Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Nevada’s congressional delegation is refreshing its opposition to building a nuclear waste repository in their state ahead of the imminent rollout of the White House’s next budget proposal. The Trump administration is expected to issue its fiscal 2020 spending plan on or around March 12, delayed several weeks by the recent partial shutdown of the […]

A former Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman and other issue experts are making the rounds on Capitol Hill this week to argue for a top-to-bottom rethinking of management of the nation’s nuclear waste. “The situation in the U.S. is terribly broken, has been for decades, and without some major change to the program I don’t really […]

An Atomic Safety and Licensing Board at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has pushed back an earlier schedule for ruling on requests to intervene in licensing of a planned spent nuclear fuel storage facility in New Mexico. The three-person panel last month indicated it would issue its decision in March. But that was before oral […]

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and a local watchdog organization this week petitioned for intervention and a hearing in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s review of the license transfer application for the nearly retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. An affirmative decision from the NRC is required for owner Entergy to sell the plant to Holtec […]

Idaho’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on Feb. 15 expressed no misgivings about a preliminary federal finding that there would be no major impact in renewing the license for continued in-state storage of waste from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The state agency, though, reminded the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that […]

Entergy expects this year to select a company that will take ownership of its Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York for decommissioning, Chairman and CEO Leo Denault said Wednesday during an earnings teleconference with financial analysts. Denault did not elaborate on the numbers and identities of the prospective bidders for the deal. He said […]

Idaho’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on Friday expressed no misgivings about a preliminary federal finding that there would be no major impact in renewing the license for continued in-state storage of waste from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The state agency, though, reminded the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the […]

In a paperwork milestone that marks another coffin nail for the canceled project, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Feb. 8 terminated MOX Services’ license to build the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. A 1998 federal law gave the industry regulator responsibility for authorizing construction of the […]

By John Stang Duke Energy is keeping its options open for eventual decommissioning of its retired Crystal River nuclear plant in central-western Florida. In a request last week to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to release the bulk of the Crystal River property for unrestricted use, the Charlotte, N.C.-based power company mentioned that “Duke Energy […]

In a paperwork milestone that marks another coffin nail for the canceled project, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday terminated MOX Services’ license to build the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. A 1998 federal law gave the industry regulator responsibility for authorizing construction of the MFFF, […]

Decommissioning of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) will produce “significant and unavoidable” environmental affects, even with mitigation measures, the California State Lands Commission said Monday in its final environmental impact report (EIR) on the upcoming project. The finding is in line with the draft version of the document issued in June. The report […]

The need to develop and win regulatory approval for new “oversized boxes” to move radioactive waste to the Idaho National Laboratory was central to the Energy Department’s decision against keeping the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) open past this year. After considering sustaining operations at the facility open after it finishes its mission to process […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in December spent $1,566 of its remaining balance from the fund intended to pay the agency’s licensing activities for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. That left the industry regulator with an unobligated, unexpended balance of $412,552, according to its latest report to Congress, posted this week on […]

A Chicago-based environmental organization has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reconsider a proposed decision to dismiss a petition against nuclear power operator FirstEnergy Corp. over the state of decommissioning funding for three power plants due to close in coming years. The facts that form the basis for the proposed NRC director’s decision will be […]

By John Stang Duke Energy has requested that the federal government release 3,854 acres of its 4,738 acres at its retired Crystal River nuclear plant site for unrestricted use. The Charlotte, N.C.-based power company wants to find still-to-be-determined uses for the acreage at the Crystal River Energy Complex on Florida’s Gulf Coast, about 85 miles […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the current federal fiscal year anticipates collecting $781.9 million in fees from its licensees, slightly less than it brought in last year. The agency’s budget for fiscal 2019, under the multi-agency “minibus” appropriations bill signed into law in September, is $911 million. That is down by $11 million from […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday formally rejected a petition to establish a rule requiring nuclear sites to evaluate and address seismic and flooding dangers once per decade. The nongovernmental Natural Resources Defense Council filed the petition on July 26, 2011, just over four months after an earthquake and tsunami caused three reactors to […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in December spent $1,566 of its remaining balance from the fund intended to pay the agency’s licensing activities for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. That left the industry regulator with an unobligated, unexpended balance of $412,552, according to its latest report to Congress, posted this week on […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the current federal fiscal 2019 anticipates collecting $781.9 million in fees from its licensees, slightly less than it brought in last year. The agency’s budget for fiscal 2019, under the multi-agency “minibus” appropriations bill signed into law in September, is $911 million. That is down by $11 million from […]

The nongovernmental organization representing communities near Department of Energy facilities is urging Senate leaders to commit to ending the federal government’s dithering over building a disposal facility for the nation’s nuclear waste. The United States holds roughly 100,000 metric tons of waste that by law must go into a permanent repository, which Congress in 1987 […]

The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts could in March receive an improved safety rating from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, just a couple months before its scheduled permanent closure. The Entergy boiling-water reactor plant on Cape Cod has since 2015 been in Column 4 of the NRC’s Action Matrix, multiple/repetitive degraded cornerstone — the […]

After decades on staff and one term as a member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Stephen Burns plans to retire in June — for the second time. Burns noted his decision during an all-staff meeting Monday near NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md. “At the All Hands, the Commissioner reiterated (not for the first time) […]

By John Stang U.S. Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) has announced creation of a task force to study safety issues at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in his state. “Today I’m launching a task force made up of local stakeholders and experts to tackle the enormous safety challenges we face with the San Onofre […]

The nongovernmental organization representing communities near Department of Energy facilities is urging Senate leaders to commit to ending the federal government’s dithering over building a disposal facility for the nation’s nuclear waste. The United States holds roughly 100,000 metric tons of waste that by law must go into a permanent repository, which Congress in 1987 […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday formally began accepting petitions for hearings and intervention on the application to transfer the operating and spent fuel storage licenses for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Power company Entergy plans to close the single-reactor plant by May 31 after nearly 47 years of operation. It hopes […]

The nongovernmental organization representing communities near Department of Energy facilities around the nation is urging Senate leaders to commit to ending the federal government’s dithering over building a disposal facility for the nation’s nuclear waste. The United States holds roughly 100,000 metric tons of waste that by law must go into a permanent repository, which […]

A member of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to step down at the end of his term later this year. Stephen Burns noted his decision during an all-staff meeting Monday near NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md. “At the All Hands, the Commissioner reiterated (not for the first time) his intention to retire again after his […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Trump administration is likely in its fiscal 2020 federal budget plan to again seek funding for licensing the radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, nuclear industry representatives said here Tuesday. Whether Congress will appropriate any money remains in question. “I think the budget request for the next fiscal year […]

By John Stang Holtec International argued Thursday that several advocacy groups do not have legal standing to contest the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing of the company’s planned New Mexico interim storage site for used nuclear fuel Jay Silberg, an attorney for the New Jersey energy technology company, made the case during the second day of […]

By John Stang Southern California Edison said Thursday that training and procedural shortfalls led to a mishap last year in relocating spent reactor fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California, but contended there was no danger of a storage canister falling hard enough to cause it to leak out radioactive material. […]