NRC

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) final rule governing long-term spent nuclear fuel storage onsite at U.S. power plants is illegal and should be overturned, the attorneys general of New York, Connecticut, and Vermont claim in a legal challenge filed on Monday.   In a petition filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. […]

Decommissioning the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant will cost up to $1.24 billion, owner Entergy Corp. said in a study submitted to Vermont regulators on Friday.  Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee (ENVY) plans to shutter the reactor in late 2014. The decision to close the plant stems from a settlement agreement negotiated by several Vermont state agencies […]

The stalled Yucca Mountain permanent nuclear waste repository will meet regulatory requirements when permanently closed, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has found in a long-awaited safety evaluation report (SER).  The federal regulatory body on Oct. 16 issued Volume 3 of the five-part SER on the underground geologic nuclear waste repository proposed to be built in […]

The U.S. power sector has seen a number of developments on the regulatory front in recent months. Here’s where major federal rules stand today. (For a more dynamic and graphic version of this article, see http://powermag.com/long-form-stories/bw-power/ .) GHG Rules New Power Plants. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in September 2013 revised a 2012 proposal to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) today issued a final rule on continued spent nuclear fuel storage and terminated a two-year suspension of final licensing actions for nuclear power plants and renewals.  The federal regulatory body’s new rule revises the Waste Confidence Decision—which the D.C. Circuit vacated in June 2012—and renames it the “Continued Storage of […]

A final rule governing continued storage of used nuclear fuel is expected from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) next month. NRC staff on July 24 submitted a draft final rule to replace the court-vacated 2010 “Waste Confidence Decision” and a supporting generic environmental impact statement to the commission for approval. The D.C. Circuit in June […]

Forced outages at Entergy’s two Indian Point nuclear units proposed by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to protect fish are “unnecessary” and a “terrible idea,” a company official testified at a public hearing on Tuesday.  The DEC has proposed Entergy shutter the two units for at least 42 outage days every summer […]

On July 2, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a “white” inspection finding to the Wolf Creek Generating Station in Burlington, Kan., in response to a deficiency identified during an emergency preparedness exercise conducted last year. Inspectors observed the biennial exercise on Nov. 5, 2013, to assess if the drill adequately tested elements of the […]

The decommissioning of nuclear plants has developed into a mature industry in the U.S. It started in the 1960s with the dismantling of low-power prototype and test reactors originally built to demonstrate

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued two “yellow” findings on June 24 to Arkansas Nuclear One—the 1,823-MW dual-unit nuclear power plant located near Russellville that is operated by Entergy Corp.—in connection with a heavy equipment handling incident at the facility last year. On March 31, 2013, a 525-ton generator stator fell when a temporary lifting […]

The $930.7 million proposal by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to recover 90% of its budget authority through licensing, inspection, and annual fees to be charged to U.S. nuclear generators in fiscal year (FY) 2014 is a 7.7% hike from the year before, but it is “unjustified,” given the decline in the number of operating […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is calling for public comment and information on approaches to updating radiation protection standards for nuclear power operations. The standards have not been updated since they were originally issued in 1977. The agency issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Feb. 4 in the Federal Register and related fact […]

General Electric Hitachi (GE Hitachi) will pay $2.7 million under a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve allegations that the company made false statements about a non-safety component of its advanced nuclear Economic Simplified Boiling-Water Reactor (ESBWR).  The ESBWR, a 1,650-MWt reactor that uses natural circulation for normal operation and has […]

The Fort Calhoun Station, Omaha Public Power District’s (OPPD’s) 478-MW nuclear reactor that was offline for nearly three years to address longstanding issues, including flooding from the  Missouri River in 2011, is ready to restart, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has deemed.  The federal regulatory body on Tuesday concluded OPPD was ready to safely restart the […]

No environmental impacts would preclude renewing the operating licenses for two pressurized water reactors (PWR) at the South Texas Project nuclear plant in Bay City, Texas, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) concluded on Friday.  The federal regulatory body issued a final environmental impact statement (SEIS) for the proposed renewal of operating licenses for Units 1 […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Monday directed agency staff to complete the long-delayed safety evaluation report (SER) for the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) license application to build the Yucca Mountain permanent waste repository. Reflecting the Obama administration’s opposition to the repository, the DOE in 2010 withdrew from the NRC its June 2008–submitted application to […]

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy on Tuesday pushed top officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to act immediately to restart the Yucca Mountain repository licensing process. Only two witnesses testified at the hearing on how the Obama administration intends to […]

In response to a pivotal federal court decision in August, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last week said it will seek comments on how to restart the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain permanent nuclear waste repository in Nevada. The request will help the NRC “ensure the most efficient and productive use of the approximately […]

In an apparent legal victory for the states of Washington and South Carolina, a divided federal court on Tuesday directed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to continue its legally obligated review of a license application to build the proposed permanent nuclear waste repository in Yucca Mountain, Nev. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. […]

The 30-year anniversary of the Three Mile Island accident passed with little fanfare because our nuclear plant fleet today operates with high reliability and struts an excellent safety record. That wasn’t always the case.