Nuclear Regulatory Commission

An article in the April 20 edition of Weapons Complex Morning Briefing should have stated that Nuclear Regulatory Commission meetings on the draft regulatory basis for its 2019 decommissioning rulemaking are scheduled from May 8-10 at agency headquarters in Rockville, Md.

The California Public Utilities Commission this week began eight days of evidentiary hearings on the request from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to close the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant within a decade. The utility announced last June that it would not renew the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses for the plant’s two reactors when they […]

Waste Control Specialists on Tuesday requested a temporary suspension of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission review of the company’s license application for a consolidated interim spent nuclear fuel storage site in West Texas. The Dallas-based waste management provider said the licensing process currently is an “unsupportable” financial burden as it seeks to wrap up its merger with […]

NorthStar Group Services could wrap up decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station by 2026. That’s according to a new post-shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR), which the New York company submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this month. The updated timeline is nearly 50 years earlier than Vermont Yankee owner Entergy had estimated in […]

In a decision drawing criticism from activists and lawmakers, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday granted utility Entergy permission to forgo certain post-Fukushima safety measures at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. The regulator ordered a series of safety improvements at U.S. reactor sites after the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled three days of meetings next month on the draft regulatory basis for its 2019 decommissioning rulemaking. The meetings from May 8-10 at NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md., follow the March publication of the draft document and the anticipated late-April release of the preliminary draft regulatory analysis for the rulemaking. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is moving quickly to meet Waste Control Specialists’ request that the agency suspend review of its license application for a spent nuclear fuel storage site in West Texas. “As requested by WCS, the staff is taking the appropriate actions to properly suspend its review and contract support.  Managers are working with […]

In a decision drawing criticism from activists and lawmakers, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday granted utility Entergy permission to forgo certain post-Fukushima safety measures at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. The regulator ordered a series of safety improvements at U.S. reactor sites after the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has extended the public comment period for a license application to export 10,000 tons of nuclear material from Oak Ridge, Tenn., to Canada, after fielding concerns from a New York lawmaker. Massachusetts-based UniTech Services Group in October 2016 filed an application with the NRC to import and export the radioactive material […]

NorthStar Group Services could wrap up decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station by 2026. That’s according to a new post-shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR), which the New York company submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission earlier this month. The updated timeline is nearly 50 years earlier than Vermont Yankee owner Entergy had estimated in its […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet virtually with Centrus Energy Corp. on April 24 to discuss the results of a year’s worth of oversight at the now-defunct American Centrifuge uranium enrichment demonstration in Ohio. The Energy Department in 2015 canceled the industrial-scale uranium enrichment demonstration at the Portsmouth Site near Piketon, Ohio. The NRC, which regulates […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a two-month extension to the deadline for stakeholders to request intervention or a hearing in Waste Control Specialists’ license application to build and operate an interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in West Texas. The deadline has been shifted from March 31 to May 31, according to an NRC […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a May 2 conference with Energy Northwest to give the utility an opportunity to explain an incident in which it allegedly shipped low-level radioactive waste from the Columbia Generating Station in Washington state to a nearby disposal facility, where it was rejected for under-reported radiation levels. The NRC is […]

Officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be in New Ellenton, S.C., on April 18 to discuss the agency’s latest performance evaluation of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility being built at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. The regulator gave a positive review of 2016 operations at the plant intended to process 34 […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a May 2 conference with Energy Northwest to give the utility an opportunity to explain an incident in which it allegedly shipped low-level radioactive waste from the Columbia Generating Station in Washington state to a nearby disposal facility, where it was rejected for under-reported radiation levels. The NRC is considering […]

Federal agencies and Texas have entered into mediation over the state’s lawsuit demanding that the United States advance a permanent solution to storage of U.S. nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. An initial mediation session occurred on April 4, and a follow-up is scheduled for May 15; in between the parties on May 1 […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week notified Entergy that it will carry out a full technical review of the utility’s request to transfer the license for the closed Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station to new planned owner NorthStar Group Services. The April 6 letter cites the completion of the agency’s acceptance review of the Feb. 9 […]

Power provider Entergy on Sunday said it has begun the final refueling of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, just over two years before the Massachusetts facility closes for good. Workers began to power down the 45-year-old plant ahead of what will be its 21st and last refueling, according to a press statement. The utility expects to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will license the nuclear waste interim storage facility Holtec International intends to build in southeastern New Mexico, company President and CEO Kris Singh proclaimed Wednesday, noting that the prospect is now a matter of political will. “We gave an exquisite and consequential gift to our nation,” Singh said of Holtec’s license […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has no immediate safety concerns at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, following yet another operational malfunction, but the regulator is assessing the situation with continued heightened scrutiny at the troubled plant, an agency official said Wednesday. The latest event at the 45-year-old Massachusetts facility occurred on March 31, when operators failed […]

A venture capitalist studying options for spent nuclear fuel storage and reprocessing in South Carolina said Wednesday his group will not pursue an interim storage license with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, instead shifting focus to new reactor design and reprocessing. Mike Stake, head of the Spent Fuel Reprocessing Group, originally told the NRC in July […]

A venture capitalist studying options for spent nuclear fuel storage and reprocessing in South Carolina said Wednesday his group will not pursue an interim storage license with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, instead shifting focus to new reactor design and reprocessing. Mike Stake, head of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Group, originally told the NRC in July […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday it has proposed a $7,000 fine against a Puerto Rico diagnostic medical treatments provider for several errors, including failing to decommission its former facility in a timely fashion. San Juan-based Somascan Inc. employed radiopharmaceuticals and scanning systems that contained sealed nuclear sources for its work, according to an NRC […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will license the nuclear waste interim storage facility Holtec International intends to build in southeastern New Mexico, company President and CEO Kris Singh proclaimed Wednesday, noting that the prospect is now a matter of political will. “We gave an exquisite and consequential gift to our nation,” Singh said of Holtec’s license application […]

The Department of Energy has applied for a 20-year renewal of the license for storage in Idaho of debris from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, according to documents made public Tuesday. The regulator issued the license for Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) on March 19, 1999. […]

Massachusetts state lawmakers on Tuesday joined local protesters in calling on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to immediately shut down Entergy’s troubled Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Despite the appeal Tuesday night during a public meeting in Plymouth, the NRC maintained that the 45-year-old plant, which has undergone a series of operational failures and unplanned shutdowns dating […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff on Monday expressed no objection to a 60-day extension for affected parties to request a hearing on Waste Control Specialists’ license application to build and operate a storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel. Staff, though, opposed a 120-day extension sought by a coalition of 20 environmental and anti-nuclear organizations. There was […]

During a public meeting tonight, Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff can expect continued calls to shut down Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Cape Downwinders — a group of residents from Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket who have long protested operation of the beleaguered plant – said they plan to “come out in full […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is beyond reach of many of the executive orders President Donald Trump has signed in his early months in office, but the agency will continue to consider the spirit of those directives, NRC Chairwoman Kristine Svinicki said Wednesday. The White House’s orders include a freeze on all new or proposed federal […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on March 10 released a preliminary draft regulatory basis for its 2019 decommissioning rulemaking, which moves the agency a step further in developing new decommissioning regulations for nuclear reactors. The 2019 rulemaking is the regulator’s effort to clarify and improve the decommissioning process, with a focus on reducing the need for safety […]