Thursday, November 30, 2023
NRC Issues Confirmatory Order to ProTechnics Division of Core Laboratories
Up & Atom – Up & Atom
https://www.morganlewis.com/
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Prairie Island out of commission until January
An equipment issue at the Prairie Island plant near Red Wing hasn’t impacted electric service, but it could lead to higher fuel costs that are passed down to Xcel’s customers on their m… |
How did 'hot' radioactive material end up in a Houston scrap yard?
A radioactive threat found in the middle of America's fourth largest city raises alarm
A Houston Police Department officer driving to work last month felt the buzzing vibration alert of a cell-phone sized device provided by the federal government as part of a grant program.
The buzzing was no phone call. It was a warning, about dangerous levels of radiation, right in the midst of the fourth largest city in America.
And the detector that found it was one of 2,000 carried in Houston – and 56,000 nationwide – aimed at preventing terrorists from slipping a radiation-spewing “dirty bomb” onto American streets.
Now, budget fights in Congress and a House majority seeking major spending cuts mean the office that supplied those detectors is on the chopping block.
During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing last week, representatives questioned the work of – and funding for – huge swaths of the federal security agencies, often focusing on border security.
But testimony that day from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas brought to light the work of one lesser-known arms of anti-terror work: the agency’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office.
He offered it as an example of where the system worked as intended, supporting a local agency to ward off disaster before it happened.
How 'hot' material ended up in a Houston scrap yard
As the detector buzzed Oct. 16, the Houston officer first suspected a false alarm. He circled his car back around to the same street. It went off again.
The detector, similar to a Geiger counter, was built to pick up gamma radiation. Soon, larger units arrived to help triangulate the radiation’s source.
DHS provides some officers backpack-sized devices. The agency says they can detect material as far as a mile away. It also provides truck-sized devices that can scan for radiation near major events like the Super Bowl and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Houston’s sensors led them to a recycling yard on the city’s northwest side. There, the bomb squad isolated containers the size of paint cans. Officers only needed to wear specialized protective gear when they were closest to the material, past a “turn-back line” alerted by their detectors.
The radiation was not coming from a dirty bomb. It was only harmful within a few feet. But it was real radiation.
The source was Cesium-137, a material used in commercial and industrial settings. It is found in medical radiation therapy devices to treat cancer. As the byproduct of nuclear fission, it’s also found at the scene of nuclear reactor disasters — think Chernobyl.
In Houston, the radiation-emitting canisters had been used as flow gauges at a chemical plant. Instead of being properly stored, they had ended up at the scrap yard.
A crew carefully recovered four radioactive sources and transferred them to a U.S. Department of Energy storage facility near San Antonio.
Texas authorities are investigating the chain of custody of the material to determine how it ended up in the scrap yard and how long it had been there. Owners of the yard, which police have not named, will not face penalties because they cooperated with authorities, said Sgt. James Luplow, a member of the HPD bomb squad.
“This is not a very common occurrence. We routinely encounter radioactive material, but nothing at this level,” Luplow said. “It’s a textbook example of having a lot of people cruising around with these detectors.”
The ongoing threat of radioactive waste
Radioactive material ends up in scrap yards and causes major headaches for workers and those called to dispose of it.
In 1984, a scrap metal sale in Mexico led to one of the largest radiation disasters in U.S. history. About 600 tons of radioactive steel from Juarez ended up in 28 states. In that case, Cobalt-60 pellets caused radiation poisoning where junkyard employees became nauseated, had their fingernails turn black and suffered sterilization.
With a 30-year half-life, cesium isotopes can present a long-lasting threat if not properly disposed of at a storage facility.
Radioactive contamination of scrap materials happens far more frequently than people realize, said Jessica Bufford, a senior program officer at the non-profit global security organization Nuclear Threat Initiative.
“We’re concerned that a determined adversary like a criminal group or terrorists or lone wolf actor could steal a cesium device and use it as part of a dirty bomb to cause panic,” Bufford said. “It could be transported in powder form easily through water or air and spread over a large area.”
The material found in the Houston scrap yard was discarded waste, not a dirty bomb. But authorities say the need for detecting the radiation is the same in either scenario.
“You’d be detecting bombs,” said Luplow, the Houston sergeant. “But we’d much prefer to find it just in the material form, and it’s a lot easier to deal with.”
'No border security, no funding'
The Houston incident first came to light when Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified last week in front of the House panel.
Without naming the location, agency or date of the incident, Mayorkas said cryptically: “a local law enforcement officer equipped with some of the equipment we provide to detect radiological and nuclear material was wearing a device that detected abandoned material in a very unsafe location that could have caused tremendous harm to the people in the surrounding community.”
A DHS official referred further questions about details on the incident to Houston police.
The Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office within DHS, created in 2018, had a five-year sunset clause and will shutter without reauthorization by Congress.
The Biden administration specifically lobbied key committees to save the DHS office and the jobs of roughly 230 employees plus 400 contractors. DHS officials want to see the office permanently funded. With a budget of $400 million a year, the staff works to detect chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons.
The office works with 14 “high-risk” urban areas: New York City; Newark and Jersey City; Los Angeles and Long Beach; the Washington, D.C. area; Houston; Chicago; Atlanta; Miami; Denver; Phoenix; San Francisco; Seattle; Boston; and New Orleans.
GOP members of the House Freedom Caucus have blasted the DHS border policy under Mayorkas and have demanded the cuts as leverage for change.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and 14 other Republicans signed on to a letter seeking no DHS funding until the changes: “No border security, no funding,” he wrote in a letter to colleagues.
Without approval, the office was set to shutter on Dec. 21. The current continuing resolution passed by Congress and signed by President Biden last week punts that deadline to February.
Nick Penzenstadler is a reporter on the USA TODAY investigations team. Contact him at npenz@usatoday.com or @npenzenstadler, or on Signal at (720) 507-5273.
Sunday, November 19, 2023
The End of DOE's Flagship SMR — A Cautionary Tale
Stephanie Cooke has authored another strong piece ...
Friday, November 17, 2023
Dismantling the San Onofre is more than 60% completed
Dismantling the San Onofre nuclear power plant is more than 60% completed Work in the reactor cavities is about 96 percent done. When finished, the hundreds of thousands of gallons of water will be purified to the level of acceptable drinking water so it can safely be discharged into the ocean. |
NRC Makes Available Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant License Renewal Application
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Vermont Yankee - Pre-Notice of Distribution
ML23307A024
https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.
| Document Title: | Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station - Pre-Notice of Disbursement from Decommissioning Trust |
| Document Type: | Letter |
| Document Date: | 11/02/2023 |
Sunday, November 12, 2023
New Reactor Plans Smashed by Soaring Costs, ("Bloomberg News," 11/8/23)
Will Wade, Bloomberg News, 8 Nov 2023
NRC Proposes $43,750 Civil Penalty for Shipment of Equipment from Oyster Creek that Exceeded Radiation Limits
Nuclear Reuglatory Commission - News Release
No: I-23-015 November 9, 2023
CONTACT: Diane Screnci, 610-337-5330
Neil Sheehan, 610-337-5331
NRC Proposes $17,500 Fine to Puerto Rico Firm for Apparent Violation Involving Nuclear Gauge
Nuclear Reuglatory Commission - News Release
No: I-23-014 November 9, 2023
CONTACT: Diane Screnci, 610-337-5330
Neil Sheehan, 610-337-5331
Wednesday, November 8, 2023
[decomm_wkg] [Bananas] Oil & gas industry joins fight against nuclear waste site proposed in southeast New Mexico
Oil & gas industry joins fight against nuclear waste site proposed in southeast New Mexico
Adrian Hedden
Carlsbad Current-Argus
November 7, 2023
Some of the biggest oil and gas companies in the Permian Basin came out against a proposed nuclear waste facility in southeast New Mexico.
The basin spans southeast New Mexico and West Texas and is regarded as one of the most active fossil fuel regions in the world. It was forecast to produce about 5.9 million barrels of oil per day (bopd) in November, according to the Energy Information Administration. That is about half of the more than 12 million bopd of total U.S. output.
All that oil production is driven by some of the world’s largest energy companies establishing heavy operations in the region.
Occidental Petroleum, Concho Resources, Diamondback Energy and Fasken Oil and Ranch signed on to a Nov. 1 letter from the Permian Basin Coalition, along with other oil and gas companies and local governments, to oppose a nuclear waste storage facility near Carlsbad and Hobbs that Holtec International proposes.
Holtec proposed to build a facility to temporarily store spent nuclear fuel rods at the site on the surface, ultimately with a capacity to hold up to 100,000 metric tons of the waste brought into the region via rail from nuclear power plants around the country.
About 2,000 metric tons of the waste is produced annually by reactors in the U.S., according to a report from Department of Energy.
The proposed location was on an about 1,000-acre tract of land near border of Eddy and Lea counties.
Government and business leaders in Eddy and Lea counties and the cities of Carlsbad and Hobbs touted the project as a safe means to diversify the economy of the oil-dependent region and drive-up local revenue.
They formed the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance (ELEA) which sited the facility, recruited Holtec and aided the company in applying in 2017 for a federal license through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
The NRC issued Holtec’s license in May after years of public meetings, comments and analysis of the project.
But in its letter to U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), a frequent critic of the Holtec project, the coalition urged the lawmaker to seek federal legislation that would block the proposal.
The letter argued temporary storage as the company planned to build, should only exist when a permanent repository was available.
Such a site does not exist in the U.S. after a project at Yucca Mountain, Nevada was blocked by lawmakers in that state.
“The cross-country transport, consolidation, and interim storage of America’s entire inventory of spent nuclear fuel should only be considered once a permanent repository is underway and should never occur absent consent from affected communities,” read the coalition’s letter.
That consent was not present in New Mexico or Texas, argued the letter, where a similar facility in Andrews, Texas was licensed by NRC last year but was blocked by a court order.
Both states passed legislation barring high-level nuclear waste storage, amid opposition from New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Lujan Grisham called the projects “economic malpractice” for the risks she said they could pose to other industries nearby.
And the U.S. Department of Energy recently started a program to develop regulations for a “consent-based” siting model for nuclear facilities, that would require states to agree to host the facilities.
A bill to put such policy into law was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada, with identical legislation brought to the U.S. Senate by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto also of Nevada.
Neither bill had garnered co-sponsorship by any of New Mexico’s congressional delegation as of Friday.
The coalition’s letter called on Heinrich to fight against any federal bills to allow nuclear waste sites like Holtec’s be developed without consent from host states, and push policy to strengthen such requirements as in Titus’ bill.
“Therefore, we are writing to respectfully request that you remain diligent in ensuring that no such legislation is enacted and humbly ask for your leadership in passing legislation to protect not only the State of New Mexico but also neighboring Texans and the many vulnerable communities along the waste’s transportation routes,” read the letter.
The group argued nuclear waste storage in the region could also endanger the oil and gas industry, a major arm of the local and national economy, along with nearby farming and ranching producers.
“The Permian Basin ranks at the top nationally as our country’s most productive source of food, fuel, and fiber for its overwhelming energy, agriculture, crops, and livestock production,” read the letter. “Its importance to our economy and security cannot be downplayed, and it is no place for high-level nuclear waste.”
Opposition from proposed host states should be given a higher weight than the desires of companies and federal agencies in finding locations for nuclear waste facilities, said Titus in a statement issued upon her bill’s introduction.
“We must codify the protection of their voices into law to protect the health and safety of our communities and guarantee a process that honors the consent of state, local, and tribal leaders,” read the statement.
In announcing the DOE’s $26 million project to develop consent-based siting regulations, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said consent-based siting was crucial to address the nation’s nuclear waste while protecting local communities.
“It is vital that, as DOE works to be good stewards of the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, we do right by communities in the siting process and include them in the decision-making at the outset,” Granholm said.
Adrian Heddencan be reached at 575-628-5516,achedden@currentargus.com or@AdrianHedden on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Creditworthiness Criteria for Decommissioning
| Document Title: | Interim Staff Guidance on Creditworthiness Criteria for Parent and Self-Guarantees, Decommissioning Financial Assurance |
| Document Type: | Memoranda |
| Document Date: | 11/03/202 |
OIG-24-A-01 Inspector General’s Assessment of NRC for FY 2024
Dear Decommissioning Trust Fund Trackers,
| Document Title: | OIG-24-A-01 Inspector General’s Assessment of the Most Serious Management and Performance Challenges Facing the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Fiscal Year 2024 |
| Document Type: | Report, Technical |
| Document Date: | 11/03/2023 |
the Management of Decommissioning Trust Funds
MANAGEMENT AND
PERFORMANCE
CHALLENGE?
The increased numbers of power reactor sites in
decommissioning, and of those opting for
accelerated decommissioning, add to demands on
decommissioning program resources for all
decommissioning licensing and oversight
activities, including the NRC’s independent
analyses of licensees’ decommissioning funding
status reports.
CHALLENGE SYNOPSIS
There are 25 power reactors currently undergoing decommissioning. The
licensees for these reactors and other nuclear reactors must provide reasonable
assurance that funds will be available for the entire decommissioning process.
To oversee licensees’ decommissioning funding, the NRC requires licensees to
provide a decommissioning financial status report biennially, and annually for
five years prior to permanent cessation of operations. Prior to or within 2
years after permanent cessation of operations, licensees are required to submit
a Post Shut-Down Decommissioning Activities Report that includes a
description and schedule for the planned decommissioning activities and a
site-specific cost estimate. Licensees in decommissioning must then annually
submit decommissioning funding status reports.
The NRC has identified technical resource needs for the program in inspection,
risk analysis, licensing review, and project management. Local communities
may have additional concerns about the accelerated decommissioning model,
entailing augmented opportunities for public interactions.
Key decommissioning challenges include:
• Ensuring that agency processes adequately address current reactor
decommissioning business models, including those that provide for
accelerated decommissioning activities;
• Managing oversight of the adequacy and use of decommissioning trust
funds maintained by both operating and decommissioning reactors;
• Maintaining reasonable assurance that operating reactors will have
sufficient funds to decommission safely;
• Overseeing accelerated schedules for decommissioning; and,
• Improving decommissioning guidance.
ONGOING ACTIONS
The NRC is performing licensing
reviews and oversight for 25 power
reactors currently in various stages of
decommissioning. This includes the
review of two license termination
plans. The agency anticipates
submission of four additional license
termination plans in the next year.
As of July 2023, the NRC is reviewing
the Decommissioning Funding Status
(DFS) reports that were due from
decommissioning licensees on March
31, 2023. Following the previous
biennial review, NRC staff reported to
the Commission in December 2021,
that all licensees were in compliance
with funding requirements.
The NRC is going through rulemaking
to clarify when an exemption is
necessary for using the
decommissioning trust funds. The
rulemaking’s estimated completion
date is in the first quarter of FY 2025.
A Regulatory Guide, RG 1.184, is
planned to follow the rulemaking to
provide further guidance for NRC
staff and licensees.
COMPLETED ACTIONS
The NRC supported licensing and
oversight for decommissioning
programs with guidance updates and
public outreach activities, including
the issuance of NUREG-1757,
“Consolidated Decommissioning
Guidance,” Vol. 2.
The NRC participated in a
Congressional field hearing near the
Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station site,
and conducted two Post-Shutdown
Decommissioning Activities Report
public meetings.
The NRC improved its tracking of
Decommissioning Funding Status
reports and updated LIC-205,
“Procedures for NRC’s Independent
Analysis of Decommissioning
Funding Assurance for Operating
Nuclear Power Reactors and Power
Reactors in Decommissioning,” to
clarify the roles and responsibilities
and procedures related to DFS
report review.
Saturday, November 4, 2023
"Driver breaches gate at S.C. NPP, tries to hit guards," (November 3, 2023)
The suspect drove off and shots were fired in the area, police say.
By Jon Haworth and Luke Barr November 3, 2023, 3:42 PM
National headlines from ABC News
Catch up on the developing stories making headlines.
Police in South Carolina are investigating an incident involving a vehicle that drove through security fences at a nuclear power station on Thursday.
The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office said it is in the early stages of an investigation into an incident that occurred at the Oconee Nuclear Station around 8:05 p.m. on Thursday.
Police say that a "white male driving a silver 2002 Toyota Camry drove through the exit side of the gate on the Highway 183 side of the facility," according to information obtained by Deputies from the Uniform Patrol Bureau.
"After the vehicle struck the pop-up barricades that security at the plant activated, the driver backed the vehicle up and proceeded down a dirt road, where Duke Energy security blocked the vehicle in, according to Deputies. The driver then drove through a fence after attempting to hit the security officers," a press release from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office read.
MORE: Former nurse now linked to 17 nursing home deaths
The driver then reportedly drove out of the exit of the plant where he attempted to hit a security truck with a guard in it, police said.
The driver then made his way back onto Highway 183 before driving into Pickens County and pulled onto some property on Jones Mill Road where shots were subsequently fired.
At this time, the source of the shots fired in the Jones Mill Road area is unknown, police said.
The Oconee Nuclear Station, Jan. 8, 2005, in Seneca, S.C.
Mary Ann Chastain/AP
MORE: Man arrested for pointing gun at 6-year-old boy's head over Halloween goody bag
No one was injured and the nuclear station is "operating safely," Duke Energy said.
"Duke Energy has comprehensive security plans and a well-trained security workforce in place," the company said in a statement. "A vehicle entered an administrative gate, but was not able to access the plant due to our multiple layers of security."
The silver 2002 Toyota Camry has an Arkansas tag of 380VDR, according to information obtained during the investigation.
MORE: International manhunt on after woman found dead in airport garage as cops believe suspect fled to Kenya
"About one hour before tonight’s incident, the same vehicle and driver also showed up on the property of the Oconee Nuclear Station. After being asked to leave, the driver drove off," police said.
The FBI said it was aware of the incident, but deferred to the local sheriff's office for any information related to the case.
John Cohen, the former acting undersecretary for intelligence and analysis at the Department of Homeland Security, said the incident comes as the United States is on high alert because of tensions overseas.
"Over the last several months, there have been threats of violence directed at our nation's power infrastructure by foreign terrorist groups, domestic violent extremists," Cohen, now an ABC News contributor, said. "Investigators will want to determine whether this incident was motivated by extremist or terrorist ideology or whether some other grievance or factor was the inspiration behind the attack."
Anybody with any information on the whereabouts of the driver of a 2002 Toyota Camry with an Arkansas tag of 380VDR is asked to contact emergency authorities immediately.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the body which oversees nuclear plants in the United States, told ABC News the incident was "monitored closely throughout the night," and said Duke Energy proactively informed the commission.
"The plant continues to operate safely, the public remains safe, and all U.S. nuclear power plants are operating at their normal security levels," a spokesperson said.
PEACH BOTTOM ATOMIC POWER STATION, UNITS 2 AND 3 – INTEGRATED INSPECTION REPORT 05000277/2023003 AND 05000278/2023003 AND EXERCISE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION
PEACH BOTTOM ATOMIC POWER STATION, UNITS 2 AND 3 – INTEGRATED INSPECTION REPORT 05000277/2023003 AND 05000278/2023003 AND EXERCISE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION
SUSQUEHANNA STEAM ELECTRIC STATION, UNITS 1 AND 2 – INTEGRATED INSPECTION REPORT 05000387/2023003 AND 05000388/2023003
SUSQUEHANNA STEAM ELECTRIC STATION, UNITS 1 AND 2 – INTEGRATED INSPECTION REPORT 05000387/2023003 AND 05000388/2023003
Thursday, November 2, 2023
NRC Announces Carrie M. Safford as the New Commission Secretary Inbox
Nuclear Regulatory Commission - News Release
No: 23-068 October 31, 2023
CONTACT: Office of Public Affairs, 301-415-8200
