January 24, 2016 — Battelle chosen to test storing radioactive waste underground — For decades, the United States has produced nuclear energy and made weapons, creating nearly 100,000 metric tons of waste. So far, most of that waste has been stored mainly at the sites where it was created — Dispatch.com

January 21, 2016 — DOE Tries To Change The Rules On Nuclear Waste Disposal — The United States Department of Energy is trying to change the rules on nuclear waste disposal – for the better. Instead of the old top–down decision-making, DOE is going to implement a consent–based strategy. This means that instead of ordering some individual state like Nevada to take all of the Nation’s high level nuclear waste, whether they like it or not, we’ll instead ask “Who would like to take this waste? It will create fantastic jobs, will bring huge economic benefit to the region and, contrary to popular opinion, it’s safer than putting in a Mall.” — Forbes [Print PDF]

January 05, 2016 — HOUSE: Shimkus, Barton eye Energy and Commerce gavel . . . Shimkus, who is well-known for pushing to advance the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site, said his experience goes far beyond stumping for the Nevada project — eenews.net

January 04, 2016 — Reid to host dinner party for 3 Demo presidential hopefuls . . . Reid said one advantage of Nevada's new place of prominence is that candidates have had to articulate their stance on the Yucca Mountain Project, a plan to store the nation's high-level nuclear waste in a repository about 100 miles north of Las Vegas. The proposed waste site has been a point of contention for decades. Reid has been one of the state's fiercest opponents of the project. Noting that Yucca Mountain is "basically gone," Reid said multiple times, "There's nothing there now." — rj.com

January 02, 2016 — New maps show possible routes for nuclear waste transport — Anti-nuclear groups are identifying the types of transportation needed to haul nuclear waste across the Great Lakes region if a national waste storage site in Nevada wins federal approval. They are adding state-specific details to U.S. Department of Energy maps to show where barges could move waste across Lake Michigan and where trucks and trains could move it across the region — PetoskeyNews.com

February

February 29, 2016 — House GOP wants probe into Yucca Mountain — House Republicans are asking Congress’ watchdog agency to investigate whether the Energy Department has the ability to complete a key step toward establishing a nuclear waste facility. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), who leads the environment subcommittee on the panel, are worried that the Energy Department might not be able to complete its formal application to establish the Yucca Mountain repository — The Hill

February 26, 2016 — DOE proposes sparing Nevada test site from more low–level nuclear waste — A state official on Friday welcomed a new federal report that did not pick the Nevada National Security Site the “preferred alternative” for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste. Instead, the U.S. Department of Energy gave that designation to the Waste Isolation Pilot Project near Carlsbad, N.M., and possibly generic commercial facilities — Las Vegas Review Journal

February 24, 2016 — Alexander Says Ending Nuclear Waste Stalemate Is Critical To Future Of Nuclear Power — Senator Lamar Alexander on Wednesday said in a hearing on the president’s proposed budget for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission it is critical that the U.S. ends the 25-year-old nuclear waste stalemate — chattanoogan.com

February 28, 2016 — Encinitas supports bill to move spent nuclear fuel — Federal legislation to relocate spent nuclear fuel from the shuttered San Onofre power plant has the support of the Encinitas City Council. The Encinitas council on Jan. 27 voted unanimously to approve a resolution backing H.R. 3643, which would let the federal Department of Energy transfer spent nuclear waste at San Onofre and other areas to an interim storage facility — encinitasadvocate.com

February 26, 2016 —US public views sought on waste siting consent — The US Department of Energy (DOE) has invited public comment by 15 June on a consent-based approach to siting facilities for the storage and disposal of used commercial nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste — world-nuclear-news.org [Print PDF]

February 01, 2016 — Evaluation of DOE Research and Development Program on Deep Borehole Disposal of Some Radioactive Waste Is Subject of U.S. NWTRB Report — The U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board has released a report to the U.S. Congress and the Secretary of Energy titled, Technical Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Energy Deep Borehole Disposal Research and Development Program. The report presents the Board’s findings, conclusions, and recommendations related to activities being undertaken by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to assess the feasibility of deep borehole disposal of some high-level radioactive waste (HLW), including a planned Deep Borehole Field Test to obtain technical information and understanding of critical processes related to deep borehole disposal — NWTRB

March

March 25, 2016 — Congressmen still trying to revive Yucca Mountain —Two congressmen are renewing efforts on Yucca Mountain with a letter where they addressed the “obligation” for the Department of Energy to complete licensing for the project pvtimes.com

March 18, 2016 — Supreme Court nominee dissented in Yucca Mountain licensing case — WASHINGTON – Nevadans have a reason to know Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland's name beyond the highly charged U.S. Senate debate over whether his nomination should get a hearing, much less a confirmation vote. As chief judge of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Garland in 2013 was on the losing side of a 2-1 ruling that ordered the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to resume licensing for the once-proposed high-level nuclear waste disposal site at Yucca Mountain — reviewjournal.com

April

April 28, 2016 — [Calif] State Senate Votes to Urge Federal Government to Pass Interim Nuclear Fuel Storage Bill — California’s State Senate approved a resolution Thursday to urge the federal government to pass a bill that would allow the U.S. Department of Energy to conduct temporary interim storage of spent nuclear fuel at facilities away from San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, a few miles south of San Clemente. The resolution was authored by Sen. Patricia Bates, R-Laguna Niguel — sanclementetimes.com

April 21, 2016 — Shimkus to NRC: Why No Yucca Funding? — House Energy and Commerce environment subcommittee Chairman John Shimkus (R-Ill.) laid into Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Stephen Burns on Wednesday, demanding to know why his agency did not request any funding in fiscal 2017 for Yucca Mountain licensing activities. “I would be remiss if I didn’t express my dissatisfaction that once more the commission failed to include funding to continue consideration of Yucca Mountain’s license application,“ Shimkus said. The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved its energy and water spending bill, which includes $170 million to carry out Yucca Mountain licensing activities — exdchangemonitoru.com

April 20, 2016 — The US Is Playing a Dangerous Game of Musical Chairs With Nuclear Waste — Over the weekend, a giant tank of radioactive sludge in Hanford, Washington, sprung a new leak. It wasn’t the first time, and it likely won’t be the last. Hanford is home to 177 of these decades-old tanks, and workers have been scrambling to shuffle nuclear waste from tank to tank as they become leaky with age. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the current plan for dealing with the US’s dangerous high-level radioactive waste —wired.com

April 15, 2016 — No money for Yucca in new bill — A new Energy and Water Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2017 that was approved by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development on Wednesday has no money for Yucca Mountain licensing. The approved bill however includes a pilot program for consolidated nuclear waste storage, introduced by senators Lamar Alexander, R–Tenn., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. It also includes language that allows DOE to store nuclear waste at private facilities that are licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission — pvtimes.com

August 13, 2016 — Company proposes new nuclear waste storage site in New Mexico — HOBBS: An energy equipment company has taken steps toward opening a long-term storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in southeastern New Mexico. Holtec International has submitted a letter of intent to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission about its bid to open a $5 billion Consolidated Interim Storage Facility in Lea County, the Hobbs News–Sun reported. Holtec is proposing a long-term facility that could have a life span of 100 years. Company officials have said they anticipate initial licensing for the first 40 years — santafenewmexican.com

April 04,2016 — Watchdog: San Onofre should have a say in "consent" nuclear waste disposal, Rep. Issa says — The U.S. Department of Energy is taking baby steps toward figuring out what to do with tons of spent nuclear fuel that have been piling up across America for decades, turning commercial reactors like the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station into makeshift nuclear waste dumps — ocregister.com

April 04, 2016 — Meeting to address storage of spent nuclear waste — The nuclear waste stored at the former Maine Yankee nuclear power plant on Bailey Point, Wiscasset won't be going anywhere soon, although the Department of Energy (DOE) is showing a renewed interest in finding a permanent storage site — wiscassetnewspaper.com

April 01, 2016 — Preserving Yucca licensing oversight sought — Nevada Congressmen Cresent Hardy and Mark Amodei sent a request to a congressional subcommittee to preserve funding for local governments in 10 counties, including Nye, that would be affected by Yucca Mountain if the licensing process moves forward — pvtimes.com

May

May 28, 2016 — Rep. Dina Titus critical of congressional effort to push Yucca Mountain project forward — CARSON CITY: It is a riddle for the ages: What is dead but never dies? The answer in Nevada is the proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. As a state legislative panel overseeing the moribund Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository gets ready to meet later this week, Rep. Dina Titus has criticized a new effort in Congress to move the project forward — Las Vegas Review Journal [Mobil Link] [Print PDF:]

May 24, 2016 — Why the debate on Yucca isn’t changing post–Harry Reid — Sen. Harry Reid’s pending retirement has buoyed proponents of establishing Yucca Mountain as a permanent repository for radioactive waste. Yucca is back in the congressional ether this week, as the House is poised to consider a spending bill that would fund a process for licensing the facility and prevent the funding of an alternative. (That provision was one the White House mentioned as it issued a veto threat for the measure last night.) The Senate measure for energy and water would allow for alternative sites, such as the private alternative proposed in Texas — Bloomberg

May 24, 2016— Colorado and nation face 70,000–ton nuclear waste burden — The federal government stepped up efforts to deal with the nation’s growing, heavily guarded stockpiles of nuclear waste Tuesday, convening westerners in Denver to search for a path to a locally accepted site somewhere for deep burial — The Denver Post

May 19, 2016 — DOE Sued for $40M Over Nuclear Waste Storage — Blaming the government for not settling on a nuclear-waste storage scheme, a nuclear energy company has filed a federal complaint to recover $40 million. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 required the U.S. Department of Energy to accept and dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste by Jan. 31, 1998, in return for fees paid by owners of such waste . . . CourtHouseNews.com

May 11, 2016 — State: NRC final report on Yucca defective LAS VEGAS – State officials are ready to fight the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s final supplement to the Department of Energy’s environmental impact statement for a proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects Director Robert Halstead said the state is ready to challenge “every conclusion” in the 300-page document before the licensing board — By Daria Sokolova, Pahrump Valley Times

May 06, 2016 — NRC issues final Yucca Mountain EIS supplement — The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued its final supplement to the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed Yucca Mountain permanent repository for used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in Nevada —world-nuclear-news.org   [Read NRC’s EIS]

May 03, 2016 — Sound off to feds on nuclear waste paralysis — The bad news: The U.S. Department of Energy will not add a Southern California stop to its 8-city national tour, seeking public input on where to stick tons of spent nuclear waste. The good news: The DOE’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy will come to San Juan Capistrano to hear what locals are thinking — ocregister.com

June

June 30, 2016 — House Panel to Hold Hearing on Yucca Mountain — WASHINGTON, DC – The Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, chaired by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), has scheduled a hearing for Thursday, July 7, 2016, at 10 a.m. in room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled, "Federal, State, and Local Agreements and Economic Benefits for Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposal." — U.S Congress

June 30, 2016 — Amodei expects new push for Yucca — With the retirement of Sen. Harry Reid, Rep. Mark Amodei says he sees another push to open Yucca Mountain on the horizon. In an interview during last week's congressional recess, he said Illinois Republican John Shimkus is "getting ready to have a hearing on Yucca Mountain" — Nevada Appeal [Print PDF]

June 19, 2016 — Co-author says new book is not ’pro Yucca Mountain’ — Its title is a double entendre. To critics of the federal effort to entomb the nation’s most potent radioactive material in Yucca Mountain, the newly released book, “Waste of a Mountain,“ snubs the Nevada congressional delegation’s 30-year opposition to hauling and burying the nation’s spent nuclear fuel in a maze of tunnels 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas — Las Vegas Review Journal

June 14, 2016 — Yucca Stalemate Biggest Disappointment at NRC: Commissioner William Ostendorff — I interviewed Commissioner William Ostendorff who is leaving the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at the end of the month after serving at the agency since 2010. He's returning to his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy, to work as a visiting professor this fall. In the interview, he said one of his greatest disappointments during his tenure has been the administration's decision to stop the license application process for Yucca Mountain as a long-term repository for high-level radioactive waste — bna.com

June 07, 2016 — Reid says Yucca Mountain won’t be revived in his retirement — WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., doesn’t expect to see nuclear waste stored at Yucca Mountain after he retires and leaves the Senate. — Reid, the Senate minority leader, has spent years using his position to prevent the mountain 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas from becoming a nuclear waste storage site. He’s retiring when his term ends after the November election — Las Vegas Review Journal [Mobil Link]

June 07, 2016 — Region briefed on nuclear waste removal — A public meeting was held by town officials and the U.S. Department of Energy to inform citizens of Lincoln County [Main] about the current plans to decide on both interim and final locations for the high–level nuclear waste, currently being housed in dry casks on the former Maine Yankee land. The meeting took place at the Wiscasset Community Center on Friday, June 3. — wiscassetnewspaper.com [Mobil Link]

June 03, 2016 — Meeting [Nevada] Committee on High-Level Radioactive Waste — Update on the Activities of Nevada's Agency for Nuclear ProjectsRobert J. Halstead, Executive Director, Agency for Nuclear Projects, Office of the Governor I — LCB Nevada

June 03, 2016 — Reid’s exit will make fighting Yucca Mountain project tougher, ex–governor says — CARSON CITY: Former Nevada Gov. Richard Bryan told a legislative panel on Friday that although the state’s case against Yucca Mountain is strong, keeping the high–level nuclear waste repository at bay will be a challenge with U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s departure — Las Vegas Review Journal  [Mobil Link]   [Print PDF]

July



July 26, 2016 — Eureka County Comment Letter to the U.S. Dept. of Energy concerning "fair and effective" consent-based siting process [3 page PDF]

July 12, 2016 — State board approves $2.5M to help Nevada fight Yucca Mountain waste dump plan — CARSON CITY:The [Nevada] state Board of Examiners on Tuesday approved $2.5 million more for Nevada to keep fighting against a proposed high-level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. The contract with the Virginia legal firm Egan & Associates increases the maximum amount to $7.5 million and extends it through Sept. 30, 2017 — RJ.com [Mobil Link]

July 08, 2016 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Shimkus searches for way to jump-start stalled projects Rep. John Shimkus, a top contender for the Energy and Commerce Committee gavel, hopes to unveil a legislative blueprint to advance the long-stalled Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site this Congress. The Illinois Republican acknowledges the legislation won't move right away, but he's taking the long view — eenews.net [Print PDF]

July 07, 2016 — Letter from Nevada Governor Sandoval to the Energy and Commerce Committee — State of Nevada

July 07, 2016 — Congressional Hearing: The Energy and Commerce Committee — Federal, State, and Local Agreements and Associated Benefits for Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposal — US House of Representatives

July 07, 2016 — Nevada can't be bribed to take waste at Yucca Mountain, Titus says — Dangling money or other assets in front of Nevada to let the federal government bury the nation's most potent nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain is not an option, Rep. Dina Titus said Wednesday during a hearing on the issue. The Nevada Democrat said she understood the purpose of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing in Washington was “to suggest some benefit will accrue to Nevada for hosting nuclear waste generated elsewhere.” — RJ.com [Mobil Link] [Print PDF]

July 07, 2016 — Shame on Nevada leaders who sell out on Yucca Mountain — Some politicians in Congress are grasping at the fantasy of gaining control of Yucca Mountain so their states’ expended–but–still-lethally radioactive nuclear power plant fuel rods can be dumped in Nevada. Their strategy, which will be aired during a congressional hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill, is to persuade Nevada politicians to betray their constituents and allow the use of Yucca Mountain’s frail geology as a tomb for the most deadly material known to man — Las Vegas Sun [Print PDF]

July 06, 2016 — Sandoval letter underscores state's Yucca Mountain opposition to House subcommittee — CARSON CITY - Gov. Brian Sandoval on Wednesday reiterated Nevada's steadfast opposition to the construction of a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain ahead of a hearing Thursday on the project in Washington, DC. — Las Vegas Review Journal [Mobil Link]

August

August 30, 2016 — Decommissioning costs: A blind spot in the nuclear power debate — In nuclear policy, too little thought is given to the considerable costs of storing radioactive waste on site — By Christina Simeone: — utilitydive.com

August 20, 2016 — [ GUEST COLUMN:F By Judy Treichel] Fire could be disaster for train carrying nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain —You turn on the evening news in Las Vegas and the lead story is “Fire raging in the Cajon Pass.”First you wonder whether there are cars and trucks trapped or burning on that heavily traveled section of Interstate 15 that drops steeply from Victorville into San Bernardino. Are people in danger? Then you wonder whether a train was snaking through the pass and also involved in the fire. If so, will the people who live nearby and are threatened by the fire face additional hazards due to the train's cargo? — Las Vegas Sun

August 19, 2016 — Group calls for moving San Onofre waste to Arizona A lawsuit by a group that wants to transfer the 3.6 million pounds of nuclear waste sitting at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) to a facility in Arizona continues to wend its way through state court — sandiegouniontribune.com

August 18, 2016 — Heller predicts new move to build Yucca Mountain after Reid retires — U.S. Sen. Dean Heller thinks there will be a new effort to kick-start the Yucca Mountain Project after one of its most powerful and outspoken opponents, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, leaves office at the end of the year. Heller, speaking at a Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday, said some members of Congress see the Nevadan's exit as an opportunity to build the high-level nuclear waste repository in Nevada, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas — RJ.com [Mobil Link]

August 12, 2017 — State nuclear official outlines possible Yucca scenarios — LAS VEGAS: As the U.S. Congress goes back in session in September, Nevada officials are gearing up for next turn in the Yucca Mountain saga. Robert Halstead, director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, outlined some of the possible scenarios for the project's future to the Las Vegas City Council last week. "I think when Congress comes back in September, no one is optimistic about normal appropriations bills passing, but we have had examples in the past where additional funding for a licensing came on a continuing resolution, and I don't expect that to happen before January," Halstead said — By Daria Sokolova Pahrump Valley Times   [Print PDF]

September

September 27, 2016 — Protests spur rethink on deep borehole test for nuclear waste — DENVER: Along the way to testing an old–but–new concept in nuclear waste storage— burying spent fuel in a hole drilled kilometers below the surface — the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its contractors relearned a lesson that seems frequently forgotten: Get the locals on board first — Sceencemag.org

September 27, 2016 — Plan surfaces for new nuclear disposal ground in SC — COLUMBIA, SC A plan has surfaced to establish another nuclear waste disposal ground in South Carolina, a state with a history of taking atomic refuse from across the country. An organization called the Spent Fuel Reprocessing Group wants federal approval to open a disposal area near Barnwell and the Savannah River Site nuclear weapons complex. Spent fuel, a type of highly radioactive waste, would be moved from the state's four nuclear power plant sites and stored indefinitely at the new facility, records show — myrtlebeachonline.com [Print PDF]

September 21, 2016 — Interim storage of nuclear waste no real solution for Idaho — In the face of Nevada's adamant opposition to the Yucca Mountain repository for spent nuclear fuel and the lack of needed land and water rights, in 2015 the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission declined to issue a construction permit for the disposal facility. Even if construction were to begin, working through the mountain of legal opposition would take years — IdahStatesman.com

September 18, 2016 — Plans to truck nuclear waste on the interstate sounding alarms — HARRISBURG: Government plans to truck nuclear waste along the interstate in western Pennsylvania and five other states is akin to allowing a series of potential "mobile Chernobyls on steroids," said Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste watchdog for the group Beyond Nuclear. Environmentalists are sounding alarms about the possible consequences, especially if a truck crashes, catches fire and causes the waste to escape its container — Tribdem.com [Print Pdf]

September 09, 2016 — Informed consent: What communities need to know about interim nuclear waste storage — The US Department of Energy is planning to use a consent–based approach to select sites for the storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high–level radioactive waste. The strategy for these sites includes a pilot interim storage facility, consolidated interim storage facilities, and two permanent geologic disposal facilities — one for commercial spent nuclear fuel and the other for defense spent nuclear fuel and high–level waste — Bulletin of The Atomic Scientists [Print PDF]

September 08, 2016 — NRC update on spent nuclear fuel transportation worries Nevada officials — An update to the brochure on the safety of spent fuel transportation [PDF] has some Nevada officials concerned it could encourage new public relations efforts by the nuclear industry and proponents of the Yucca Mountain repository — By Daria Sokolova Pahrump Valley Times

September 07, 2016 — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) slammed the Nuclear Energy Institute this week for rejecting alternatives to the stalled Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in his home state of Nevada — Senator Harry Reid

September 06, 2016 — Dead Plant Society’ lobby group booms as reactors close — When utility executives gathered over dinner in 2001 to commiserate about looming reactor closures and start lobbying Congress for help, their first order of business was picking a name for their advocacy group. "The Dead Plant Society," lobbyist Tim Smith offered — eenews.net
  [Map – US Reactors being deactivated]

October

October 27, 2016 — State of Nevada Comment Letter: [PDF 2 Pages] concerning DOE's Request for Public Comment on the draft report entitled: Designing a Consent–Based Siting Process: Summary of Public Input, published in the Federal Register, September 15, 2016 — State of Nevada

October 2016 — DOE Request for Information on Private Initiatives to Develop Consolidated Interim Storage Facilities — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requests information regarding private initiatives (PI) for making consolidated interim storage facility (ISF) services available to DOE for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) storage, whether a pilot–scale or larger–scale facility. DOE believes that potential host/neighboring communities, potential ISF operators and existing nuclear waste facility operators, among others, may be interested in responding to this RFI. — DOE: PDF 4 Pages

October 2016 — Designing a Consent-Based Siting Process: Summary of Public Input Report — The Department issued an Invitation for Public Comment on December 23, 2015 and held a kickoff meeting in January 2016 requesting feedback from communities, states, Tribal Nations, and other interested stakeholders on elements to consider in the design of a consent-based siting process. From March through July, the Department hosted a series of eight public meetings across the United States in order to engage with citizens at a national level and discuss the development of a consent-based approach to siting nuclear waste facilities. Comments received through the Invitation for Public Comment and eight public meetings are summarized in the draft report [Download the Report – 83 Page PDF]

October 2016 — Moving Forward with Consent–Based Siting for Nuclear Waste Facilities [Bipartisan Policy Center] — For decades, the United States has been grappling with the problem of what to do with the tens of thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel and high–level radioactive waste generated by the nation's commercial nuclear power industry and defense programs. Despite many efforts by the executive branch, Congress, industry, citizen groups and others—and despite the expenditure of billions of dollars, the United States still has no workable, long–term plan for permanently disposing of these wastes. Meanwhile, the federal government's financial liability for failing to meet its contractual obligation to accept spent fuel from the nation's commercial nuclear power reactors—a liability that is already in the billions of dollars—increases with every year of continued paralysis and delay — bipartisanpolicy.org [Download Summary Report - 2 Page PDF]

October 10, 2016 — U.S. Navy Sets Plans to Upgrade Idaho Spent Fuel Facility —The Associated Press reported October 3 that the Navy and U.S. Department of Energy want to build a $1.6 billion facility at a nuclear site in eastern Idaho that would handle fuel waste from the nation's fleet of nuclear-powered warships through at least 2060 —theenergycollective.com

October 2016 — Moving Forward with Consent – Based Siting for Nuclear Waste Facilities: For decades, the United States has been grappling with the problem of what to do with the tens of thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel and high–level radioactive waste generated by the nation's commercial nuclear power industry and defense programs. Despite many efforts by the executive branch, Congress, industry, citizen groups and others — and despite the expenditure of billions of dollars, the United States still has no workable, long-term plan for permanently disposing of these wastes — BPC Nuclear Waste Council [36 Page PDF]

November

November 29, 2016 — Yucca Mountain nuclear repository reemerges as media issue — Physics Today

November 22, 2016 — EDITORIAL: Leaders should fight to leave door shut on Yucca Mountain Storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain is a horrible idea regardless of who's in the Oval Office. To his credit, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval recognizes that and has announced he would continue to oppose the project after President-elect Donald Trump takes office — Las Vegas Sun [Mobil Link]

November 21, 2016 — Will San Onofre's waste wind up at Yucca Mountain? — sandiegouniontribune.com

November 18, 2016 — Officials discuss Yucca Mountain, growing nuclear waste storage problem — Officials laid out their varying opinions on what the nation should do about growing nuclear waste during the panel titled "Yucca Mountain – Is There Still a Pulse?" that took place during the American Nuclear Society Winter Meeting and Expo at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas — pvtimes.com

November 18, 2016 — Many obstacles remain before Yucca Mountain could accept first nuclear waste shipments — It would take more than a decade and cost at least $30 billion before the shuttered underground dump site at Yucca Mountain could begin accepting shipments of highly radioactive waste, according to experts on the controversial project — Las Vegas Review Journal [Print PDF]

November 15, 2016 — Sandoval says Nevada will fight any bid to revive Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project — CARSON CITY: Gov. Brian Sandoval said he isn't going to abandon his longstanding opposition to creation of a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, whether or not President–elect Donald Trump or Congress renew efforts to entomb radioactive materials at the site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Sandoval said Monday he has not yet had a conversation with Trump and does not know his position on Yucca Mountain — Las Vegas Review Journal [Print PDF] [Related Story]

November 02, 2016 — America's Nuclear-Waste Plan Is a Giant Mess — The Atlantic

November 02, 2016 — State opposition to Yucca remains firm — The Department of Energy's new interest in a using a consent–based siting approach for nuclear waste storage and disposal facilities doesn't change Nevada's opposition to Yucca Mountain, state officials said in a report — pvtimes.com [Print PDF]

December

December 26, 2016 — Rick Perry mum on Nevada's Yucca Mountain, but has backed interim solution — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick as energy secretary, Rick Perry, is not saying whether he intends to push for a revival of plans to entomb the nation’s highly radioactive waste at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain. But Perry’s 14–plus years as Texas governor might hold clues to his views, as he then supported creation of a temporary site in his state to store highly radioactive spent fuel piling up at nuclear power reactors there for decades — Las Vegas Review Journal [Related Story: Gaming group will help lobby against Yucca Mountain project ]

December 22, 2016 — WIPP gets state environment department’s approval to reopen — The New Mexico Environment Department on Thursday said it has given a federal nuclear waste repository the green light to reopen after a nearly three-year closure provoked by a radiation accident, clearing the way for the federal government to make the final determination — abqjournal.com

December 19, 2016 — Four companies chosen to pursue nuclear waste burial test — Four companies will pursue the possibility of conducting a test to determine whether nuclear waste can be buried far underground, federal energy officials announced Monday, months after two prospective sites in the Dakotas were abandoned over local opposition — Las Vegas Sun

December 19, 2016 — EDITORIAL: Now is not the time to get sleepy on Yucca waste dump — Las Vegas Sun [Print PDF]

December 16, 2016 — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has developed a Draft Plan for a repository for disposal of high–level radioactive waste (HLW) resulting from DOE's atomic energy defense activities. This defense waste repository (DWR) could be used to dispose of some or all of the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and HLW resulting from DOE's atomic energy defense activities and/or research and development activities. The DOE intends to use a consent–based process for siting the DWR and is preparing for that process by sharing the Draft Plan for public comment — DOE [Print PDF - 38 Pages]

December 15, 2016 — Agreement protects sprawling Nevada sculpture — eenews.net

December 14, 2016 — Shipments to Yucca Mountain would pass near Trump Hotel — Nuclear waste shipments to a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain would traverse within a mile of President–elect Donald Trump's hotel on the Las Vegas Strip if the project moves forward, officials said. The Trump Hotel, located on the Las Vegas Strip, sits within 0.5 mile to a mile of the route that would be used to transfer tons of highly–radioactive nuclear waste shipments to Yucca Mountain, Robert Halstead, director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects said. “The Trump property is within what we call the 800-meter region of influence for routine radiation.” pbtimes.com

December 10, 2016 — The return of Yucca Mountain?— Remember that time the federal government passed a law saying Nevada's Yucca Mountain should be the only place to bury the nation's high–level nuclear waste? Yeah, about that I — Las Vegas Review Journal [Print PDF]

December 08, 2016 — [Editorial ] With Harry Reid's retirement, will the Yucca Mountain plan be revived? — LA Times

December 06, 2016 — Chatter Continues on Trump's Yucca Mountain Plans — exchangemonitor.com

December 02, 2016 — DOE urges Trump team to ditch repository — The Obama administration is defending its rejection of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site in Nevada to President-elect Donald Trump's transition team, documents obtained by E&E News show. In their brief to Trump's team, current Department of Energy leaders said Congress has supported the administration's position that the site is "unworkable" since 2011 by not approving any new funding for the repository — eenews.net [Print PDF]