Controversy continues to grow around Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko’s unilateral decision to order the NRC staff to stop its work on Yucca Mountain. The chairman defended his actions in a letter to the editor published by Energy Daily last week (subscription required). He suggested that he was authorized …
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Gregory Jaczko has ordered his staff to stop the review of the nuclear materials repository at Yucca Mountain. Aside from the harmful policy implications of this action, the chairman seems to be moving forward without any authority to do so. President Obama has made it …
In March of 2010, the Department of Energy (DOE) filed a motion to withdraw its licensing application to construct the geologic nuclear materials repository at Yucca Mountain. If successful, the action would essentially terminate the project. Yesterday, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, the three-judge panel charged with conducting licensing …
The Secretary of Energy’s request that the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future not consider Yucca Mountain has been debatable from the beginning. After all, America’s electricity ratepayers have already invested over $10 billion into the repository. And besides that, federal statute clearly states that Yucca Mountain will be …
In a welcome decision, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission yesterday announced that it will not act on the Department of Energy’s motion to withdraw its application to construct the nuclear materials repository at Yucca Mountain until the court system rules on related lawsuits. Not only will it not consider the motion …
Dale Klein, Commissioner and former chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) challenged the premise on which President Obama based his move to withdraw the application to permit the geologic repository at Yucca Mountain. At a conference in Bethesda, Maryland yesterday Commissioner Klein emphasized that it was politics, not science, …
Lost in President Obama’s rhetoric that the science is settled on climate change, the president is willing to shut down Yucca Mountain without scientific justification. Today, the Department of Energy (DOE) filed to withdraw the application for the geologic repository Yucca Mountain that was supposed to begin collecting used fuel …
Despite the growing rhetoric in favor of affordable and clean energy in the United States, the regulatory trend is moving in the opposite direction. A recent article from Platts emphasizes the increasing regulatory costs for the nuclear industry: “Benjamin Fowke, Xcel’s CFO, said in a second-quarter earnings conference call in …
We take you to Knoxville, Tennessee: Several environmental groups are banding together in petitioning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to stop TVA from operating a second reactor at Watts Bar nuclear plant. The Sierra Club, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, the Tennessee Environmental Council, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League …
Yesterday, Dr. Gregory Jaczko, Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), delivered at The Heritage Foundation his first major address since being appointed six weeks ago. Read more on his visit and what needs to be done about clean, renewable energy here.
