Yucca Mountain Repository

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) fiscal 2018 budget increase handily outpaced the rise in dollars under contract, according to a report from the agency’s Office of the Inspector General late last week. The DOE budget rose about 10 percent to some $34.5 billion between fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2018, while the amount of money under […]

The nominee to lead the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy on Thursday pledged to follow the law when it comes to disposal of nuclear waste – which for now means supporting the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada. Rita Baranwal was among three nominees to different federal agencies who came before the Senate Energy […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory in September spent $11,645 of its remaining balance from the Nuclear Waste Fund on federal court litigation, according to the latest expense report to Congress. The September expenses, totaling $12,564, leave the nuclear industry regulator with access to $430,746 in unobligated money from the federal fund intended to pay for licensing, […]

The electoral defeat this week of Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) could remove one major political obstacle to funding and other legislative measures that would advance the long-awaited Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) took slightly more than 50 percent of the statewide vote to beat Heller and three independent-party candidates […]

The defeat of Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) could remove one major political obstacle to funding and other legislative measures that would advance the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) took slightly more than 50 percent of the statewide vote to unseat Heller in Tuesday’s midterm elections. The first-term congresswoman, who […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory in September spent $11,645 of its remaining balance from the Nuclear Waste Fund on federal court litigation, according to the latest expense report to Congress. The September expenses, totaling $12,564, leave the nuclear industry regulator with access to $430,746 in unobligated money from the federal fund intended to pay for licensing, […]

Democratic Party lawmakers from Nevada are urging President Donald Trump to follow through on his apparent pledge to re-evaluate plans for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, after Energy Secretary Rick Perry said the administration continues to support the project. “These contradictory remarks from Secretary Perry underline why the White House must follow through on […]

Nevada and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission through Thursday continued to wrangle over against a state request that a federal judge block Commissioner David Wright from participating in adjudicating the license application for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Lawyers for both sides in recent days filed counter-claims and counter-counter-claims in the U.S. Court of Appeals […]

By John Stang The always controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository could play a role in determining whether Republicans or Democrats control the U.S. Senate after the midterm elections on Tuesday. Incumbent Nevada senior Sen. Dean Heller (R) is campaigning to retain his seat against a challenge from Rep. Jacky Rosen (D). He has been seen […]

Democratic Party lawmakers from Nevada are urging President Donald Trump to follow through on his apparent pledge to re-evaluate plans for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, after Energy Secretary Rick Perry said the administration continues to support the project. “These contradictory remarks from Secretary Perry underline why the White House must follow through on […]

Nevada last week rebuffed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s assertion that it is covered by the federal government’s sovereign immunity against a state request that a federal judge block Commissioner David Wright from participating in adjudicating the license application for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Sovereign immunity was one aspect of the federal agency’s […]

Nearly a week after President Donald Trump suggested his administration could rethink its efforts to license a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada, there were no details on what such an approach might look like. Any new plan would run counter to the Trump White House’s efforts in its first two budget requests […]

Two Democratic lawmakers from Nevada said Wednesday they directly called on President Donald Trump to follow through on his seeming pledge to reconsider federal efforts to send tens of thousands of tons of nuclear waste to their state. In its first two budget proposals, the Trump administration has unsuccessfully sought congressional appropriations to resume licensing […]

President Donald Trump on Saturday suggested his administration could rethink its efforts to license a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada, the Washington Post reported. “I think you should do things where people want them to happen, so I would be very inclined to be against it,” Trump told Reno radio station KRNV. “We […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is suspending its search for sites in Nevada that could host hearings on the license application for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository until the agency knows whether it will again need such a facility. Commissioners unanimously concurred with a staff recommendation to defer further work on siting the hearing space, […]

The state of Nevada has jumped the gun in seeking to force a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to recuse himself from any ruling over the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, so its petition in federal court should be dismissed, the NRC argued this week. Case law has shown that a recusal request […]

The state of Nevada has jumped the gun in seeking to force a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to recuse himself from any ruling over the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, so its petition in federal court should be dismissed, the NRC argued this week. Nevada in August filed the dismissal motion in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is suspending its search for sites in Nevada that could host hearings on the license application for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository until the agency has a better idea regarding whether it will need such a facility. The NRC in 2005 began leasing a facility near McCarran International Airport in […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in August spent $5,892 from its remaining Nuclear Waste Fund balance, with some of it going to legal costs in a petition against one of the commissioners. The agency after that spending had $443,310 remaining in unexpended, unobligated money from the fund intended to pay for development of the planned […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in August spent $5,892 from its remaining Nuclear Waste Fund balance, with some of it going to costs for a federal legal petition against one of the commissioners. The agency after that spending had $443,310 remaining in unexpended, unobligated money from the fund intended to pay for development of the […]

The U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management will within a few days formally propose to change the way it interprets the term “high-level radioactive waste” (HLW). A Federal Register notice, expected to be posted next week, will outline DOE’s plan to classify high-level waste more on its radioactive characteristics and less on its source […]

The Trump administration on Wednesday announced its intention to nominate a veteran of the nuclear industry as the new assistant secretary to lead the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. Rita Baranwal’s new job, upon confirmation, would put her in charge of the department’s work on nuclear reactors and nuclear waste – including the […]

The Trump administration on Wednesday announced its intention to nominate a veteran of the nuclear industry as the new assistant secretary to lead the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. There was no immediate word on when Rita Baranwal would be formally nominated. The White House and Baranwal did not respond to requests for […]

The White House has selected its choice to head the Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy, but won’t submit the nomination to the Senate until after the midterm elections on Nov. 6, an industry source said Tuesday. The source said he had not learned the anticipated nominee’s identity, but was told by DOE officials it […]

President Donald Trump on Sept. 21 signed the first congressionally approved “minibus” appropriations bill for fiscal 2019, which cuts out all proposed funding at the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission for licensing a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The White House made no mention of the matter in statements on […]

President Donald Trump on Friday signed the first congressionally approved “minibus” appropriations bill for fiscal 2019, which cuts out all proposed funding at the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission for licensing a nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The White House made no mention of the matter in statements on the […]

Language inserted into the fiscal 2019 “minibus” appropriations bill that Congress passed last week aims to help local jurisdictions offset the cost of being stuck with spent nuclear fuel from retired nuclear power plants. If President Donald Trump signs H.R. 5895, the Department of Energy would have 180 days to submit to Congress a study […]

A research team at the University of Texas at Arlington has received a $567,831 grant from the Department of Energy to study the rock materials that best prevent the escape of radiation from nuclear waste disposal facilities. The researchers led by earth and environmental sciences associate professor Qinhong Hu will examine the movement of fluids […]

The Trump administration is now 0-2 in its efforts to persuade Congress to fund the long-proposed, still-unrealized nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The Senate on Wednesday voted 92-5 in favor of the fiscal 2019 “minibus” appropriations bill covering the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and other agencies. The House followed on […]

While Congress is still not prepared to fund any work on the Yucca Mountain repository, it does plan to give the Department of Energy seemingly unwanted funding for other nuclear waste management operations in fiscal 2019. The compromise version of the multiagency “minibus” appropriations bill unveiled Monday would also cut nearly $60 million in funding […]