Waste Control Specialists

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week officially resumed its technical review of a license application for a facility in West Texas that would store up to 40,000 metric tons of used nuclear reactor fuel. A partnership of Waste Control Specialists and Orano in June filed an updated license application for the planned consolidated interim […]

The Department of Energy is said to be reviewing a study on options for dealing with troublesome transuranic waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico that is currently stranded at the Waste Control Specialists (WCS) site in Texas. A source Wednesday said the feasibility study is complete and has been delivered […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week officially resumed its technical review of a license application for a facility in West Texas that would store up to 40,000 metric tons of used nuclear reactor fuel. A partnership of Waste Control Specialists and Orano in June filed an updated license application for the planned consolidated interim […]

One of the members of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on Monday moved over to serve as the agency’s new executive director. He was quickly replaced on the commission by a former TCEQ staffer and short-term U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employee. The state agency, with nearly 3,000 employees overseen by three commissioners, regulates […]

Former Waste Control Specialists President and CEO Rod Baltzer said Wednesday he has joined another radioactive waste management company as chief operating officer. “I am the Chief Operating Officer of Deep Isolation … a startup company focused on the storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel deep underground,” Baltzer said in an update to his […]

Former Waste Control Specialists President and CEO Rod Baltzer said Wednesday he has joined another radioactive waste management company as chief operating officer. “I am the Chief Operating Officer of Deep Isolation … a startup company focused on the storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel deep underground,” Baltzer said in an update to his […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has set a hard deadline of July 30 for public comment on the scope of its environmental review of Holtec International’s license application for an interim spent fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico. The agency extended the comment period by 60 days, but denied a request from a host of […]

By John Stang Significant technical challenges remain to the eventual rail shipment of the nation’s used nuclear reactor fuel to temporary storage or permanent disposal, issue experts acknowledged Wednesday. To start, there is not yet an approved railcar to carry commercial spent fuel – though a specially designed railcar is in development. Also, no agency […]

Interim Storage Partners — a joint venture of Orano USA and Waste Control Specialists (WCS) — on Monday submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission a renewed license application to build and operate an interim storage facility for used nuclear reactor fuel. The consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) pad would be built on WCS’ 14,900-acre waste […]

Interim Storage Partners — a joint venture of Orano USA and Waste Control Specialists (WCS) — on Monday submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission a renewed license application to build and operate an interim storage facility for used nuclear reactor fuel. The spent fuel storage pad would be built on WCS’ waste disposal property in […]

NASHVILLE — A Waste Control Specialists-Orano team could be within days of formally refiling a license application for consolidated interim storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel in West Texas, an executive said Thursday. The companies have previously said they would revive Waste Control Specialists’ suspended license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the end of […]

Months of testing in 2017 provided strong evidence that spent nuclear fuel can be safely transported by sea, road, and rail, according to a researcher with the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories. A team of researchers from the United States, South Korea, and Spain over 54 days from June to October collected 8 terabytes […]

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality this week initiated a rulemaking that would reduce a number of charges for disposal of low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) at the Waste Control Specialists complex in Andrews County. Without discussion during a meeting Wednesday, the three-member commission approved a hearing and publication of proposed amendments to the Texas Administrative […]

By John Stang Several New Mexico state legislators wondered last week if a proposed temporary used nuclear fuel storage site east of Carlsbad could become permanent by default. Opponents of Holtec International’s planned consolidated interim spent fuel facility also asked, during a May 18 hearing of the New Mexico Legislature’s Interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee, […]

The Senate Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee is again trying to jump-start a pilot program for consolidated, temporary storage of spent fuel stranded at U.S. nuclear reactors. The panel spent less than an hour Tuesday on the markup and approval of its $43.8 billion funding measure for fiscal 2019, covering the Department of Energy, […]

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is considering a rulemaking that would reduce a number of charges for disposal of low-level radioactive waste at the Waste Control Specialists complex in Andrews County. The changes to the Texas Administrative Code would apply to fees for the WCS-managed, state-owned Texas Compact Waste Facility. Waste Control Specialists has […]

Las Vegas-based Longenecker & Associates said Tuesday it has hired nuclear industry veteran Mike Briggs to the newly created post of senior program manager for operational support. Briggs, who has worked on major projects within the Energy Department complex, will oversee L&A’s operational support business, which includes training, nuclear safety, and radiation protection. “As L&A […]

The Omaha, Neb., Public Power District has issued a contract for the final move of spent reactor fuel into dry storage at the retired Fort Calhoun Station nuclear power plant. In a press release Wednesday, nuclear cleanup provider Orano USA (formerly AREVA) said its used fuel management branch Orano TN would move 944 fuel assemblies […]

Valhi Inc. reported a pre-tax gain of $58.4 million in the first quarter of 2018 on its sale of Waste Control Specialists, according to the Dallas-based holding company’s latest earnings report. That was good for a net of $38.2 million, $0.11 per diluted share, after income taxes, Valhi said in its 10-Q filing with the […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., has received 93 shipments of transuranic waste so far in 2018. The shipment total works out to an average of 5.8 shipments per week to the underground disposal site in the 16 weeks between Jan. 1 and April 20 — the latest date […]

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Waste Control Specialists and Orano USA plan within the next two months to formally request that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission resume its review of a stalled license application for consolidated interim storage of spent fuel in West Texas, according to the executive leading their partnership. The companies expect in the second quarter […]

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Waste Control Specialists and Orano plan within the next two months to formally request that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission resume its review of a stalled license application for consolidated interim storage of spent fuel in West Texas, according to the executive leading their partnership. The companies expect in the second quarter to […]

The federal Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board has scheduled a June 13 meeting in Idaho to consider key technical issues to be dealt with prior to transport of radioactive waste from around the country for interim storage or permanent disposal. The 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act requires the Department of Energy to establish a permanent […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission should establish a new classification for radioactive waste – “Class D” – to replace the more nebulous Greater-Than-Class C designation, according to disposal provider EnergySolutions. “The NRC should designate a new waste category specifically defining what it is. It should not be defined by what it is greater than, or […]

By John Stang Transporting spent nuclear reactor fuel across the country and through New Mexico topped public concerns during a public event Wednesday on plans for an interim storage facility in the state. That included wondering which routes would be used. “An accident with this material will take decades, if not centuries, to deal with,” said […]

After reviewing a reply from the Energy Department this month, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is still not satisfied the agency and contractor Bechtel National are doing enough to verify the safety of structural steel used in construction of the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site in Washington state. “It’s completely unacceptable that the […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has sufficient funds in its current budget and proposed spending plan for the next fiscal year to review license applications for two interim spent nuclear fuel storage sites proposed for New Mexico and Texas, NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki told a U.S. Senate subcommittee Wednesday. “We have sufficient resources for two spent […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission should establish a new classification for radioactive waste – “Class D” – to replace the more nebulous Greater Than Class C designation, according to disposal provider EnergySolutions. “The NRC should designate a new waste category specifically defining what it is. It should not be defined by what it is greater […]

The management and operations contractor for the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., is reviewing three bid proposals from companies hoping to build a new permanent underground ventilation system for the deep-underground disposal site. Bid proposals were received March 21 and are now under review, Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) spokesman Donavan […]

Utah-based EnergySolutions and Texas-based Waste Control Specialists (WCS) have been awarded Energy Department contracts to dispose of low-level radioactive waste (LLW) and mixed-low level radioactive waste. The contracts are indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) agreements, DOE said in a press release. It did not provide dollar values for the contracts. The two vendors will compete for […]