Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Motor carriers of radioactive sources are not directly inspected for compliance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s security requirements, the Government Accountability Office found in a report released last week. Radioactive sources, used worldwide for medical, industrial, research, and other applications, are vulnerable to theft by groups seeking to create radiological “dirty bombs,” or devices that […]

New Energy Secretary Rick Perry this week found himself on the pointy end of a lawsuit from the state he once led, which is demanding that the federal government halt all work on consent-based siting of nuclear waste and instead complete licensing of the Yucca Mountain geologic repository. The lawsuit filed late Tuesday by the […]

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 regulations […]

Staff from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be in Plymouth, Mass., on March 21 for a public meeting with utility Entergy on the findings of the agency’s special inspection and separate annual review of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Entergy plans to close the facility on May 31, 2019, but a number of local organizations want shutdown to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet on April 6 to get additional public input on the scope of an environmental impact statement (EIS) for a planned interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in West Texas. Waste Control Specialists last April submitted a license application for a facility with a capacity to hold 40,000 metric tons […]

Motor carriers of radioactive sources are not directly inspected for compliance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s security requirements, the Government Accountability Office found in a report released Thursday. Radioactive sources, used worldwide for medical, industrial, research, and other applications, are vulnerable to theft by groups seeking to create radiological “dirty bombs,” or devices that use […]

Allowing utility Entergy to apply part of its trust fund for decommisioning of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to operations involving irradiated fuel at the site would create no significant environmental effect, according to a draft finding last week from Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff. The NRC in June 2015 approved Entergy’s request to use the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday 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 […]

Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts will remain in Column 4 of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Action Matrix, the regulator said last week in its annual assessment of the beleaguered plant. “While the plant remains in Column 4, the NRC will continuously assess Pilgrim’s performance to evaluate the need for additional regulatory action up […]

Vermont Attorney General Thomas J. Donovan Jr. on Tuesday vowed to protect state taxpayers by intervening in the Vermont Public Service Board’s review of Entergy’s pending sale of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant to decommissioning specialist NorthStar Group Services. “At first glance, it looks like a good deal if it will get the site […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission lauded CB&I AREVA MOX Services, which is building the embattled Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina, for its construction program and oversight in an assessment of the contractor’s construction activities and safety performance during 2016. The regulatory body said in a March 2 letter to CB&I AREVA MOX Services that the […]

President Donald Trump, the Department of Energy, and Congress must take steps to advance the program to find a final resting place for the United States’ massive holdings of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste, the U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council said Wednesday. “It has been more than 30 years since enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy […]

Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station will remain in Column 4 of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Action Matrix, the regulator said last week in its annual assessment of the beleaguered plant. “While the plant remains in Column 4, the NRC will continuously assess Pilgrim’s performance to evaluate the need for additional regulatory action up to and […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of the Inspector General recommended in a new report that the agency update fitness-for-duty requirements to improve security at nuclear reactors undergoing decommissioning. Fitness for duty activities include drug and fatigue testing for plant employees. The IG recently conducted an audit of the NRC’s security oversight for decommissioning reactors, completing its […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday approved the export of up to 144 kilograms of nuclear weapon-grade uranium to Belgium. The fuel elements, enriched to 93.2 percent, would be used to reload the Belgian Reactor No. 2 at the Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie-Centre d’Etude de l’Energie Nucléaire (SCK-CEN). The regulator, though, ruled that the license issued […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has denied a petition from a retired Department of Energy physicist calling for the agency to mandate increased monitoring of nuclear plants’ spent nuclear fuel pools and reactors to prevent a disaster similar to the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi triple-meltdown in Japan. The regulator said in a Federal Register notice posted Tuesday that […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the export of up to 144 kilograms of nuclear weapon-grade uranium to Belgium. The fuel elements, enriched to 93.2 percent, would be used to power Belgian Reactor No. 2 at the Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie-Centre d’Etude de l’Energie Nucléaire (SCK-CEN). The regulator, though, ruled that the license issued to Washington, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should enhance its oversight of source material export licensees, the agency’s Inspector General’s Office said in an audit report released Wednesday. The report noted that from 2011 to 2015, the NRC issued 14 export licenses for source material, defined primarily as uranium or thorium or a combination of the two radioactive elements. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should enhance its oversight of source material export licensees, the agency’s Inspector General’s Office said in an audit report released Wednesday. The report noted that from 2011 to 2015, the NRC issued 14 export licenses for source material, defined primarily as uranium or thorium or a combination of the two radioactive elements. […]

Residents in Massachusetts are petitioning Gov. Charlie Baker to support expeditious transfer of spent fuel at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to dry storage. Cape Downwinders — a group of residents from Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket – has been circulating a petition to advance advisory questions to local ballots this spring and fall […]

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) is preparing legislation aimed at restarting licensing efforts for the mothballed Yucca Mountain repository with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a staffer confirmed Wednesday. Shimkus spokesman Jordan Haverly said the bill would address controversial land and water rights in Nevada that the Energy Department has said make the project “unworkable.” The legislation, which […]

A group representing 13 employees at the shuttered Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant has filed a motion to intervene in the Vermont Public Service Board’s review of Entergy’s pending sale of the facility to decommissioning specialist NorthStar Group Services. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 300 (IBEW) filed the motion on Monday with […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is denying a petition from a retired Department of Energy nuclear physicist calling for the agency to mandate augmented monitoring of reactor spent fuel pools and reactor coolant and fuel. Alexander DeVolpi, who worked at the Argonne National Laboratory for more than 40 years to 1999, “requested that the NRC amend its […]

Power company Entergy on Wednesday reported a $583.6 million loss for 2016, a massive dropoff from the $176.6 million loss reported for 2015. The utility reported a $1.8 billion loss for the fourth quarter, compared to a $99.6 million gain for the same time period in 2015. In discussing the loss in a statement, Chairman […]

Reps. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Feb. 10 toured the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California while discussing solutions for managing American nuclear waste. Shimkus, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which holds congressional jurisdiction over nuclear waste management, has long voiced his support for the planned […]

The Vermont Public Service Board has released a public meeting schedule concerning Entergy’s sale of the shuttered Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. Entergy in November agreed to sell Vermont Yankee, which closed in 2014, to New York-based decommissioning specialist NorthStar Group Services. The deal is expected to shorten the timeline to fully decommission the facility […]

The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station returned to the grid Sunday, following a malfunction with the Massachusetts plant’s condenser system and operator Entergy’s decision to power the facility down ahead of winter storm Niko. The 44-year-old facility, which is due to close in 2019, was reduced to 28 percent power on Feb. 7, after Entergy identified […]

U.S. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled briefings for next week on the lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the ongoing progress of Project Aim. The briefings represent the first commission meetings under new Republican Chairwoman Kristine Svinicki, who President Donald Trump chose last month to replace Chairman Stephen Burns, an Obama […]

Selling off a nuclear plant to a specialist for decommissioning allows for a much more efficient process, an Entergy executive said Thursday in discussing a recent agreement. Entergy in November agreed to sell its Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant to New York-based decommissioning specialist NorthStar Group Services, a deal that is expected to shorten the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected EnergySolutions’ subpoena for information in a civil antitrust lawsuit, arguing that the request is burdensome, vague, and fails to follow agency guidelines. EnergySolutions’ filed the subpoena on Jan. 24, as it prepares to contest the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit challenging the company’s $367 million acquisition of Waste Control […]