IAEA, DOE, AND ECA LAUNCH WEBINAR SERIES ON GLOBAL PROGRESS TOWARDS ENDPOINT SOLUTIONS FOR WASTE AND SPENT FUEL
On November 14, 2024, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Department of Nuclear Energy, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy, and the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) are launching a webinar series showcasing the Global Progress Towards Sustainable Endpoint Solutions for High-level Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel
featuring senior representatives of national HLW and SNF management programmes around the world. Today, national programmes can refer to an extensive body of knowledge providing the scientific and technological basis for storage and geological disposal. These programmes also provide numerous examples of how to obtain and sustain a social license while siting, constructing and operating interim storage facilities and
geological disposal facilities. This first webinar, Restarting the Siting Process for HLW and SNF Storage and Disposal, will share experiences from national programmes in Asia (Korea and Japan), Europe (Germany and UK) and North America (USA). Senior programme representatives will convey insights on how large nuclear programmes have restarted their siting process and are working towards providing the safe and accepted facilities needed to manage their HLW and SNF inventories. The goal in each national programme is
to establish a geological disposal facility and to ensure that adequate storage capacity is available until disposal operations can begin. The webinar will last 1.5 hours, and is open to the public, providing opportunities for audience engagement and Q&A through a webinar chat function.
COMING UP NEXT Thursday, 14 November, 11:00 AM EST Restarting the Siting Process for high level waste (HLW) and
spent nuclear fuel (SNF) Storage and Disposal Speakers: - Marla Morales – Director, Office of Consent-Based Siting at US DOE/NE, USA
- (TBC) – BGE Technology, Germany
- Hiroyuki Umeki – Integration Advisor to NUMO, Japan
- Haeryong Jung – Director HLW Management at KORAD, Korea (Republic of)
- Rachel Cornah (TBC) – Head of DGR Site Evaluation at NWS, UK
Moderators: - Seth Kirshenberg – Executive Director at ECA, USA
- Stefan Mayer – Team Lead Radioactive Waste Disposal,
IAEA
ECA FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: CONSENT BASED SITING COMMUNITY GRANTS Applications now due November 1, 2024
Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) is soliciting applications for local governments to build capacity through targeted education and outreach on nuclear waste storage and disposal issues; and to evaluate community interest in hosting or supporting a federal spent nuclear fuel storage or disposal mission using a community-centered consent-based siting approach.
ECA intends to
award up to six (6) grants of up to $75,000 this fiscal year with an initial period of performance of twelve (12) months. Eligibility is restricted to a municipal or local government entity or group of municipal entities, state government created councils of local governments, community reuse organizations, and municipal government-related economic development entities. Additional information about eligible entities and the complete application can be found here: ECA Consent Based Siting Community Grant Application. ECA has extended the deadline for submission to November 1, 2024. This funding opportunity is part of ECA’s effort, as a U.S. Department of Energy Consent-Based Siting Consortia, to meet two key goals: - Build capacity in communities interested in consent-based siting and ensure they have the information – and informed representatives – to meaningfully engage on the issues a community will address as a potential host of a nuclear waste facility.
- Facilitate deeper engagement and
(re)create momentum by distributing resources for qualifying individual communities that demonstrate readiness to begin localized education and outreach to determine the potential for consent or to capture information that can help define the elements of consent.
In parallel with activities performed under these grants, ECA will be hosting public, regional educational meetings and smaller, targeted local peer-to-peer exchanges to help build trust among the public, industry, policymakers and concerned parties – based on experience – that nuclear waste can be safely managed in a way that is protective of human health and the environment,
and in a way that offers community-driven and risk-based economic opportunity. Be sure to follow the ECA Update next week, where ECA will be in Maine to discuss waste management and Consent-Based Siting at the Maine Yankee Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation
(ISFSI). For more information, please contact ECA Director of Policy, Faith Sanchez at: faiths@energyca.org or (202)
828-2410. ### Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) is a non-profit membership organization of local governments and nuclear communities
adjacent to or affected by U.S. Department of Energy activities. The mission of ECA is to bring together local government officials to share information, establish policy positions, and promote community interests to address an increasingly complex set of environmental, regulatory, and economic development needs. Additional information is available at www.energyca.org.
PROVIDE YOUR INPUT - OPEN REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION & PUBLIC COMMENT Opportunity: DOE Package Performance Demonstration DOE intends to establish a consolidated interim storage facility for storage of spent nuclear fuel until a permanent repository is available. DOE is performing this market research to gather information from all interested parties that will help formulate the actual solicitation. The first RFI is working to establish the market boundaries that can best fulfill the needs of the CISF program. This RFI works to answer the best contract
strategy and contract type, the ability of commercial businesses to support and fulfill CISF requirements & to what capacity small businesses can support CISF requirements. Response Due: October 31 2024, 7:00 pm EST Proposed Rule: Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking comment on a proposed rule for a Generic Environmental Impact Statement for licensing new reactors. The generic impact statement uses a technology-neutral framework and plant/site parameters to identify environmental issues common to new reactors, and those issues needing project-specific analysis. NRC staff members will conduct an in-person meeting and two webinars to discuss the proposed generic impact statement and
accept comments from the public. The in-person meeting will be at NRC headquarters, 11555 Rockville Pike in Rockville, Maryland, on Nov. 7 from 1-4p.m. Eastern time. The webinars will be Nov. 13 from 1-4 p.m. Eastern time, and Nov. 14 from 6-9 p.m. Eastern time. Additional details for all three meetings will be available soon on the NRC’s website. The meetings are one method to comment before the Dec. 18 deadline. Comments can also be submitted via regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2020-0101, via email to Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov, or by mail to Office of Administration, Mail Stop TWFN-7- A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Response Due: December 18, 2024 Planned Change Request for Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Replacement Panels 11 and 12 On July 16, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) announced for public comment the availability of a Planned Change Request (PCR) recently submitted by the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) to modify the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The proposed change will involve adding two additional waste panels west of the current repository to replace lost disposal capacity resulting from the 2014 radiological incident and resulting ground control issues. A 60-day comment period was provided for the PCR that expired on September 16, 2024. A request for an extension to the comment period was received from several stakeholders, most recently at the Agency's informal public
meetings held in New Mexico in late August. EPA is reopening the comment period to seek public input on both DOE's application and on what EPA should consider in its evaluation. Response Due: December 31, 2024 |
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WHAT YOU'VE MISSED: South Bruce votes in favour of hosting Canadian repository Fifty one percent of the votes cast in the 28 October referendum expressed
willingness to host the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) project in South Bruce. With a turnout of 69%, the outcome is binding on the municipality's council under Ontario's Municipal Elections Act. Read the full story Sweden’s SKB approved to begin construction
of spent fuel repository Sweden’s Land and Environmental Court has granted the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company
(Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB, or SKB) an environmental permit to build and operate a geologic repository for the country’s spent nuclear fuel near the Forsmark nuclear power plant, about 86 miles north of Stockholm. The permit also includes the building of a spent fuel encapsulation plant at the central interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel at Oskarshamn, about 200 miles south of Stockholm. Read the full story CEZ to take stake in Rolls-Royce SMR to roll out small nuclear plants Czech electricity producer CEZ (CEZP.PR), opens new tab will take a minority stake in
Rolls-Royce SMR to take part in the small nuclear reactor technology's roll-out in Britain, the Czech Republic and beyond, the companies said on Tuesday.CEZ will take around 20% stake in Rolls-Royce
SMR pending regulatory approvals, and plans to install up to 3 gigawatts of capacity in small nuclear plants made by the business, the companies said in a statement. Read the full story
Gone Fission Nuclear Report - EM SSAB: Valuable Community Input October 28, 2024 | S4
E18 Community input is essential to the success of the Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup program. Much of the most essential feedback comes from the Site Specific Advisory Boards composed of local community volunteers. These local members take their own time to become educated about local cleanup issues and make recommendations about preferred approaches going forward. In this
week’s episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report, host Michael Butler explores the value these Advisory Boards bring to the EM cleanup program. www.gonefissionpodcast.com
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