GAIN announces small business voucher opportunity GAIN February 9, 2017 IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) today announced the availability of fiscal year 2017 funds for small business vouchers to assist applicants developing advanced nuclear energy technologies who are seeking access to the world class expertise and
capabilities available across the U.S. Department of Energy's national laboratories complex. The small business vouchers are provided by the DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy to support nuclear energy innovation in the small business sector.
"The objective of GAIN is to accelerate cost-effective commercialization of innovative nuclear energy technologies," said Rita Baranwal, GAIN director. "This cost-sharing initiative enables partnerships with small businesses and provides them with access to the technical, regulatory and financial support necessary to bridge the gap to delivering new
technologies to market." >>Continue
readingIAEA Spearheading Training Programs on Small Modular Reactors IAEA February 6, 2017 With increased global demand for alternative energy sources, many developing countries are considering the introduction of nuclear power programmes to
meet growing energy needs. This, in turn, has necessitated the exigency for nuclear science/technology education programmes, helping nuclear professionals maintain and expand their nuclear expertise.
As the global hub for exchange in peaceful nuclear technologies, the IAEA is spearheading training programmes with the development and distribution of simulation software and training courses. With the recent addition of a Small and Medium Sized or Modular Reactor (SMR) simulator, the IAEA bolstered its collection of
educational nuclear power plant simulators. >>Continue readingNY bets big on aging nuke plants, balancing jobs, safety The Washington Post January 29, 2017 OSWEGO, N.Y. — When the Nine Mile Point reactor first went online, Richard Nixon was president, the Beatles were still a band and Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima weren’t yet bywords
for the hazards of nuclear power.
Almost 50
years later, New York state is betting big on the future of Nine Mile Point, one of the nation’s two oldest nuclear plants.
The state is putting up $7.6 billion in subsidies to ensure that the plant and two other upstate nuclear plants stay open, part of New York’s strategy to lean on nuclear energy as it ramps up renewable sources such as wind, solar and
hydroelectric.
But even as Democratic
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration embraces nuclear power upstate, it’s moving to shutter the Indian Point nuclear plant some 30 miles north of New York City. >>Continue readingCalifornia's $4 billion SONGS project set to test decom efficiency gains Nuclear Energy Insider February 8, 2017 In December, SONGS Decommissioning Solutions, a joint
venture between EnergySolutions and AECOM, won the contract to decommission Southern California Edison’s (SCE’s) SONGS nuclear power plant in California.
The estimated cost of the decommissioning project is $4.4 billion and this covers dismantling, spent fuel management, radiological decommissioning and restoration of the site within 20
years.
The site houses three
reactors. In June 2013, SCE announced it would retire the 1.1 GW San Onofre Units 2 and 3 earlier than planned and began the preparations to decommission the facility. The 436 MW Unit 1 was shut down in 1992 and placed in SAFSTOR until the shut down of Units 2 and 3. >>Continue
readingProjected End Date for Indian Point Plant Comes into Clearer Focus U.S. NRC Blog February 8,
2017 April 30th will mark a decade since Entergy submitted a license renewal application to the NRC for the Indian Point nuclear power plant. During the intervening years, thorough NRC staff reviews and a complex hearing on
the proposal by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, the quasi-judicial arm of the NRC, have moved steadily forward.
But then came an announcement on Jan. 9 by Entergy, the plant’s owner, and New York state. Under an agreement reached between the two parties, Indian Point Unit 2 would permanently shut down by April 30, 2020, and Indian Point Unit 3 by April 30, 2021. (Indian Point Unit 1 ceased operations in
1974).
This represents an earlier retirement of the reactors than proposed in the company’s license renewal application, which sought an extension of Unit 2’s operating license to April 2033 and Unit 3’s to April 2035. >>Continue readingTrump's nuclear options: Upcoming review casts a wide
net Defense News February 8, 2017 WASHINGTON – On Dec. 22, just weeks from taking office, then President-elect Donald Trump shook the military and nuclear communities by tweeting out that the U.S. "must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding
nukes."
It was a stunning statement, as the push to limit expansion of atomic arms has been a cornerstone of American policy since the height of the Cold War. But Trump doubled down the next
day.
"Let it be an arms race,” the president said, according to Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them
all.”
Now, having ordered a new review of America's nuclear arsenal, the world is watching to see how Trump will follow through on those comments. >>Continue readingFederal judge allows SRS to accept liquid radioactive waste from Canada Jurist February
3, 2017 A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Thursday that the Department of Energy had completed the required investigations for the delivery of liquid radioactive waste from Chalk River in Ontario, Canada, to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The lawsuit was filed by Beyond Nuclear and other environmental groups against the US Department of Energy relating to 6,000 gallons of highly-enriched uranyl nitrate liquid
(HEUNL). >>Continue
reading Idaho Lawmakers vent spent fuel frustrations The Post Register February
6, 2017 BOISE — The House Environment, Energy and Technology Committee held a hearing Monday on the question of spent nuclear fuel shipments. It was an opportunity for the Attorney General’s Office to provide information on the 1995 Settlement Agreement’s history — and for lawmakers to vent frustrations at the continued blockage
of such shipments.
Shipments of small quantities of spent nuclear fuel to be used for research at Idaho National Laboratory have
been blocked because the Department of Energy has been unable to get the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit up and running.
Attorney General Lawrence Wasden halted the shipments over the objections of Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and a large bloc of Idaho lawmakers. Tensions with lawmakers last year rose to the point that Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, at one point indicated that it might be time to re-examine the consolidation of the Attorney General’s Office, a move that could greatly reduce the power and budget of the office. >>Continue readingUS DOE approves Atkins JV to begin operation of DUF6 conversion plants Power-Technology February 6, 2017 Mid-America Conversion
Services (MCS) has received approval from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to commence operation of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion plants in the US.
MCS is a joint venture (JV) of Atkins, US-based engineering and construction company Fluor, and manufacturing firm Westinghouse. It signed a five-year contract to carry out the operation, with facilities located in Kentucky and Ohio.
Under the terms of the deal, the company will also have to manage the cylinder-storage yards at the DOE’s Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (GDP) site in Ohio and Paducah GDP Site in
Kentucky. >>Continue reading |
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| February 2017 | | 8-9 | The Advanced Reactors Technical Summit IV & Technology Trailblazers
Showcase
Argonne, IL |
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| February 2017 | | 23 | Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Idaho National Laboratory Idaho Falls, ID |
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| February 2017 | | 23-24 | ECA Event: Meeting the New Administration: Addressing Priorities and Securing Progress Washington, DC |
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| March 2017 | | 1-2 | Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board,
Hanford Richland, WA
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| March 2017 | | 5-9 | Waste Management Conference Phoenix, AZ |
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| May/June 2017 | | 31-1 | INVITATION
ONLY ECA Peer
Exchange:
Manhattan Project National Historical Park Implementation Richland, WA
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| September 2017 | | 13-14 | 2017 National Cleanup Workshop Alexandria, VA |
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Find the most recent ECA Bulletin here |
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