearly 40 years have passed since the Nuclear Waste Policy Act went into effect, mandating that the U.S. government designate a location to permanently dispose of the nation’s spent nuclear fuel from power plants.  It never happened, as nuke-watchers well know, but this week, an interim waste storage site conceived by the privately owned Interim […]

In a major milestone for the otherwise moribund U.S. spent-fuel-storage scene, one of two proposed commercial interim storage sites got the environmental green light from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week. If licensed, the site in west Texas would be allowed to store up to 5,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel and highly-radioactive Greater-than-Class-C […]