IN THE U.S.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources announced last week that it is testing storm-water runoff from the Bridgeton Landfill for contamination.
An announcement posted on the department’s website Tuesday says the agency was notified the day before of surface water leaving the landfill along the northeast boundary of the site. Based on initial findings from the department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “the rainwater flow was reportedly coming from storm-water structures along the Bridgeton North Quarry and routed by terraces along the northeastern boundary before overtopping the site berms.”
The department collected storm-water samples for laboratory analysis, and an evaluation of storm-water management is expected, according to the announcement.
“All information collected was shared with EPA,” the announcement states. “Sample results will be posted when available.”
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted exemptions allowing Entergy to forgo certain record-retention requirements at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station until termination of the facility’s operating license.
The exemption issuance, which was announced on Thursday, specifically addresses the need to maintain records for systems, structures, and components (SSCs) associated with nuclear power generation and safe storage of nuclear fuel, among other items.
“The licensee justifies the request by stating that when the associated SSCs are removed from the licensing basis documents, the SSCs will not serve any function regulated by the NRC,” the NRC’s Federal Register announcement reads. “Therefore, the need to retain the records will be, on a practical basis, eliminated.”
In its request, Entergy cited similar records retention exemptions granted at the Zion Nuclear Power Station, Millstone Power Station, and Haddam Neck Plant. According to the NRC, records associated with residual radiological activity and programmatic controls, such as security and quality assurance, will not be affected by the exemption.
Entergy closed the Vermont Yankee plant in 2014, and license termination is scheduled to begin in 2068.
INTERNATIONAL
Seven nuclear power reactors shut down worldwide in 2015, according to the latest data from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which also reported that 10 new reactors went online in the same span.
The IAEA data, last updated on Monday, lists seven permanent shutdowns: five Japanese reactors, one German reactor, and one Welsh reactor. The five Japanese plants shut down in April, while Germany shuttered its Grafenrheinfeld plant in June. Just last month, the United Kingdom announced the closure of its oldest nuclear plant, the 44-year-old Wylfa Nuclear Power Station in Anglesey, Wales.
The World Nuclear Association, which is also tracking the data, included an eighth shuttered reactor in its own list, Sweden’s Oskarshamn 2, which according to the organization is closed without plans to operate again.
The European Union has awarded a $2.8 million grant to Perma-Fix Environmental Services for the development of a novel prototype generator for the production of technetium-99m, a medical isotope material used in cancer and cardiac imaging procedures, according to a press release from the company.
Research for the project is expected to wrap up in February 2018, followed by an implementation deadline in May 2018. According to the announcement, Perma-Fix Medical S.A., a subsidiary of Perma-Fix Environmental Services, will receive $800,000, while the remaining amount will be allocated to other members of the project team, including four Polish entities: the National Centre for Nuclear Research’s Radioisotope Centre POLATOM; the Institute for Biopolymers and Chemical Fibers’ Department of Biopolymers in ?ód?; Warsaw Medical University’s Department of Nuclear Administration; and the Institute of Industrial Organic Chemistry Branch.
Perma-Fix signed the agreement with Poland’s National Centre for Research and Development, and the grant was awarded through the country’s STRATEGMED program.
"Having independently validated our patented microporous resin technology at two of the pre-eminent nuclear research institutes in the world, we are pleased to now have the additional financial resources and scientific support to enable us to further develop and test our own commercial generator, which will be used to contain the resin at a higher scale as its separates Tc-99m from natural molybdenum,” Perma-Fix Medical S.A. CEO Steve Belcher said in a statement. “Following our latest successful scale-up of our prototype generator at the 6 curie level, we are conducting additional tests at higher curie levels. We believe our process is a breakthrough in the industry because it does not require the use of uranium and is less expensive than the industry standard now in use.”
The United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has released its 2016 draft strategy for formal consultation through Feb. 15. The strategy sets out direction and long-term objectives for the decommissioning of the U.K. nuclear legacy sites.
The NDA manages cleanup of 17 sites: 14 in England and Wales and three in Scotland. The Energy Act of 2004 requires the agency to review its strategy every five years. The NDA expects to publish a finalized strategy in April.
Total government funding for cleanup of all NDA sites is projected at £64.3 billion. Total decommissioning and cleanup costs are set at £69.9 billion, while commercial revenue is projected at £12 billion. Total operations costs is listed as £6.3 billion, and net running costs are listed at £5.6 billion.
The draft strategy states that supply chain development initiatives “have resulted in a collaborative procurement programme amounting to £2.8 billion of spend and delivering over £140 million savings since 2010.” In the past three years, according to the NDA, the organization has exceeded targets for increasing levels of spending with small to medium-sized enterprises, “reaching almost £1 billion.”
