Nuclear Regulatory Commission

A top official at the U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday placed the onus squarely on Congress to provide the means for permanent disposal of the nation’s nuclear waste. For now, that means the long-planned Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada, as directed under the 1987 amendment to the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act, Undersecretary of […]

Interim Storage Partners (ISP) on Monday petitioned for dismissal of the sole permitted contention against federal licensing of its planned consolidated interim storage facility in West Texas for spent fuel from nuclear power plants. Upon rejecting the contention, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board should then close out the entire proceeding of […]

Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has determined there would be no significant environmental impact in a 20-year renewal of the Department of Energy’s license for storage of radioactive waste from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant at the Idaho National Laboratory. The agency is expected to formally post the final environmental assessment […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in July again spent little of its remaining balance from the fund intended to pay for a federal nuclear waste repository. The agency spent just $704 in the month for unspecified program planning and support. That left the NRC with a total balance of $434,262, with $408,039 of that not […]

With just a handful of business days until the fiscal 2020 budget year begins, the Senate Appropriations Committee is rushing to approve its spending bills. The full panel has scheduled markups for 10 a.m. Thursday of its defense; energy and water; state, foreign operations, and related programs; and labor, health and human services, education, and […]

A former employee at the URENCO USA uranium enrichment facility in New Mexico has been barred from conducting Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed activities for one year. Justin Roberts was working as a contract assembler at the plant in Eunice in September 2016 when he placed an unidentified, confidential part into another worker’s lunchbox, according to an […]

HENDERSON, Nev. — Congress appears set to again deny the Trump administration’s request to appropriate funding for licensing of a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain, Nev., one issue watcher said Tuesday. The White House for fiscal 2020 requested $116 million for Yucca Mountain and interim storage of radioactive waste, the large majority of that […]

By John Stang Massachusetts’ government and a Cap Cod activist organization this week pressed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a stay of agency staff’s approval of the license transfer and decommissioning trust fund exemption for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Former owner Entergy completed the sale of the retired single-reactor plant to Holtec International […]

It will take at least “the next several months” to clean up a cesium-137 spill from May at a University of Washington medical research building in Seattle, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Thursday. The public has been barred from the seven-floor Research and Training Building near the Harborview Medical […]

By John Stang In just a handful of comments to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, representatives from the nuclear industry signaled support for a proposal to allow some power plant decommissioning funds to be applied before shutdown. The deadline for comments was Aug. 26. The Regulations.gov web page for the rulemaking petition showed only six […]

By John Stang An activist organization is legally challenging the movement of spent fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California as too dangerous to the public. The Aug. 29 lawsuit from Public Watchdogs in U.S. District Court for Southern California seeks to nullify SONGS’ current decommissioning plan; to have the site’s […]

HENDERSON, Nev. — Communities along the Georgia-South Carolina line, as well as U.S. Energy Department cleanup vendors, will be closely tracking federal consideration of disposal options for 10,000 gallons of vitrified wastewater from the Savannah River Site. When the Energy Department published its proposed reinterpretation of the definition of radioactive high-level waste (HLW) in June, […]

HENDERSON, Nev. – Assistant Energy Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal on Wednesday said there is value in “parallel paths” for management of the nation’s nuclear waste, encompassing consolidated storage and a permanent repository. Speaking at the ExchangeMonitor’s RadWaste Summit, Baranwal said she last week walked 5 miles through the planned underground disposal site at […]

Massachusetts’ government on Tuesday pressed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for “a stay of the effectiveness” of agency staff’s approval of the license transfer and decommissioning trust fund exemption for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Former owner Entergy completed the sale of the retired single-reactor plant to Holtec International on Aug. 26 after receiving NRC […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects to give stakeholders more time to provide input on its draft regulatory basis for a potential rulemaking on disposal of Greater-Than-Class C (GTCC) low-level radioactive waste. “No extension yet, but one is likely,” agency spokesman David McIntyre said by email Tuesday. On Aug. 29, the Texas Commission on Environmental […]

Three members of Massachusetts’ congressional delegation want the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to keep emergency preparedness and planning regulations in place for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Staff at the agency has already recommended that Pilgrim be exempt from certain regulations following the end of operations and removal of used fuel from the reactor. Power […]

An activist organization is legally challenging the movement of used nuclear fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California as too dangerous to the public. The Aug. 29 lawsuit from San Diego-based Public Watchdogs in U.S. District Court for Southern California seeks an order requiring the NRC to put a hold on decommissioning […]

Jacobs Engineering announced on Aug. 20 it would pay £250 million ($304.5 million) to acquire the nuclear business of the Scotland-based John Wood Group. The deal is expected to be sealed in the first quarter of 2020, pending regulatory approval in the United Kingdom, according to the companies. The acquisition will bring proprietary technology and […]

By John Stang Entergy Corp. on Monday completed the sale of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts to Holtec International for an undisclosed amount of money. The move came quickly on the heels of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval on Aug. 22 of the transfer of Pilgrim’s federal operational and spent fuel storage […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Aug. 23 began the official procurement process for decommissioning of its long-retired SM-1 reactor on the ground of Fort Belvoir, Va. Prospective vendors have until 11 a.m. Nov. 4 Eastern time to submit bids, according to the procurement notice. The Army Corps expects to select its contractor in […]

RadWaste Monitor took a break over the past two weeks for Congress’ annual summer recess. Our affiliate publication, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, kept up on the latest news around the nuclear security enterprise and its industry partners. Here’s a recap of what happened while we were out.   NRC Schedules Meetings on Decommissioning Advisory Boards […]

By John Stang Workers at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California have successfully moved the first two canisters of used reactor fuel to dry storage since restarting transfers on July 18. A third canister is on deck to begin movement this week. Officials with plant majority owner Southern California Edison (SCE) on Aug. […]

The Sierra Club will be allowed to argue one environmental contention against U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing of a facility in West Texas for temporary storage of spent reactor fuel from nuclear power plants. An NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) ruled on Aug. 23 that the environmental organization had proved standing for intervention […]

The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission on Aug. 22 approved reserving a set amount of disposal capacity at the compact facility for certain “small quantity” generators. The addition to the Texas Administrative Code passed unanimously without discussion by the commissioners present at a meeting in Austin, alongside an amendment redefining small-quantity generator. Texas and […]

A group of six scientists and nuclear waste experts on Monday renewed their call for Congress to fund the frozen federal licensing of the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada. Advancing the licensing is both required by law and necessary to avoid extending the “financial liabilities” and potential environmental threats of keeping tens of thousands of […]

Entergy Corp. on Monday completed the sale of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts to Holtec International for an undisclosed amount of money. This follows the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval last Thursday of the transfer of Pilgrim’s federal operational and spent fuel storage licenses. “The successful Pilgrim transaction demonstrates continued progress on Entergy’s […]

Workers at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California have successfully moved the first two canisters of used reactor fuel to dry storage since restarting transfers on July 18. A third canister is on deck to begin movement this week. Officials with plant majority owner Southern California Edison (SCE) on Thursday briefed the SONGS […]

Holtec International said Friday it will complete its acquisition of the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts “as soon as practicable,” after receiving the necessary authorization from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The federal agency on Aug. 22 approved the transfer of Pilgrim’s operational and spent fuel storage licenses from plant owner Entergy to […]

The Sierra Club will be allowed to argue one environmental contention against U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing of a facility in West Texas for temporary storage of spent reactor fuel from nuclear power reactors. An NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled that the environmental organization had proved standing for intervention and an adjudicatory hearing […]

The commonwealth of Massachusetts is objecting to an upcoming U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff order allowing the license transfer for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The order, expected as early as this week, would enable owner Entergy to sell the plant to Holtec International for decommissioning. The ruling could come even before the federal […]