Happy ‘Nuclear Science Week,’ nuke-watchers.
The Secretary of Energy and industry ambassadors took to social media this week to mark this international week of recognition for the field of nuclear science.
“Nuclear science is an incredible asset to our nation,” said energy secretary Jennifer Granholm in a video message published Monday, “and we are just getting started in harnessing the full potential of nuclear science and energy to help us meet our national, our economic and our environmental needs.”
Nuclear science is an incredible asset to our nation. It delivers more than half of our nation’s CLEAN energy, creates jobs, and expands space exploration!
Join me in celebrating #NuclearSciWeek.⚡️ pic.twitter.com/GLwCw6fBUN
— Secretary Jennifer Granholm (@SecGranholm) October 18, 2021
Nuclear Science Week was first recognized in 2009 by a steering committee led by the Smithsonian-affiliated National Museum of Nuclear Science and History as well as a spate of industry partners such as Entergy, the Nuclear Energy Institute and the American Nuclear Society.
At a national Nuclear Science Week (NSW) event Thursday, hosted this year in Washington, the Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for nuclear energy Kathryn Huff accepted an NSW award for “[DOE’s] longstanding partnership with NASA,” according to a Tweet from the Office of Nuclear Energy (ONE).
“For 60 years, DOE has maintained the infrastructure to develop, manufacture, test, and deliver power systems for space exploration,” ONE said.
Here are some other updates from the world of civilian nuclear power:
Some Pandemic Lessons Learned at NRC’s Reactor Regulation Office
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was “able to provide reasonable assurance for safety and security” during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent report from the agency’s reactor regulation office.
The initial report from NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), dated Oct. 14, details efforts made by the office’s COVID-19 coordination team to respond to regulatory challenges posed by the public health emergency.
The report recommends process improvements designed to streamline “certain administrative processes” during emergency situations like the COVID pandemic. In particular, the report suggests strategies for NRR to handle large volumes of regulatory exemption requests from licensees, such as using online exemption request forms and designating a special “Tiger Team” to handle requests.
NRC has granted a number of exemptions to nuclear power plant operators over the last year of the pandemic. In April, the agency granted work-hour control exemptions to three nuclear plants and allowed another to skip a biennial emergency preparedness exercise, citing COVID-related staffing shortages. The commission has also granted dozens of exemptions to force-on-force anti-terrorism exercises at power plants — NRC resumed those drills in March.
Meanwhile, NRR is putting together a team to conduct a full review of the agency’s performance during the pandemic, which should wrap up early next year. A spokesperson for NRC told RadWaste Monitor in September that the group’s makeup and leadership are “still under consideration.”
SONGS Fires Back at Local Media’s Jabs About Onsite Waste
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is out to correct the record on its spent fuel inventory, according to a recent op-ed from its public affairs officer.
The San Clemente Times’s surf columnist Jake Howard “misrepresent[s] simple facts about the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) and the spent nuclear fuel that’s safely stored there,” said SONGS public information officer John Dobken in a letter to the editor published Thursday in the local paper.
Dobken took issue with Howard’s use of the term “leaky” when referring to SONGS’s spent fuel canisters in an Oct. 7 column.
“There has never been an instance of one of these canister designs ‘leaking,’ either at SONGS or anywhere else in the U.S.,” Dobken responded. “Readers deserve to know the facts, not misguided musings,” he said.
SONGS, located midway between Los Angeles and San Diego on the California coast, has its spent fuel inventory stored at an onsite pad in 125 canisters. Southern California Edison, which is decommissioning the plant, doesn’t plan to keep that waste on the coastline forever. A recent report from the company lists federal or commercial interim storage as options for final disposition of SONGS’s spent fuel.
