NEI Nuclear Notes

Storage of used nuclear fuel today is safe and secure, but scattered. However, a consolidated “interim storage” facility appears likely in the next few years, where the material would cool slowly inside sealed casks while the government prepares a burial spot. Holtec International , one of the builders of those casks, will discuss later today its recent application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to build a “consolidated interim storage” facility on a 1,000-acre patch of land half-way between Hobbs and Carlsbad, New Mexico. The project aligns with key aspects of industry’s principles for the management of used fuel . One was the establishment of an interim facility so the casks would not have to be monitored and guarded in scores of different locations. The other was that the project have the support of its host community and state. In this case, the land was bought by two New Mexico counties, Eddy and Lea, with just this use in mind, and Holtec has wo...

Maybe it was the collapse (this year) of an attempt to lift a ban on uranium mining in Virginia that got the Washington Post thinking about the other end of the fuel cycle, but here’s what they think regardless: Since the president helped to kill the Yucca project, his administration has borne a particular responsibility to devise a workable way to clean up this mess. Last month the Energy Department finally released its proposal. It is a reasonable plan for post-Yucca policymaking that nevertheless relies on a big assumption — that someplace in the country will volunteer to host some waste. Oh, somehow I don’t think that will be so difficult. Even the people around Yucca Mountain wanted Yucca Mountain. And the President’s Blue Ribbon Commission proposed the idea of consent-based repository siting after seeing it work at New Mexico’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and in Sweden, where towns competed for a repository. But disbelief that anyone would take used nuclear fuel is reall...

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce says the U.S. nuclear energy industry doesn't have technological problems — it has "political problems." The "United States developed the nuclear power field and then regulated it out of existence. We have built no new nuclear power plants in 30 years," Pearce said Wednesday, the first day of a two-day international nuclear energy conference in Hobbs. The Republican New Mexico congressman said nuclear power is essential to the nation's energy future, and suggested that the Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan brought on by a devastating earthquake was an incident to build from, not run from. About right , though he really doesn’t like regulation.  "We should be analyzing exactly what went on, instead of saying 'no' to all nuclear," Pearce told the gathering, which is considering how to make nuclear energy a viable and essential piece of the world's energy portfolio. Saying no to nuclear energy...

June 15, 2007 was a big day at the National Enrichment Facility in New Mexico. From a special edition of a newsletter we received here at NEI: This was not your normal, ordinary Friday. Today was special. A major construction milestone was reached at 11:15 a.m. with the first concrete placement for the National Enrichment Facility. A small crowd gathered around the central utilities building (CUB) vault to watch the event. The CUB will be the heart of the plant. Power, from the electrical sub station, will enter the CUB vault (or cable spreading room) and be distributed throughout the plant. It took ten concrete trucks (or approximately 100 cubic yards of concrete) for the outside wall footer of the CUB vault. A third party testing agency performed various tests for every 50 cubic yards of concrete to ensure the quality level was met or exceeded. Congrats to everyone at NEF for reaching an important milestone.

On today's edition of E&E TV , you'll see footage of Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) speaking at the March 23 USEA Newsmaker Breakfast. In this appearance, Senator Bingaman -- who is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee -- talks about plans for upcoming climate change legislation, as well as what lessons America can learn from European climate policy. The clip runs about eight minutes.

Jobs and economic development, that's what it means. From The Albuquerque Tribune : Eunice, population 2,700, is expected to grow by about 1,000 people in the next year or two - workers needed to build and operate the Louisiana Energy Services' $1.5 billion uranium enrichment plant there that recently was approved by state and federal regulators. To accommodate that rush, the city expects it'll need at least 400 new houses and dozens of new apartments. Eunice, which does not have a traffic light, also is preparing to spend millions of dollars on new water lines, a new sewage treatment plant, a new public swimming pool and a downtown beautification project - with some of the financing coming from contributions from the town's new corporate citizen, LES. Anti-nuclear critics say its a fool's bargain, but Eunice and southeastern New Mexico are betting on a future in which nuclear energy is in demand, uranium enrichment is a growth industry and some of the associated p...