Holtec International has confirmed it is canceling plans to build a consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in southeastern New Mexico. Named the HI-STORE CISF, the facility would have stored up to 10,000 canisters of commercial SNF on land owned by the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance (ELEA) near the towns of Carlsbad and Hobbs.

When the Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management recently faced an operational challenge at the Rifle Disposal Site in Colorado, it took subject matter experts across a wide array of disciplines to tackle it.

When it comes to decision-making, public participation and community engagement are not the same thing. The structure and content of meetings to enable public participation in project decision-making can be staid, stale, and staged. The approach can be formulaic and reactionary: “We have a decision to make; we’ve narrowed down the alternatives … let’s prepare the scripts, posters, and presentations, gather our materials, book a room, coach the presenters on how to be succinct, identify people to staff the kiosks, contact the community members and regulatory staff we usually contact, and let’s have a public meeting! Once we get this over with, we can finally build our project, demolish that building, clean up this site, etc.” Not so fast.

The Idaho National Laboratory Site has long played an essential part in American nuclear reactor research and development activities. It is also a cornerstone of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. The Naval Reactors Facility (NRF) on the INL Site, located in southeastern Idaho, was home to three historic land-based naval reactor prototypes—the Submarine 1st Generation Westinghouse (S1W) prototype, the Aircraft Carrier 1st Generation Westinghouse (A1W) prototype, and the Submarine 5th Generation General Electric (S5G) prototype—that facilitated critical training for naval personnel and testing that helped develop the U.S. Navy’s nuclear fleet.

Starting in 1966, the Western New York Nuclear Service Center (WNYNSC)—comprising 3,300 acres of land in the town of Ashford, N.Y.—was used for the commercial reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. Reprocessing was conducted in the Main Plant Process Building (MPPB) until 1972 when commercial operations ceased and were never resumed. Now, 50 years later, modern 3D modeling technology is ensuring that the MPPB can be demolished in a safe and effective manner, minimizing risk to the environment and the workers.

Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS), a subsidiary of the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), has adopted laser cutting as the primary technology for the removal of the reactor core of Dragon, a 20-MWt prototype high-temperature, helium-cooled, graphite-moderated reactor at Winfrith in Dorset, England. In addition, NRS is conducting trials to establish if laser cutting will be a viable technology for the decommissioning of the Trawsfynydd reactor, a first-generation Magnox reactor (CO₂ cooled, graphite moderated) situated in the Snowdonia National Park in Wales.

U.K.-based Cavendish Nuclear, a subsidiary of Babcock International, will work with Amentum on the next phase of work supporting the decommissioning of Japan’s Monju prototype fast reactor under a contract awarded by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a license application submitted by Disa Technologies to use high-pressure slurry ablation (HPSA) technology for remediating abandoned uranium mine waste at inactive mining sites.

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency has issued a report calling for more-detailed information on tracking the decay heat of spent nuclear fuel from light water reactors. According to the NEA, the report highlights the increasing importance of accurate decay heat estimations due to evolving fuel characteristics, including higher initial fuel enrichment, increased burn-up rates, and extended reactor cycle lengths.

The report, Summary of the NEA Assessment on Spent Nuclear Fuel Decay Heat for Light Water Reactors, summarizes the findings of a subgroup of the NEA’s Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety (WPNCS), which ran from January 2022 to January 2024.

Better information regarding the specific work needed to finish cleaning up contaminated soil and legacy landfills at Department of Energy nuclear sites could help the department better prioritize cleanup projects and improve budgeting decisions, according to an audit by the Government Accountability Office.