U.S.
The 2016 Democratic Party Platform does not address America’s commercial nuclear waste storage problem.
The 51-page document was released last week, ahead of this week’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, where Hillary Clinton was officially named the party’s presidential candidate. Though Republicans in their own 2016 platform vowed to end the Obama administration’s “disregard of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act,” Democrats did not broach the subject.
Obama in 2011 canceled plans for a national repository planned at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, eventually opting instead for a consent-based siting initiative for nuclear waste storage. Those plans call for operation of a pilot storage facility by 2021; one or more larger, interim facilities by 2025; and at least one permanent geologic repository by 2048.
The Senate’s fiscal 2017 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, approved this spring, provides $61 million to fund the DOE consent-based siting effort. The House’s version, which failed to pass, rejects appropriations for consent-based siting, while requesting $170 million to carry out Yucca Mountain licensing activities.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week announced the appointment of a new head for the agency’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. Marc Dapas, who has been with the NRC for 27 years, takes over for Catherine Haney, who in January moved from agency headquarters in Rockville, Md., to take the position of Region II administrator in Atlanta.
The office’s long list of responsibilities include “regulating activities which provide for the safe and secure production of nuclear fuel used in commercial nuclear reactors; the safe storage, transportation and disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel; and the transportation of radioactive materials regulated under the Atomic Energy Act,” according to the NRC website. It also supports NRC licensing operations, required by a federal court order, for the canceled Yucca Mountain, Nev., geologic repository for nuclear waste by ensuring “appropriate standards and regulatory guidance are in place,” and oversees regulation and licensing of waste recycling technologies.
Dapas joined the NRC in 1989 as an operations specialist at the Rockville headquarters. His roles since then have included deputy administrator of the Region I office in King of Prussia, Pa.; deputy director of the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response; and administrator for the Region IV office near Dallas.
“Marc Dapas’ experience in a variety of roles across the agency will serve him well as he takes the helm of our nuclear materials office,” Victor McCree, NRC executive director for operations, said in a press release. “He has shown an unparalleled commitment to technical and managerial excellence in a wide variety of assignments in our regional offices as well as at NRC headquarters.”
Scott Moore, who took over as the office’s acting director when Haney left, will return to his position of deputy director.
INTERNATIONAL
Swedish nuclear company Studsvik said Thursday it has finalized its $40 million sale of its waste treatment operations to French state-owned power company EDF SA.
The waste treatment business, which includes waste treatment assets and facilities near Nyköping, Sweden, and the company’s metal recycling facility near Workington, U.K., provides low-level radioactive waste processing services internationally, with particular emphasis on Europe. In 2015 Studsvik recorded roughly $21 million in revenue from the business.
The company has said the sale will allow it to focus more on consulting services for nuclear waste management, plant decommissioning, and additional sectors of the nuclear and radiological industries; and fuel and materials technology, including software and services.
“The divestment means we have taken a further step towards more streamlined operations based on advanced services in the Fuel and Materials Technology and Consulting Services business areas,” Studsvik President and CEO Michael Mononen said in Thursday’s press release. “Through the transaction we have also created better conditions for developing and focusing on our remaining businesses.”
Kurion’s GeoMelt In-Container Vitrification plant at the U.K. National Nuclear Laboratory’s (NNL) Central Laboratory at Sellafield is now operational, after the end of cold and active commissioning last month.
NNL and Kurion announced the news Monday, saying they performed the system’s first commercial melt last week, treating corroded Magnox fuel sludge combined with contaminated soil for the U.K.’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
“Leading decision makers from the U.S., Japan and Europe have come to respect the great work taking place at the NNL, and we intend to use this new system to demonstrate the effectiveness of GeoMelt for applications across the worldwide nuclear market,” Kurion founder John Raymont said in a statement.
French multinational Veolia in April finalized its $350 million acquisition of Kurion, a California-based developer of nuclear waste cleanup technology.
Kurion noted that the U.K. Radioactive Waste Inventory lists more than 300,000 tons of intermediate-level waste and low-level waste suitable for thermal treatment with GeoMelt. The waste would be processed into a glass form suitable for long-term storage.
“This collaboration with Kurion brings together world-class scientists and engineers to accelerate the treatment of hazardous and radioactive waste,” NNL Customer and Delivery Director Nick Hanigan said in the statement.
