Nuclear Regulatory Commission

In offering California’s last nuclear power plant a new lease on life, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sidestepped a legal argument from antinuclear activists who said the agency might be illegally extending the plant’s operating license. The NRC on Wednesday published a roughly five-page explanation in the Federal Register explaining the agency’s decision to conditionally let Pacific Gas […]

In offering California’s last nuclear power plant a new lease on life, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sidestepped a legal argument from antinuclear activists who said the agency might be illegally extending the plant’s operating license. The NRC on Wednesday published a roughly five-page explanation in the Federal Register explaining the agency’s decision to conditionally let […]

PHOENIX — It’s still unclear whether the final version of a proposed rule change aimed at streamlining nuclear power plant decommissioning  will require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to okay licensees’ plans for dismantling their sites, officials said here this week. NRC staff, who are currently putting together the agency’s final decommissioning rulemaking, “are looking at” […]

Even as the Department of Energy this week opened the door for a shuttered Michigan nuclear plant to qualify for its billion-dollar bailout program, the company aiming to restart the facility said it would look for federal funding elsewhere. Holtec International, which owns Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, applied for a DOE loan last week with […]

PHOENIX — A New Mexico bill could put Holtec International’s proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in that state in jeopardy, a company official said here this week. “Despite all the efforts and resources used to inform and educate the public and organizations [on the proposed HI-STORE interim storage site], there is currently […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will allow California’s last operating nuclear power plant to remain online after the facility’s federal license expires while the agency considers a 20-year extension, the commission said Thursday. The exemption, which NRC announced in a Thursday press release, allows Diablo Canyon Power Plant operator Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to ignore […]

PHOENIX — It’s still unclear whether the final version of a proposed rule change aimed at streamlining nuclear power plant decommissioning  will require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to okay licensees’ plans for dismantling their sites, officials said here Tuesday. NRC staff, who are currently putting together the agency’s final decommissioning rulemaking, “are looking at” whether […]

A bill intended to check a proposed private interim storage facility for spent nuclear in New Mexico got a step closer to the governor’s desk last week. New Mexico’s House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee, in a 6-3 vote Saturday, approved the proposed measure, which would amend state law to prohibit the storage of […]

The former site of a Wisconsin nuclear power plant is officially safe to use for other activities, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced in a press release last week. NRC released the site of the decommissioned  La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor for “unrestricted public use,” the agency said in the Friday press release. Such a designation […]

PHOENIX—Roughly 2,600 people involved with nuclear waste and related fields are taking over this desert city’s downtown convention center this week for the 49th Waste Management Symposia. Monday’s headliners including U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, and a French energy official. In addition to Granholm, other speakers in […]

The Department of Energy needs to “prioritize” a 2019 policy change that said much high-level radioactive waste is not hazardous enough to require deep underground disposal, a Washington-based group said in a report Thursday. “DOE should re-energize its use of the HLW [high-level waste] interpretation, including pursuing a pilot implementation at Hanford for a single-specific […]

During a congressional visit to Japan this week, one of the House’s most politically-progressive members took to social media to talk about the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle — in particular, recycling spent nuclear fuel. “When we discuss the risk and controversial parts of nuclear, a lot of it centers on nuclear waste […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission can allow California’s last nuclear power reactor to operate with an expired license, the plant’s owner wrote in a recent regulatory filing  Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) was rebuffing claims by a coalition of anti-nuclear groups who told the NRC the utility was asking the government to break the law in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission can allow California’s last nuclear power reactor to operate with an expired license, the plant’s owner wrote in a recent regulatory filing  Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) was rebuffing claims by a coalition of anti-nuclear groups who told the NRC the utility was asking the government to break the law in […]

In yet another setback for opponents of two proposed private interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel, a second federal court has dismissed the state of New Mexico’s lawsuit over the projects, court filings show. In a ruling published Feb. 10, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that state Attorney General Hector Balderas’s suit […]

In a new rulemaking action this week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it had is considering an extension on design certifications for a spent fuel storage cask design used at nuclear power plants, according to a Federal Register Notice. The 40-year Certificate of Compliance (CoC) renewal amends Holtec International’s cask design certification to include […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a plan to dispose of radioactive waste from the site of a 1979 mine spill in New Mexico, the agency announced this week. NRC Wednesday greenlit a license amendment for the shuttered United Nuclear Corporation Church Rock site, allowing a General Electric-led cleanup crew to transfer nearly a million tons […]

Two anti-nuclear groups said this week that they would try to use a federal public records law to get the original version of Holtec International’s heavily-redacted plan to restart a shuttered Michigan nuclear power plant. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Tuesday by lawyers for Beyond Nuclear and […]

A bill aimed at keeping a privately-run interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel out of New Mexico cleared a legislative milestone this week after passing a floor vote in the state Senate. If signed by the governor, the proposed legislation would amend state law to ban the storage of spent nuclear fuel in New […]

Two members of Nevada’s congressional delegation this week reintroduced a bill that, if made law, would spell the final end of the proposed Yucca Mountain permanent nuclear waste repository. The Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act, unveiled in a Tuesday press release by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev), “will ensure that […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a plan to dispose of radioactive waste from the site of a 1979 mine spill in New Mexico, the agency announced Thursday. NRC Wednesday greenlit a license amendment for the shuttered United Nuclear Corporation Church Rock site, allowing a General Electric-led cleanup crew to transfer nearly a million tons of […]

A bill aimed at keeping a privately-run interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel out of New Mexico cleared a legislative milestone Monday after passing a floor vote in the state Senate. If signed by the governor, the proposed legislation would amend state law to ban the storage of spent nuclear fuel in New Mexico […]

Two anti-nuclear groups said Tuesday that they would try to use a federal public records law to get the original version of Holtec International’s heavily-redacted plan to restart a shuttered Michigan nuclear power plant. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Tuesday by lawyers for Beyond Nuclear and Don’t […]

In a new rulemaking action Monday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it had approved an extension on design certifications for a spent fuel storage cask design used at nuclear power plants, according to a Federal Register Notice. The 40-year Certificate of Compliance (CoC) renewal amends Holtec International’s cask design certification to include “conditions and […]

A New Mexico state senator’s latest attempt to keep a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel out of the Land of Enchantment should soon see a floor vote, after clearing a second state senate committee this week. The measure, which proposes amending state law to ban the storage of spent nuclear fuel in […]

ROCKVILLE, MD. — A company seeking federal funds to restart a shuttered Michigan nuclear power plant is in for a heavy lift, one of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s newest members said during an exclusive interview this week. “When you have a reactor that has ceased operations, and you’ve offloaded the fuel, that’s a major milestone,” […]

For Bradley Crowell, the phrase ‘corner office’ has taken on a double meaning in recent months. The newest commissioner at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission occupies an office near the top floor of the agency’s Rockville, Md., headquarters in a jarringly angular concrete building that tapers off into a near 45-degree angle along the front wall. […]

A recent inspection at a shuttered Massachusetts nuclear power plant revealed that multiple contract workers at the site were inadvertently exposed to radiation during decommissioning work, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a letter to the company in charge of the facility. Holtec International, which is currently decommissioning Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, failed to “perform […]

Editor’s Note: A full interview with NRC Commissioner Bradley Crowell will be published in the Friday, February 7 issue of RadWaste Monitor. ROCKVILLE, MD. — A company seeking federal funds to restart a shuttered Michigan nuclear power plant is in for a heavy lift, one of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s newest top executives said during […]

The nation’s only nuclear power construction site will represent less than a tenth of total new generation capacity this year, the federal government’s independent energy auditor reported Monday. Although two new reactors with a combined capacity of 2.2 gigawatts (GW) are slated to come online in 2023 at Georgia’s Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, […]