Nuclear Energy


NRC Taking Comments on Review of Wyoming Uranium Facility Expansion Plan

Strata applied to the NRC in early 2015 for approval to build and operate additional uranium recovery wells in the Kendrick expansion area, which covers about 7,800 acres adjacent to the facility, which is located 27 miles northeast of Gillette, Wyo.

DOE Issues Citations for 2014 WIPP Incidents

Operations at the U.S. Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the transuranic waste disposal site outside of Carlsbad, N.M., were suspended after two serious February 2014 incidents involving worker exposures to smoke and radiation.

DOE Resumes Search for Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste Repository

DOE will follow the process laid out in a strategy document from 2013. The strategy is to establish a pilot interim storage facility that mainly will accept used nuclear fuel from reactors that have already been shut down; a larger interim storage facility; and one or more long-term geologic repositories.

Workers dismantled a steam generator in a unit at a German plant. More than half of all the operating nuclear power reactors are more than 30 years old, according to IAEA. (Photo by H. Vanhatalo/IAEA)

IAEA Announces 2016 Decommissioning Conference

Participants will discuss challenges, achievements, and lessons learned from nuclear site decommissioning and environmental remediation projects implemented during the past decade when they meet next May in Madrid.

Two cooling towers at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.

Electric Power Generation Employment Down 42 Percent 2001-2014

Employment in nuclear power was essentially flat—it rose during the period but settled at 47,413 in 2014, up by 5 percent from 45,312 in 2001.

World Nuclear Association Hails Japanese Reactor's Restart

"The restart of Sendai unit 1 puts Japan on the road to recovery. Going forward, it is essential that the nuclear industry works harder at building better relationships with the public as well as improving our performance and future technology offerings," said Agneta Rising, the association's director general.

NRC

NRC Determines Yucca Mountain's Groundwater Impact 'Small'

This determination means the environmental effects of the spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste disposed there would not be detectable or be so minor they will not destabilize or noticeably alter any important attribute of affected resources.

New Analyses Confirm Diablo Canyon Safe, PG&E Reports

"These updated findings are the culmination of years of study and analysis, and further confirm the safety of the plant's design," said Ed Halpin, PG&E's senior vice president and chief nuclear officer.



FEMA to Test Virginia Nuclear Plant's Readiness

We will assess state and local emergency response capabilities within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone, as well as the adjacent support jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Virginia," said MaryAnn Tierney, regional administrator for FEMA Region III.

This photo is an aerial view of California

$1.45 Billion San Onofre Settlement Approved

The California Public Utilities Commission approved it Nov. 20.

NRC

NRC Staff Report Reignites Yucca Mountain Debate

How the 2014 midterm U.S. elections go may well determine whether the nuclear waste storage project in Nevada goes forward, four years after the Obama administration halted it.

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Closer to Resuming Operations

Final inspections of WIPP's primary waste hoist began Oct. 7, and a town hall meeting has been scheduled for Oct. 16 to update residents about the recovery process.

NRC Extends Comment Period on LLRW Program Changes

The agency's staff will develop an updated strategic assessment of the Low Level Radioactive Waste Regulatory Program, revising the alternative future disposal scenarios specified in the prior, 2007 strategic assessment.

Bechtel-Led Consortium Resumes Role at Pantex, Oak Ridge

Consolidated Nuclear Security—whose members are Bechtel National, Inc., Lockheed Martin Services, Inc., ATK Launch Systems Inc., SOC LLC, and Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc.as a teaming subcontractor—will manage the operations. The two facilities maintain the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.

Several environmental groups oppose Detroit Edison

EPA Planning Update of Radiation Protection Standards

The agency's standards for nuclear power operations date to 1977 and are the earliest radiation rules it has developed.

Appeals Court Halts Nuclear Waste Storage Fees

As long as the federal government has no viable alternative to Yucca Mountain for storing nuclear waste, power plant operators should not be charged annual fees for the cost of that disposal, the judges ruled.

See How Your Country’s Energy Statistics Stack Up

The International Energy Agency’s 2013 edition of the Key World Energy Statistics is now available for download. The booklet shows the energy consumption, production, and transformation in more than 140 countries.

No Nuke Materials

Shortage of Ingredient May Cause Power Disruption

The Next Big Workforce: Nuclear Energy

The DOE puts $60 million into training then next generation’s nuclear energy leaders.

Japanese Wind Sector Growing Fast

Partly because fears about nuclear power persist and thanks to government support, the sector will grow strongly this year, Frost & Sullivan predicts.