Yucca Mountain Repository

The Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff have both formally affirmed their intention to participate in any renewed adjudication of DOE’s license application for the planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The parties’ easily anticipated confirmations were included in responses submitted in recent weeks to an Oct. 27 request for information […]

The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository will stay on hold and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will escape a proposed budget cut until at least Dec. 22, under a short-term continuing resolution Congress approved on Thursday. At deadline Friday for RadWaste Monitor, President Donald Trump was expected to sign the stopgap budget bill before midnight, when federal […]

There was no word this week on when the three nominees to fill out the Nuclear Regulatory Commission might get confirmation votes from the U.S. Senate. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Oct. 25 sent the Trump administration’s Sept. 5 nomination of sitting Commissioner Jeff Baran for a floor vote by the full […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in October spent $14,707 from its remaining available balance of the Nuclear Waste Fund, according to the agency’s latest update to Congress. That left the regulator with $527,408 in unspent, unobligated funds from the account intended to pay for development of a permanent repository for U.S. high-level radioactive waste and […]

Thomas Gardiner While the U.S. government seeks a permanent home for tens of thousands of tons of spent nuclear reactor fuel, the waste can safely be stored at the power plants that generated it, the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said recently. “The NRC has concluded that storage of spent fuel at reactor sites […]

The head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) it is safe to store spent nuclear fuel generated by the San Onofore Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) on site. “The NRC has concluded that storage of spent fuel at reactor sites (and at away-from-reactor sites) can safely continue until a repository becomes available,” […]

The prophesied pre-Thanksgiving vote on Rep. John Shimkus’ (R-Ill.) Yucca Mountain policy overhaul appears unlikely now, with Congress set to break for the holiday and appropriators bristling that the bill infringes on their power of the purse. The House was not in session Friday. Both the House and Senate are scheduled to be in recess […]

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Thursday played down any danger of placing nuclear waste in a planned geologic repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “I’m sure that Yucca Mountain is the most studied piece of land in the world. I’m think it’s a safe location. Scientists tell us that it’s a safe location, but […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in September spent $66,799 of its remaining Nuclear Waste Fund balance as it gears up for potential resumption of adjudication of the license application for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. That leaves the regulator with $532,220 that has not been spent or obligated until such time as […]

A closed nuclear power plant is an economic challenge to its host community that that could linger for decades while it is torn down and its radioactive waste waits to be removed at some undetermined point in time. This requires a response that is equally focused on the present and the future, according to Rep. […]

Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee reiterated their support for a major nuclear-waste policy bill Tuesday, despite misgivings that the measure might delay the day spent reactor fuel is moved away from the power plants that generated it. If the the 45-page Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017 became law, it would […]

Thomas Gardiner The last of three Trump administration nominees to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is headed for a Senate floor vote following approval Wednesday by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The panel backed Commissioner Jeff Baran’s reappointment on a voice vote alongside two nominees for assistant administrator spots at the Environmental Protection Agency […]

Congressman John Shimkus’ (R-Ill.) legislation aimed at advancing development of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository also sets a deadline for the Environmental Protection Agency to prepare a final remedy for cleanup of radioactive material at the West Lake Landfill in Missouri. “Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, […]

The last of three Trump administration nominees to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is headed for a Senate floor vote following approval Wednesday by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The panel backed Commissioner Jeff Baran’s reappointment on a voice vote alongside two nominees for assistant administrator spots at the Environmental Protection Agency and the […]

Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee reiterated their support for a major nuclear-waste policy bill Tuesday, despite misgivings that the proposal might delay the day spent reactor fuel is moved away from the power plants that generated it. If the the 45-page Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017 became law, it would […]

Nevada’s lone GOP representative predicted the House will pass a major nuclear-waste policy bill before the holiday shopping season starts, and the Las Vegas Sun tore the bill’s sponsor a new one on its Sunday editorial page. At a Friday breakfast sponsored by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) said the […]

Congressman John Shimkus’ (R-Ill.) legislation aimed at advancing development of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository also sets a deadline for the Environmental Protection Agency to prepare a final remedy for the West Lake Landfill in Missouri. “Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental […]

A House bill that would make it easier for the federal government to build a permanent nuclear-waste repository at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain took a big step toward a floor vote this week, though none was scheduled as of Friday. On Thursday, House leadership at last placed H.R. 3053, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Jeff Baran told senators recently he has not determined his position on licensing of the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. “I have not formed an opinion on the merits of the Yucca Mountain geologic repository application. As a Commissioner, I have a responsibility to be open-minded and unbiased […]

A House bill that would make it easier for the federal government to build a permanent nuclear-waste repository at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain took a big step toward a floor vote this week, though none was scheduled as of Friday. On Thursday, House leadership at last placed H.R. 3053, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of […]

Former Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz on Wednesday endorsed consolidated-interim and consent-based storage for U.S. nuclear waste while the federal government pursues a permanent repository. “I think we’ve got to reach point where questions of moving fuel away to consolidated storage can’t be held hostage to a lack of progress getting a geological repository open,” […]

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee announced Friday afternoon that it had scheduled its vote on confirming Jeff Baran for another term on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The panel will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday for a business meeting to vote on Baran’s nomination, along with the nominations of four people to serve in […]

In congressional testimony Thursday, Energy Secretary Rick Perry stressed the importance of getting spent nuclear fuel away from the power plants that generated it, even if that means finding “alternatives” to a planned permanent repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. “I don’t want to get stuck that Yucca’s the only place that you can go,” […]

After Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas, the author of a bill to update U.S. nuclear waste laws and clear the way for the Energy Department to build the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the state said he is in no rush to get the measure to the floor. “In light of the tragedy, […]

Thomas Gardiner Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wy.) had some tough questions for Jeff Baran during his confirmation hearing Wednesday for reappointment to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, drawing particular attention to the nominee’s position on the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Barrasso’s panel is the gatekeeper for Baran’s nomination for […]

An AREVA Nuclear Materials-NorthStar Group Services joint venture no longer expects to seal the deal in 2017 on its first acquisitions of nuclear plants for decommissioning, an executive said this week. The two companies in February announced the formation of Accelerated Decommissioning Partners, which would buy closed nuclear plants and take charge of decommissioning, site […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as of August had less than $600,000 in available, unobligated funds for its work on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The regulator is waiting to see whether Congress will approve its request for $30 million in fiscal 2018 to resume adjudication activities for the Department of Energy license application […]

After Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas, the author of a bill to update U.S. nuclear waste laws and clear the way for the Energy Department to build the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the state said he is in no rush to get the measure to the floor. “In light of the tragedy, […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Jeff Baran on Wednesday took some heat at his reappointment hearing on Capitol Hill for dissenting against plans to take further steps, and spend more money, in the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. In June, Baran was the lone opponent among the three sitting commissioners […]

Lawmakers are piling on to co-sponsor a House bill that would smooth the way to open Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev., as a permanent nuclear waste repository. This week alone, 32 additional representatives associated themselves with Rep. John Shimkus’ (R-Ill.) Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017 (H.R.3053): a 45-page bill officially introduced in the […]