RW Monitor
8/1/2014
IN THE NRC
Maureen Wylie has taken over as Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chief Financial Officer’s after being selected by NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane to fill the position previously held by James Dyer, who retired from the NRC in May. Wylie assumed her position early this week after spending 10 years at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). During her time at the NOAA, she served as Chief Financial Officer from 2004 to 2012 while spending the last two years serving as Chief, Resource and Operations Management, the principal executive for NOAA’s corporate services. “We are happy to welcome Maureen to our team,” Macfarlane said in a statement. “Her deep and rich government resources and facilities management experience will serve the NRC well.”
The Nuclear Regulation Commission granted an exemption this week that would enable money from Zion’s decommissioning trust fund to go towards irradiated fuel management activities. ZionSolutions, the company responsible for the decommissioning of the plant, has been in the process of removing spent fuel from the pools to dry cask storage. This exemption would enable the company to apply funds from the decommissioning trust to the cleanup. “The Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, an exemption is authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety, is consistent with the common defense and security, and that special circumstances are present,” the NRC said in a Federal Register notice. “Therefore, the Commission hereby grants Zion Solutions an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) to authorize ZS to use nuclear decommissioning trust funds to manage irradiated fuel in accordance with the updated Irradiated Fuel Management Plan and PSDAR.”
IN THE INDUSTRY
Entergy is reportedly planning Vermont Yankee’s last day of operations for Dec. 29, according to local reports this week. According to the Times Argus newspaper, Michael McKenney, Vermont Yankee’s emergency preparedness manager, revealed the date at a state meeting last week. Entergy spokesman Rob Williams remained vague about that as the shutdown date. “That’s a target date only,” Williams said. “We have a commitment in the settlement agreement with the State of Vermont to shut down by the end of the year. We are making internal plans consistent with that commitment, and currently assume the final downpower a short period before New Year’s Eve, although we may adjust the precise date as we factor in the many scheduling priorities for safe shutdown.”
Ontario Power Generation entered into a five-year Memorandum of Understanding this week with a local tribal nation concerning the proposed Deep Geologic Repository in Kincardine, Ont. The MOU calls for the continued consultation between OPG and the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) and the MNO Georgian Bay Traditional Territory Consultation Committee on OPG’s plans for the construction of the DGR and how it affects the MNO way of life. OPG plans on storing low and intermediate waste from its Bruce, Pickering, and Darlington power stations at the proposed repository, which would be located 680 meters (approximately 744 yards) below the surface in an isolated rock formation of shale and limestone, but local groups including some tribal nations have concerns about its environmental impact on the surrounding Great Lakes. “This agreement is very important to Métis people because it guarantees that Métis rights will be protected and the Métis Way of Life in the Georgian Bay will be respected,” MNO Chair France Picotte said in a statement.
