Nuclear Regulatory Commission

By John Stang The current and would-be owner of the infamous Three Mile Island reactor Unit 2 in Pennsylvania believe almost $300 million and 16 years can be trimmed from the prior decommissioning plan for the facility. In a package submitted Dec. 12, 2019, to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, GPU Nuclear and TMI-2 Solutions said decommissioning […]

A new inspector general’s report bashed the human resources department at the federal Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board as ineffective, inefficient, and incapable of supporting the agency’s oversight of defense-nuclear sites. The board’s “human resources program is currently not designed and implemented to effectively support the execution of its mission,” reads a report issued this […]

The Department of Energy should expand its use of underground research laboratories (URLs) for research on geologic disposal of nuclear waste, including establishing facilities in the United States, a federal panel of experts said in a report Tuesday. That would include establishing one or more underground research laboratories, potentially using existing underground facilities, according to […]

The chief financial officer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is moving into the corresponding position at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Cherish Johnson will start as the regulator’s CFO on Feb. 18, according to a Monday press release. She succeeds Maureen Wylie, who retired after working for 35 years in the federal government. […]

The Department of Energy should expand its use of underground research laboratories (URLs) for research on geologic disposal of nuclear waste, including establishing facilities in the United States, a federal panel of experts said in a report Tuesday. The Energy Department has since 2012 participated in research at URLs in Europe and Asia, the Nuclear […]

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

The U.S. 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, […]

Legislation introduced Wednesday in the New Mexico Senate would update the responsibilities of the state’s Radioactive Waste Consultation Task Force to include oversight of commercial spent nuclear fuel storage. The task force was established in the 1978 state Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Act, largely to act as the New Mexico government’s negotiator for siting, licensing, […]

Decommissioning trust funds for 119 operational and retired nuclear power reactors in the United States together held $64.7 billion at the end of 2018, according to the latest update from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Two power providers initially failed to demonstrate “decommissioning funding assurance” for a handful of reactors, though those issues were all […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday formally rejected a petition from a California advocacy group to update federal regulations to require toughening of dry-cask storage of spent fuel at nuclear power plants. The agency said the regulatory infrastructure already in place obviates the need for the Hardened, Extended-Life, Local, Monitored Surface Storage (HELMS) approach […]

The White House on Jan. 6 nominated Nuclear Regulatory Commission member David Wright to a full five-year term, through June 30, 2025. The move came as no surprise – the Trump administration had stated in November it intended to reappoint Wright. Wright’s nomination was referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. As of […]

By John Stang Two California advocacy organizations pitched their cases this week to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission against on-site storage of all spent reactor fuel at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). This was essentially both groups — Public Watchdogs and Oceansiders Against San Onofre Corruption— trying to persuade the federal regulator […]

New York state’s elected leaders are leaving no doubt that they have questions and concerns about the planned sale of the soon-to-close Indian Point Energy Center. As the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday began accepting requests for hearings on the federal license transfers needed for the deal to proceed, New York Attorney General Letitia […]

Another California advocacy organization pitched its case Wednesday to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission against on-site storage of all spent reactor fuel at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). Following a Tuesday presentation from the San Diego-based Public Watchdogs, Oceansiders Against San Onofre Corruption made its arguments to the NRC’s Petition Review Board […]

The White House on Jan. 6 nominated Nuclear Regulatory Commission member David Wright to a full five-year term, through June 30, 2025. The move came as no surprise – the Trump administration had stated in November it intended to reappoint Wright. Wright’s nomination was referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. As of […]

Legislation introduced Wednesday in the New Mexico Senate would update the responsibilities of the state Radioactive Waste Consultation Task Force to include oversight of commercial spent nuclear fuel storage. The task force was established in the 1978 state Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Act, largely to act as the New Mexico government’s negotiator for siting, licensing, […]

Passage of a law to reauthorize the U.S. Energy Department’s cleanup of the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state drew kudos Wednesday from participants at a local meeting. The measure, which passed the U.S. Senate on Dec. 2 and was subsequently signed into law by President Donald Trump on Dec. 20, would reauthorize […]

Massachusetts-based UniTech Services Group has made Michael Bovino its new vice president, effective Jan. 1. Bovino brings 35 years of management and contamination control experience to the post at the nuclear services company. The executive is a 29-year veteran of UniTech and its parent, UniFirst Corp., most recently serving as division general manager responsible for […]

Decommissioning trust funds for 119 operational and retired nuclear power reactors together held $64.7 billion at the end of 2018, according to the latest update from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Agency staff on Dec. 31 provided the NRC commissioners with its review of the 2019 decommissioning funding status reports from nuclear utilities. The report, […]

A California advocacy group took its latest crack Tuesday at persuading the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to order a halt to decommissioning of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The NRC’s Petition Review Board heard Public Watchdogs’ case for approval of a 25-page petition filed in September. The meeting was not a hearing, but […]

The logistics branch of nuclear company Orano at the end of 2019 wrapped up the transfer to dry storage of spent fuel canisters with the highest heat load to date at U.S. power plants, according to a Jan. 15 press release. At the customer’s request, Orano is not identifying the nuclear power plant where the […]

Jackie Quintyne, a Chicago native with 19 years of conference planning experience, has been named conference manager for the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix. The annual WM Symposia in March is considered the largest international conference for the management of radioactive material and related topics. It provides a forum for discussing cost-effective and environmentally responsible […]

By John Stang A proposed settlement agreement contends that decommissioning of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California later this decade can be done for $900 million less than previously estimated. On Jan. 10, plant owner Pacific Gas & Electric Co., San Luis Obispo County, and five other entities filed a proposed settlement agreement […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week it has reduced the liability insurance requirements for both on-site and off-site damage at the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. The agency issued the regulatory exemptions to subsidiaries of plant owner Holtec International on Jan. 6, according to separate notices Monday and Tuesday in the […]

In a New Year’s boon for Belgium’s Institute for Radioelements, the U.S. Department of Energy has postponed by two years a ban on exporting U.S.-origin, weapon-usable uranium for the production of medical isotopes. “[C]urrent global supplies of Mo-99 [Molybdenum 99] produced without the use of HEU [highly enriched uranium] are not sufficient to meet U.S. […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week cited a Westinghouse fuel facility in South Carolina with two violations of federal nuclear rules, but details were scarce this week. The two Severity Level IV violations were identified in an inspection of the Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF) from Nov. 18-21, 2019, according to a Jan. 10 […]

The state of New York is objecting to a request by power company Entergy for federal approval to reduce staffing at the Indian Point Energy Center as its two remaining operational reactors are retired over the next 16 months. Three separate state agencies have reviewed the plan, filed last April with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory […]

The Trump administration is less than a month away from releasing its latest annual budget request, but so far no one is saying officially whether it will feature another attempt to revive the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The White House’s fiscal 2021 spending proposal is due on Feb. 10, a senior administration official confirmed […]

By John Stang One senator expressed concern Wednesday about the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s consideration of cutting back on inspections of spent fuel storage facilities at the nation’s nuclear power plants. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) raised the issue during a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee featuring testimony from two senior NRC […]

U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette has started off the new year by giving more authority to DOE Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes, effectively making him acting second in command at the agency until a deputy is in place. Brouillette said in a Jan. 10 email to Energy Department staff that to “ensure continued operational effectiveness,” […]