Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

SHINE Medical Technologies expects in the next five years to site isotope production facilities in Europe and Asia, one staffer said Wednesday. The company is currently more than a year from receiving anticipated federal regulatory approval to open its first production plant, in Janesville, Wis., for the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). “At full capacity, SHINE […]

Holtec International President and CEO Kris Singh on Wednesday said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should not give the public extra time to comment on a key document in licensing his company’s planned facility in southeastern New Mexico for storage of spent fuel from nuclear power plants. In a draft environmental impact statement issued in March, […]

By John Stang The activist organization Beyond Nuclear filed an appeal Thursday in federal court in hopes of overturning two orders from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that have kept a proposed spent fuel storage facility on track in New Mexico. Beyond Nuclear’s filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit […]

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is accepting nominations for experts to a new panel that will write reports on the nuclear fuel cycle and waste issues linked to advanced nuclear reactors. Nominations are due by June 11, according to the National Academies. The experts will “evaluate and assess (1) the merits and viability […]

Some of the United States’ radioactive spent fuel could be recycled for use in advanced nuclear power reactors, but the nation still needs a long-term repository for the waste, according to the head of the industry policy organization. Used nuclear fuel retains 95% of its original energy, Nuclear Energy Institute President and CEO Maria Korsnick […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is allowing an Oregon utility during the COVID-19 pandemic to delay mandatory physical requalifications for security personnel at the spent fuel storage pad for a decommissioned nuclear power plant. Portland General Electric Co. received notice from the regulator on May 28. The document was posted to the NRC website on Tuesday. […]

The commonwealth of Massachusetts is in the late stages of negotiations to lift its objections over the license transfer and sale of the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was scheduled Thursday afternoon to rule on petitions for intervention and hearings in the license transfer application, filed in February 2019 by the […]

Organizations with drastically different views on the value and future of nuclear power are debating whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should revive a moribund update to regulations for recycling of spent reactor fuel. Staff at the NRC expect early next year to recommend a potential path forward for a limited spent fuel reprocessing rulemaking, which […]

By John Stang California-based radioactive waste disposal company Deep Isolation is increasing its focus on business opportunities in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. On Tuesday, executives conducted a webinar to introduce their company to potential clients in the “EMEA” region. A follow-up session is planned for June 16. The online meetings are an opportunity […]

A longtime federal attorney was sworn in Wednesday as inspector general for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Robert Feitel succeeds Hubert Bell, who retired in December 2018 after 22 years in the position. As inspector general, Feitel now leads an office with a yearly budget of about $13 million and a mission to conduct audits and […]

The United Steelworkers union is sharply opposing a proposal to ease Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules for disposal of “very low-level” (VLLW) radioactive waste in landfills. “The United Steelworkers asks the NRC to withhold issuing this proposed rule and strongly urge you to reconsider. The minimal monetary costs this rule may reduce is not worth the […]

Another canister of spent fuel was being transferred to dry storage Thursday evening at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), even as an executive affirmed majority owner Southern California Edison’s (SCE) hopes to find an off-site home for the radioactive waste. “We have engaged a strategic team to put together a plan that we […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is moving ahead with a set of updates to its oversight of storage pads for spent nuclear fuel, including downshifting the frequency for standard inspections to once every three years. The agency intends this year to complete the revisions to its independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) inspection program, with all […]

By John Stang The Montana Legislature’s Environmental Quality Council voted 12-2 on Wednesday to remove an informal objection to setting a state radionuclide-concentration limit of 50 picocuries per gram for its landfills to accept technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) waste. In April, the Environmental Council made that informal objection, which delayed the rulemaking […]

By John Stang Representatives of U.S. regional low-level radioactive waste compacts on Wednesday continued to discuss contingency plans for a financially ailing disposal facility in Texas. No conclusions came out of the teleconference, which was a follow-up to a similar session earlier this month on the state-owned, privately run Texas Compact Waste Facility (CWF). It […]

Remediation of radioactively contaminated municipalities in Ontario, Canada, has been knocked off schedule by the COVID-19 pandemic, but organizers hope to claw back time as work ramps up in coming months. In March, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories halted nearly all field operations under the Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI), just ahead of the program’s annual construction […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is making preparations for bringing staff back to their offices amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a spokesman said Tuesday. Ninety-eight percent of the federal regulator’s personnel have been working remotely since March to help prevent the spread of novel coronavirus 2019 during the national public health emergency. The agency’s “COVID Task Force […]

Senate leaders continued this week to work on liability protections for businesses that reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, after the House’s Democratic majority pushed through a $3-trillion COVID-19 economic relief bill the White House has threatened to veto. The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, H.R. 6800, passed the House in a 208-199 […]

Representatives of the nation’s regional low-level radioactive waste compacts have begun discussions on possible means for assistance to sustain operations at a financially troubled disposal facility in Texas. The talks on the state-owned, privately run Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact facility are being coordinated through the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Forum. Officials from all 10 […]

The Department of Energy, the manager of its Los Alamos National Laboratory, and an on-site contractor all shoulder some blame for a May 2019 incident that contaminated a University of Washington building in Seattle with cesium-137, according to a recent report. The “preventable” event during a radiological source recovery operation resulted from “weak and partially […]

There is no reasonable alternative to the full decommissioning and disassembly of the retired SM-1 nuclear power reactor at Fort Belvoir, Va., according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The Army Corps on Monday announced the release of the final environmental assessment, finding of no significant impact, and finding of no practicable alternative […]

International Isotopes in April secured a $495,500 bank loan via federal COVID-19 relief legislation to help pay its employees, according to a quarterly filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Paycheck Protection Program in the CARES Act, signed into law in March, is intended via forgivable loans to assist small businesses in meeting […]

FirstEnergy Corp. on Tuesday announced a long list of changes in its executive suite, starting with President and CEO Chuck Jones peeling off one of his titles. The Board of Directors for the Akron, Ohio-based power company on Tuesday approved executive Steven Strah’s appointment as president, with Jones remaining in the top spot at CEO […]

By John Stang The Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) in Nebraska on May 13 completed moving all spent fuel at the retired Fort Calhoun Station nuclear power plant into dry storage. Workers began moving the first of 30 canisters on Oct. 14, 2019. Overall, the 30 canisters hold 944 bundles of used fuel, according to […]

The Senate on Thursday confirmed two nominations that will return the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to its full five-person membership. Serving Commissioner David Wright and Senate Appropriations Committee staffer Christopher Hanson were both confirmed en bloc, via voice vote from the Senate floor. There was no word at deadline Friday regarding the schedule for Wright and Hanson […]

By John Stang No U.S. facilities licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have to date experienced safety hazards arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency said Monday in a report to Vice President Mike Pence. NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki submitted a two-page summary of measures taken by the regulator during the public health emergency to […]

The nominee for the No. 2 position at the Department of Energy on Wednesday affirmed the Trump administration’s intention to move ahead with a program for interim storage of nuclear waste rather than continuing to press for disposal under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “Let me be very clear about this. The president has been very […]