Leaders of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development requested industry support regarding the management of commercial used nuclear fuel at a recent hearing.
Participants in the hearing to review the Administration’s fiscal year 2018 spending request for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) discussed plans for used fuel, hearing from NRC commissioners who outlined the agency’s licensing activities for fiscal year 2018.
Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) highlighted the fact that the fiscal year 2018 budget includes $30 million for the NRC to restart its licensing review of Yucca Mountain, the U.S. Department
of Energy’s (DOE) proposed used fuel repository in Nevada.
“Yucca Mountain can and should be part of the solution to the 25-year old nuclear waste stalemate,” Alexander said.
He also expressed support for contracting with private companies for interim storage during that licensing period and emphasized the importance of industry support for solving the used fuel issue.
NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki outlined the NRC’s 2018 budget at the hearing. She explained that, while the $952 million request shows an increase compared to the fiscal year 2017 enacted budget because of the $30 million addition for Yucca Mountain activities, it actually represents a $48 million decrease from the 2017 annualized continuing resolution budget.
Svinicki explained that the $30 million for Yucca Mountain would require an appropriation from the Nuclear Waste Fund, which is not included in fees the agency typically recovers from its licensees.
Svinicki told the Senators that the NRC staff proposed a 42-month review period for each of the New Mexico and Texas interim storage license applications. After the review periods, the applicants would be permitted to construct and operate the facilities. For Yucca Mountain, the NRC chair said, she expects that it may be three to five years before the NRC authorize construction authorization.
With the launch of a nearly $1 billion Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently…
During her keynote address at the Oceantic Network’s International Partnering Forum (IPF) in New Orleans last week, Maine Gov. Janet…
An update from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) on energy codes…
If the clean energy transition is to pick up speed, and transmission upgrades are to continue, the way interconnection works…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) long-awaited transmission planning and cost-allocation proposal is being considered on May 13 in a…
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a final rule on transmission permitting and announced a commitment for up to…
This website uses cookies.