Current NewsTo read a Timeline of Yucca Mountain from 2010 and 2011 please click here.News 2012 - click to open
MayMay 17: Nuclear officials should proceed with Yucca Mountain review May 14: Finland's brilliant plan for dealing with nuclear waste: pulling a Keyser Söze - After decades of planning and $12 billions of investment, the United States grand plan to dispose of the nation's nuclear waste in Nevada's remote Yucca Mountain melted down in political rancor like... well, kind of like a nuclear plant melting down. The Obama Administration pulled the plug on funding the project without specifying any technical problems, leaving the Government Accountability Office to conclude it was done for purely political reasons. May 14: The Thing That Couldn't Die: Yucca Battle Continues in Congress and in the Courts - As Republican members of Congress try to exert pressure on Reid and Senator Barbara Boxer (whose committee has jurisdiction over the NRC) to quickly confirm Svinicki, two states with heaping helpings of nuclear waste have gone to court to make sure that the Yucca repository is kept, if not on track, at least on life support. May 13: Opinion - Licensure process must continue for Yucca nuclear waste site May 13: Debate continues over proposed nuclear waste facility- The debate on what to do with America's spent nuclear fuel and other contaminated waste products is a hot topic. Recently, the Republican-controlled Arizona State Legislature endorsed the state to become home to the nation's first permanent nuclear recycling and waste storage site, and there's a possibility it could be placed in the Gila Valley's back yard. May 13: Nuclear story was disappointing, disservice to community- The line continues to be blurred between fact and opinion in today's media, and Sunday's Courier served another example with a misleading and fear-inducing "news" article ("State Legislature endorses Arizona as dumping ground for nuclear waste"). May 12: TVA nuclear waste storage pact has hot history - The nuclear disaster in Japan and the abandonment of a spent fuel repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., have prompted TVA to consider a $298 million contract for giant concrete and steel casks to store nuclear waste outside its operating plants. May 10: Opinion - Uncle Sam, derelict nuclear-waste disposer - Enter the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste repository. The debate over Yucca Mountain has gone on for decades. But this week, a federal appeals court heard arguments that could result in a court order forcing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to complete its long-overdue review of the Yucca proposal. May 10: Site fight - In arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C., circuit, states and municipalities seeking to dump their nuclear waste in Nevada made their case for a court ruling to re-start the Yucca Mountain suitability process, shut down after Congress failed to fund it. May 7: Dry cask storage to house spent fuel locally - Spent fuel at Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station units 1 and 2 in Scriba will be transported to storage sites on the grounds surrounding the power plants this summer, according to officials of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, owner of the two units. May 7: Nuclear Energy Won't Die - Some thought that nuclear energy may get buried after the Japanese Fukushima deluge. But the rumblings in this country are suggesting that it won't die. May 7: Dry cask storage to house spent fuel locally - Spent fuel at Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station units 1 and 2 in Scriba will be transported to storage sites on the grounds surrounding the power plants this summer, according to officials of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, owner of the two units. May 6: What if Yucca Mountain becomes a repository for data? - When Congress gets back to town this week, two items will be up for discussion that, as we reported last week, will heavily interest Nevada: cybersecurity and Yucca Mountain. May 6: Politics, the law and Yucca Mountain May 5: State Legislature endorses Arizona as dumping ground for nuclear waste: Safford area one of five potential locations -if the Republican-controlled Arizona State Legislature has its way, the state could become the nation's dumping ground for nuclear waste. May 5: South Carolina suing federal goverment over $1.4 billion state paid for nuclear storage May 5: Is Yucca Mountain Still Dead? - New York Times May 4: Spokesman changes his tune on Yucca Mountain — because he must Greg Lemon spinning the opposite direction with Joe Heck's team after stint with congressman who advocated for the nuclear waste site May 4: Fuel for the Fire - May 4:Yucca Mountain May Get Second Life Courts looking into this - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit could rule within the next few months on whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should be forced to reopen its license case for the Yucca Mountain spent fuel repository in Nevada, even though the Obama administration has no interest in developing the much-debated nuclear waste site. May 4: Yucca backers pressing issue - upporters of a proposed nuclear waste dump in Nevada urged a federal appeals court Wednesday to force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to move forward on a licensing plan for the long-delayed project. May 2: Funding issues behind decision to end Yucca licensing: US NRC attorney- A US Nuclear Regulatory Commission attorney told a federal appeals court Wednesday that the agency ended its review of the Yucca Mountain repository license application last year because it was apparent Congress would not fund the work. May 2: SC may sue Obama administration again if Aiken Co. lawsuit fails May 2: Federal appeals court hears arguments on Yucca Mountain project - It may seem like the sort of question best reserved for psychics’ studios and self-help literature, but it’s also likely to determine how the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rules in the case that several states and Nye County have brought against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regarding Yucca Mountain May 2: Appeals court hears arguments over Yucca Mountain- Supporters of a proposed nuclear waste dump in Nevada urged a federal appeals court Wednesday to force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to move forward on a licensing plan for the long-delayed project. AprilApril 30: States seek court action on Yucca nuclear-waste dump April 30: South Carolina seek court action over N-waste dump An appeals-court panel will hear arguments Wednesday, May 2, 2012 in a lawsuit filed by South Carolina and Washington state seeking an end to a political stalemate over the Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste repository. WASHINGTON — Federal judges are again being asked to solve a difficult problem that lawmakers can't fix: the decades-old morass of how to handle tons of nuclear waste in temporary storage around the country. April 30: NRC Commish's Stunning Lack of Candor Should Make President Rethink Renomination April 30: Congress Goes Nuclear - The short version is this bill is consent-based, meaning the Feds can’t just pick a site and force it down a State’s throat, but have to wait for someone to bid for it and requires approval of the Governor, any affected Tribes, and the local representatives of that State. April 30: Protecting South Carolina's interests at Yucca Mountain - The message is now very clear: Abide by the law, or pay the price. April 27: Nuclear power waste and storage facility proposed for Ariz. - Could Arizona become the next dumping ground for nuclear waste? That's exactly what one Arizona lawmaker is proposing. April 26: BILL ALLOTS $25 MIL FOR YUCCA MOUNTAIN Republicans and Democrats on the committee did agree that the Obama administration's decision to terminate the long-planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada was misguided and "counter to the law." The committee bill attempts to fix that by providing DOE with $25 million to work on a solution to storing commercial nuclear waste, but only if it is directed at Yucca Mountain. Also, the bill would bar DOE from spending any funds to eliminate the option of Yucca Mountain as a waste site. Those measures could face opposition in the Senate, however, where Senator Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat and majority leader, has vowed the Yucca Mountain repository will never be built. In fact, an appropriations bill passed by the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee on Tuesday provided no funds for Yucca Mountain. It did, however, include a provision that would create a DOE pilot program for siting and developing an interim consolidated storage site for commercial spent nuclear waste. The Senate Appropriations Committee is set to take up its own version of the energy and water development appropriations bill on Thursday. That bill would provide DOE with $27.1 billion in 2013, an increase of $1.38 billion above fiscal 2012. That is $1 billion above the $26.1 billion provided by the House committee. April 25: Senate Panel Advances Bill for Temporary Nuclear Storage Sites - A Senate committee proposed letting U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu begin the process to build temporary storage sites for nuclear waste in communities that seek such a facility. April 25: Amodei's efforts to strike Republican compromise on Yucca faces first real test - When the House Appropriations committee votes on an annual Energy and Water package today, Nevadans might want to brace for some powerful deja vu: Just like last year, House Republican leaders want to spend $35 million to revive the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project over Nevada lawmakers’ objections, all but setting up a repeat of last year’s fights. April 25: Lawmakers mount new bid to revive Yucca Mountain - House lawmakers supporting the Yucca Mountain repository plan to advance a bill this week that would set aside $35 million to revive the controversial nuclear waste site. April 25: Bill to ease radioactive rules makes some in Missouri worry -An amendment quietly added to legislation in the Missouri House would make it easier -- and far less expensive -- for a Canadian company to ship radioactive material through the state. April 25: Should nukes be nullified? The debate over nuclear energy has remained inconclusive with environmentalists and the nuclear industry at loggerheads. Antony P U discusses the effects of nuclear waste on the environment while suggesting alternate sources of energy. April 24: U.S. Sen. Dean Heller Calls On Congress To Continue Defunding Of Yucca Mountain - U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., today sent a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of both the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations asking them to continue defunding the proposed high level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. April 24: Senate bill takes first new step on nuke waste - Sen. Dianne Feinstein unveiled a bill Tuesday that she said takes a first step, though admittedly a small one, to relocate thousands of tons of nuclear waste left in limbo by the cancellation of the Yucca Mountain repository. April 23: Republicans Push Spending to Dump Waste in Reid Back Yard - A proposed nuclear waste dump outside Las Vegas that the U.S. Senate’s top Democrat has spent years trying to kill is back on the congressional agenda as Republicans are pushing for it in spending bills. April 20: NRC leader fights abuse accusations - RC Chairman Gregory Jaczko denied accusations he abuses women in the workplace, a charge that has resurfaced in the latest fight in Congress over the nuclear safety agency. April 19: Obama Defies Reid On Key Appointment - Reuters reported that Obama will renominate Svinicki despite the majority leader's objection, setting up an intra-party battle over Reid's signature issue, Yucca Mountain. A White House aide confirmed that Obama will indeed renominate Svinicki. April 19: Obama to renominate Republican member of Nuclear Regulatory Commission - President Barack Obama will nominate Republican Kristine Svinicki to a new term on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, despite opposition from two top Democratic senators. April 19: Old tensions return as Republican senators demand NRC member be reappointed - Old tensions at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are surfacing again as Republican leaders banded together Wednesday to issue a demand to the president: Renominate Commissioner Kristine Svinicki, whose term is expiring, or else. April 19: Energy bill would keep Yucca open - A bill introduced this month by U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) calls for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada to remain open. April 19: RPT-Turmoil at U.S. nuclear regulator spills into Congress- A toxic internal battle that has scarred the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as it works on historic reforms now threatens to hold up the work of the U.S. Senate as leaders spar over an opening on the five-member panel. April 18: NRC Nomination Revives Political Fight - At issue is whether Republican Kristine Svinicki, who has criticized the current chairman, will be renominated to the five-member board before her term ends on June 30. April 18: Bill legalizing fracking in NC will be taken up in May session -RALEIGH A state Senate committee on energy policy on Wednesday approved a proposal to legalize fracking in North Carolina in a little more than two years, and during that period establish a new regulations to ensure the environmentally sensitive process of natural gas extraction is done safely. April 17: Bill gives big increase for fossil fuels research - Fossil fuels and nuclear energy are big winners in the House Appropriations Committee’s energy and water spending bill that was released Tuesday...An additional $765 million would go to nuclear energy research and demonstration, about the same amount as 2012, as well as $25 million to keep Yucca Mountain in Nevada operational. April 10: US NRC should consider work on new repository regulation: chairman - US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko said Tuesday he believes the agency should begin looking at how to proceed with the development of a generic repository licensing regulation to replace those tailored to a repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. April 9: Letter to the Editor Who made Harry Reid king of the USA?-Your pungent April 5 editorial, "Derail this gravy train," on the boondoggle of running a train from Las Vegas to nowhere — er, make that Victorville, Calif. — was exactly on point. And its political backdrop raises a troubling question. While I confess to a strong preference for U.S. Senate Democratic leadership rather than that of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), I have to wonder about the slack accorded Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) in his parochialism on issues that go well beyond Nevada. First, he cons 2008 presidential nominee Barack Obama into prematurely abandoning the proposal to place a nuclear waste complex at Yucca Mountain. Now he's asking the taxpayers' indulgence of his high-speed-rail fantasies. Is it heretical to ponder a tipping point between such self-serving scheming and the national interest? April 5: Going Nuclear - NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko discusses nuclear's future and agency turmoil. Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has had a tough year. The normally obscure agency was thrust into the limelight after a triple meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March 2011. Since then, even while the regulator has been wracked by a very public internal feud, it has also moved forward, issuing the first construction and operating licenses for new U.S. nuclear reactors in almost 35 years. The embattled chairman spoke with National Journal about the challenges of his job. Edited excerpts follow. March 2012 March 20: Solving Nuclear Storage Issues - The desire to meet the requirements of an increasingly energy hungry world, without the carbon emissions associated with fossil-fuel-fired power plants, has caused many utility companies to consider nuclear energy. March 19: Energy is top concern, Sensenbrenner says - The high cost of energy is the No. 1 issue on the minds of his constituents, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Menomonee Falls, said in a stop at the Watertown Daily Times on Friday. March 17: Comments Print E-mail Share Nye County, Sandoval clash over future of Yucca - Despite the tough words earlier this week by Gov. Brian Sandoval, the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear dump is still alive. March 14: NRC unites on safety, but rift remains - Members of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) testified regarding new safety rules during a hearing by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday, presenting a united front despite ongoing divisions over controversial issues such as nuclear waste. March 13:Graham wants Yucca fees repaid in rebates to electricity customers in S.C. - U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham has a simple lesson in consumer economics for the federal government: We paid for something we didn’t get, so please give us our money back. March 12: Nevadans Surveyed About Yucca Mountain - A new survey shows more Nevadans are in favor of turning opening up Yucca Mountain as an energy research park. Public Opinion Strategies surveyed 500 likely voters last month. Of them, 62% said they supported the created of a research park, for the study of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. 34% said the Yucca Mountain should be closed entirely, and 2% of respondents were undecided. In Washoe County, 60% of those surveyed are in support and 37% are opposed. In just Reno, 64% are in support, with 32% opposed. In Clark County, 61% of residents support it, with 36% opposed. 75% of rural residents supported the opening of the site, with 17% opposed. Among party registration, 73% of Republicans, 66% of Independents, and 50% of Democrats are in support of the research park. 70% of labor union house holds support creating the park, while 68% of teacher union members support it. March 12: US Senate bill would force nuclear waste fee rebate if Yucca not revived - Legislation introduced in the US Senate Monday would require the US president to certify within 30 days of the bill's passage that Nevada's Yucca Mountain remains the preferred site for a US nuclear waste repository. If the president fails to do so, all money in the Nuclear Waste Fund would be returned to utilities with 75% of that going back to utility customers, according to a statement Senator Lindsey Graham's office issued. The remainder would be used for upgrades at nuclear power plants storing spent fuel, it said. March 12: Gov. Sandoval Says Nevada Does Not Want Nuclear Waste, But New Poll Shows Support For Research Facility - Gov. Brian Sandoval sent a letter to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu today making it clear that he does not support any type of nuclear waste disposal or interim storage at Yucca Mountain. March 9: A NEW BEGINNING IN NEVADA - A large majority of Nevada voters say Yucca Mountain should be opened From a statewide survey of 500 likely voters in Nevada, conducted February 21-23, 2012 by Glen Bolger at Public Opinion Strategies. March 12: U.S. Senate bill: President must allow the Yucca Mountain repository or give rebates: A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate last week calls for the president to be required to allow the operation of Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository or make rebate payments to South Carolina ratepayers who have contributed more than $1.3 billion toward the repository to date. March 10: Alexander thinks incentives might spur communities to accept nuclear waste - Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, a nuclear power advocate, is working to turn into legislation the recommendations made in January by the Blue Ribbon Commission, a group appointed by President Barack Obama to move the country out of nuclear-waste limbo. Explore an interactive guide to nuclear power around the world March 9: Nye officials give consent to burying nuke waste - With the federal government embarking on a new "consent-based" search for someplace to dispose of nuclear waste, officials in Nye County sent a reminder this week that they still consent to burying it at Yucca Mountain. March 9: Fukushima disaster halts progress of nuclear power in the US - On February 9, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the construction of two new nuclear reactors near Augusta, Ga., making these the first reactors to receive construction approval in over 30 years. This was seen as a major victory for proponents of nuclear power, possibly signaling a change in U.S. energy policy. Even President Barack Obama, a staunch clean-energy advocate, renewed his commitment to nuclear power in 2010 when he extended over $8 billion in federal loan guarantees to the new nuclear reactors. March 8: US DOE would resume Yucca work if court tells it to do so: Chu- Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu said before a House of Representatives subcommittee hearing Thursday that DOE would resume the Yucca Mountain repository program it dismantled in 2010 if there is a court order to do so. March 3: OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: NO CONFIDENCE IN NUCLEAR ENERGY- A major public concern about nuclear reactors has been that the spent nuclear fuel could remain stranded at the reactor site indefinitely. In the 1970s, courts prohibited the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from licensing new reactors unless it assured the public that the waste would be removed-a requirement called the "waste confidence" rule. President Obama's decision to abandon plans for removing the waste to the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada creates an uncertainty that could be a barrier to the expansion of nuclear power. Two nuclear policy experts argue that the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act provides sufficient confidence that spent nuclear fuel will be removed and, thus, that the waste confidence rule is unnecessary and should be abandoned. March 1: Nuclear Power's Unsettled Future - A year after the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in Japan, prospects for the nuclear power industry worldwide are far from certain. An energy policy scholar assesses the key economic, environmental, political, and psychological hinges on which nuclear power's future now swings. February 2012 Feb 28: America's IMBY era for energy - Last week during a speech at the University of Miami, President Obama called for an “all-of-the-above energy strategy that develops every available source of American energy.” Feb 28: Commission Blasts Outdated Nuclear Waste Management Policy - The BRC report attributes the dearth of waste management options to decades of ineffective nuclear policy. As a result, the U.S. currently lacks a long-term disposal site for radioactive waste. The majority of used fuel in the U.S. is instead stored at local reactor sites. Feb 27: A New Urgency to the Problem of Storing Nuclear Waste- The nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, earlier this year caused many countries to rethink their appetite for nuclear power. It is also, in subtler ways, altering the fraught discussion of what to do with nuclear plants’ wastes. February 2012 Feb 24: The other thing Vogtle has revived: Nuclear hysteria -... Let's just set aside the fact that Yucca Mountain was pulled off the table not for any scientific or technical basis (there is an overwhelming paucity of evidence indicating Yucca Mountain was unsuitable as a repository, a fact confirmed by the GAO)... Feb 20: Chairman with an agenda - Opinion By John Sununu (story appeared in the Boston Globe) - WASHINGTON HAS a special vocabulary for everything. When bureaucrats become too close with the industry they're charged with overseeing, it's called "regulatory capture.'' The phenomenon can be very expensive for the public. Most famously, the Office of Thrift Supervision was accused of lax oversight contributing to the collapse of Washington Mutual and IndyMac, two of the biggest bank failures during the 2008 financial crisis. The OTS has been eliminated. Feb 17: New Plant Vogtle reactors praised despite unresolved nuclear waste plan - Steven Chu "Finding a workable way to end the stalemate over the safe and secure storage of used nuclear fuel is one of the most important things we can do to support this vital industry," he said." Feb 15: Energy working group to assess nuclear waste recommendations - Energy Secretary Steven Chu vowed Wednesday to develop a strategy for managing the country’s nuclear waste based on recommendations issued last month by the Blue Ribbon Commission. Feb 8: Yucca could still be on the table for nuclear waste: BRC member Feb 8: White House is all talk on its energy strategy - President Obama said in his State of the Union address that he supports an "all-of-the-above" national energy strategy. Unfortunately, his actions and the actions of his administration have not followed in line with this statement. Feb 6: Debate emerges over refunding nuclear waste fee - With long-held plans to develop a national repository for nuclear waste locked in political limbo, a debate is emerging over what to do with billions of dollars collected from utility customers in South Carolina and other states to pay for the illusive Feb 5: Insisting on Yucca Mountain won't fix nuclear waste problem, says Hamilton -The fact of Yucca Mountain still standing empty of nuclear waste is a testament to the need for a new approach to siting permanent nuclear waste disposal factories, said a co-chair of a blue ribbon commission chartered to examine radioactive waste policy. Feb 4: Nuclear waste fracas that just won't go away Feb 2: Yucca Mountain as a nuclear-waste site - (Opinion) This is just another burden on the American taxpayer. The residents near Yucca Mountain don't want nuclear waste stored there. The residents of the Tri-Cities don't want nuclear waste stored at Hanford. Sounds like a clear case of "Not In My Back Yard." They are both half right: There is no safe haven for nuclear waste, waste that must be kept isolated from all living things for hundreds of thousands of years. Feb 1: CAGW President Tom Schatz Testifies on Yucca Mountain - To date, through assessments in their utility bills, ratepayers have contributed between $750 and $780 million each year since 1983 into the Nuclear Waste Fund. The Department of Energy (DOE) has spent $15 billion to evaluate various possible sites, to develop Yucca Mountain, and to submit the licensing application, but the national inventory of spent nuclear fuel stands at 65,000 metric tons and not one spent fuel rod has been moved to the Yucca Mountain facility. The spent fuel languishes at 75 sites in 33 states, stored either in cooling pools or, when the pools have reached capacity, in expensive dry cask storage facilities adjacent to operational reactor sites. Feb 1: Heads of US nuclear waste panel call for new approach to disposal - The top-down approach the federal government used to select the proposed repository site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada does not work and a new process is needed, the co-chairmen of a blue ribbon commission on nuclear waste told a subcommittee in the US House of Representatives Tuesday. Feb 1: DOE Responds to Complaints About Its Commitment to Open Government - After a journalist called attention to the difficulty of finding documents about the prospective Yucca Mountain nuclear repository last week, the Department of Energy responded in near-record time. Cammie Croft, director of New Media & Citizen Engagement, addressed the concerns in a reasonable blog post on Energy.gov. She pulled together a specific list of Yucca Mountain documents and explained the general problem that governmental bodies have. January 2012
Jan 30: What about radioactive waste? - Although the nuclear power industry touts the fuel as emission free, it still leaves a big challenge behind: what to do with radioactive waste. Jan 29: What Sweden can teach us about nuclear waste - Back in the 1980s, the Swedish government drew up a long list of locations that could potentially host a waste repository. Each town was given a chance to veto, and, after two decades and countless hours of local consultation, Sweden had two finalists, towns that actually competed with each other for the chance to host the site and reap the economic benefits. (One was finally picked in 2009.) Both towns, not surprisingly, already had nuclear plants in the area, and polls showed support running as high as 83 percent. Jan 27: Final Blue Ribbon Commission Report Urges Cooperative Efforts in Siting Waste Facilities - A new consent-based approach to siting future nuclear waste management facilities and a new organization to run a waste management program are two key recommendations in a final report released Jan. 26 by the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future. Jan 27: Immediate action needed on US waste policy - After nearly two years of work, the Blue Ribbon Commission has issued its final recommendations for "creating a safe, long-term solution" for dealing with the USA's used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Efforts to develop a waste repository and a central storage facility should start immediately, it says. Jan 27: Around the Halls: President Obama and America's Nuclear Future - President Obama's Blue Ribbon Commission report on America's Nuclear Future, released today, is exasperatingly devoid of meaningful concrete policies that will move the industry ahead and allow it not only to contribute to the future supply of electricity in the United States but also to make the vital contribution that Professor Socolow's wedge theory posits nuclear energy must make if we have any chance of reducing rising global CO2 emissions over the next 30 years. Jan 25:Where information goes to die - Last August, the US Energy Department proudly announced a "comprehensive website reform, making Energy.gov a cutting-edge, interactive information platform and saving taxpayers more than $10 million annually." In short, the government eliminated 12 separate department program sites and merged them into one (with plans to add many more), upgraded the content-management system, and streamlined information into the cloud PDF. In theory, Energy.gov is now the "cutting-edge" go-to site for information on everything from home weatherization to nuclear research. In practice, however, it's more often a black hole. Jan 26: Panel: Start now to replace Yucca Mountain nuclear dump - WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States should immediately start looking for an alternative to replace the failed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in Nevada, which cost an estimated $15 billion but was never completed, a presidential commission said Thursday. Jan 26: Feds: Company backing Utah nuclear plant is a fraud - A company once touted as one of the main financial backers of Utah’s first nuclear power plant is in big trouble with federal securities regulators.
Jan 26: Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future Issues Final Report to Secretary of Energy - The Commission noted that it was specifically not tasked with rendering any opinion on the suitability of Yucca Mountain, proposing any specific site for a waste management facility, or offering any opinion on the role of nuclear power in the nation's energy supply mix. Jan 25: Broken Promises on Energy Independence - Last night we heard some lofty language from our campaigner-in-chief about exploring America's energy potential. We heard about the development of offshore gas, and about reducing America's dependence on foreign oil. What the president failed to mention is that he recently killed the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have put thousands of Americans to work and is the best way to supply oil to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries. Jan 25: President Obama comes to Las Vegas -- shish, boom bah! - So, President Obama is heading to Las Vegas to talk more about his "everything goes" domestic energy policy. Do you know why he's headed to Vegas? Because the press corps here for the most part can't find a discouraging word (or question) to ask the president when it comes to energy policy. Someone may serve up a Yucca Mountain question, let the president play to the Nevada crowd, and then fail to follow it up with key questions about what this means for the national development of nuclear energy. Is he for nuclear energy (like he says he is) or not? And how does that support mesh with the closing of Yucca Mountain? Jan 25: Yucca Mountain on the horizon for GOP candidates - The presidential debates have featured discussions most recently addressing the Republican candidates' tax returns, how quickly they'd repeal President Obama's Affordable Health Care Acr and personal claims made by ex-spouses. One topic missing from the recent debates in South Carolina, but not from the campaigns' radar, is the nation's nuclear waste storage plan, which also hits home with Washingtonians. Jan 24: A mountain of nuclear waste- Before the month is out, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future will unveil the result of its two year-long investigation into what to do with the accumulated radioactive waste at the country’s nuclear power plants. By year’s end, that waste will constitute a mountain 70 years high, with the first cupful generated in 1942 at the Fermi lab not far from Chicago when scientists first created a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. Jan 13: Senator: Send used nuclear fuel rods here - State Sen. Al Melvin admits that not everyone thinks having a nuclear waste processing plant and burial site in Arizona is a great idea.So the Republican from Tucson's far-north suburbs has a sweetener he believes will get some people to change their minds: Money.He is proposing to make Arizona as the place where all the nuclear plants in the country send their spent nuclear fuel rods. Melvin, a long-time proponent of nuclear energy, said the failure of the federal government to set up a planned high-level radioactive waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada creates an opportunity for Arizona. Jan 10: NRC: Can chairman's new chief of staff help bridge panel's deep divides? -Coggins is moving into a tough spot. Jaczko and his colleagues do not get along. In October, the four commissioners -- two Republicans and two Democrats -- complained to the White House about Jaczko bullying NRC staffers, particularly female employees, and withholding information from the commission. Jaczko denied the allegations. Jan 9: Reps. give overview of legislative session- South Carolina has provided $1.3 billion toward the prospective Yucca Mountain site for radioactive waste disposal, including spent fuel at the Savannah River Site. However, that project has been shelved, at least for now. The state's legislative delegation has asked President Barack Obama and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu about returning those funds to ratepayers, Young said. Jan 5: 'Nuclear waste here? Why not?' - As reported shortly before Christmas, scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have produced a handful of studies into geologic formations that might replace the scuttled Yucca Mountain site for disposal of highly radioactive wastes. Jan 5: Our view: Nuclear waste here? Actually, why not?- Duluth Daily News. The news landed like a lump of coal for many of us on Christmas morning: The Lake Superior region of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has “the most stable region of granite outcrops in the U.S.” Also, there hasn’t been a volcano or significant earthquake here in millions of years. And that makes our area perfect — absolutely perfect, according to a front-page story about a 114-page study from the Sandia National Laboratory — for entombing nuclear waste. Jan 3: Halt nuclear panel meltdown - The chairman of the NRC has been excoriated by scientists who have seen years of research effectively discarded as Mr. Jaczko wantonly terminated the national nuclear waste repository in Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
News - 2011 -
December 2011
Dec 29: Yucca Mountain received no funding after a bill was passed in the House of Representatives on Dec. 16, and Sen. Harry Reid blocked an attempt by House Republicans to keep the issue open when they tried to halt closure procedures of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In a press release distributed after the year-end funding meeting, Reid stated, "Once again, Congress will not appropriate a single dime to make Nevada the nation's dumping ground for nuclear waste. Despite the best efforts of House Republicans, President Obama and Congress have made a decision to end this dangerous project. … Yucca Mountain was never a good idea and it's time to move on towards real solutions that ensure Americans' health and safety." Dec 27: Why would a utility consider Nuclear Energy? - The future of the U.S. electricity portfolio is a complex matter that asks the industry to find a path forward that acceptably balances many different factors. Once one acknowledges that every generating technology carries physical, financial and environmental risks, the conversation can begin in an intellectually honest manner. In the case of the nuclear industry, the issues frequently discussed are the costs of new construction, safety and fuel management. Dec 27: Bomb-Grade Uranium Being Shipped from Canada to the U.S. - Today, Canada's Globe and Mail reports that "weapons-grade uranium is quietly being transported within Canada, and into the United States, in shipments that the country's nuclear watchdog wants to keep cloaked in secrecy." The radioactive freight is being shipped from Chalk River, Ontario into the U.S. via routes of which only authorized agencies and law enforcement personnel know the details. The freight contains a large enough amount of highly enriched uranium capable of making "several Hiroshima sized nuclear bombs."Dec 27: As Nuclear Plants Age, No Easy Energy Solutions - No nuclear power plants have been built in this country since the accident at Three Mile Island more than 30 years ago. The old reactors continue to provide 20 percent of our electrical power, but many of them will start to come offline in the next 10 years or so. Dec 19: Feuding NRC Faces Decisions on New Southern Co., Scana Reactors- Members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission have said they're willing to work together after four of them accused Chairman Gregory Jaczko of bullying employees and creating a toxic work environment. Dec 16: Koodankulam Nuclear Plant : Risk Analysis on Spent Fuel – Part 4- Nuclear power plant uses nuclear fission techniques in which atom splits into smaller parts and release the abundant quantity of heat energy. Dec 15: The Plot to Oust America's Nuclear Watchdog- In what may well be a temporary aberration, the Obama Administration appears to be sticking by Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko, even though the nuclear industry most definitely wants him out. Dec 15: Illinois wants its waste gone - A Republican congressmember from Illinois is faulting a Democratic U.S. senator from Massachusetts for failing to help his constituents by opposing a nuclear waste dump in Nevada. Dec 11: Lawmakers Split Over NRC's Jaczko -Lawmakers are splitting along party lines over whether to support U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko after colleagues questioned his leadership in a letter released Friday. Dec 3: Advantages and challenges of nuclear power - Yet the authors of the report also recognize that the impediments are significant. No federal depository is available to accept the highly radioactive waste that is a byproduct of nuclear power. Financing the construction would be difficult. And nuclear power remains unpopular with an ill-informed public. (State of Conneticut) Nov 30: Transport of Nuclear Waste Protested By German Activists Calling For Change - Nuclear energy has been unpopular in Germany since the fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine drifted over the country. Nov 7: Court sets schedule in Yucca case Nov 3: Dump switch -The Reno News & Review provides a useful summary of the politics roiling around the nuclear waste issue after Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry said they opposed opening a national waste repository at Nevada's Yucca Mountain. October 2011 Oct 30: REP. PAUL BROUN AND REP. ANDY HARRIS HOLD A JOINT HEARING ON AMERICA'S NUCLEAR FUTUREOct 28: US House science lawmakers spar over Yucca Mountain Oct 27: Energy CEOs Urge Court To End Nuclear Waste Fee Oct 27:Oral history records 'lessons learned' in Yucca Mountain fight Oct 26: Quit stalling on solutions for spent nuclear fuel rods Oct 26: Recycling nuclear waste makes sense for energy future Oct 25: County creating oral history of decades-long battle over Yucca Mountain nuclear dump in Nevada Oct 21: Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Project Opposed By GOP Candidates Oct 20: Nye County official sees no alternative to Yucca Mountain Oct 20: GAO studies alternative uses for Yucca Mountain Oct 20: GOP Lawmakers Challenge White House on 'Scientific Misconduct' Oct 20: If I ruled Yucca Mountain Oct 19: Nuclear waste task force meets in Atlanta Oct 18: GOP candidates line up against Yucca Mountain Oct 14: Yucca Mountain: The 'Scientization' Of Politics Oct 12: The "scientization" of Yucca Mountain Oct 10: MASS. MARKET: Quest continues for nuclear waste solution Oct 10: End deplorable Yucca delay Oct 7: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair: Events Like Fukushima Too Rare to Require Immediate Changes Oct 7: Nuclear crises renew regulator's relevance Oct 7: Spent nuclear fuel rests in peace near Fort St. Vrain September 2011 Sept 30: Senior U.S. Official Denies Talk of Foreign Nuclear Waste Site in Mongolia July 2011 June 2011 May 31: Debate rumbles on over U.S. Nuclear Waste Recycling Facility April 2011 April 25: Pahrump stop possible on lawmaker tour of Yucca March 2011 Feb 28: Two orders by panel keep active licensing case for Yucca Mountain January 2011 Jan 27: DOE seeks four-month wait on Yucca Mountain case News - 2010
December Dec 20: Ariz. official calls for end to nuke dump payments Nov 28: Republicans Turn Up Pressure on Nuclear Panel Nov 12: Finland's nuclear waste bunker built to last 100,000 years October 2010 Oct 27: NRC on Yucca Mountain September 2010 Aug 26: Boehner: GOP ready to revive Yucca August 11, 2010, Two US NRC members refuse to recuse themselves from waste debate Two US Nuclear Regulatory Commission members have refused to recuse themselves from participating in any agency decision on the US Department of Energy's repository project at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. In separate briefs filed with the commission Wednesday, Commissioners William Magwood and William Ostendorff said there is no basis for their recusal. Parties in the Yucca Mountain licensing proceeding that want to see the repository project move forward -- Aiken County, South Carolina, the state governments of South Carolina and Washington and White Pine County, Washington -- had sought their and Commissioner George Apostolakis' recusals, claiming the each had prejudged the Yucca Mountain project when they said during their confirmation hearing in February that they would not second-guess DOE's decision to terminate the program. Apostolakis recused himself in July, citing work he had done as a chairman of an independent panel that reviewed the performance assessment of a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The commission is considering appeals filed by DOE and the state of Nevada, asking it to overturn a licensing board decision that said DOE does not have the authority to unilaterally withdraw the congressionally mandated repository license application.
July 28: US appeals court puts consideration of Yucca Mountain case on hold
May 27: Obama's panel on nuclear waste to visit Hanford Read more April 2010 Apr 23: NRC decision on Yucca Mountain application soon March 2010 Mar 30: Gov't: Yucca suit lacks merit January 2010 Jan 31: Reid: Budget would eliminate Yucca Mountain funds News clip regarding the NRC's Licensing Hearings on January 26 and 27th
Consultant Rex Massey and Governor Bob List attend Yucca Mountain Licensing Hearings.
News - 2009
December 2009Dec 30: Nuclear plant near Fresno planned November 2009
Op Ed Nov 2: Funds for nuclear reprocessing sit idle as energy needs grow October 2009 Oct 31: FACTBOX: Obama signs energy, water spending bill into law
Is nuclear power green energy? Oct 2: House OKs 2010 spending for energy-water projects Sep 30: Huebsch wants to end ban on new nuclear power plants
Sep 23: U.S. Panel Shifts Focus to Reusing Nuclear Fuel
Aug 27: Another Major Setback for 'Nuclear Renaissance': Industry Goes 0-6 in 2009 Efforts to Overturn State Bans on New Nuclear Reactors
Jul 30:Senate passes bill to close Nevada's June 2009 June 29:Deal to build nuclear facility is dead May 2009 May 24: LAS VEGAS FUNDRAISER: Obama plays up Reid April Apr 30: GOP senators push back on plans to scrap Yucca project March 2009
February 2009 Feb 26: Reid Celebrates Obama's Yucca Mountain Decision Department of Energy Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste has released the National Transportation Plan for public comment. January 2009 DOE's Yucca Mountain Project Decision ScheduleJan 31: Yucca workers urged to fight for their jobs The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently voted to double the length of time that radioactive waste can be stored at nuclear power plants. The five NRC commissioners supported revising the wording of the waste-confidence decision to state that high level nuclear radioactive waste can be safely stored on site for at least 60 years, instead of 30 years after a plant permanently ceases operations. The decision also directs NRC staff to undertake a rule-making process on the continued storage of spent fuel at plants for much longer than currently is envisioned, up to 300 years or beyond. The decision by the NRC Commission correlates to the Obama Administrations withdrawal earlier this year of the Department of Energy’s license application to construction and operate the high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada leaving the future of the proposed repository uncertain. The licensing application was filed by the Bush administration under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982 and the licensing hearing has been in process since October 2008. On January 29, 2010 Secretary Steven Chu unveiled plans for a Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (BRC). Its charter direction is to conduct a “comprehensive review of policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle, including all alternatives for the storage, processing, and disposal of civilian and defense used nuclear fuel [and] high-level waste.” However, Yucca Mountain is not to be part of the consideration for a future repository site or serve as a baseline for this review.
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