Nuclear Regulatory Commission

A working group of staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is scheduled in March to issue a formal set of recommendations to enhance financial assurances for decommissioning of nuclear power plants. Senior managers at the agency established the working group last September to consider the matter in the face of a growing trend in the […]

The New Mexico Senate on Monday voted down a bill intended to increase state oversight of a planned commercial storage facility for radioactive spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. Senators voted 25-16 against the legislation from Sen. Jeff Steinborn, a Democrat from Las Cruces. Senate Bill 95 would have instituted several updates to the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it will need to collect $728.5 million in fees to fund its operations for the current federal budget year. That figure meets the agency’s mandate under the 1990 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act to recover 90% of its yearly funding from licensee and service fees, according to a Federal Register […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is asking a federal appeals court to dismiss a petition challenging its sole authority to regulate disposal of very low-level radioactive waste (VLLW) from nuclear power plants in the agency’s agreement states. The Nuclear Energy Institute missed the 60-day window set under the Atomic Energy Act and Hobbs Act to file […]

By John Stang Strong investment returns on the decommissioning trust funds for the Pilgrim and Indian Point nuclear power complexes helped Entergy improve its financial pictures for 2019. The better numbers came from a mix of financial sources – along with the decommissioning trust returns, Entergy benefited from more favorable income tax returns, lower asset […]

The Trump administration this week publicly played down any appearance that recent comments from a senior Department of Energy official indicate continuing commitment to building a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain, Nev. Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes “and The Department of Energy fully support finding an alternative to Yucca Mountain for the storage of […]

A senior Department of Energy official on Wednesday walked back week-old comments suggesting the Trump administration still supports advancing development of a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “I have spoken to the White House and the Administration will not be pursuing Yucca Mountain as a solution for nuclear waste, and there are […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is asking a federal appeals court to dismiss a petition challenging its sole authority to regulate disposal of very low-level radioactive waste (VLLW) from nuclear power plants in the agency’s agreement states. The Nuclear Energy Institute missed the 60-day window to file a petition against the agency’s final determination of authority, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted an exemption to NorthStar Nuclear Decommissioning Co. on a reporting requirement for transport of low-level radioactive wastes from the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. In August 2019, NorthStar requested an extension from 20 days to 45 days to be notified that a waste shipment has arrived at the Waste Control […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it will need to collect $728.5 million in fees to fund its operations for the current federal budget year. That proposed fee take meets the agency’s mandate under the 1990 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act to recover 90% of its yearly funding from fees, according to a Federal Register notice […]

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he plans to nominate Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes to take over as deputy secretary for the Department of Energy. Menezes would succeed Dan Brouillette, who in December was confirmed and sworn in as secretary of energy. The nomination for the No. 2 spot at DOE had not been […]

By John Stang The New York state Attorney General’s Office and three other parties this week filed petitions for hearings with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the proposed license transfer and sale of the Indian Point Energy Center. Along with the Attorney General’s Office, the petitioners are: jointly the town of Cortlandt, village of Buchanan, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is requesting $863.4 million in funding for the upcoming 2021 fiscal year, a small step up from the $855.6 million authorized by Congress for the current spending cycle. But the agency noted Monday that amount would be 17% below its spending for fiscal 2014, just over $1 billion. In that time, the […]

Nevada’s political leaders voiced skepticism and cautious praise over the White House announcement that it would forgo requesting congressional appropriations to resume licensing of the Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository in their state. But lawmakers representing states with stranded waste urged the Trump administration to rethink its decision even before it was official. This is […]

Even as it abandoned efforts to revive the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, the Trump administration on Monday signaled plans for the federal government to resume collecting fees for the fund intended to pay for the facility. The White House budget for fiscal 2021 provides nothing to resume the long-moribund licensing for radioactive […]

The New York state Attorney General’s Office and two other parties this week filed petitions for hearings with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the proposed license transfer and sale of the Indian Point Energy Center. Along with the Attorney General’s Office, the petitioners are: jointly the town of Cortlandt, village of Buchanan, and Hendrick Hudson […]

The Energy Department on Tuesday issued a draft request for proposals for the potential 10-year, $6.4 billion contract for the Idaho Cleanup Project. The Idaho National Laboratory cleanup contract includes operation of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, management and disposal of both low-level radioactive and transuranic waste, decommissioning old facilities, and spent fuel management of […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is requesting $863.4 million in funding for the upcoming 2021 fiscal year, a small step up from the $855.6 million authorized by Congress for the current spending cycle. But the agency noted Monday that it has decreased its budget by 17% since fiscal 2014. In that time, the number of full-time […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects in March to issue a final report on revising its inspection regime for independent spent fuel storage installations (ISFSIs) at U.S. nuclear power plants. “The final report and recommendations, incorporating internal and external feedback, is undergoing internal review,” agency spokesman David McIntyre said by email on Jan. 29. “Once this […]

Comprehensive Decommissioning International (CDI) has secured the contract for decommissioning the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts, one of the company’s owners said Monday. The deal is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin stated in a press release. It was signed on Jan. 31, CDI spokesman Pat O’Brien said by […]

By John Stang FirstEnergy Corp. plans to pay $225 million in cash this year to the creditors of soon-to-be-former subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions. FirstEnergy Chief Financial Officer Steve Strah mentioned that cash payment in a Friday morning teleconference with analysts to discuss the Akron, Ohio-based corporation’s 2019 annual and fourth quarter financial picture. He did not […]

By John Stang Arguing that a worst-case scenario could result in geysers of radioactive water erupting on the California coast, an advocacy organization filed a new petition Tuesday to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to stop the decommissioning of the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. (SONGS). SONGS majority owner Southern California Edison countered that the […]

The White House said late Thursday it would not seek any funding in its upcoming budget proposal for licensing a nuclear waste disposal facility under Yucca Mountain, Nev. The brief emailed statement from an administration official – “The President’s 2021 budget will not have funding for the licensing of Yucca Mountain in it” – came […]

As has been its practice for the better part of a year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in December spent less than $1,000 of its remaining balance from the federal Nuclear Waste Fund. The $780 outlay for unspecified program planning and support left the agency with an unspent, unobligated balance of $405,246, according to the latest […]

While Amentum is a new company, it is far from a new face doing business for government nuclear and environmental agencies, a senior executive said Tuesday. The former AECOM Management Services branch officially became Amentum on Friday with the closure of the $2.4 billion sale to affiliates of New York-based investment firms Lindsay Goldberg and […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects in March to issue a final report on revising its inspection program for independent spent fuel storage installations (ISFSIs) at U.S. nuclear power plants. “The final report and recommendations, incorporating internal and external feedback, is undergoing internal review,” agency spokesman David McIntyre said by email on Jan. 29. “Once this […]

Comprehensive Decommissioning International (CDI) has secured the contract for decommissioning the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts, one of the company’s owners said Monday. The deal is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin stated in a press release. It was signed Friday, CDI spokesman Pat O’Brien said by email. The […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The Trump administration does not plan to request any funding in fiscal 2021 for licensing the planned nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain, Nev., issue experts said at an industry conference here Tuesday. That would reverse the White House’s efforts in its last three budget proposals to persuade Congress to appropriate money […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is giving the state of South Carolina more time to submit new data and input on the license renewal of Westinghouse Electric’s Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility. The formal 30-day comment period on the federal agency’s draft environmental assessment for the renewal application ended on Nov. 27, 2019. On Jan. 13, the […]

Interactions between processed high-level radioactive waste and stainless-steel containers could undermine long-term safe geologic disposal of the material, researchers at Ohio State University said in a study published this week. “The corrosion that is accelerated by the interface interaction between dissimilar materials could profoundly impact the service life of the nuclear waste packages, which, therefore, […]