ECA Update: September 21, 2016 |
IN THIS UPDATE: Moniz: U.S. nuclear waste backlog could be eased by private disposal
Storing nuclear waste: Is 'consent' OK when future generations can't weigh in?
In new letter, S.C. says DOE has no plans to ship transuranic waste out of Savannah River Site through July 2017
Warhead upgrade costs could spiral, report warns
Visit Hanford's nuclear processing facilities,
virtually
Hanford whistleblowers awarded $216,000 in back pay, compensation Moniz: U.S. nuclear waste backlog could be
eased by private disposal Reuters September 20, 2016 The
United States could alleviate growing stockpiles of nuclear waste at U.S. power plants by allowing private companies to dispose of it and foster support for new nuclear projects, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said on Tuesday.
The U.S. government spent billions of
dollars on the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada that was supposed to store nuclear waste permanently underground, but politicians from the state, including top Senate Democrat Harry Reid, opposed the project, leading to its cancellation in 2010.
The waste is now mostly
held at power plants in dry cask storage or in spent fuel pools, said Moniz, a nuclear physicist who has run the department since 2013. The United States could start transferring that waste to interim sites, potentially including government and private disposal sites, in the middle of the next decade until a permanent solution is developed.
"We would like to have the authority for publicly owned and operated (storage) facilities. We are also very much interested in the possibility of pursuing private storage," Moniz said in an interview about the nuclear issues the next administration will face after President Barack Obama leaves office on Jan. 20.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission received an application earlier this year from Waste Control Specialists, part of Valhi Inc to store waste at a site in Texas. More companies may also apply.
"Potentially that could go faster," if the private sector took on the challenge, Moniz said of the mid-2020s' time frame for moving waste into interim storage.
Storing nuclear waste: Is 'consent' OK when future generations can't weigh in?The Orange County Register September 20,
2016 There are barbs about “mobile Chernobyls” and “floating Fukushimas,” fears of “coerced consent” and “economic racism,” and deep philosophizing about the nature of “consent” itself. Is such a thing possible when generations unborn will be impacted by decisions made today?
“‘Consent’ to dump nuclear waste in America’s back yard is not going to be approved by the American people no matter how your PR strategists massage the lipstick on that pig,” David Osinga told the U.S. Department of Energy in an email.
The DOE’s latest
idea for figuring out where to stash millions of pounds of nuclear waste garnered more than 10,000 comments from concerned citizens nationwide, according to documents released last week. And while many disagree vehemently on the particulars, they are largely united on one point: After decades of dithering, the federal government must finally take action on its long-broken promise to permanently dispose of highly radioactive spent fuel.
In new letter, S.C. says DOE has no plans to ship transuranic
waste out of Savannah River Site through July 2017 The Aiken Standard September 20, 2016 The
letter was entered into court records by the South Carolina counsel in its case against the Energy Department. In its address to the judge, the state’s counsel points to a declaration submitted during the case which expressed a potential pathway out of the Palmetto State for transuranic waste, or TRU waste, based upon the expected opening of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, in New Mexico. The semi-annual letter from the DOE is inconsistent with that declaration.
TRU waste is artificially made radioactive material contaminated with heavier elements, or those with higher atomic numbers, than uranium, including plutonium and neptunium. The letter was entered into court records by the South Carolina counsel in its case against the Energy Department on Sept.
15.
The lawsuit was filed by the state of South Carolina after the Energy Department failed to meet a series of deadlines outlined by federal statute. The DOE was supposed to have construction on the MOX facility completed in 2014 or remove 1 metric ton of plutonium from
the state by Dec. 31, 2015. The Energy Department didn’t remove any of the required plutonium from the Palmetto State and the MOX facility has yet to be finished.
Warhead upgrade costs could spiral, report warns Physics
Today September 20, 2016 Suboptimal management controls could inflate the cost of upgrading the nation’s primary nuclear bomb beyond the official $8.1 billion price tag, US Department of Energy auditors caution. The B-61 bomb life extension program (LEP), which is to add 20 years and new capabilities to the half-century-old weapon system, is jointly led by Sandia
National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory. The first revamped bomb, known as the B-61-12, is scheduled for delivery to the US Air Force in 2020.
“We believe without further improvement to its project management tools, it will be difficult for the program to proactively manage the
costs, schedule, and risks of the B61-12 LEP to ensure it can deliver the [first revamped bomb] within cost and meet its critical national security schedule,” says acting DOE inspector general Rickey Hass in a report published in August. “In addition, there is uncertainty whether the original cost estimate for the B61-12 LEP contains sufficient management reserve to allow the program to respond to the numerous risks identified in the program.”
Visit Hanford's nuclear processing facilities, virtuallyKEPR TV September 20, 2016 RICHLAND, Wash. - The world's most advanced nuclear processing facilities are now open to the public – virtually.
The waste treatment plant is the world’s largest vitrification facility, meaning it is being built to turn radioactive waste into glass.
Vitrification is the process of mixing liquid radioactive waste with glass-forming materials and heating them in a high-temperature melter. This “liquid glass” is poured into stainless steel containers to cool before being disposed of
permanently and safely.
The 360-degree virtual tour begins with views of the Hanford Site and the Waste Treatment Plant. The inside look offers the public a chance to see the plant and learn about the work being done at the
site.
Hanford whistleblowers awarded $216,000 in back pay, compensationTri-City Herald September 19,
2016 Two Hanford whistleblowers have been awarded $216,000 in back pay and compensation, plus interest and attorney fees, after being
suspended from their jobs by Computer Sciences Corp.
The decision by a U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judge followed a six-day trial in Kennewick that began in November after the company appealed an earlier decision.
The whistleblowers were represented by Hanford Challenge, a Seattle-based worker advocacy group for the nuclear reservation, and an additional attorney.
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| October 2016 | | 11-13 | Energy, Technology and Environmental Business Association's Business Opportunities Conference in Knoxville, TN
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| November 2016 | | 16-18 | INVITATION ONLY 2016
Intergovernmental Meeting with DOE in New Orleans, LA |
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Find the most recent ECA Bulletin here |
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