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Important Dates
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2016
July 20 at 12:00 pm CDT:
NTSF Planning Committee Conference Call
July 26 at 1:00 pm CDT: CSG Webinar on Nuclear Waste Disposal (Part 2):
More information
Register here
Aug. 1-5: DOE-TEPP Radiation Specialist Course, Boulder, CO:
More information
Register here
Aug. 17-18: DOE-NFST Core Group Meeting, Chicago, IL
Nov. 2-3:
Northeast High-Level Radioactive Waste Transportation Task Force Fall Meeting, Atlantic City, NJ
Nov. 30-Dec. 1:
MRMTC Fall Meeting, St. Louis, MO
2017
June 6-8:
NTSF 2017 Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA
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Join Our List
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SPECIAL ARTICLE
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Jon Schwarz at the committee's Fall 2015 meeting in Des Moines. |
Bidding Farewell to a Friend
It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share news of the untimely passing of Jon Schwarz, long-time Nebraska appointee to the Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee. According to his
obituary, he was 63 when he died on Wednesday, July 6, in his hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Jon spent 19 years in the Technical Hazards Section at the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, and also served his country for 25 years as a Master Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician and Team Leader in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Most recently reappointed by Governor Pete Ricketts in February 2015, Jon first joined the committee as a member in 2008. Previously, he participated frequently in committee meetings dating back to 1998. In 2003, Jon was instrumental in recruiting then-Governor Mike Johanns to give the "Welcome to Nebraska" at the committee's fall meeting in Lincoln -- the only time a governor has made an appearance at a committee meeting in the Midwest (and quite likely in any other region).
Jon was very active on the committee, representing the Midwest on the NTSF's TEPP Training Ad Hoc Working Group and serving on the committee's own work groups that reviewed the Greater-than-Class C environmental impact statement and catalogued state experiences with DOE funding. He had planned to represent the committee at DOE's final consent-based siting meeting in Minneapolis in a few weeks.
Jon cared a great deal about the committee's work, and he was a good friend to the members and the staff. We will miss his friendly face, his helping hand, and his kind spirit. Rest in peace, Jon.
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COMMITTEE HAPPENINGS
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Thank you to everyone who attended the MRMTC's spring meeting in Orlando on June 8, which was held in conjunction with the National Transportation Stakeholders Forum (NTSF) Annual Meeting (see the
second article). A final attendance list, agenda, and action items are now posted on the
MRMTC Spring 2016 Meeting webpage. A complete summary of the committee meeting will be posted soon.
One of the topics discussed during the meeting was committee member participation on the NTSF Ad Hoc Working Groups (AHWG). Rochelle Batdorf (Ohio) volunteered to take the place of Teri Engelhart (Wisconsin) as one of the Midwest's representatives on the NTSF Planning Committee. Thank you to Teri for her service on the Planning Committee and to Rochelle for taking on the new role.
By popular vote, the next MRMTC meeting will be held in
St. Louis, Missouri, from November 30-December 1. The NTSF Spent Nuclear Fuel Rail/Routing AHWG will be piggybacking their meeting onto the Midwest's, and a rail-related field trip for both groups will be scheduled. Thank you to the committee's meeting work group members Tiffany Drake (Missouri), Kaci Studer (Indiana), and Kelly Horn (Illinois) for their continued planning efforts.
In other committee-related news, on
July 26 at 1:00 pm CDT, CSG Midwest will co-host the second in a two-part webinar series to help state government officials learn more about the Department of Energy's (DOE) consent-based effort to site an integrated waste management system (
register here). See the newsletter's
third article for more information about the webinar.
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NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION STAKEHOLDERS FORUM
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NTSF News and Events
The NTSF Annual Meeting 2016 was held on June 7-9 in Orlando, Florida. Thank you to meeting co-hosts the Southern States Energy Board and the NTSF Tribal Caucus.
Slides from speaker presentations and other meeting materials are being posted on the NTSF wiki site's Orlando 2016 page.
This year, the attendee feedback was gathered via an online survey. The survey asked for opinions about the hotel, individual sessions, keynote speakers, and suggestions for future meetings. The NTSF Planning Committee will have a conference call on July 20 to discuss the post-meeting survey results and how to incorporate them into the planning for next year's meeting.
The Council of State Governments/Eastern Regional Conference is hosting the NTSF Annual Meeting 2017. Please mark your calendars for June 6-8 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Laura Dresen (Indiana) and Rochelle Batdorf (Ohio) volunteered to represent the Midwest on the FY 17 Planning Committee. Thanks, Laura and Rochelle!
In other NTSF news, the Section 180(c) AHWG met during the NTSF meeting in Orlando to discuss next steps for the AHWG and to review a lessons-learned document from the Section 180(c) Policy Implementation Exercise. Exercise volunteers submitted their comments on the lessons-learned document at the end of June, and the comments will be incorporated into a final draft over the summer. DOE will provide a draft grant application template to the Exercise volunteers in October for review and discussion. Now that the Exercise is completed, DOE will consider hosting a webinar for NTSF members in the late summer or early fall to review the lessons learned.
Finally, please remember to contact Joe Martinez (DOE-EM) if you are interested in submitting an article for the next edition of the NTSF Newsletter. The inaugural edition of the quarterly newsletter was sent to members on May 27.
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FOCUS THIS MONTH
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Aerial view of Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nevada
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National Discussion on Consent-Based Siting Continues with Public Meetings, Congressional Hearing
In June, DOE held two more meetings -- in Boston, Massachusetts, and Tempe, Arizona -- to gather public input on the Department's planning activities for an integrated waste management system and consent-based approach to siting facilities.
As in the previous public meetings, DOE's Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy John Kotek and a panel of stakeholders shared their thoughts on the consent-based siting process before having small group discussions and opening the public comment period. To view a recording and access meeting materials from the June 2 Boston meeting,
click here. To view materials and a recording of the June 23 Tempe meeting,
click here.
The final two consent-based siting public meetings will be held on July 14 in Boise, Idaho, and on July 21 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. MRMTC representatives Kevin Leuer (Minnesota), Paul Schmidt (Wisconsin), and Lisa Janairo (CSG Midwest), will be attending the meeting in Minneapolis. Visit DOE's
consent-based siting webpage for more information about the meetings and how to view live webcasts.
All of the public input DOE receives will be documented in a draft report released later this year. Written comments about the consent-based siting process can be provided to DOE through July 31, either by responding to the
Invitation for Public Comment in the
Federal Register or by emailing
consentbasedsiting@hq.doe.gov. At the MRMTC spring meeting in Orlando, Florida, committee members expressed interest in submitting comments on the
Federal Register notice, focusing on the transportation-related aspects of an integrated waste management system. The staff will work with co-chairs Kelly Horn and Teri Engelhart to develop regional comments to submit before the July 31 deadline.
In related news, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, chaired by Illinois Rep. John Shimkus, held a hearing Thursday morning entitled "Federal, State, and Local Agreements and Associated Benefits for Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposal." According to a
press release announcing the hearing, the subcommittee examined:
- Historical issues associated with the economic benefits and administrative costs of a nuclear disposal facility;
- Potential legislative and administrative options for federal, state, local, and tribal partnerships to site, license, operate, and oversee the nuclear waste repository; and
- Possible options for state and local oversight in safety and regulatory issues.
Materials from the hearing, including a recording and witness statements, are available online.
The MRMTC is monitoring all developments related to consent-based siting and, on
July 26 at 1:00 pm CDT, CSG Midwest will co-host the second webinar in a series to help state government officials learn more about nuclear waste disposal. The webinar will feature speakers Andrew Griffith of DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, Betsy Madru of Waste Control Specialists, and John Heaton with the Eddy Lea Energy Alliance.
Register here.
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NUCLEAR NEWS
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Quad Cities Nuclear Generating Station near Cordova, Illinois
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Three Midwestern Nuclear Plants Confirmed to Close
As covered in the June edition of the MRMTC newsletter, the Omaha Public Power District board of directors last month were considering a recommendation that the utility cease its operations at Nebraska's Fort Calhoun Station.
According to the Omaha World-Herald, the board voted unanimously on June 16 to close the plant by the end of the year, saying it was no longer able to compete with cheaper sources of electricity on the energy market. The plant employs approximately 700 people.
Opponents of the closure voiced their concerns during the board meeting, reports the Herald:
"It's going to be hard to explain this decision to future generations," said Nick Shanks, a licensed reactor operator who has worked at the nuclear plant for 11 years. "Yes, we knew that climate change was the greatest challenge of our time, but we really wanted to lower people's electric bills a couple of dollars a month."
Meanwhile, in Illinois, Exelon Corp. formally notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of its intent to close the Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear stations in 2017 and 2018, respectively. As reported by The News-Gazette, Exelon officials blamed the closures on a failed attempt to pass legislation that would make the plants more cost-competitive.
A recent editorial in The San Luis Obispo Tribune highlighted ongoing struggles in Zion, Illinois, which had its nuclear plant shut down nearly 20 years ago. The Zion Nuclear Power Station is in the process of being decommissioned, but the lack of a permanent repository for the nation's spent nuclear fuel means the waste will remain stored on-site in dry casks for an indefinite amount of time.
According to The Tribune, Zion property tax rates rose 143 percent since the plant closed and the city is leading a push for federal legislation that would provide financial compensation to communities that have become de facto storage sites for spent fuel.
In other news about the Midwest's shutdown sites, a revised version of DOE's Preliminary Evaluation of Removing Used Nuclear Fuel from Shutdown Sites has been released. The report contains a good write-up of the shipment, in 2014, of four old steam generators from Wisconsin's Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant to the Waste Control Specialists low-level radioactive waste disposal facility in Texas. The steam generators were transported via barge on Lake Michigan, through Chicago, and down the Mississippi River where they were transloaded onto railcars in Houston. This shipment offers a good, recent example of multi-modal transportation of large components and would make an excellent topic for presentation at a future NTSF or MRMTC meeting.
Thanks to Steve Maheras (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) for sharing the latest edition of the shutdown sites report.
Court of Appeals Ruling Upholds NRC Continued Storage Rule
On June 3, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a 2014 ruling that allowed for the continued onsite storage of radioactive material at nuclear plants around the country. In the absence of a national repository for spent fuel, waste is being stored at 65 sites in 34 states across the country.
According to The Post-Bulletin, the Prairie Island Indian Community, which has tribal land next to the nuclear generating station of the same name, joined several states and environmental agencies to appeal the NRC's Continued Storage Rule, citing the environmental impact and potential health and safety concerns. Shelley Buck, Prairie Island Indian Community Tribal Council president, said the court decision means the community's worst fear--that nuclear waste will remain on the tribe's ancestral homeland forever--is even closer to reality.
The Post-Bulletin reports that, after visiting the offices of U.S. Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar, Red Wing City Council Member Peggy Rehder expressed optimism that the Senate will approach the idea of completing the nuclear waste facility at Yucca Mountain after the retirement of U.S. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada.
Stakeholders Weigh in on Nuclear Waste Transportation
Amid national discussion on where to site a repository for the nation's spent nuclear fuel, a recent POLITICO article asked another, equally important question: once a site is chosen, how will the waste get there?
Fred Dilger, a consultant for the state of Nevada, told POLITICO it won't be an easy task:
"Transportation is really the Achilles' heel of any kind of storage program whatsoever. You have the problem of selecting routes that will be technically acceptable and politically acceptable, publicly acceptable. It's a huge, giant-sized undertaking. And then you have to sustain all that for 50 years."
The article also includes perspectives from Erica Bickford (DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy), U.S. Representative Dina Titus (Nevada), and Chris Kouts (former acting director of DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management).
Thanks to Jim Williams (Western Interstate Energy Board) for sharing this story.
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Thank you for reading. Watch for the next edition to come out on August 4, 2016.
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Please do not reproduce or create new content from this material without the prior express written permission of CSG Midwest.
This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy under Award Numbers DE-NE0000555, DE-EM0002121, and DE-EM00002327.
This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.
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