Spent nuclear fuel

Sweden has broken ground on its final repository for spent nuclear fuel (SNF)—a milestone reached after 40 years of research and development—making it the world’s second deep geological repository (DGR) now under construction. Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB), a nuclear fuel and waste management company owned by Sweden’s nuclear operators, officially announced the start of construction […]

Russia has launched its third cycle of testing innovative uranium-plutonium REMIX fuel at the Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant in Saratov Oblast, a key step that advances the closed nuclear fuel cycle technology. Designed to recycle spent nuclear fuel (SNF), the REMIX assemblies could significantly expand the raw material base for nuclear energy while reducing radioactive […]

DeepGEO, a multinational spent nuclear fuel (SNF) repository developer, and Copenhagen Atomics, a Danish advanced thorium reactor innovator, have signed a first-of-its-kind collaboration agreement that seeks to revolutionize the nuclear fuel cycle by aligning emerging waste management solutions with next-generation reactor technologies. The landmark collaboration marks an industry-first effort to unite a reactor designer and […]

Nuclear energy has long been a topic of debate due to concerns about its environmental impact and the disposal of nuclear waste. However, a paradigm shift is underway that could revolutionize how we view nuclear waste. Not only could recycling nuclear fissile waste reduce the waste generated by current nuclear power plants, but it also […]

Oklo has kicked off regulatory activities for a first-of-its-kind nuclear fuel recycling facility that could produce commercial material from used light water reactor (LWR) fuel before the decade’s end. The advanced nuclear technology firm in December submitted a licensing project plan (LPP) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for its Fuel Recycling Technologies facility. The […]

Every month, POWER magazine publishes several articles in its Global Monitor section covering topics important to the electric power generation industry. The articles typically feature interesting updates on progress made at notable projects around the world, big policy changes, or promising research and development (R&D) news. Short notes about major contracts are also touched on […]

Many experts believe small modular reactors (SMRs), which are generally classified as nuclear power reactors with an electrical output of 300 MW or less, offer great promise for supplying the world with carbon-free energy. Several SMR designs are under development by companies around the world including NuScale Power, GE-Hitachi, Terrestrial Energy, TerraPower, Toshiba, X-energy, and […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has initiated community outreach to facilitate consent-based siting, management of spent nuclear fuel (SNF), and interim storage facility siting. The effort, outlined in a series of steps the DOE expects to take in response to a recent request for public input, marks a significant first step toward advancing the agency’s […]

Did you know that more than 90% of the potential energy that exists in fuel rods when they’re loaded into commercial nuclear reactors still remains in the fuel after five years of operation? Well, that’s

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced this week that it would provide up to $48 million for a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program that could substantially reduce the disposal impact of used nuclear fuel (UNF). The program, dubbed CURIE (Converting UNF Radioisotopes Into Energy), is intended to support “a comprehensive national strategy […]

Sweden’s government in late January gave radioactive waste management company Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB) the green light to proceed with a deep geological repository (DGR) for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at a site near Vattenfall’s 3.2-GW Forsmark nuclear power plant. The milestone, which wraps up a planning process that has taken more than 40 years, makes Sweden only the second country, after Finland, to take active steps on building a permanent SNF repository.

Potentially jumpstarting long-paralyzed efforts to address the federal management of spent nuclear fuel (SNF), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Nov. 30 issued a request for information (RFI) that could determine where the agency will temporarily consolidate and store spent fuel from nuclear reactors across the nation. Under the RFI, the DOE is seeking […]

New Mexico has sued the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), challenging the legality of the agency’s proceedings involving separate proposals to build and operate two consolidated interim storage facilities (CISFs) for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in New Mexico and Texas.  In a complaint filed on March 29 against the NRC and the U.S. government, New Mexico […]

Efforts to explore whether it is feasible to permanently dispose of high-level nuclear waste in deep horizontal boreholes under next-generation nuclear reactor sites got a boost in late April as nuclear waste

A bill to amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982 and give the Department of Energy (DOE) the authority to site, build, and operate one or more interim storage sites that would consolidate spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from decommissioned nuclear reactors has passed out of committee and been reported to the full House […]

Fifteen notable industry groups have urged Congressional leaders to act on the federal used nuclear fuel program, noting no progress on the Yucca Mountain repository license application and consolidated interim storage is “untenable.” The broad coalition of labor unions, state public service commissioners, clean energy organizations, and energy trade associations told U.S. House and Senate […]

Waste Control Specialists (WCS) and Orano USA intend to revive licensing of a consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) in Andrews County, Texas, where spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from reactors across the country can be stored until a permanent repository is developed. The companies said on March 13, 2018, they intend to form a joint venture […]

Citing its backing for the long-stalled Yucca Mountain permanent spent nuclear waste repository in Nevada, the Trump administration has asked a federal court to reject a petition filed by Texas in which the state sought a court-supervised process to take over administrative proceedings so as to guarantee licensing and eventual construction of project. Texas filed […]

Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Ernest Moniz reaffirmed that the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, N.M., is on track for reopening later this year, but he did not offer any encouragement to those in the southwest corner of the state who support using the site for permanent disposal of the country’s spent nuclear fuel.

This is a web supplement to “Riding Off into the Sunset: Nuclear Decontamination and Decommissioning Update,” appearing in the July 2015 issue of POWER.   The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) is located in eastern Lithuania near Visaginas—a town of more than 20,000 people founded in the mid-1970s for workers constructing INPP and for the […]

With plans for a “permanent” solution for storing waste from nuclear power generating plants permanently stalled, some are hoping that an “interim” site can be developed that would enable the removal of spent nuclear fuel from plant sites. Today, Holtec International and two New Mexico counties announced a memorandum of agreement to build such a […]

Progress has been slow on finding a permanent disposal solution for spent nuclear fuel in the U.S., but an interim solution seems more palatable to developers in a couple of southwestern states. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Ernest Moniz on April 11, informing him of […]

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. […]