Nuclear agency seeks $30M for Yucca Mountain licensing review Las Vegas Review Journal June 7, 2017 WASHINGTON — The head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission asked Congress on Wednesday for $30 million and staff to review the expected restart of the license application to permanently store nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain repository in
Nevada.
NRC Chairwoman Kristine Svinicki is seeking the money for Yucca Mountain as part of the agency’s $952 million budget request for fiscal year
2018.
Svinicki said the 2018 budget is an increase over this fiscal year and due to $30 million for “Yucca Mountain
activities.” >>Continue readingHeller issues warning to Trump administration over Yucca Mountain Las Vegas Review Journal June 6, 2017 WASHINGTON — Nevada Sen. Dean Heller delivered a warning Tuesday to the Trump administration over its plan to restart the licensing process on the Yucca Mountain nuclear
repository.
Heller, a Republican, demanded that Dan Brouillette, the administration’s nominee for Department of Energy deputy secretary, answer questions about those plans. Brouillette’s nomination was advanced by a committee to
the full Senate for consideration and a confirmation vote.
Heller said that if confirmed, Brouillette “will play a key role in any attempt to restart licensing activities at Yucca
Mountain.” >>Continue readingExtension sought for storing Three Mile Island debris Washington
Post June 9,
2017 BOISE, Idaho — Federal
officials requested a 20-year extension involving the storage in Idaho of reactor core debris from the partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.
The U.S. Department of Energy in a document made public Friday asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew a
license allowing storage until 2039 at an 890-square -mile site that includes the Idaho National Laboratory.
The debris from the
1979 nuclear accident was shipped from Pennsylvania to Idaho between 1986 and 1990. Research on the material was performed to improve nuclear fuel design and reactor safety. >>Continue readingWith $8.6 billion spent, fate of South Carolina nuclear reactors still unknown The Post and Courier June 11, 2017 COLUMBIA — If two of the Palmetto State's largest utilities pull the plug on their nuclear power plant expansion, around half of all South Carolinians could be on the hook for $8.6 billion to pay for a project that might never produce a single kilowatt of
electricity.
It's possible that bankruptcy proceeds, corporate
payments and sales of the nuclear reactor components would help defray some of the costs to ratepayers if work stops on the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Fairfield
County.
It's just as possible the partnering utilities —
publicly operated Santee Cooper and investor-owned South Carolina Electric & Gas — could decide as early as this month to continue work on the two new reactors, which have been plagued with cost overruns, construction delays and the bankruptcy of the project's lead
contractor. >>Continue
readingToshiba Stock Rises After Striking $3.86B Vogtle Deal Toshiba (6502.JP) shares
gained 8.2% on Monday after it struck a deal with Southern Co. (SO) for the completion of a half-constructed nuclear power plant that the Japanese electronics giant was building in
Georgia.
The Wall Street Journal’s Russell Gold reports: "Under the agreement, Toshiba agreed to pay Southern $3.68 billion to help cover the costs of
completing two reactors at the long-delayed nuclear plant, while Southern agreed not to ask for more, even if the project continues to run over budget."
Toshiba shares are down 31% from their December high. The stock collapsed just as it was recovering from an ugly rout triggered by an accounting scandal the previous year. Toshiba shares were down as much as 61% in March when subsidiary Westinghouse Electric – which was behind the Japanese electronics giant’s U.S. nuclear ambitions – filed for bankruptcy
protection. >>Continue readingConnecticut Senate passes bill allowing purchase of nuclear power Reuters June 7, 2017 Connecticut's Senate passed a bill Wednesday morning that could allow the state to buy power from Dominion Energy Inc's Millstone nuclear power plant.
Earlier this week, Dominion said it will begin a "strategic reassessment" of the 2,088-megawatt Millstone plant after another bill that would allow the state to buy power from the plant failed to get enough votes. That other bill was Senate Bill
106.
Senate Bill 778, which the Senate passed this morning, authorizes the commissioner of the state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection to conduct
an appraisal to determine whether the state will conduct a competitive procurement process for nuclear power.
Before it becomes law, Bill 778 has to pass the
state house before the session ends at midnight Wednesday and be signed by the governor. >>Continue readingBailout of 2 Ohio nuclear plants stalls in Statehouse Associated Press June 10, 2017 CLEVELAND (AP) — A proposed bailout for Ohio’s two
nuclear power plants that would lead to rate increases for FirstEnergy customers appears to be stalled in the Legislature.
One legislative committee considering the idea suspended testimony last month amid protests against the plan while
another committee held its fourth hearing this week without taking a vote.
Much of the written testimony submitted to lawmakers opposes a plan that could lead to $300 million a year in new charges for FirstEnergy customers, The Plain Dealer
reports.
FirstEnergy’s average residential customer would pay about $5 more per month, while businesses and factories would see much larger increases if the Legislature approves the bailout.
>>Continue readingHanford radiation alarm prompts order for workers to seek cover The Seattle Times June 8,
2017 SPOKANE — Radiation warning
alarms sounded Thursday at a former plutonium-production plant in Washington state, prompting a take-cover order that sent about 350 workers seeking cover indoors during the demolition of a plant that for decades had helped make nuclear
weapons.
The order was lifted about four hours later after
low levels of radiation were detected at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, the site of a massive cleanup.
The Energy Department said no injuries were reported, and workers had applied an adhesive product to the contamination to prevent it from spreading from locations on sidewalks and near a vehicle access gate at the Plutonium Finishing Plant.
>>Continue readingPanel poses questions on plutonium risks at Los Alamos lab ABC
News June 7, 2017 Many of the safety systems in place at a federal laboratory in New Mexico where key components of nuclear weapons are developed date to the late 1970s and will likely need to be upgraded to
meet future demands, an official with an independent oversight panel said Wednesday.
Sean Sullivan, chairman of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, made the comments at the start of an hours-long public hearing focused on the risks of plutonium work conducted at Los Alamos National
Laboratory.
Los Alamos, the birthplace of the atomic bomb, restarted development last year of plutonium cores used to trigger the explosion in nuclear weapons. The U.S. Energy Department wants to ramp up
production.
The plutonium facility has drawn the attention of the board and other oversight agencies for safety issues and problems with the aging building's seismic stability and fire system. >>Continue
reading |
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| June
2017 | | 13 | Senate Environment & Public Works Committee Hearing on NRC Nominations |
|
| June 2017 | | 14 | INVITATION
ONLY
ECA Strategic Session: High-Level Waste Management and Disposal Priorities |
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| June 2017 | | 14 | EM SSAB Meeting, Oak Ridge Reservation |
|
| June 2017 | | 14 | Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing on NNSA FY18 Budget Request |
|
| June 2017 | | 21 | EM SSAB Meeting, Nevada |
|
| June 2017 | | 22 | Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Hearing on DOE FY18 Budget
Request |
|
| June
2017 | | 22 | EM SSAB Meeting, Idaho National Laboratory |
|
| August 2017 | | 8-9 | Intermountain Energy Summitt |
|
| August
2017 | | 16-17 | INVITATION ONLY ECA Peer Exchange: Implementation of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Richland, WA |
|
| September 2017 | | 5-7 | Radwaste Summitt 2017 Summerlin, NV |
|
| September 2017 | | 12-14 | 2017 National Cleanup
Workshop Alexandria,
VA |
|
| September 2017 | | 13 | House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus
Event Washington,
DC
|
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Find the most recent ECA Bulletin here |
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