Yucca Mountain Repository

Reps. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Friday toured the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California while discussing solutions for managing American nuclear waste. Shimkus, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which holds jurisdiction over nuclear waste management, has longed voiced his support for the planned repository at […]

Legislation supporting consolidated interim storage for nuclear waste is unlikely to get consideration in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, a committee aide said Wednesday. The Interim Consolidated Storage Act, the latest version of which was introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) in January, would allow the Department of Energy to enter into public-private […]

Legislation supporting consolidated interim storage for nuclear waste is unlikely to get consideration in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, a committee aide said Wednesday. The Interim Consolidated Storage Act, the latest version of which was introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) in January, would allow the Department of Energy to enter into public-private contracts […]

Nevada’s Commission on Nuclear Projects on Tuesday finalized its biannual report to state lawmakers, which outlines an aggressive strategy in contesting potential resumption of licensing activities for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The commission was established in 1985 to advise the governor and the Nevada Legislature on radioactive waste disposal activities in the state. […]

Nevada’s Commission on Nuclear Projects on Tuesday finalized its biannual report to state lawmakers, which outlines an aggressive strategy in contesting potential resumption of licensing activities for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The commission was established in 1985 to advise the governor and the Nevada Legislature on radioactive waste disposal activities in the state. […]

A highly critical congressional report this week could open the door for Energy Secretary-designate Rick Perry to reverse the Obama administration’s finding that the Energy Department should build a deep-underground disposal site specifically for nuclear waste created by Cold War weapons programs. “DOE did not show that benefits outweighed costs in recommending to the President that the […]

Nevada’s Commission on Nuclear Projects on Tuesday finalized its biennial report to state lawmakers, which outlines an aggressive strategy in contesting potential resumption of licensing activities for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The commission was established in 1985 to advise the governor and the Nevada Legislature on radioactive waste disposal activities in the state. […]

An Obama-era Energy Department plan to build a dedicated repository for nuclear waste generated by defense programs is full of faulty cost estimates and does not make a compelling case for scrapping The Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada that would store both defense and commercial waste, the investigative arm of Congress said Tuesday. “DOE did not show […]

A group of scientists with decades of experience consulting for the federal government sent a letter on Monday to Secretary of Energy-designate Rick Perry, urging the Energy Department to complete the Yucca Mountain licensing process. The Sustainable Fuel Cycle Task Force Science Panel, a five-member board that includes scientists from DOE’s Sandia National Laboratories, urged […]

A group of scientists with decades of experience consulting for the federal government on Monday sent a letter to energy secretary nominee Rick Perry, urging the Energy Department to complete the Yucca Mountain licensing process. The Sustainable Fuel Cycle Task Force Science Panel, a five-member board that includes scientists from DOE’s Sandia National Laboratories, urged […]

DAY 1 – JAN. 20, 2017: Inauguration Day. Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of quarterly news summaries and analyses about President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. We’ll check in with one long, big-picture update every 25 days, with a regular flow of updates in between to keep you up […]

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, President Donald Trump’s pick for energy secretary, did not rule out the prospect of Nevada storing high-level radioactive waste during his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday, but he said he would explore alternatives. The Obama administration in 2009 cancelled plans to bury high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel at a repository […]

Nevada lawmakers and a Republican congressman this week introduced dueling bills concerning federal plans for permanent storage of U.S. nuclear waste. Two other Republican congressman also introduced a bill that would allow the Energy Department to contract private nuclear waste storage companies. The Obama administration in 2009 canceled the planned Yucca Mountain geologic repository in Nevada, […]

A senior Nuclear Regulatory Commission official said Wednesday the agency is not ready to take up licensing proceedings for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage site, but officials have had brief, high-level discussions about the prospect. Restarting the process would take some time because the agency has lost much of the personnel involved in the […]

Nevada lawmakers and a Republican congressman have introduced dueling bills concerning federal plans for permanent storage of U.S. nuclear waste. The Obama administration in 2009 canceled the planned Yucca Mountain geologic repository in Nevada, pursuing instead a plan for separate storage facilities for commercial and defense waste. The administration in December unveiled a draft plan […]

A former Nuclear Regulatory Commission member said Tuesday the agency is “fully prepared” to handle nearly 300 legal contentions against the development of a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Jeff Merrifield, who served on the board from 1998 to 2007, spoke at the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management’s Spent Fuel Seminar in Washington, […]

A senior Energy Department official said Tuesday it would be “silly” to attempt to resume licensing proceedings for the canceled Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada, given DOE’s insistence that the project is unworkable. Appearing the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management’s Spent Fuel Seminar in Washington, D.C., DOE used nuclear fuel disposition office Director William Boyle was asked about […]

Retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who has championed the fight against the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in his state, said in a recent interview he will be happy to step away from the battle and let another carry the torch. “I will be happy to be involved in causes, but I am not […]

By the time the public comment period closes on the Energy Department’s draft plan for a Defense Waste Repository to house nuclear waste from military programs, the Donald Trump administration may already have decided if it wants DOE to pursue the project. While routinely delivered late in a new president’s first year in office, the […]

A request that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission cancel its review of Waste Control Specialists’ application to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility for nuclear waste in West Texas is outside the scope of the current proceedings, according to the NRC. Beyond Nuclear, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Public Citizen, and the Sustainable Energy […]

The Department of Energy announced Monday that it is moving forward with proposals from four companies for Phase 1 of the department’s deep borehole nuclear waste storage field test. California-based AECOM is exploring a site in Pecos County, Texas; Pennsylvania-based TerranearPMC a site in Otero County, N.M.; Georgia-based Enercon is looking at Nara Visa, N.M.; […]

The Nuclear Energy Institute in a recent memo to President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has asked that the Energy Department complete the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain geologic repository in Nevada, and to continue working to establish interim nuclear waste storage locations. NEI, the nuclear industry’s lobbying arm, urged DOE to fulfill its Nuclear […]

By the time the public comment period closes on the Energy Department’s draft plan for a Defense Waste Repository to house nuclear waste from military programs, the Donald Trump administration may already have decided if it wants DOE to pursue the project. While routinely delivered late in a new president’s first year in office, the […]

A request that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission cancel its review of Waste Control Specialists’ application to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility for nuclear waste in West Texas is outside the scope of the current proceedings, the NRC stated in a recent letter. Beyond Nuclear, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Public Citizen, […]

While the nuclear industry estimates the U.S. Energy Department’s remaining liabilities for nuclear waste disposal at $50 billion, DOE regards that number as “highly inflated,” projecting remaining damages at $24.7 billion. That’s according to the department’s Nuclear Waste Fund audit report for fiscal 2016, which was monitored by the DOE Inspector General’s Office and made […]

Western states must be given a say in any decisions to establish an interim storage facility for radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel within their borders, the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) said in a new policy resolution this week. “In the event that centralized interim storage, either private or federal, is deemed necessary, no such […]

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will nominate former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to lead the Energy Department. Perry, who served 14 years as governor of Texas, famously suggested eliminating DOE during his 2012 presidential bid, only to blank on the agency’s name during a nationally televised debate. Perry also ran for president in […]

The Trump transition team is asking the Department of Energy for specifics on the potential for restarting the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site licensing process with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, according to transition documents obtained by several media outlets. In a questionnaire to the department, the transition team asked if there are any statutory restrictions […]

While President-elect Donald Trump has yet to offer an official stance on the canceled nuclear waste geologic repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, speculation that the next administration will revive the project persists around Washington, D.C. Sources close with the Trump transition team say his still-developing administration is exploring restarting the project licensing process with the […]

The Energy Department will unveil a draft plan for a new deep-geologic repository for defense nuclear waste in the coming days, an agency official said Tuesday during a presentation to a citizens group in South Carolina. “I’m talking about a deep geological repository,” DOE’s Nancy Buschman, senior adviser for defense waste disposal, told members of the […]