Waste Management


Finland’s Onkalo repository licensing gets stuck again

December 5, 2024, 3:05PMRadwaste Solutions
The Onkalo geologic repository in Finland. (Photo: Posiva)

Finland’s regulatory authority, the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), announced that it was further delaying issuing a statement on the safety case for the Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository until 2025, saying that Posiva’s license application material is not yet ready.

Canada lands on spent fuel repository site

December 3, 2024, 7:01AMRadwaste Solutions
An aerial picture of Ignace, Ontario. (Photo: NWMO)

While the United States was celebrating Thanksgiving Day, Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) announced that it has selected a site in northwestern Ontario for a deep geologic repository to hold the country’s spent nuclear fuel

DeepGeo to explore economics of SNF reprocessing with Copenhagen Atomics

December 2, 2024, 12:00PMRadwaste Solutions
DeepGeo’s Laura Salonga and Copenhagen Atomics’ Thomas Jam Pedersen at the signing of a collaboration agreement in New York. (Photo: DeepGeo)

DeepGeo, a Rhode Island–based company seeking to develop multinational spent nuclear fuel repositories, and Denmark-based thorium reactor developer Copenhagen Atomics have signed a collaboration agreement that will see the companies work together on the management of nuclear fuels and waste streams associated with a thorium breeder reactor.

Idaho’s IWTU surpasses tank waste treatment goal

December 2, 2024, 7:02AMRadwaste Solutions
IWTU operators monitor radiological operations during the current waste treatment campaign at the Idaho National Laboratory Site facility. (Photo: DOE)

As of last week, crews with Department of Energy cleanup contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC) processed more than 142,000 gallons of radioactive sodium-bearing tank waste at Idaho’s Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) this year.

U.S. spent fuel liability jumps to $44.5 billion

November 27, 2024, 7:01AMRadwaste Solutions

The Department of Energy’s estimated overall liability for failing to dispose of the country’s commercial spent nuclear fuel jumped as much as 10 percent this year, from a range of $34.1 billion to $41 billion in 2023 to a range of $37.6 billion to $44.5 billion in 2024, according to a financial audit of the DOE’s Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF) for fiscal year 2024.

TRU waste storage shrinks at Savannah River Site

November 26, 2024, 9:30AMRadwaste Solutions
TRU drum storage in the Solid Waste Management Facility in 1998 before WIPP opened (left) and in 2024 (right). (Photo: DOE)

The Solid Waste Management Facility (SWMF) at the Savannah River Site saw a large reduction of transuranic (TRU) waste in fiscal year 2024, achieving the highest volume of TRU waste shipped out of state by the facility in the past 10 years, according to the Department of Energy.

TRU waste typically consists of protective clothing, tools, rags, equipment, and miscellaneous items contaminated with small amounts of plutonium and other heavy elements.

How can the U.S. make nuclear waste a nonissue?

November 26, 2024, 7:01AMNuclear News

Katrina McMurrian

As the nation confronts increasing demand for clean, baseload energy, nuclear power today receives substantial bipartisan support, but nuclear waste remains a trusty arrow in the quiver of opponents. The U.S. should work to make nuclear waste a nonissue not only to support opportunities for nuclear power expansion but primarily to meet long--standing obligations. Federal government inaction to remove and dispose of commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) continues to negatively impact host communities in 36 states; electric customers in more than 40 states who paid billions of dollars into the Nuclear Waste Fund; and all U.S. taxpayers, who pay about $2 million per day for the government’s partial breach.

Orano completes repatriation of reprocessing waste to Germany

November 22, 2024, 7:00AMRadwaste Solutions
The Philippsburg interim storage facility in Germany. (Photo: BGZ)

Orano completed the 13th and final rail shipment of vitrified high-level nuclear waste from France to Germany. The company announced that the four casks of vitrified HLW arrived at Germany’s intermediate storage facility at Philippsburg in the early evening of November 20.

Siting of Canadian repository gets support of tribal nation

November 21, 2024, 3:00PMRadwaste Solutions
Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation indicated its willingness to host a geologic repository in northwestern Ontario. (Photo: NWMO)

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) announced that Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation has indicated its willingness to support moving forward to the next phase of the site selection process to host a deep geological repository for Canada’s spent nuclear fuel.

SRS facility surpasses reprocessing milestone

November 20, 2024, 9:33AMRadwaste Solutions
The Salt Waste Processing Facility recently surpassed a production milestone by processing more than 10 million gallons of high-level waste at the Savannah River Site. (Photo: DOE)

The Savannah River Site in South Carolina has processed more than 10 million gallons of liquid radioactive waste in its Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has announced.

Nuclear waste: Trying again, with an approach that is flexible and vague

November 15, 2024, 3:08PMNuclear NewsMatt Wald
The Orano TN-NUHOMS dry fuel storage system at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The system holds 50 canisters of spent nuclear fuel. (Photo: SONGS)

The Department of Energy has started over on the quest for a place to store used fuel. Its new goal, it says, is to foster a national conversation (although this might better be described as many local conversations) about a national problem that can only be solved at the local level with a “consent-based” approach. And while the department is touting the various milestones it has already reached on the way to an interim repository, the program is structured in a way that means its success will not be measurable for years.

Veolia claims new method of recycling copper from nuclear facilities

November 15, 2024, 9:30AMRadwaste Solutions
Photo: Veolia UK

Veolia UK announced that it has developed a new method for salvaging copper from electrical cables from decommissioned nuclear facilities. The process, which handles and disposes of the contaminated plastic coating that protects the core from radiation, reduces the time and cost of treating the waste while preserving the copper for recycling, the waste management company said.

Diablo Canyon completes dry storage campaign, seeks ISFSI license renewal

November 12, 2024, 3:00PMRadwaste Solutions
The Diablo Canyon ISFSI cask loading team from Holtec, PG&E, and Diablo Canyon. (Photo: Holtec)

Holtec International announced that it has completed the campaign to transfer Diablo Canyon’s spent nuclear to dry storage ahead of its planned schedule, paving the way for the continued operation of the central California nuclear power plant.

Hanford treats 2,000 gallons of tank waste as part of TBI project

November 1, 2024, 7:01AMRadwaste Solutions
Using cameras placed inside a temporary shelter, nuclear chemical operator Joe McCoy monitors the pretreatment activities of the Hanford Site’s TBI demonstration. (Photo: DOE-EM)

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management said that contractors have completed the treatment of 2,000 gallons of radioactive and chemical waste as part of the Hanford Site’s Test Bed Initiative project, which aims to demonstrate the feasibility of alternative options for retrieving and treating low-activity tank waste at the site in Washington state.

South Bruce votes yes on hosting Canadian repository

October 30, 2024, 9:47AMRadwaste Solutions
The municipality of South Bruce announces the unofficial results of the referendum to determine if South Bruce would be a willing host for a proposed deep geological repository. (Photo: NWMO)

The municipality of South Bruce, located near the Bruce nuclear power plant in southwestern Ontario, voted narrowly in favor of being a willing host to a potential deep geologic repository for Canada’s spent nuclear fuel. The official declaration of results from the municipality showed that 51 percent of South Bruce residents voted in favor of the referendum, with 1,604 voting "yes" and 1,526 voting "no." Voter participation was 69 percent, surpassing the 50 percent voter turnout required to make the vote binding by law.

TEPCO restarts trial retrieval of Fukushima fuel debris

October 29, 2024, 12:03PMRadwaste Solutions
Photo: TEPCO

Tokyo Electric Power Company announced yesterday that is has recommenced a trial exercise to retrieve nuclear fuel debris from Unit 2 of Japan’s damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. TEPCO is attempting to retrieve a small amount of fuel debris from Unit 2’s pressure vessel for analysis before beginning a large-scale removal of the debris.

Sweden’s SKB approved to begin construction of spent fuel repository

October 29, 2024, 9:30AMRadwaste Solutions
Rendering of the Forsmark geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel in Sweden. (Image: SKB)

Sweden’s Land and Environmental Court has granted the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB, or SKB) an environmental permit to build and operate a geologic repository for the country’s spent nuclear fuel near the Forsmark nuclear power plant, about 86 miles north of Stockholm. The permit also includes the building of a spent fuel encapsulation plant at the central interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel at Oskarshamn, about 200 miles south of Stockholm.

Workshop highlights commercial fabrication of universal waste canister

October 28, 2024, 9:30AMRadwaste Solutions
Members of the UPWARDS technical advisory committee stand in front of a prototype universal canister system. (Photo: Deep Isolation)

Deep Isolation announced that it hosted its third technical workshop for the UPWARDS project, a Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) initiative aimed at developing a universal canister system (UCS) for the disposal of radioactive waste streams from advanced reactors. The workshop, held at R-V Industries in Honey Brook, Pa., focused on the large-scale manufacturing and commercialization of the UCS.

BWXT approved to begin work under Hanford tank waste contract

October 21, 2024, 9:30AMRadwaste Solutions
Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, also known as the Vit Plant. (Photo: Bechtel National)

BWX Technologies announced that the Department of Energy has approved Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) to begin work under a contract valued at up to $45 billion to clean up tank waste at the Hanford Site near Richland, Wash. H2C is a limited liability company made up of BWXT Technical Services Group, Amentum Environment and Energy, and Fluor Federal Services.