The Committee will meet next Thursday, June 8 in Pittsburgh, in conjunction with the National Transportation Stakeholders Forum (NTSF) annual meeting on June 5-8. A final agenda was emailed to members last week and is also posted on the Committee's webpage.

A couple of reminders for committee members in advance of the meeting: please check the agenda to see if you are responsible for giving a progress report on any ad hoc working groups or other meetings attended, and please review the proposed revisions to the Planning Guide for Shipments of Radioactive Material through the Midwestern States. Thank you!

The results of the Committee's Fall 2017 Meeting survey will be announced in Pittsburgh. The survey will remain open until Friday at 11:00 pm Central for members to indicate their preferences for the meeting dates and location.

For those attending the 2017 Annual Meeting of the NTSF, we look forward to seeing you next week! The meeting is being held from June 5-8 at the Sheraton Station Square in Pittsburgh. Meeting co-hosts sent out a final email yesterday afternoon that included important meeting details and a link to the agenda.

In ad hoc working group (AHWG) news, please note that the AHWGs meeting in Pittsburgh on June 7 and the Midwestern members who should attend each group meeting are as follows:

• Spent Nuclear Fuel Rail/Routing: Tiffany Drake, Kelly Horn, and David Whitfill
• Spent Fuel Transportation Materials: Lisa Janairo (co-lead) and Katelyn Tye
• Section 180(c): Laura Dresen, Greg Gothard, Teri Engelhart, and Kaci Studer
• Information & Communications: Katelyn Tye

Finally, in NTSF webinar news, a recording and slides from the NTSF Newcomers Orientation Webinar that was held on May 24 are posted on the NTSF wiki site.

DOE Pulls the Plug on Borehole Test

	DOE illustration of deep borehole test

Lawmakers in Ohio still hold the fate of three Midwestern nuclear plants in their hands. In the House, hearings on legislation ( HB 178) that would raise FirstEnergy consumers' electric bills to support the utility's Davis-Besse and Perry plants were put on hold, according to the Toledo Blade.

Additionally, WKSU reported on May 30 that House Public Utilities Committee chairman Rep. Bill Seitz is floating a change to the proposal that would allow FirstEnergy customers to opt out of paying the additional fee on their electric bills. According to WKSU, Seitz says the House will likely take up the proposal again once the Senate finishes hearings on a similar measure ( SB 128) this fall. If FirstEnergy does not receive financial assistance through the legislature, it says it will be forced to close both plants.

Davis-Besse and Perry would be two more casualties in an energy market that is unfavorable to nuclear power. Most recently, Exelon Corporation announced on May 30 that it would close the Three Mile Island Generating Station in Pennsylvania, barring an unexpected change in market conditions, reported Nuclear Street.

New GAO Report Assesses Resumption of Yucca Mountain Licensing
A report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on May 26 identified four key steps "that would likely be needed to resume the Yucca Mountain licensing process," including rebuilding capacity at DOE and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The other three steps, as outlined in the report's highlights, are for the NRC to receive direction to resume the licensing process; completion of the remaining phases of adjudication, which is estimated to take up to five years; and the carrying out of any remaining steps, including the NRC's final decision on whether to authorize the construction of the repository.

In other Yucca Mountain news, the omnibus budget bill passed by Congress in May did not include funding for the licensing of the repository, according to the Exchange Monitor. The article notes that, while the bill cuts out funding for Yucca, it does include "$85 million for used nuclear fuel disposition, with $62.5 million directed toward 'generic research and development activities.'"

Thank you to Kelly Horn (Illinois) for sharing the Exchange Monitor article.

Radioactive "Hot Spot" Discovered in Canadian Shipment to Savannah River Site
Workers at South Carolina's Savannah River Site (SRS) in April discovered an area of unexpectedly high radiation levels when moving highly enriched uranium (HEU) liquid waste that had been transported to the site from Canada, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal. According to the Review-Journal article, DOE blamed the incident on a defective lead "pig" container that shields workers, and said the elevated rates did not pose an increased safety concern to the public or workers.

The Review-Journal article noted that Bob Halstead, executive director of Nevada's Agency for Nuclear Projects, said the incident illustrates the "great care" required in transporting nuclear waste, and that Nevada would be concerned about "any kind of incident that indicates a weakness in the safety culture."

According to the Exchange Monitor, the HEU shipments from Canada's Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario, to SRS, are part of a 2010 agreement between then-U.S. President Barack Obama and then-Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. They will continue over the next few years.

Thank you to Mike Wangler (DOE-EM) for sharing the Exchange Monitor article.