The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans through fall to hold a series of public meetings in communities near nuclear power plants that have closed or are nearing the end of the service life.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss best practices for community boards that would provide advice on decommissioning of the facilities, as required under the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act. The bill, from Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), was signed into law in January.
Input from the meetings will be incorporated into an NRC report on the topic.
The meetings will be held near 11 nuclear facilities: Crystal River in Florida, which permanently closed in 2013 and is scheduled for decommissioning starting next year; Diablo Canyon in California, scheduled to close by 2025; Humboldt Bay in California, which has largely been decommissioned after shutting down in 1976; Indian Point in New York, due for closure by April 2021; Kewaunee in Wisconsin, shuttered since 2013; Oyster Creek in New Jersey, which shut down in September 2018; Palisades in Michigan, scheduled to continue operating into 2022; Pilgrim in Massachusetts, closed on May 31 of this year; San Onofre in California, shut down permanently in 2013; Vermont Yankee, now being decommissioned after its 2014 retirement; and Zion in Illinois, which is nearing the conclusion of decommissioning following its 1998 closure.
Community advisory boards have already been established for some of these facilities, such as San Onofre and Diablo Canyon.
Members of Congress submitted some of the nearly 30 comments to the NRC after the agency requested proposed locations for the meetings. For example: Three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation in April requested a meeting in Ocean County, home to the Oyster Creek plant.
The meetings are expected to be held from August to October, with exact locations and schedules to be announced later, the NRC said in a June 28 press release.
The resulting report, also featuring additional data from the federal regulator, is due to Congress by July 14, 2020. It will address issues including: subjects that a community advisory board might address; how input from a board could be incorporated into decommissioning decision-making; board interaction with federal organizations including the NRC “to promote dialogue between the licensee and affected stakeholders; and the board’s role in promoting public involvement in decommissioning.
Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission have determined that the Vermont state government is largely ready to assume regulatory authority over some radioactive materials.
The only significant issue was with certain state regulations that require revision so that they align with federal rules, the agency said Tuesday in a Federal Register notice. Vermont has said it will address those issues.
In April, Gov. Phil Scott (R) submitted the official request for Vermont to become the 39th agreement state to the NRC. If the application goes through, Vermont would become the regulator and licensor for certain radioactive byproduct, source, and special materials. That would cover 36 current licenses, which an NRC spokesman in April said encompass industrial, medical, and academic facilities that possess equipment with radioactive materials.
The retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, now being decommissioned after closing in 2014, would remain under federal oversight. That applies to its spent reactor fuel.
Vermont will manage its radioactive materials program through the already-established Office of Radiological Health within the state Department of Health. The count of trained and qualified staff in the office is adequate to the anticipated workload, the NRC said: 1.25 full-time equivalent personnel will be assigned directly to the radioactive materials program.
“All current staff members hold a Master’s Degree in either environmental science or radiologic and imaging sciences,” according to the Federal Register notice. “All have training and work experience in radiation protection. Supervisory level staff have at least 20 years of working experience in radiation protection.”
Vermont has established regulations compatible to NRC rules for activities including transportation of radioactive material, storage and disposal, record-keeping and incident reporting, and evaluation of license applications, the federal agency determined.
In a May 10 letter to the state, the NRC identified five areas in which Vermont regulations on radioactive materials were not compatible with the corresponding federal rules. For example: The state definition of sealed source did not exactly line up with the federal definition: “Any radioactive material or byproduct encased in a capsule designed to prevent leakage or escape of the material.” The state also left out some definitions as it adopted the definitions laid out in federal regulations for land disposal of radioactive waste. In a June 6 letter to the NRC, the state committed to making the needed fixes.
The public has until July 25 to comment the proposed agreement. Comments can be submitted via www.regulations.gov, Docket ID NRC-2019-0114.
The members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have final say on approving the agreement. If it is approved, the agreement would be signed by the NRC chairman and Vermont’s governor. That would be expected shortly before Oct. 1, the first day of the federal fiscal year, with the agreement taking effect shortly afterward.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in May spent just $639 of its remaining balance from the federal fund for development, construction, and operation of a repository for the nation’s nuclear waste.
“While there are no significant actions to report for the month, the NRC provided limited program planning and support activities that resulted in nominal activities,” commission Chairman Kristine Svinicki wrote in a letter attached to the agency’s monthly spending report to Congress.
As of May 31, the NRC had an unspent, uncommitted balance of $409,222 from the Nuclear Waste Fund.
The agency in 2008 received the Department of Energy license application for a disposal site under Yucca Mountain, Nev., for U.S. spent reactor fuel from nuclear power plants and high-level radioactive waste from defense nuclear operations. Its review was cut short two years later when the Obama administration defunded the licensing proceeding.
However, a federal appeals court in August 2013 ordered the NRC to resume its licensing process. At the time, it had just over $13.5 million appropriated by Congress from the Nuclear Waste Fund. Major expenditures since then have included $8.4 million to complete a safety evaluation report for high-level waste disposal at Yucca Mountain, plus $1.6 million to prepare a supplement on the environmental impact statement for the project.
Spending has dropped to a trickle more recently, including $939 in April. For the upcoming fiscal 2020 budget year, the NRC requested $38.5 million to resume licensing for Yucca Mountain. The Energy Department would receive about $110 million to resume its own work on the application. Congress does not appear inclined to support the requests: The House in June approved an appropriations bill that instead offers $47.5 million for non-Yucca integrated management of nuclear waste, focusing on interim storage. The Senate has not yet released any appropriations bills for the budget year that begins Oct. 1.
From The Wires
From ProPublica: The brother of U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.), a legislative supporter of Holtec International, serves on the board of the New Jersey energy technology company.
From the Carlsbad Current Argus: The Carlsbad City Council becomes the latest member of the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance to approve a resolution in favor of spent fuel storage in the region. The Alliance is partnering with Holtec International on the project.
