Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission spent under $8,000 in December on planning activities for the moribund Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, the agency’s chairman told the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a letter last week. In a letter dated Feb. 8, NRC chair Christopher Hanson told Energy and Commerce head Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) that […]

A New Jersey district court judge signed a settlement Feb. 9 ending a legal feud between Holtec International and Lacey Township, N.J., over fuel from the Oyster Creek Generating Station, according to court papers. Judge Michael A. Shipp signed the order, setting the stage for Holtec to move forward with the decommissioning of Oyster Creek, […]

The trade group for the nuclear industry doubled down on a legal argument that the Nuclear Regulatory’s Commission’s 2019 interpretation of very low-level waste disposal guidelines illegally burdened licensees and should be reversed, according to a recent filing with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Moreover, NRC’s 2019 interpretation is not merely repetition of established […]

The company in charge of decommissioning Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station submitted a proposal to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requesting an amendment to fuel storage safety guidelines that would allow them to complete transferring spent fuel to dry storage by November, according to a filing published this week. Nuclear services provider Holtec International, which is […]

The trade group for the nuclear industry doubled down on a legal argument that the Nuclear Regulatory’s Commission’s 2019 interpretation of very low-level waste disposal guidelines illegally burdened licensees and should be reversed, according to a recent filing with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Moreover, NRC’s 2019 interpretation is not merely repetition of established […]

The company in charge of decommissioning Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station submitted a proposal to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requesting an amendment to fuel storage safety guidelines that would allow them to complete transferring spent fuel to dry storage by November, according to a filing published Monday. Nuclear services provider Holtec International, which is in […]

The New Mexico’s state Senate Conservation Committee did not debate as scheduled this week on a proposed bill that would create a statewide  “radioactive waste consultation task force.” The committee adjourned Thursday without discussing the proposed legislation, SB 82. The committee is scheduled to reconvene Tuesday, a week after the measure first appeared on a […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will resume force-on-force inspections in March with new COVID-19 guidelines for social distancing during exercises and advance notice about virus conditions on site two weeks prior to inspections, the agency said in a Wednesday webinar. NRC officials from the agency’s security operations division said during the webinar that the agency will […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission won’t reconsider a minerals company’s objections to the licensing of Interim Storage Partners’ proposed consolidated interim storage site in West Texas, according to a recent agency filing. According to last Friday’s filing, the commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board threw out the most recent of three motions filed last year by […]

A team of environmental interest groups is petitioning a federal to reverse the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s December rejection of two separate requests to delay the licensing of Interim Storage Partners’ proposed consolidated interim storage facility, according to a legal filing this week. The environmental groups asked the court of appeals for the D.C. circuit to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will resume force-on-force inspections in March with new COVID-19 guidelines for social distancing during exercises and advance notice about virus conditions on site two weeks prior to inspections, the agency said in a Wednesday webinar. NRC officials from the agency’s security operations division said during the webinar that the agency will […]

New Mexico’s state Senate Conservation Committee adjourned Tuesday without debating proposed legislation that would create a “radioactive waste consultation task force,” but the body is set to reconvene Thursday to tackle the issue.   The bill is one of 14 on the committee’s schedule this week. The body voted on only two of those 14 measures […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission won’t reconsider a minerals company’s objections to the licensing of Interim Storage Partners’ proposed consolidated interim storage site in West Texas, according to a recent agency filing. According to Friday’s filing, the commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board threw out the most recent of three motions filed last year by Fasken […]

New Mexico’s state Senate will discuss a new bill Tuesday that would create a “radioactive waste consultation task force” to negotiate waste disposal siting with the federal government. The New Mexico Senate’s Conservation Committee will hear the bill, introduced by state Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D) on Jan. 19, and vote later on whether to send […]

The cost to dispose of low-level waste fluctuated in 2020, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission estimated in an annual report, increasing at some sites due to higher waste volumes or radioactivity and decreased at others as a result of streamlined procedures. The agency’s 2020 estimates were informed by a sample group of nuclear plants and four […]

The construction of Interim Storage Partners’ consolidated interim storage facility won’t pose a threat to indigenous peoples’ historical sites, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday. In a letter to the Comanche Nation chair William Nelson, dated Jan. 26, the Commission said that the proposed consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) in Andrews, Texas will have “low […]

New York state is suing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over its refusal to delay the sale of Indian Point, according to a legal filing from last Friday. New York state attorney general Letitia James submitted the filing to the D.C. circuit court of appeals, after the NRC denied the state’s request to intervene on the […]

The Biden administration selected Commissioner Christopher Hanson to become the 18th chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency announced last week.  Hanson, one of the four current commissioners, is chairman effective immediately, according to an agency press release. He replaces former chair Kristine Svinicki, who left the commission on Jan. 20. “I look forward […]

The state of New York is suing the Nuclear Regulatory commission over their refusal to delay the sale of Indian Point Energy Center, according to a Friday legal filing. New York state attorney general Letitia James submitted the Friday petition to the D.C. circuit court of appeals, after the NRC denied the state’s request to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a petition to extend the review deadline for documents related to Holtec’s proposed interim storage site, according to a recent commission filing. The Commission on Friday released a memo approving the extension and moving the deadline to Jan. 28 after a pair of interest groups petitioned the NRC for an […]

The Biden administration selected Commissioner Christopher Hanson to become the 18th chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency announced Saturday.  Hanson, one of the four current commissioners, is chairman effective immediately, according to an agency press release. He replaces former chair Kristine Svinicki, who left the commission on Jan. 20. “I look forward to […]

Remaining cleanup costs at the West Valley Demonstration Project site in New York could run anywhere from $1.4 billion to $10.6 billion depending on how much contamination is dug up and shipped off-site, the Government Accountability Office said in its report last week on waste disposal at the site. As of February 2020, the Department […]

As of Friday morning, the Biden administration had not nominated either a fifth Nuclear Regulatory Commission chair or a fifth commissioner to replace the recently departed chair. So, while we wait, here’s where things at the nation’s nuclear rulemaking agency stand, and what’s at stake for the industry during Biden’s first 100 days. Former NRC […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in the process of implementing new inspection procedures that will standardize a more streamlined protocol across all of its standalone spent nuclear fuel storage facilities, the agency said Thursday. In a Tweet, the NRC said their enhanced guidelines for oversight of independent spent fuel storage installations (ISFSIs) focus on “the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a blanket denial recently of four hearing requests and three motions filed respectively by the state of New York and environmental watchdog groups that sought to delay the sale of Indian Point Energy Center, according to a recent agency memorandum. According to the memo dated Friday, the state of New […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied a nuclear watchdog’s request for a hearing regarding the sale of Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant’s Unit 2 reactor, according to a memorandum published by the agency Friday. The watchdog, Three Mile Island Alert, Inc., wanted the NRC to take a closer look at the transfer of the Three Mile […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a blanket denial recently of four hearing requests and three motions filed respectively by the state of New York and environmental watchdog groups that sought to delay the sale of Indian Point Energy Center, according to a recent agency memorandum. According to the memo dated Friday, the state of New […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied a nuclear watchdog’s request for a hearing regarding the sale of Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant’s Unit 2 reactor, according to a memorandum published by the agency Friday. The watchdog, Three Mile Island Alert, Inc., wanted the NRC to take a closer look at the transfer of the Three Mile […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission asked a federal court to throw out industry’s request for judicial review of the commission’s claim that the federal government is the ultimate decision-maker about low-level waste disposal. In a brief filed last Friday with the D.C. Circuit Court, the commission both refuted the Nuclear Energy Institute’s (NEI) legal basis for […]

The incoming Biden administration should designate a senior official reporting to the White House to negotiate both long-term and interim radioactive waste storage with Congress, an Obama-era Department of Energy official said this week. “A senior negotiator representing the administration would provide focus, leadership, and momentum for legislative action that puts the United States on […]