Senators Ron Wyden (D–OR), Dianne Feinstein (D–CA), Lamar Alexander (R–TN), and Lisa Murkowski (R–AK) finally released a discussion draft of their much anticipated nuclear waste bill this morning. It essentially accepts the assumption that the federal government should be responsible for nuclear waste management and disposal and that waste producers …
Yucca Mountain was dead—to begin with. There was no doubt whatsoever about that. The register of its burial was signed by the Senator, the Chairman, the Secretary, and the President. Now three Senators, maybe four, were left to pick up the pieces. On one bitterly cold Christmas Eve, these Senators …
One of the few bright spots over the past few years in America’s economy has been energy production, but this has occurred largely in spite of this Administration’s energy policies, not because of them. And the simple fact remains that our energy economy could be even brighter, but egregiously burdensome …
From Yucca Mountain to reactor design certifications and post-Fukushima reforms, incoming Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) chair Allison Macfarlane has a multitude of issues before her. One of the most critical and least understood is the “waste confidence” mess caused by the Obama Administration’s nuclear waste policies. A 1979 court decision …
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a hearing tomorrow on the nomination of Allison Macfarlane and the re-nomination of Kristine Svinicki to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Though questioning of both nominees is important, Svinicki has already gone through one confirmation hearing and numerous other oversight …
Last week, President Barack Obama announced that he would nominate Dr. Allison Macfarlane, a nuclear waste expert from George Mason University, as the United States’ top nuclear regulator. Conventional wisdom is that Dr. Macfarlane satisfies all the major political interests involved with the NRC decision. She is a vocal opponent …
The President’s Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) on America’s Nuclear Future released its final report late last week. It provides a thoughtful overview of how America’s nuclear waste policy has evolved since the mid-20th century, but the report’s final recommendations largely fall short. Essentially, the commission accepted the underlying structure of …
On June 28, 2010, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board—a three-judge panel charged with conducting licensing hearings for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)—rejected the Department of Energy’s motion to withdraw the license application to move forward with opening Yucca Mountain, the geologic repository meant to store our nation’s used nuclear …
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is refusing to release an unredacted version of its safety evaluation reports on Yucca Mountain, leaving the conclusions unknown to the public. The agency notified Heritage that it had rejected an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act. The NRC’s decision comes eight months after Heritage …
