Group items tagged

03.05.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.05.09 Portsmouth Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Piketon, OH 03.05.09 Scoping Mtg.: EIS on Proposed Loan Guarantee for TX Energy, LLC, Industrial Gasification Facility Beaumont, TX 03.11.09 Nevada Test Site/Environmental Management Community Advisory Board Mtg. Las Vegas, NV 03.11.09 Oak Ridge Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Oak Ridge, TN 03.11.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.12.09 Paducah Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Paducah, KY 03.18.09 - 03.19.09 Environmental Management Site Advisory Board Chairs' Mtg. Augusta, GA 03.23.09 - 03.24.09 Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Aiken, SC 03.24.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.25.09 Northern NM Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Santa Fe, NM 03.31.09 Public Mtg.: Revised Draft EIS on Decommissioning and/or Long-term Stewardship at West Valley Demonstration Project Irving, NY 03.31.09 Idaho National Lab/Environmental Management Citizens Advisory Board Mtg.

03.05.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.05.09 Portsmouth Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Piketon, OH 03.05.09 Scoping Mtg.: EIS on Proposed Loan Guarantee for TX Energy, LLC, Industrial Gasification Facility Beaumont, TX 03.11.09 Nevada Test Site/Environmental Management Community Advisory Board Mtg. Las Vegas, NV 03.11.09 Oak Ridge Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Oak Ridge, TN 03.11.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.12.09 Paducah Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Paducah, KY 03.18.09 - 03.19.09 Environmental Management Site Advisory Board Chairs' Mtg. Augusta, GA 03.23.09 - 03.24.09 Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Aiken, SC 03.24.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.25.09 Northern NM Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Santa Fe, NM 03.31.09 Public Mtg.: Revised Draft EIS on Decommissioning and/or Long-term Stewardship at West Valley Demonstration Project Irving, NY 03.31.09 Idaho National Lab/Environmental Management Citizens Advisory Board Mtg.

t appears Vermont Yankee is getting an out-of-state site to store its low-level nuclear waste. The nuclear power plant has been storing its low-level waste at the Vernon reactor since its long-time disposal site in South Carolina closed last year. But now a facility owned by Waste Control Specialists LLC in Andrews County, TX, has won final approval from regulators to build a disposal site. Construction documents still need approval and then the site will take about a year to build. Yankee's owner, Entergy Nuclear, says once the Texas site is built disposal costs will shrink. WCAX News

t appears Vermont Yankee is getting an out-of-state site to store its low-level nuclear waste. The nuclear power plant has been storing its low-level waste at the Vernon reactor since its long-time disposal site in South Carolina closed last year. But now a facility owned by Waste Control Specialists LLC in Andrews County, TX, has won final approval from regulators to build a disposal site. Construction documents still need approval and then the site will take about a year to build. Yankee's owner, Entergy Nuclear, says once the Texas site is built disposal costs will shrink. WCAX News

t appears Vermont Yankee is getting an out-of-state site to store its low-level nuclear waste. The nuclear power plant has been storing its low-level waste at the Vernon reactor since its long-time disposal site in South Carolina closed last year. But now a facility owned by Waste Control Specialists LLC in Andrews County, TX, has won final approval from regulators to build a disposal site. Construction documents still need approval and then the site will take about a year to build. Yankee's owner, Entergy Nuclear, says once the Texas site is built disposal costs will shrink. WCAX News

NSTS Radiography One Stop Workshop for the Southwest Region The NRC and the State of TX are hosting an NSTS Radiography One Stop Workshop for the Southwest Region (TX, OK, LA). The one day workshop is scheduled for September 9th! If you plan on attending, and have not done so already, please RSVP to Chris Myers by August 14th. See our flyer PDF Icon exit icon and the workshop agenda PDF Icon for details. Also, we will have many resources available to help you in any phase of the credentialing process for obtaining online access to NSTS. Reporting to NSTS online is fast and easy, and it all starts with your enrollment online at http://pki.nrc.gov/. Select the link for the Digital Certificate Center. Select the links for New Request and select Continue to access the online enrollment form. When completing the online enrollment form, make sure you enter your name EXACTLY as it appears on your driver's license. Also, when entering company name, make sure you enter the full legal name of your company. If you have questions about the online enrollment, please contact the NSTS Help Desk! They are here to help: Toll Free 1-877-671-6787 or via email at NSTS.Help@nrc.gov

Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Final Finding of No Significant Impact for Modification of Exemption From Certain NRC Licensing Requirements for Special Nuclear Material for Waste Control Specialists, LLC, Andrews County, TX AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Environmental Assessment and Final Finding of No Significant Impact. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has prepared an Environmental Assessment for the issuance of an Order under Section 274(f) of the Atomic Energy Act that would modify an Order issued to Waste Control Specialists, LLC (WCS) on November 5, 2004. In accordance with 10 CFR 51.33, the NRC prepared a draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for public review and comment that was issued on July 9, 2009 (74 FR 34983). The public comment period closed on August 10, 2009. NRC received comments from one resident of Texas. The current action is in response to a request by WCS dated December 10, 2007. The November 5, 2004 Order was published in the Federal Register on November 12, 2004 (69 FR 65468). The November 5, 2004 Order, which modified an initial Order issued to WCS on November 21, 2001, exempted WCS from certain NRC regulations and permitted WCS, under specified conditions, to possess waste containing special nuclear material (SNM), in greater quantities than specified in 10 CFR Part 150, at WCS's facility located in Andrews County, Texas, without obtaining an NRC license pursuant to 10 CFR part 70.

Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Final Finding of No Significant Impact for Modification of Exemption From Certain NRC Licensing Requirements for Special Nuclear Material for Waste Control Specialists, LLC, Andrews County, TX AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Environmental Assessment and Final Finding of No Significant Impact. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has prepared an Environmental Assessment for the issuance of an Order under Section 274(f) of the Atomic Energy Act that would modify an Order issued to Waste Control Specialists, LLC (WCS) on November 5, 2004. In accordance with 10 CFR 51.33, the NRC prepared a draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for public review and comment that was issued on July 9, 2009 (74 FR 34983). The public comment period closed on August 10, 2009. NRC received comments from one resident of Texas. The current action is in response to a request by WCS dated December 10, 2007. The November 5, 2004 Order was published in the Federal Register on November 12, 2004 (69 FR 65468). The November 5, 2004 Order, which modified an initial Order issued to WCS on November 21, 2001, exempted WCS from certain NRC regulations and permitted WCS, under specified conditions, to possess waste containing special nuclear material (SNM), in greater quantities than specified in 10 CFR Part 150, at WCS's facility located in Andrews County, Texas, without obtaining an NRC license pursuant to 10 CFR part 70.

"Two West Texas sisters opposed to a new radioactive dump site are asking the state's highest court to reverse the results of an election that narrowly approved $75 million in bonds for the project. Peggy and Melodye Pryor filed their appeal Wednesday to the Texas Supreme Court. The bond referendum, held in May 2009, allows Andrews County to borrow to build the nuclear waste disposal site for Waste Control Specialists. The bond issue was approved by a three-vote margin, and a recount verified the 642-639 vote. The Pryors unsuccessfully challenged the balloting, and an El Paso appeals court upheld that outcome last month. Andrews County attorney John L. Pool said he believes the high court will deny the Pryors' appeal."

"A commission overseeing low-level radioactive waste disposal in Texas has withdrawn and will revise proposed rules that could allow 36 other states to send nuclear waste for burial near the New Mexico line. Bob Gregory of the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission said Monday the panel voted unanimously Saturday to pull the proposed rules as initially published and repost them with some amendments and revisions. A representative from the Texas Attorney General's Office told the commission during a Saturday meeting it could not change the rules then because there was nothing on the agenda to allow it, said Chuck McDonald, spokesman for Waste Control Specialists, the company that operates the waste site about 30 miles west of Andrews in West Texas."

"Residents worried about environmental damage from nuclear waste and those eager for a way to bring jobs to the region spoke Saturday to a commission considering a plan to bury nuclear material from 36 other states in West Texas. Rose Gardner, who lives just over the state line in Eunice, N.M., told the commission she found the plan "very scary." Gardner lives about 5 miles from where material from nuclear power plants, hospitals, universities and research labs could be buried. She told the commission she worried about her water well and pointed to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as the kind of disaster that could happen. "We all know it's the human error" that can't be predicted, said Gardner, 52. "I want you to remember, I'm just across the state line.""

An Amarillo man has been found guilty on 29 charges of defrauding the federal government's Pantex Nuclear Facility by billing for hours he and his employees didn't work. Federal prosecutors said Thursday that 57-year-old Roy David Williams was convicted of wire fraud, theft of public money, 16 counts of fraudulent claims and 11 other counts. Williams is alleged to have defrauded Pantex of more than $169,000 in public money. Authorities say Williams owned WAATTS Inc. in Amarillo and used bogus addresses in Tennessee as part of his scheme.

Former Pantex employees who developed cancer can state their case to a Federal Health Board. The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health is in Amarillo Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss topics related to energy employees occupational illness. Although not officlally discussing Pantex, the Board will hear from the public from 7pm to 8pm Tuesday and 4pm to 5pm Wednesday at the Holiday Inn, 1911 E. I-40. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has previously recommended that there is sufficient evidence at Pantex for a "dose reconstruction". It's a method to estimate how much radiation an energy employee was exposed to while working there.

Waste Control Specialists will start ushering in low-level radio active waste for storage at it's new dump site outside of Andrews County this week. They'll begin storing shipments of waste from Studsvik, Incorporated out of Tennessee. According to Waste Control Specialists (wcs), studsvik processes low-level radio active waste into a safer form for interim storage. WCS has handled radio active waste since 1997 but received a low-level radio active waste disposal license from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (tceq) this year.

Many in sparsely populated Andrews County in West Texas embraced the idea of opening up a radioactive waste site there. They saw it as a chance to bring much needed jobs and tax dollars into the remote, sparsely populated West Texas county. Now, they're not so sure after the waste company asked the county to go a step further and come up with $75 million to pay for a disposal area at the site. Voters in the county on the New Mexico border will decide Saturday whether to help Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists fund construction of a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. If passed, the measure would give county officials the ability to issue bonds to purchase $75 million of Waste Control Specialists' assets and lease them back to the company.

"An environmental group in Austin is trying to keep the Waste Control Specialists (WCS) site from expanding. Now, both those for and against a low-level radioactive dump in Andrews County are taking the next stage of their fight to the Internet. According to an e-mail from Waste Control Specialists President, Rod Baltzer, extremists against anything nuclear are trying to block their progress. In the e-mail, Baltzer says the Austin-based group, Texans for Public Health and Safety is resorting to what he calls scare tactics and misleading information to keep WCS from handling any radioactive waste. The group has created a web site, asking anyone who is opposed to this waste disposal, to send their comments directly to the Texas Compact Commission (TCC). That's the group that will ultimately have the last word on whether or not low level waste disposal continues at the facility. "

"A petition was drawn up four years ago by some past employees of Pantex and other chemical weapons plants. The petition asks for acknowledgement that deadly levels of radiation were present at Pantex for over 40 years. Sarah Ray listened to her phone intently this morning to a conference call between experts on past radiation levels, at the Amarillo Pantex plant. "The site profile is fine as far as today's conditions but there is no information that represents past practices," says former employee Sarah Ray. She and other former chemical weapons plant workers developed an argument for why fast compensation is necessary for those who suffer from illness related to their time in the plant."

"A troubled site for disposing some of the nation's low-level radioactive waste has two more problems to deal with. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality says it'll issue a "notice of violation" within two weeks. It says Waste Control Specialists has stored a concrete canister of the hottest low-level radioactivity material at its West Texas site for more than the 365 days allowed by its waste processing license. An agency spokeswoman says the commission's drafting what it will require of the company to deal with the violation. She adds, however, that the TCEQ will let the waste remain on site as long as WCS complies with the commission's corrective demands. She also says there will be no fines."

"Cracked asphalt provides a stark reminder of the nonexistent margin for error at a controversial radioactive waste dump in West Texas. When state inspectors visited the site in Andrews County, they found cracks up to an inch wide in asphalt near canisters of radioactive material. While cracked asphalt is fairly inconsequential - and pretty much par for the course - when it comes to our city streets, it can be a dangerous proposition at a radioactive waste dump. A spokesman for Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists, which operates the low-level radioactive waste site, dismissed the cracks as superficial and said they have been repaired. But as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has noted, that asphalt pad is an important safeguard against ground contamination. "

"A competition between nuclear waste dumps has pulled the Nuclear Regulatory Commission into an unusual reconsideration of its rules to allow moderately radioactive materials to be diluted into a milder category that is easier to bury. At issue is whether a site in Utah that is licensed to accept only the mildest category of radioactive waste, called Class A, could accept far more potent materials, known as Class B and C wastes, by blending the three together. Even low-level radioactive waste is a growing problem, with few licensed repositories to dispose of it. The problem dates from the early 1980s, when Congress said that the federal government would take care of high-level waste, like spent fuel from nuclear power plants, but that the states would have to find sites for low-level material, like the radiation sources used in cancer treatments and industrial X-rays, and filters used in nuclear plants."

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review the Early Site Permit (ESP) application for the Victoria County site near Victoria, Texas. The applicant, Exelon Nuclear Texas Holdings, submitted the application and associated information on March 25. The application, minus proprietary and security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/esp/victoria.html. Exelon's ESP application seeks resolution of safety and environmental issues for the site, approximately 13 miles south of Victoria. Docketing the Victoria County application does not indicate whether the Commission will approve or reject the request. The NRC has established docket number 52-042 for this application, and the agency will subsequently publish a notice of opportunity to intervene in the required adjudicatory hearing. Petitions to intervene in a hearing may be filed within 60 days of the notice, by anyone whose interest may be affected by the proposed license and who wishes to participate as a party in the proceeding. More information on the hearing process is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html. "