RW Monitor
4/3/2015
IN NRC
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed this week a $17,500 civil penalty against Dominion Energy’s Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant for a security-related violation. According to the NRC, the violation stemmed from a routine agency security inspections that occurred between June and December of last year. Details about security-related violations were not made public, but the plant has already taken corrective actions, the NRC said. Last year, Kewaunee received a security exemption from the NRC that reduced the amount of security and emergency preparedness at the site to better reflect the risks of a shutdown, de-fueled reactor. The NRC indicated in its announcement that the fine would help emphasize security awareness. “To emphasize the importance of security awareness as well as the need for prompt identification of a violation the NRC has proposed a $17,500 civil penalty,” the NRC said in a release. Dominion did not return calls for comment this week.
IN THE INDUSTRY
An independent federal authority with a corporate-style board of directors would be more effective and would better manage used fuel storage, 54 percent of polled Americans said in a survey released this week by the Nuclear Energy Institute. The poll, conducted by Bisconti Research Inc. with Quest Global Research, would appear to support the recently introduced Senate bill that would overhaul the nation’s nuclear waste policy, including the establishment of a new federal agency to handle the nuclear waste. According to the poll, 84 percent of Americans said that consolidated storage of used nuclear fuel is warranted, and changes need to be made to the current system. “The public may express changing views about who should manage the storage facilities, but support for consolidating used nuclear fuel has been constant for a long time,” said Bisconti Research President Ann Bisconti, in a statement. The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future first recommended that a new agency should take over responsibility from the Department of Energy for used fuel disposition.
