The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in July spent another $5,861 from its Nuclear Waste Fund balance, according to its latest report to Congress.
The spending was similar in both amount and type to costs listed in agency reports filed in recent months. That was topped by $4,315 for a February meeting of the Licensing Support Network Advisory Review Panel and data collection for locations for hearings in the potential resumption of the adjudication of the Department of Energy license application for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.
The remaining $1,546 was listed for unidentified support costs chargeable to NWF funds, specifically $825 for program planning and support and $721 for support and advice in NRC proceedings.
The Nuclear Waste Fund was established under the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act to pay licensing and eventual construction and operation of a permanent repository for spent reactor fuel from U.S. commercial nuclear power reactors and high-level federal defense waste. Nuclear utilities into 2013 paid into the fund, which as of fiscal 2017 held just shy of $38 billion, according to a recent DOE accounting.
The Obama administration halted licensing for Yucca Mountain in 2010, but a federal appeals court in 2013 ordered the NRC to resume the proceeding. As of July, it had spent nearly $13.1 million of the $13.5 million available from the fund as of August 2013. The largest chunk of that, $8.4 million, was spent on completion of a safety evaluation report for the project. That was followed by $1.6 million for a supplement to the environmental impact statement for the license application.]
The NRC’s total unspent balance from the fund was $479,123 as of last year. Its unexpended, unobligated balance was $449,202.
Agency leaders have acknowledged they would need congressional appropriations to actually resume adjudication of the DOE application. While the Trump administration has tried to restart the process, with backing from the House, the Senate has blocked every attempt to fund the project.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is again taking public comments on the scope of its environmental impact statement for a temporary spent nuclear fuel storage site proposed to be built in West Texas.
The agency in April 2017 suspended its review of the site license application, including the comment period, at the request of applicant Waste Control Specialists. The Dallas-based company this spring partnered with nuclear fuel cycle specialist Orano (previously AREVA) to revive the project, and in June asked the NRC to resume the license application evaluation.
More than 160 comments had been filed as of April 2017 during the initial input period.
Additional comments are due by Oct. 29. “Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received before this date,” the NRC said in a Federal Register notice.
The environmental impact statement is one aspect of the overall licensing review, which also covers safety and security.
The Waste Control Specialists-Orano venture, formally called Interim Storage Partners, plans to store up to 40,000 metric tons of used reactor fuel and Greater-Than-Class-C waste now stranded on-site at power plants around the country. It would remain at the WCS disposal site in Andrews County until the Department of Energy builds a permanent repository for the radioactive waste.
The NRC expects to complete the technical review for licensing in August 2020, after which the commission would rule on the application. Interim Storage Partners hopes that will happen no later than 2022.
The NRC is also reviewing the license application from Holtec International for a storage facility in southeastern New Mexico with planned capacity exceeding 100,000 metric tons of material. More than 6,800 comments were submitted during the regulator’s scoping process for that site’s environmental impact statement, though many of those were the same statement from different people.
A member of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has been elevated to the chairmanship as of Aug. 31, the agency announced Tuesday.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott selected Jon Niermann as TCEQ chairman for an indefinite term, according to a press release. He replaces Bryan Shaw, who retired Aug. 31 after nearly 11 years on the commission and just shy of nine years as chairman.
Niermann has served as a commissioner since 2015. An attorney, he has served in the private and public sectors, including as head of the Texas Attorney General’s Office Environmental Protection Division.
There was no immediate word this week on who would replace Niermann on the three-person commission.
This is the latest of several reshufflings at the commission. In August, Abbott appointed Commissioner Toby Baker as TCEQ executive director. He was replaced by Emily Lindley, who had worked at TCEQ for more than a decade.
The regulatory responsibilities of the nearly 3,000-employee agency cover oversight of nuclear waste management in the state. That primarily involves the Waste Control Specialists complex in Andrews County, one of four active facilities licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for disposal of low-level radioactive waste.
From The Wires
From the Chicago Tribune: Demolition continues for towers at retired Zion nuclear power plant.
From the Melbourne, Australia, Age: Over 200 drums of radioactive waste to be moved from Melbourne University to a nearby storage site.
From Power Magazine: Questions about the future of mixed-oxide fuel in Japan.
From the Brussels Times: Radioactive waste from Luxembourg to be stored in Belgium prior to disposal.
