The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Forum, Inc. will be holding its Spring 2024 meeting in Orlando, FL.

LLW Forum Meeting: April 3-4, 2024
DSWG Meeting: April 5, 2024

Reserve your room now while the rates are low!

Click here to book a room.

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• Carlos Felipe Uriarte, Nominee for Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice
• Gerald H. Acker, Nominee for Commissioner & Chair of the International Joint Commission
• Annie Caputo, Nominee for Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• Bradley R. Crowell, Nominee for Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Annie Caputo, Nominee for Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Annie Caputo currently consults with the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) regarding international collaboration on advanced nuclear reactors. Prior to her work at INL, Caputo served as a professional staff member on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), assisting the Committee with issues related to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s infrastructure. Preceding her SASC assignment, Caputo served as a Commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for three years until the term expired in June 2021.

Caputo previously served as a professional staff member and senior policy advisor for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House Committee on Energy & Commerce from 2005 to 2018. Prior to her positions on Capitol Hill, she worked for Exelon Corporation and its predecessor company Commonwealth Edison, holding positions in both nuclear fuel and government affairs. Caputo has also served on the Board of the American Nuclear Society. Caputo earned her Bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in Virginia with her husband and two children. 

Bradley R. Crowell, Nominee for Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Bradley R. Crowell serves as Director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Crowell was first appointed as Director in 2016 by former Governor Brian Sandoval and was reappointed by Governor Steve Sisolak in 2019. At DCNR, he leads approximately 1000 employees across 8 divisions and manages a nearly $300 million biennial budget. Crowell has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of energy, environment, natural resources, climate change, and national security, including executive leadership positions in federal and state government. Prior to his current role, he worked for multiple Members of Congress, including former Nevada Governor and Senator Richard Bryan (D-NV) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). Crowell served in the Obama-Biden Administration at the U.S. Department of Energy from 2010-2016, and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2013 as the Assistant Secretary of Energy for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. 

Crowell resides in Reno, Nevada, with his wife, Mrs. Rebecca Claypool and their 1-year-old daughter Hazel, and is a native of Carson City, Nevada. 

For more information, go to: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/05/03/president-biden-announces-key-nominees-13/

The SECY package contains the staff paper, which includes six high-level recommendations to the Commission and six commitments that the staff will undertake, and 13 enclosures explaining the review findings in detail. The documents contained in the SECY’s package sent to the Commission can be found here.

For more information, please click here.

The Commission has approved the staff’s recommended Option 1, to issue a new proposed rule that consolidates and integrates criteria for licensing the disposal of greater-than-Class C (GTCC) waste and Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 C.F.R.) Part 61, “Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal,” rulemaking activities, and provides for Agreement State licensing of those GTCC waste streams that meet the regulatory requirements for near-surface disposal and do not present a hazard such that the NRC should retain disposal authority.

Additionally, for GTCC waste streams containing strategic special nuclear material, the Commission has approved the staff’s recommendation to explore regulatory approaches that would allow for a single regulator for an Agreement State licensee disposing of GTCC waste in a land disposal facility, including potential amendment to 10 C.F.R. §§ 150.14 and 150.15.

The staff should take another look at the technical basis for the performance objectives in Part 61 and ensure that the compliance period is based on scientific data. Rather than using the same compliance period for disposal sites containing significant amounts of depleted uranium, GTCC, or transuranic waste, the staff should consider a site-specific, graded approach based on when the peak dose is projected to occur or establish a longer compliance period for disposal sites containing significant quantities of mobile, long-lived radionuclides.

If during its development of the new proposed rule the staff determines that provisions in the final rule provided to the Commission in SECY-16-0106 are protective of public health and safety, including for long-lived radionuclides, the staff should propose those provisions to the Commission.

cc: Chairman Hanson
Commissioner Baran
Commissioner Wright
OGC
CFO
OCA
OPA ODs, RAs, ACRS, ASLBP
PDR

The SWLLRWCC, established under Public Law 100-712, is the governing body for the Southwestern Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact among Arizona, California, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The Commission’s key duties include controlling the exportation of low-level radioactive waste out of the region.

Donna Earley, Chair of the SWLLRWCC said, “I am pleased to officially welcome our new Executive Director, Ron Gaynor, to the SWLLRWCC! Mr. Gaynor brings over 25 years of experience in the low-level radioactive and hazardous waste industries to the Commission. We all look forward to his vision and leadership, as we move into the future.”

Gaynor will be replacing current Executive Director, Kathy Davis, who will be retiring.
Earley further said, “On behalf of all the commissioners, I want to thank Kathy for her service and guidance to the Commission, both as a Commissioner and Executive Director since the beginning of the SWLLRWCC. Kathy has worked endlessly to make strong connections with other compacts and to make our job as commissioners as easy as possible.  We are all truly grateful for her dedication to the work of the Commission.”

Ms. Davis will be continuing with the Commission for a few months to ensure a smooth transition.                                                              

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: (916) 448-2390, or swllrwcc@swllrwcc.org

The NRC’s goals in amending these regulations are to maintain a safe, effective, and efficient decommissioning process; reduce the need for license amendment requests and exemptions from existing regulations; address other decommissioning issues deemed relevant by the NRC; and support the NRC’s Principles of Good Regulation, including openness, clarity, and reliability. 

The NRC will hold public meetings to promote full understanding of this proposed rule and to facilitate public comments.

Comments are due by May 17, 2022.
Click here to submit a comment and read documents related to the proposed rule.

Please follow this link to book the Forum rate of $129 per night.

Register for online or in-person attendance here.

For more information, please click here.

  Click here to view the two documents  

Current NRC regulations establish safety requirements for the commercial operation of nuclear power plants. However, the regulations do not reflect the lower safety hazard following removal of fuel from the reactor during decommissioning. As a result, the NRC has allowed incremental changes to various requirements – including emergency preparedness – through exemptions and license amendments. The proposed rule would implement specific regulatory requirements for these steps.  

“Several nuclear power plants have begun decommissioning over the past decade, and at least three more reactors are expected to cease operations within the next four years,” said NRC Chairman Christopher T. Hanson. “This regulation incorporates lessons learned from plants that have already transitioned to decommissioning and will establish clear and transparent requirements for the future. I am convinced that the proposed approach will provide adequate protection while improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the decommissioning regulatory framework.”  

Hanson emphasized the importance of public participation in the rulemaking process.  

“Decommissioning isn’t just about the licensee and the plant – it also affects the communities that surround them,” said Hanson. “Public comment has twice played an important role in the development of this proposed rule when we published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and later with a draft regulatory basis. We are seeking public comment on the proposed rule to ensure that we have this right, as this is the public’s opportunity to influence a regulation that will guide future nuclear plant decommissioning.”  

Once the staff has revised the proposed rule as directed by the Commission, it will be published in the Federal Register. Publication will initiate a 75-day public comment period, expected several weeks from now.  

In approving the proposed rule, the Commission disapproved two proposals put forward by the NRC staff regarding management of spent nuclear fuel. It disapproved the staff’s recommendation to generically allow plant operators to use decommissioning trust funds to manage and decommission their spent fuel storage facilities. The Commission also disapproved the staff’s recommendation to remove preliminary approval and final NRC review of a licensee’s Irradiated Fuel Management Program.  

The Commission’s staff requirements memorandum approving the rule, along with an enclosure detailing edits directed by the Commission, and the Commissioners’ voting records will be available on the NRC website.  

For more information, contact David McIntyre, 301-415-8200