EPA announced that rules covering methane leaks from new oil and gas wells will come out soon, but the agency would give no guidance on when rules covering existing wells would be released.
The agency said it is gathering data on existing wells before developing the rules. The Obama administration has put the rules at the top of its priority list because of the effect of methane on climate change.
“We have been moving in a very methodical manner to address pollution in ways that withstood legal challenges and are making a difference on the ground, and that is what we’re doing,” said Janet McCabe, head of EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.
More: The Hill
NRC Approves Early Permit For Possible 4th Salem Reactor
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board approved preliminary documentation for the commission to issue an early site permit for a possible fourth nuclear reactor at PSEG Nuclear’s Artificial Island complex in New Jersey.
Although the company hasn’t yet committed to constructing a fourth reactor, it is pursuing the permit for planning purposes. If issued, the permit would be good for 20 years.
More: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Geological Survey Says Turbines, Sandhill Crane Can Coexist
Wind energy sites in southern states are unlikely to have a significant negative effect on the migratory patterns of the sandhill crane, according to a report from the U.S. Geological Survey.
“The current placement of wind energy towers in the central and southern Great Plains may have relatively few negative effects on sandhill cranes wintering in the region,” the study concluded. Among the states included in the review were Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico, which serve as temporary habitats for the cranes during their migration south from Canada and northern states.
More: Times Record News
EPA to Reimburse States, Tribes For Gold King Mine Spill
EPA said it will reimburse state, local and tribal governments for the estimated $1 million they spent on environmental costs after the agency accidentally caused a massive spill of mine wastewater in Colorado last August.
The agency is also considering declaring the Gold King Mine a Superfund site, which would make it eligible for additional federal cleanup dollars.
A crew working for EPA accidentally breached a wastewater holding area, releasing 3 million gallons of water containing lead, arsenic, copper and other pollutants. The tainted water flowed downstream through Colorado to New Mexico and Utah. The affected area included land owned by the Southern Ute and Navajo Nation tribes.
More: The Associated Press
Ex-NRC Commissioner: Licensing Process Hinders New Reactor Investment
Former Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Jeffrey S. Merrifield said the commission’s current step-by-step licensing process for new nuclear reactor technology leaves advanced design developers with little information to go on and is hindering investment into research and development.
“One of the disadvantages of the current system is it’s sort of all or nothing,” said Merrifield, chairman of the Nuclear Infrastructure Council’s Advanced Reactors Task Force. “You have to put in your license application and wait a very long period of time to determine whether the NRC is going to find that to be acceptable.”
Merrifield made his comments at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on Friday. As an example of a good model for NRC, he pointed to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s process, which has “discrete milestones” that “provide an early regulatory signal” of possible approval that costs project developers about $5 million, much less than required under current NRC procedures.
More: Morning Consult
Texas Company Applies for Interim Nuclear Waste Permit
Waste Control Specialists, in partnership with France-based AREVA, has applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to store used nuclear fuel and other nuclear waste in Andrews County, Texas. The company’s design envisions a facility able to store 40,000 metric tons of used fuel, with an operational date of 2021. It would remain open for 40 years.
“Establishing an economically viable solution for used fuel management in the United States is vital to sustaining and advancing nuclear energy,” said Greg Vesey, senior vice president of AREVA TN Americas.
Political and industry leaders have been unable to devise a permanent storage facility for the nation’s roughly 70,000 metric tons of accumulated spent fuel and radioactive byproducts from nuclear reactors. In April, Holtec International announced plans to open a $5 billion consolidated interim storage facility in New Mexico, with a life span of 100 years. Holtec said it will apply for its license by the end of the year.
More: Power Magazine; The Texas Tribune
California Senate Demands DOE Remove San Onofre Waste
The California Senate is demanding that the U.S. Department of Energy remove nuclear waste stored at the retired San Onofre nuclear generating station. The oceanfront plant has been shut down since a leak in a steam generator convinced owner Southern California Edison that it made no economic sense to restart the two units.
The Senate resolution calls on President Obama and the U.S. House of Representatives to approve a bill that would call for consolidation of all nuclear waste being stored on plant sites.
“It’s way past time for the federal government to move the nuclear waste stored at San Onofre to a location away from densely populated and environmentally sensitive areas,” said California Sen. Patricia Bates. “I’m pleased that my state Senate colleagues have endorsed my call to Washington D.C. to approve pending legislation that would help make Orange and San Diego County residents safer.”
More: City News Service
NRC Clears Environmental Review Of Suspended Bell Bend Project
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week declared that there are no environmental issues that would hold up the issuances of a combined license for the proposed Bell Bend nuclear station project near Harrisburg, Pa., even though the project is no longer active.
In 2008, PPL, which spun off its generation assets into Talen Energy, applied for the license, which launched the environmental review. But last year, the designer of the project’s proposed reactor, AREVA, asked NRC to suspend the safety review. AREVA was to design a third-generation light-water reactor for the project.
The AREVA request put the design certification review on hold, but the environmental review continued. There is no word if the project will start up again.
More: Nuclear Street
TVA’s Bellefonte Nuke Plant up for Sale
The Bellefonte Nuclear Generating Station, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s never-operational plant near Hollywood, Ala., is going on the market.
TVA halted construction in 1988 on two incomplete 1,256-MW pressurized water reactors on the site. TVA is considering a sale of the entire 1,600-acre complex and is conducting a webinar open to the public to discuss the possible sale.
More: The Associated Press