Nuclear Regulatory Commission

WASHINGTON — As federal budget season wears on, details are still scarce on the Joe Biden administration’s plans for a federal interim storage site for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, and one key appropriator isn’t happy with the lack of specifics. Asked after a Department of Energy budget hearing Wednesday in the Senate Appropriations energy […]

Residents in the area around a shuttered nuclear plant in southern New Jersey were in the dark for around two hours Monday afternoon after a construction accident caused a power outage, said the company in charge of decommissioning the site. A contractor working for Holtec International backed into a utility pole while moving equipment at […]

The state of New Mexico is pursuing its lawsuit over a proposed interim storage site for spent nuclear fuel in the wrong venue, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission argued in a recent court filing. Since New Mexico attorney general Hector Balderas’s March suit in the state’s district court cited a violation of the Atomic Energy Act […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was scheduled to meet this week to affirm its decisions to again deny a minerals company’s request to reopen the record about an objection to the licensing of a commercial interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, according to the commission’s schedule. During a meeting set for Tuesday, the commission will […]

Members of the public have a few extra months to provide comments on cleanup at the site of one of the country’s worst radioactive accidents, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced this week. The comment period for a proposed license amendment allowing the United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) to move radioactive mine waste from the defunct Church […]

Two of the government’s top decision makers on nuclear energy again asked the nuclear energy industry for its help to get their goals for nuclear power across the finish line at a trade conference Monday. The Joe Biden administration “can launch more nuclear projects across the country, we can power more communities with clean energy, […]

There’s no need for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to change existing regulations surrounding disposal of very low-level nuclear waste, according to the results of a three-year agency scoping study published this month. The study, which began in 2018, was commissioned because of the “anticipated increase of early nuclear power plant closures,” NRC wrote Tuesday in […]

New Mexico is planning to voice its displeasure with the Department of Energy over a proposed commercial interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in their state, a member of its Congressional delegation told the secretary of energy in a hearing Tuesday. The Department of Energy isn’t meeting its responsibility to designate a permanent repository […]

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) used a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing Tuesday to question Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm on why the Joe Biden administration’s $7.6-billion budget request for nuclear cleanup trims funding for the Hanford Site during fiscal 2022. The White House has proposed to split about $2.47 billion between Hanford’s two […]

There’s no need for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to change existing regulations surrounding disposal of very low-level nuclear waste, according to the results of a three-year agency scoping study published this month. The study, which began in 2018, was commissioned because of the “anticipated increase of early nuclear power plant closures,” NRC wrote Tuesday in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced this week that it was giving out cash awards to academic institutions focusing on nuclear science and engineering, according to a press release. 30 four-year universities, trade schools, community colleges and other institutions were part of NRC’s $10.7 million grant award, the agency said in a press release Tuesday. The […]

A proposed consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel won’t need a special construction permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, the military civil works formation said in a recent letter. If Holtec International got the go-ahead from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build its consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) in southeastern New Mexico, […]

An environmental watchdog group seeking to halt decommissioning operations at Southern California Edison’s shuttered nuclear power plant will have its day in court next week. The Superior Court of California for the county of Los Angeles  was scheduled to hear The Samuel Lawrence Foundation’s case against the California Coastal Commission on June 16, according to […]

The Joe Biden administration’s budget request proves they’re willing to help out the nuclear energy industry as part of its clean energy agenda, the Secretary of Energy said at a trade group conference this week. “The administration isn’t just ready to talk the talk, we’re willing to walk the walk” on nuclear energy, said Jennifer […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will focus on modernization of the existing fleet of nuclear power plants and developing regulations for advanced reactors, the agency’s chairman told one of the nuclear industry’s largest trade groups at its annual conference Monday. NRC wants to ensure the nation’s current fleet of nuclear plants are outfitted with new technologies […]

Despite this year’s spate of plant closures the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is asking for increased funding for regulation of new reactors during the 2022 fiscal year, according to recently published budget documents. Of the roughly $890 appropriation NRC would get if the Joe Biden administration’s budget plan were to become law, about $89 million would […]

A federal judge Thursday formally dismissed a suit over the sale of Indian Point Energy Center  following the approval of a joint settlement last week, according to new court filings. The approval of last week’s motion to dismiss filed by New York State, alongside environmental watchdog Riverkeeper and the towns of Cortlandt and Buchanan, N.Y., […]

When it comes to radioactive waste in New Mexico, the head of the state’s environment department thinks the buck should stop — or really, start — with him. “This is the state to which things have been sent to. We are adamant that we will be the state that is first consulted with,” James Kenney, […]

Despite this year’s spate of plant closures the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is asking for increased funding for regulation of new reactors during the 2022 fiscal year, according to recently published budget documents. Of the roughly $890 appropriation NRC would get if the Joe Biden administration’s budget plan were to become law, about $89 million would […]

The Joe Biden administration proposed putting the Department of Energy back in charge of Manhattan Project site cleanup efforts as part of its fiscal year 2022 budget request, according to a recent press release. The Army Corps of Engineers, which currently oversees the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP), would continue cleaning up the […]

The state of New York and other stakeholders involved in an ongoing suit over the sale of Indian Point Energy Center moved to dismiss the case following the approval of a joint settlement, according to recent court filings. New York State, alongside environmental watchdog Riverkeeper and the towns of Cortlandt and Buchanan, N.Y., will withdraw […]

The company set to decommission Indian Point Energy Center in New York is now the plant’s official owner, according to a press release last week. Holtec International completed its acquisition of the Buchanan, N.Y. nuclear plant from Entergy Friday, the company said Friday. Holtec subsidiary Holtec Indian Point, LLC now holds the site’s ownership and […]

Although details are sparse, funding to site a federal interim storage facility for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel would be included in the Department of Energy’s budget proposal for 2022 if it became law, according to the agency’s latest top-level budget summary. The Office of Nuclear Energy’s (ONE) fuel cycle program should receive funding “for […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted four nuclear power plants exemptions to federal regulations governing employee work hours and training during the month of April, according to a notice published by the agency this week. Between April 6 and April 29 NRC granted work-hour control exemptions to: Fermi Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan; Clinton Power Station […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will make a final decision about whether to license one of two proposed interim storage sites for spent nuclear fuel “shortly after” it completes environmental impact statements for the project this summer, the agency’s spent fuel licensing project manager said this week.  NRC is “currently close to completing the final safety […]

The public comment period for a proposed license amendment enabling cleanup operations at the Church Rock uranium mine is now over, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The last day for comments on the agency’s draft environmental impact statement for the action was Thursday, NRC has said. The commission will evaluate all responses and release […]

The company in charge of decommissioning a New Jersey nuclear power plant violated federal safety regulations after an accident involving a spent fuel storage canister caused a site worker to be doused with contaminated water, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said. During a February safety test at Oyster Creek Generating Station in Forked River, N.J. a […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy would get a cash infusion for its advanced reactor development program and support for consent-based siting for a permanent waste repository would begin after Sept. 30, if the 2022 budget request rolled out Friday became law. The request calls for $370 million for the Office of Nuclear […]

Current and former contractors at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio this week filed a motion to dismiss one of the two class action lawsuits brought against those companies by local residents following the May 2019 disclosure of radioactive contamination of a public school outside the fence. The dismissal motion arrived at about […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted four nuclear power plants exemptions to federal regulations governing employee work hours and training during the month of April, according to a notice published by the agency Tuesday. Between April 6 and April 29 NRC granted work-hour control exemptions to: Fermi Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan; Clinton Power Station in […]