Nuclear Regulatory Commission

By John Stang U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff expect next spring to issue draft environmental impact statements (EIS) for two planned consolidated interim storage sites for used fuel from nuclear power plants. The environmental documents are central to the agency’s decision on whether to issue licenses for construction and operation of the facilities. The draft […]

By John Stang A legal tug-of-war is underway between a San Diego law firm and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission over the release of paperwork related to federal oversight of used-fuel management at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. In March and June of this year, attorney Michael Aguirre submitted three […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has signed off on transferring the reactor and spent-fuel storage licenses for the Zion nuclear power plant in Illinois from decommissioning contractor EnergySolutions to site owner Exelon. The order from agency staff took effect on Nov. 26, according to a Dec. 6 notice in the Federal Register. It is good […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission intends to issue a follow-on contract for support in finalizing the emergency preparedness portion of its ongoing decommissioning rulemaking. ICF Incorporated LLC would receive a two-year noncompetitive award for “Completion of Emergency Preparedness Decommissioning Rulemaking and Guidance,” according to a Dec. 5 procurement notice from the NRC. Agency staff in […]

The Nevada Board of Examiners on Tuesday approved a $5.1 million, two-year renewal to the state contract with a law firm for counsel in its fight against the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The contract amendment keeps Egan, Fitzpatrick, Malsch, & Lawrence on the job through Feb. 28, 2022, with a maximum payment of […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has signed off on transferring the reactor and spent-fuel storage licenses for the Zion nuclear power plant in Illinois from decommissioning contractor EnergySolutions to site owner Exelon. The order from agency staff took effect on Nov. 26, according to a Dec. 6 notice in the Federal Register. It is good […]

A legal tug-of-war is underway between a San Diego law firm and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission over the release of paperwork related to federal oversight of used-fuel management at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. In March and June of this year, San Diego attorney Michael Aguirre filed three complaints […]

The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday released a draft environmental assessment for its proposal to treat and dispose of up to 10,000 gallons of recycled wastewater from the Savannah River Siteat a commercial low-level radioactive waste site somewhere outside South Carolina. This would be the first test run of the DOE’s reinterpretation from June […]

The draft environmental impact statements (EIS) for two planned consolidated interim storage sites for used fuel from nuclear power plants are due next spring, officials said last week during a meeting of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The environmental documents are central to the agency’s decision on whether to issue licenses for construction and operation […]

The Nuclear Energy Institute is asking a federal appeals court to undo the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s determination that it has full authority to regulate disposal of very low-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, even in states that have taken on much of the agency’s oversight of radioactive materials. At issue is Regulatory Issue […]

The federal fund intended to pay for the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., held $40.9 billion in U.S. Treasury securities at the end of fiscal 2019 on Sept. 30, according to the latest audit from the Department of Energy. That was up from $39.2 billion in the Nuclear Waste Fund at the close […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Nov. 22 urged a federal appeals court to dismiss two requests from the commonwealth of Massachusetts to freeze the license transfer of the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit does not yet have jurisdiction to rule on the matter, […]

Workers at Westinghouse Electric’s Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF) in South Carolina violated federal safety codes in September when they shipped contaminated barrels of uranium hexafluoride to Washington state, adding to the growing list of safety issues that have plagued the plant in recent years. The incident resulted in a Level IV violation from the […]

The U.S. Department of Energy is studying whether to sign off on an extension of the legal deadline to end exports of weapon-grade uranium for foreign production of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). The agency’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is accepting comments from the public through Dec. 27 ahead of the secretarial certification […]

The White House on Nov. 22 announced its intention to nominate David Wright to a full term on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Wright has served on the commission since May 2018. He assumed a seat vacated by Commissioner Jeff Baran, which expires on June 30, 2020. Baran, a commissioner since 2014, last year was […]

By John Stang A federal judge ruled Tuesday against an activist organization’s lawsuit seeking a halt to the transfer of spent reactor fuel into dry storage at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. Following oral arguments on Nov. 25, Judge Janis Sammartino, of U.S. District Court for Southern California, ruled in favor of […]

By John Stang Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) expects full cleanup of its Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant to cost at least $5.1 billion, according to paperwork filed Wednesday with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. That breaks down to $3.16 billion for decommissioning the complex, $1.26 billion for spent fuel management, and about $738,000 for […]

Congress had not produced a compromise National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2020 as of early Friday afternoon, prolonging a lack of authorization for key nuclear programs. It was a week of whiplash predictions from top defense authorizers Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who in the aggregate appeared less certain of […]

Workers at Westinghouse Electric’s Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF) in South Carolina violated federal safety codes in September when they shipped contaminated barrels of uranium hexafluoride to Washington state, adding to the growing list of safety issues that have plagued the plant in recent years. The incident resulted in a Level IV violation from the […]

A federal judge ruled Tuesday against an activist organization’s lawsuit seeking a halt to the transfer of spent reactor fuel into dry storage at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California, according to both sides in the litigation. Following oral arguments on Nov. 25, Judge Janis Sammartino, of U.S. District Court for Southern […]

The U.S. Department of Energy is studying whether to sign off on an extension of the legal deadline to end exports of weapon-grade uranium for foreign production of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). The agency’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is accepting comments from the public through Dec. 27 ahead of the secretarial certification […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in October spent $485 of its remaining balance from the federal Nuclear Waste Fund, leaving it with $405,992 absent further appropriations from Congress. As has been the case for most of the year, the agency spent just a few hundred dollars on unspecified program planning and support, according to the […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is accepting comments from the public through Jan. 13 on the scope of an add-on to its environmental impact statement (EIS) for SHINE Medical Technologies’ isotope production plant in Janesville, Wis. The agency issued the original document in October 2015 for SHINE’s application for a construction permit for its facility, […]

The Nuclear Energy Institute is asking a federal appeals court to undo the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s determination that it has full authority to regulate disposal of very low-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, even in states that have taken on much of the agency’s oversight of radioactive materials. At issue is Regulatory Issue […]

The federal fund intended to pay for the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., held $40.9 billion in U.S. Treasury securities at the end of fiscal 2019 on Sept. 30, according to the latest audit from the Department of Energy. That rose from $39.2 billion in the Nuclear Waste Fund at the close of […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday urged a federal appeals court to reject two requests from the commonwealth of Massachusetts to freeze the license transfer of the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit does not yet have jurisdiction under federal law to rule on […]

The White House on Friday announced its intention to nominate David Wright to a full term on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Wright has served on the commission since May 2018. He assumed a seat vacated by Commissioner Jeff Baran, which expires on June 30, 2020. Baran, a commissioner since 2014, last year was confirmed […]

Energy technology company Holtec International on Friday took a key step toward buying another soon-to-close nuclear power plant for decommissioning. The plant in this case is the Indian Point Energy Center in upstate New York, which is scheduled for permanent retirement by the end of April 2021. Holtec and facility owner Entergy on Friday submitted […]

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed another stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government running nearly three months into the 2020 budget year. Major news organizations reported the president signed the agreement after the Senate earlier in the day voted 74-20 to pass a House amendment that extends the current continuing resolution to […]

A board of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday reversed a prior order to allow the Sierra Club to argue one case against licensing of a facility in West Texas for temporary storage of spent fuel from nuclear power plants. The NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) also rejected the environmental organization’s motion […]