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Entergy Sues U.S. Again Over Spent Fuel Costs
Friday, January 17th, 2020
The Louisiana branch of power company Entergy last week filed another lawsuit seeking to recoup ongoing expenses for management of spent reactor fuel that the federal government is legally obligated to remove from the River Bend Station nuclear power plant. This is the third such lawsuit filed by Entergy Louisiana and its predecessor, Entergy Gulf […]
READ MOREPG&E Slices Diablo Canyon Decommissioning Cost Estimate by $900M
Friday, January 17th, 2020
By John Stang A proposed settlement agreement contends that decommissioning of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California later this decade can be done for $900 million less than previously estimated. On Jan. 10, plant owner Pacific Gas & Electric Co., San Luis Obispo County, and five other entities filed a proposed settlement agreement […]
READ MORENRC Reduces Insurance Requirements for Pilgrim Plant
Friday, January 17th, 2020
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week it has reduced the liability insurance requirements for both on-site and off-site damage at the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. The agency issued the regulatory exemptions to subsidiaries of plant owner Holtec International on Jan. 6, according to separate notices Monday and Tuesday in the […]
READ MOREDOE Delays Ban on Exporting HEU to Make Medical Isotopes Abroad
Friday, January 17th, 2020
In a New Year’s boon for Belgium’s Institute for Radioelements, the U.S. Department of Energy has postponed by two years a ban on exporting U.S.-origin, weapon-usable uranium for the production of medical isotopes. “[C]urrent global supplies of Mo-99 [Molybdenum 99] produced without the use of HEU [highly enriched uranium] are not sufficient to meet U.S. […]
READ MORENRC Cites Two Violations at Westinghouse Fuel Plant
Friday, January 17th, 2020
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week cited a Westinghouse fuel facility in South Carolina with two violations of federal nuclear rules, but details were scarce this week. The two Severity Level IV violations were identified in an inspection of the Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF) from Nov. 18-21, 2019, according to a Jan. 10 […]
READ MORENew York State Protests Planned Indian Point Staffing Reductions
Friday, January 17th, 2020
The state of New York is objecting to a request by power company Entergy for federal approval to reduce staffing at the Indian Point Energy Center as its two remaining operational reactors are retired over the next 16 months. Three separate state agencies have reviewed the plan, filed last April with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory […]
READ MOREYucca Mountain Could Be on the Docket Again in FY21 Budget
Friday, January 17th, 2020
The Trump administration is less than a month away from releasing its latest annual budget request, but so far no one is saying officially whether it will feature another attempt to revive the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The White House’s fiscal 2021 spending proposal is due on Feb. 10, a senior administration official confirmed […]
READ MORELawmakers Question Potential Reduction in NRC Spent-Fuel Storage Inspections
Friday, January 17th, 2020
By John Stang One senator expressed concern Wednesday about the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s consideration of cutting back on inspections of spent fuel storage facilities at the nation’s nuclear power plants. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) raised the issue during a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee featuring testimony from two senior NRC […]
READ MOREWrap Up: Undersecretary Menezes Given More Work at Energy Dept.
Friday, January 17th, 2020
U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette has started off the new year by giving more authority to DOE Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes, effectively making him acting second in command at the agency until a deputy is in place. Brouillette said in a Jan. 10 email to Energy Department staff that to “ensure continued operational effectiveness,” […]
READ MOREIndustry, Feds Begin Meetings on Used-Fuel Storage Licensing Efficiences
Friday, January 17th, 2020
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled the first in a planned series of workshops for next week to consider a set of recommendations from the nuclear industry to increase efficiency in licensing of dry storage systems for radioactive spent fuel at power plants. The meeting is set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. […]
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