NRC has hereby issued the license. To read the full letter, click here.

We are working with the hotel to make this in-person meeting safe and enjoyable with certain precautions.

We will be implementing color-coding for your in-person badge to signify your comfort level with social interactions:

• Red means please adhere to all social distancing and mask wearing protocols when we interact.
• Yellow means that you are mostly comfortable when we talk but please, no direct contact.
• Green means that you are comfortable with normal social interactions.

Date and Times: The fall 2021 meeting of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Forum (LLW Forum) will be held October 13-14, 2021. This will be a one and one-half day meeting beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday and concluding at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday. The Executive Committee will meet from 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. on Thursday morning (October 14). The Disused Sources Working Group (DSWG) – including members, staff, organizational liaisons and invited guests will meet on Friday (October 15) from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

A virtual option is available for the main meeting on October 13-14. 

Location: The meeting will be held at the Magnolia Hotel, 818 17th Street in Denver. The Magnolia Hotel Denver is in downtown Denver in the Central Business District, adjacent to the 16th Street Mall. 

Hotel Reservations: A dedicated block of hotel rooms has been reserved at the rate of $195 plus tax per night (single or double). This rate is available October 11-15, 2021.

To make a reservation, please call 855-516-1090. (Group Code is Low Level Radioactive). 

Reservations may also be made at the following website: https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1586459557412&key=GRP&app=resvlink

Transportation: Taxi and Uber/Lyft are available from the Denver International Airport (DIA). Taxi service charges are a flat rate of $55.15. 

In terms of public transportation, especially during rush hour times (7-10am; 4-7pm), consider the A line (light rail) from DIA to downtown Denver. There is a $10.50 charge each way, additional information can be found here: https://www.rtd-denver.com/services/rail. The A-line leaves from the airport every 15 minutes during the day and arrives at Union Station, which is 0.5 miles from the hotel. There is a free shuttle bus along the 16th Street Mall to explore downtown Denver and possibly assist in the last half mile from Union Station.

Registration: The meeting is free for up to two attendees representing members of the LLW Forum. Non-member registration is $600.00 per attendee, payable by check or through PayPal.

We prefer to see you in person, but will be offering a virtual meeting using Webex Events. Registration for the virtual meeting will be $100.00 per person, payable by check or through PayPal. The WebEx link will be provided after payment received, one link per registration.

For membership information, please contact Dan Shrum, LLW Forum Executive Director at (801) 580-3201 or go to our website at www.llwforum.org.  

Attendees wishing to pay by credit card or PayPal should complete the online registration form below. Attendees wishing to pay by check should download the paper registration form here.

CLICK HERE to view details about the meeting along with the agenda and information regarding how to participate in the meeting.

Click here for more information.

The award recipient will present the innovation being recognized at a lecture during the Waste Management ’22 Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. The award recipient will receive a $5,000 honorarium and all travel expenses will be paid.

Nominations must be received by September 30, 2021.

Via Tele-Conference 

The Annual Meeting of the Central Interstate LLRW Commission will be held via tele-conference on Thursday, June 17, 2021

The purpose of the meeting is to take necessary action on meeting minutes, administrative budgets, and all other business to come before the Commission.

An agenda, will be made available one week prior to meeting by contacting the Commission’s Office at (405) 702-5222, by email: admin@gmail.com or visit our web page at www.cillrwcc.org.

The meeting notice can also be found on the NRC website.  Please click the link and register for the WebEx meeting several days in advance of the meeting.

The Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act, signed into law in
January, included a requirement that the NRC submit a report to Congress on best practices for community advisory boards associated with nuclear power plants. The act requires the NRC to hold a minimum of 10 public meetings in locations that ensure geographic diversity across the United States, with priority given to states that request a public meeting and have a nuclear power reactor currently undergoing the decommissioning process. The NRC staff sought public comment in March on where to hold these meetings.

The dates and locations have been scheduled for meetings near the following plants. The hyperlinks provide additional information regarding the individual meeting notices.

*    Palisades <https://www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg?do=details&Code=20190858> ,
Aug. 21, Benton Harbor, Mich.
*    Humboldt Bay <https://www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg?do=details&Code=20190859>
Aug. 26, Eureka, Calif.
*    Diablo Canyon<https://www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg?do=details&Code=20190861>

The NRC classifies low-level radioactive waste based on its potential
hazards and has specified disposal and waste requirements for three
classes of waste with progressively higher concentrations of radioactive
material. Class A is the least hazardous and Class C the most hazardous.
However, a fourth type of low-level radioactive waste, called
“greater-than-Class-C,” contains radionuclides exceeding the
concentration limits for Class C. GTCC waste is typically activated
metals from power reactors, sealed sources, and waste material from
medical isotopes, but it may also contain special nuclear material such
as enriched uranium or plutonium.

Currently, there are no facilities licensed to dispose of GTCC waste, so
it is being stored at nuclear power plants or at interim storage sites.
The draft regulatory basis evaluates whether certain GTCC waste could be
safely disposed in a near-surface disposal facility. It also evaluates
whether regulatory changes would need to be considered to permit such
action, and whether the NRC or certain states should regulate such
disposal.

The draft regulatory basis is being made publicly available through the
NRC’s ADAMS online database under accession number ML19059A403 [1]. A
notice will be published shortly in the _Federal Register_, which will
initiate a 60-day public comment period. Comments may be submitted via
the federal government’s rulemaking website, www.regulations.gov [2],
using Docket ID NRC- 2017-0081.

The NRC will hold a public meeting Aug. 27 in Austin, Texas, to present
the draft regulatory basis and receive public comments. Details on that
meeting will be published at a later date.

The Annual Meeting of the Central Interstate LLRW Commission will be held on Thursday, August 1, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.

The purpose of the meeting is to take necessary action on reports, meeting minutes, administrative budget, to discuss new website, and all other business to come before the Commission.

The agenda will be sent out to the Commissioners 7 days before the meeting. If others would like a copy, please contact me by email at admin@cillrwcc.org or by phone at 405.702.5222.

In June 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM) Anne White had submitted her resignation.  White’s resignation, which was detailed in a department announcement signed off with the names of Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and the Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette, became effective on June 14, 2019.

Overview

DOE’s Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management  The DOE memo does not provide a reason for White’s resignation.  “Anne’s service to the Department of Energy and to this nation are greatly appreciated,” the personnel announcement reportedly reads.  “Please join us in wishing her the best in her future endeavors.”

However, reports indicate that White was asked to resign by her immediate supervisor, Undersecretary of Energy for Science Paul Dabbar.  In addition to friction with Dabbar, her departure was linked to concerns about her handling of the spread of radioactive contamination from the Portsmouth Site in Ohio to the surrounding area.  Last month, a middle school near the site closed early for summer due to reported radiological contaminants in air samples.  DOE says that its own air monitoring has shown only trace amounts of contaminants including neptunium-237 and americium-241 that are far below being a risk to human health.  Nonetheless, the Department has agreed to pay for extra air sampling this summer by an outside consultant.

DOE’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management  Mark Gilbertson, who is currently DOE’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, has also been reassigned.  According to the DOE memo, Gilbertson will become the Director of the Department’s National Laboratory Operations Board.  The Board works to strengthen DOE’s national labs and their shared relationships.

Todd Shrader, the Manager of Environmental Management’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Carlsbad Field Office, will replace Gilbertson as the EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, according to the memo.

National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Management  William “Ike” White, the Chief of Staff at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), will now serve as a Senior Advisor to DOE Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar.  Among other things, Dabbar oversees environmental- and legacy-management missions.

The NNSA is in charge of the nation’s nuclear complex and related nonproliferation.  Late last month, William Bookless was sworn in as the NNSA’s Principal Deputy Administrator.

Background

Environmental Management, established in 1989, is charged with cleaning up the nation’s legacy from the Cold War and other government-sponsored energy research.  On January 3, 2018, the White House announced President Donald J. Trump’s intent to nominate White to be the EM Assistant Secretary.  On March 22, 2018, White was confirmed for the position by voice vote of the U.S. Senate.  White was sworn in on March 29, 2018.

Prior to White’s swearing-in, James Owendoff had been serving as the Acting EM-1 Assistant Secretary.  In this role, Owendoff focused on more timely decisions on cleanup projects.  The position was previously held by Monica Regalbuto at the end of the administration of former-President Barack Obama.

For additional information about the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Disposal, please go to www.energy.gov.