Nuclear Regulatory Commission

There is little hope for a consent-based approach to selecting the site for a U.S. radioactive waste repository, a key appropriator in the House of Representatives said Tuesday. “I know of no community that will become a permanent repository for nuclear waste based on consent,” said Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), ranking member of the House […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday formally rejected the petition from a Chicago environmental organization to suspend the licenses for three FirstEnergy Corp. nuclear power plants set for closure by October 2021. In a notice posted in the Federal Register, the agency said it had had not found that FirstEnergy and the subsidiaries that […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in stepping on federal law and its own regulations in re-assuming authority over disposal of “very low-level” radioactive waste by some facilities in agency agreement states, according to the trade group for the nuclear industry. In a Feb. 28 letter to the NRC, Nuclear Energy Institute General Counsel Ellen Ginsberg […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a meeting for April 25 in Florida to take public comment on Duke Energy’s request for the release of much of the property for its retired Crystal River nuclear power plant. In January, Duke filed the request for release of 3,854 acres of the 4,738-acre property from the […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in February spent $1,249 of its remaining available balance from the Nuclear Waste Fund, leaving it with $407,230 absent an additional appropriation from Congress. The NRC uses its portion of the federal fund to pay for work connected to its adjudication of the Department of Energy license application for a […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission blasted as unbalanced a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found the small civilian agency should consider tighter regulation of nuclear material that terrorists could use in a radioactive dispersal device. In the report published Thursday, the GAO said the NRC’s regulation of radioactive material storage should be stricter because of the […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering a petition to revise federal regulations and allow nuclear power plant operators to use their decommissioning trust funds for removal of major components prior to shutdown. The agency on March 20 docketed the rulemaking petition filed in February by Gerard Van Noordennen, vice president for regulatory affairs at […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday urged a federal appeals court to dismiss an anti-nuclear advocacy group’s motion demanding the agency rule on the legality of two license applications for interim storage of spent nuclear power reactor fuel. Beyond Nuclear filed its petition for review in December with the U.S. Court of Appeals for […]

Fifteen Democratic members of Congress from states with retired or soon-to-close nuclear power plants this week urged leading House appropriators to provide $25 million to help establish interim storage of radioactive waste. Two private corporate teams are seeking Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses for sites that could hold used fuel commercial power plants until the Department […]

By John Stang Two Democratic senators this week pressed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to explain its reasoning for leaving out certain requirements in a final rule intended to safeguard nuclear power plants from flooding and earthquakes. The commission in January voted 3-2 in favor of the rule on mitigation of beyond-design-basis events. The proceeding had been […]

By John Stang Holtec International and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission are scheduled next week to discuss scratches on canisters used in the company’s HI-STORM UMAX spent nuclear fuel storage system. The public meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday at NRC headquarters in North Bethesda, Md. During the two-hour session, Holtec will “present technical details […]

The Department of Energy this week offered details on how it would divide and use $116 million proposed for nuclear waste storage and disposal operations in fiscal 2020. In rolling out its latest budget plan in March, the agency said only the money would support regulatory activities for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Tuesday affirmed his belief that the planned site for a nuclear waste repository under Nevada’s Yucca Mountain is safe, even given its proximity to an Air Force munitions test range. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) pressed Perry on the issue during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on […]

Two Democratic senators this week pressed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to explain its reasoning for leaving out certain requirements in a final rule intended to safeguard nuclear power plants from flooding and earthquakes. The commission in January voted 3-2 in favor of the rule on mitigation of beyond-design-basis events. The proceeding had been in the works […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Tuesday affirmed his belief that the planned site for a nuclear waste repository under Nevada’s Yucca Mountain is safe, even given its proximity to an Air Force munitions test range and the potential for earthquakes in the area. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) pressed Perry on the issue during a […]

The commonwealth of Massachusetts this week forcefully pushed back against the suggestion that it not be given party status in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission review of the license transfer application for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Power company Entergy is scheduled to close Pilgrim by May 31, then hopes this year to sell the […]

Democratic members of Nevada’s congressional delegation on Monday called on key House appropriators to prevent the federal government from moving forward with the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository or shipping any more plutonium to the state. Nevada’s leaders have for decades fought the U.S. government’s effort to make their state home to the nation’s stockpile […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday urged a federal appeals court to dismiss an anti-nuclear advocacy group’s motion demanding the agency rule on the legality of two license applications for interim storage of spent nuclear power reactor fuel. Beyond Nuclear filed its petition for review in December with the U.S. Court of Appeals for […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering a company’s request to revise federal regulations to allow nuclear power plant operators to use their decommissioning trust funds for removal of major components prior to shutdown. The agency on March 20 docketed the rulemaking petition filed in February by Gerard Van Noordennen, vice president for regulatory affairs at nuclear services […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission believes that Pacific Gas & Electric’s bankruptcy proceeding will not affect the utility’s plan to begin decommissioning its two Diablo Canyon nuclear power reactors in 2024 and 2025. On March 16, the NRC responded in writing to PG&E’s Feb. 26 request for the federal agency’s opinion on […]

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators suggested Wednesday it is gearing up for another legislative campaign to authorize interim storage of the nation’s growing stockpile of nuclear waste. Senate Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said he hopes to meet within two weeks with panel Ranking Member Dianne Feinstei (D-Calif.), the […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday it intends to fine Southern California Edison $116,000 for an August 2018 mishap in handling of used reactor fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). While it has 30 days to contest the decision, the California utility said it would pay the penalty. […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission believes that Pacific Gas & Electric’s bankruptcy proceeding will not affect the utility’s plan to begin decommissioning its two Diablo Canyon nuclear power reactors in 2024 and 2025. On March 16, the NRC responded in writing to PG&E’s Feb. 26 request for the federal agency’s opinion on whether the bankruptcy […]

The U.S. government since 2010 has spent $8 billion, now at a rate of $2 million per day, for failing to build a permanent repository to take spent fuel from nuclear power plants, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Tuesday. While he did not discuss specifics of this cost during testimony on Capitol Hill, Perry almost […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday it intends to fine Southern California Edison $116,000 for an August 2018 misplay in handling of used reactor fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). While it has 30 days to contest the decision, the California utility said it would pay the penalty. “Southern California Edison […]

By John Stang and Wayne Barber While it faces a potential 10-year ban on contracts with the Canadian government, SNC-Lavalin’s legal woes north of the border do not appear to automatically translate to similar troubles in the United States. The Montreal-based engineering and construction multinational is the parent company to Department of Energy contractor Atkins […]

The Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects would get a small raise in the next two budget years to sustain the fight against federal plans to build a nuclear waste repository in the state The agency is funded at slightly over $1.8 million in the state’s current budget year, from July 1, 2018, to June 30, […]

The decommissioning and dismantlement of the STURGIS barge, free of radioactive contamination and a former nuclear power reactor, was effectively completed last week, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. International Shipbreaking Ltd. has been sectioning the vessel at its Brownsville, Texas, facility since January. As work has proceeded, more of the STURGIS has […]

The owner and prospective buyer of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts said this week that the state and a local advocacy group should not be allowed to intervene in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license transfer review needed for the sale to proceed. In separate filings Monday with the NRC, power company Entergy and […]

By John Stang With little discussion, the California State Lands Commission on Thursday unanimously approved the final environmental impact report on decommissioning the two standing reactors at the closed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The three-member panel also signed off on a lease application authorizing decommissioning of offshore components of the plant. The commission’s […]