Nuclear Regulatory Commission

A working group of staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recommended downshifting the standard schedule for inspections of spent reactor fuel storage pads from roughly every two years to three years. That was the No. 1 recommendation in the draft final version of Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) Inspection Enhancement Initiative, issued on […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering a means for simplifying the process by which very low-level radioactive waste (VLLW) can be shipped to certain landfills for disposal. The agency on March 6 announced plans for an interpretive rule to issue “specific exemptions” that would enable landfills to receive VLLW without needing approval for each shipment. […]

Staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday preliminarily recommended licensing a facility in New Mexico for temporary storage of spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. The tentative support is provided in the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for Holtec International’s planned consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) in Lea County, in the state’s southeast. […]

Radiation monitors for the public went online Tuesday at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), majority owner Southern California Edison announced Tuesday. Three gamma radiation monitors were installed on the San Diego County property in response to long-running public calls for ways to check for potential radiation leaks from spent fuel in dry-cask […]

Staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday preliminarily recommended licensing a facility in New Mexico for temporary storage of spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. The tentative support is provided in the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for Holtec International’s consolidated interim storage facility in Lea County, in the state’s southeast. “Based on […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in January spent just $219 of its remaining balance from the Nuclear Waste Fund. That left the agency with a balance of $430,978 from the fund intended to pay for a national repository for high-level waste from defense nuclear operations and spent fuel from commercial nuclear power plants. “While there are […]

PHOENIX – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering merging two long-running efforts to update federal regulations on disposal of radioactive waste, a senior official said here Monday. Agency staff is currently determining the paths forward for both a potential rulemaking on Greater-Than-Class C Waste and the continuing Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Rulemaking, according to Patricia […]

A working group of staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recommended downshifting the standard schedule for inspections of spent reactor fuel storage pads from roughly every two years to three years. That was the No. 1 recommendation in the draft final version of Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) Inspection Enhancement Initiative, issued Friday. […]

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) has raised a long list of concerns about a draft of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s environmental impact statement for a planned used nuclear fuel storage facility in the state. Even as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) and other state leaders have objected to the project from energy technology company […]

Nuclear cleanup contractors, including those planning to participate in a major waste conference next week, are trying to conduct business as usual while simultaneously grappling with the risk posed by the global coronavirus outbreak. On Thursday afternoon, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced it would cancel its annual Regulatory Information Conference, scheduled for March 10-12 just […]

Roughly 90 representatives from some of the Energy Department’s major contractors registered for an industry day last week on the potential 15-year, $6.4 billion cleanup contract for the Idaho National Laboratory. The Energy Department issued the draft request for proposals for the award last month. It followed that up with a tour, informational program, and […]

President Donald Trump on Monday nominated a Democratic Party staffer on the Senate Appropriations Committee to fill a vacancy on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has already scheduled a March 11 hearing to consider Christopher Hanson’s nomination, along with the nomination of serving Commissioner David Wright to a full […]

By John Stang The Nuclear Regulatory Commission failed to adequately review questionable safety findings from one of its scientists regarding an underground gas line that passes through the property of the Indian Point Energy Center nuclear power plant in upstate New York, according to the agency’s inspector general. A New York senator voiced anger at […]

By John Stang The schedule for decommissioning of reactor Unit 2 at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania is being coordinated with the timetable for teardown of Unit 1, even though they have separate owners. There is a hint that the two reactors could together accelerate their schedules for decommissioning, possibly by […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday announced the cancellation of a major conference set to begin Tuesday just outside of Washington, D.C., as participants dropped out in the face of the spreading coronavirus outbreak. “In recent days, a number of organizations and presenters have changed their attendance plans, with indications that others would reach similar […]

WASHINGTON —Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette on Tuesday would not commit to supporting a congressional rewrite of the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act to exclude mandatory construction of a permanent nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “If we were to consider a repeal of the 1987 amendment that designated Yucca Mountain as the […]

The Department of Energy plans to take bids on the design of a facility for interim storage of used reactor fuel from nuclear power plants, a senior official said Tuesday. Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal discussed the upcoming procurement in a hearing on the Energy Department’s latest budget proposal before the House Appropriations […]

A petition review board at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued final rulings against requests by two advocacy organizations to halt the decommissioning and spent-fuel offload at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. The petitions from Public Watchdogs and Oceansiders Against San Onofre Corruption do not meet the acceptance criteria for reviews […]

Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said Wednesday he is ready to work with two key Senate appropriators to establish a pilot program for temporary storage of spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) noted he and panel Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) have proposed the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it would proceed with a major conference next week, even as other sizable events are being canceled as cases of coronavirus disease increase globally. There were more than 2,200 registrants as of Monday for the agency’s Regulatory Information Conference, scheduled for March 10-12 in North Bethesda, Md., according to […]

The Department of Energy plans to take bids on the design of a facility for interim storage of used reactor fuel from nuclear power plants, a senior official said Tuesday. Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal discussed the upcoming procurement in a hearing on the new DOE budget proposal before the House Appropriations energy […]

Organizers of the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix are still holding the annual gathering next week despite public concerns over coronavirus (COVID-19), a spokeswoman said this morning. After a Monday meeting of the WMS executive management team, the decision was made to go ahead with the event – with added precautions to safeguard the health […]

President Donald Trump intends to nominate a Democratic Party staffer on the Senate Appropriations Committee to fill a vacancy on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the White House announced Friday. There was no word from the White House regarding the schedule for the formal nomination of Christopher Hanson. Hanson said by email Friday he had no […]

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) on Thursday expressed dismay at the dramatically reduced level of money the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state would receive under the White House latest budget request. The agency has a moral and legal obligation to clean up 56 million gallons of liquid waste, generated by decades of plutonium production […]

President Donald Trump on Feb. 21 reaffirmed his administration’s opposition to licensing a nuclear waste disposal facility under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “I also recently took action on an issue Nevada has been dealing with for over 30 years, Yucca Mountain, you know Yucca Mountain?” Trump said during a rally in Las Vegas. “My budget […]

Amentum, the Maryland-based successor to AECOM’s Management Services branch, announced a pair of executive promotions this week. Tom Foster, president and project manager at the Savannah River Remediation joint venture in South Carolina, on Wednesday was named chief operating officer for Amentum’s Nuclear & Environment business unit. On Thursday, the company said it is promoting […]

By John Stang Southern California Edison on Thursday reported a significant turnaround in revenue and income for 2019, spurred by higher ratepayer fees. The utility went from a net loss of $310 million, or a $0.95 loss per share, on $12.6 billion in revenue in 2018 to a 2019 net income of $1.4 billion, or […]

The Department of Energy will seek neither to license a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, nor a federal facility for temporary centralized storage of the radioactive material, Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said Thursday. His comments come after Brouillette’s predecessor, Rick Perry, said last fall the agency also has no legal authorization […]

The Department of Energy wants $20 million in fiscal 2021 for operations to lay the groundwork for the eventual consolidation and temporary storage of nuclear waste now dispersed around the nation. That is the largest slice of the $27.5 million requested for Interim Storage and Nuclear Waste Fund Oversight in the budget year beginning Oct. […]

President Donald Trump on Friday reaffirmed his administration’s new opposition to licensing a nuclear waste disposal facility under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “I also recently took action on an issue Nevada has been dealing with for over 30 years, Yucca Mountain, you know Yucca Mountain?” Trump said during a rally in Las Vegas. “My budget […]