June 2021 | The Council of State Governments (CSG) | Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee
Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee Newsletter
Upcoming Events
*All times are Central Time
June 9:
National Transportation Stakeholders Forum (NTSF) Planning Committee Call - 12:30 PM
June 9:
June 14:
June 15:
Tribal Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee (TRMTC) Virtual Annual Meeting - 11 AM*
June 16:
Western Interstate Energy Board (WIEB) High-Level Radioactive Waste Committee Spring Virtual Meeting - 11 AM*
June 17:
June 23:
June 29:
2021 NTSF Virtual Event: Day in the Life of a Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Shipment - TBD
July 7:
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Webinar: Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Information System (SRIS): Benefits for Members States, Benefits for Collaboration between International Organizations - 6:30 AM*
July 7:
July 8:
2021 NTSF Virtual Event: Nuclear Power Plant Site Evaluations Status Report - 12 PM
July 21:
IAEA Webinar: Nuclear Decommissioning in the Context of Sustainability and Circular Economy - 6:30 AM*
July 21:
2021 NTSF Virtual Event: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Aging Management Program for Dry Cask Storage and Transportation/Transportation Regulatory Readiness Review Project - TBD
July 22:
MRMTC Regional Tribal Engagement (RTE) Work Group Quarterly Meeting - 11 AM*
August 11:
September 20 - 21:
September 22 - 24:
2021 Radwaste Summit - Las Vegas, NV
October 11:
MRMTC RTE Work Group Quarterly Meeting - 2 PM*
October 26-27:
Northeast High-Level Radioactive Waste Transportation Task Force Meeting - Philadelphia, PA
June 6-9, 2022:
2022 Annual Meeting of the NTSF - Philadelphia, PA
Committee Happenings
Hello Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee (MRMTC) members and interested parties! In 11 days we'll be gathering around the computers for one last virtual committee meeting. The MRMTC Spring 2021 Meeting will take place via Zoom on June 14 at 1 PM Central Time (despite the weather, Summer doesn't technically start until June 21 so we're getting the Spring meeting in with a week to spare). If you haven't yet registered, please do so at the above link as soon as possible. The meeting will feature timely updates from three U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) offices, a summary of what the committee has been up to since the last meeting in November, and important decisions about the MRMTC's direction for the rest of the year. Check out the preliminary agenda to see what else is planned!

If you are a gubernatorial appointee, please submit updates to your state's information in the Planning Guide for Shipments of Radioactive Material through the Midwestern States to Mitch Arvidson before the June 14 meeting. Gubernatorial appointees should have also received the MRMTC Planning Guide Review Work Group's suggested edits to the "Part II. Recommended Practices" section. Thank you to Greg Gothard (Michigan), Rodney Pitchford (Illinois), Swapan Saha (Kansas), and Paul Schmidt (Wisconsin) for your great work with this year's review! MRMTC members, please review these suggestions thoroughly before the June 14 meeting as you will be voting on whether or not to approve the changes. Please reach out to Mitch Arvidson if you have any questions about the 2021 updates to the Planning Guide.

Now that the commotion of the 2020 elections and 2021 state legislative sessions are coming to an end, the MRMTC is making a concerted effort to increase its legislative outreach and involvement. To that end, please give a warm welcome to the following state legislators who have been appointed by the Chair of the Midwestern Legislative Conference (MLC) to a two-year term on the MRMTC!

  • Minnesota Representative Pat Garofalo
  • Nebraska Senator Suzanne Geist
  • Minnesota Senator Mike Goggin
  • North Dakota Senator Dale Patten
  • North Dakota Representative Dan Ruby
  • Kansas Representative Mark Schreiber

To the legislators joining the committee, thank you for your interest in Midwestern radioactive materials transportation issues and we hope to meet in person very soon!

Finally, congratulations to Past MRMTC Co-Chair Greg Gothard who gave a great presentation to the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors' (CRCPD) 53rd National Conference on Radiation Control! Greg presented on the Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Transportation Workshop from the committee's last in-person meeting in November 2019.
Greg virtually presenting to the CRCPD Conference
National Transportation Stakeholders Forum
Instead of meeting in Dallas, TX, later this month, the National Transportation Stakeholders Forum (NTSF) had to cancel the in-person meeting for the second year in a row because of COVID-19. However, that won't stop the NTSF from delivering as much timely and useful content to its members as possible. The 2021 NTSF Virtual Meetings are in full swing right now!

On May 18, Jeff Galan with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Bill Visneski with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, and Roy Boyd with Secured Transportation Services presented the "International Nuclear Material Shipment Coordination - Perspective on Campaigns from Canada to the Savannah River Site" virtual event. Then, just yesterday, the "Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP)" virtual event featured presentations from Nicholas Plate with Naval Reactors Headquarters and Mark Salamon with the NNPP. Attendees have loved this virtual event series so far, with some saying "Three outstanding presentations on a topic I was very interested in," and "The topic was interesting and covered something we don't hear a whole lot about." You can register to view recordings of these virtual events by clicking the links above.

Don't miss future editions of the 2021 NTSF Virtual Meetings, register now! On June 17, at 12 PM Central Time, Mike Valenzano with Orano TN Americas will give a "Vermont Yankee RadWaste Canister (RWC) Shipment Campaign Update." After that, Bobby St. John with the Nuclear Waste Partnership LLC, Ed Gulbransen with Fluor Idaho, and Sergeant Chris Williams with the Idaho State Police will present a "Day in the Life of a WIPP Shipment" on June 29, at 12 PM Central Time. Then, on July 8, at 12 PM Central Time, Steve Maheras with the Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL) will give a "Nuclear Power Plant Site Evaluations Overview and Status Report." Information about the final presentation will be included in the July newsletter. As always, those who are already on the NTSF wiki site can find all this information and more at http://ntsf.wikidot.com/webinars.

Finally, in case you missed it at the end of May 18's webinar, the location of the 2022 Annual Meeting of the NTSF was announced. Next year's in-person meeting will be held June 6 - 9 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown in Philadelphia, PA. Mark your calendars now!
Screenshot from the "International Nuclear Material Shipment Coordination - Perspective on Campaigns from Canada to the Savannah River Site" virtual event
Focus This Month
What Does the Biden Administration Have in Store for DOE?
Since President Joe Biden took office on January 20, many in the radioactive materials transportation sector have speculated on what the new administration might have in store for DOE and radioactive waste more generally. Over the last several months, a picture is starting to form of what the administration's priorities might be for the next 3.5 years or so.

First, on January 8, before Biden even took office, the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) released its "Strategic Vision," which contained five goals to address nuclear energy sector challenges and use government to spur innovation. Of particular interest to those on this committee is "Objective 3: Evaluate options to establish an integrated waste management system." The narrative of this objective acknowledges that DOE is responsible for the eventual transport and disposal of commercial SNF and that addressing the current inventory of radioactive waste is key to sustaining the nation's nuclear energy sector.

Then, in March, the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM), which is responsible for cleaning up radioactive waste associated with the development of the United States' nuclear arsenal and the government's nuclear energy research, released its "Calendar Year 2021 (CY21) Mission and Priorities." The document contained five priorities: 1) Achieve significant construction project milestones; 2) Execute key projects of EM cleanup mission; 3) Reduce the EM complex footprint; 4) Award contracts that enable accelerated progress across the EM enterprise; and 5) Drive innovation and improve performance in the EM mission. Details on each priority can be found in the link above. For a more forward looking and site-specific look at DOE-EM's plans, check out the "EM Strategic Vision: 2021-2031," which was released in April.

Finally, released just last week, is President Biden's first full budget request. The $6 trillion fiscal year 2022 (FY22) budget request would allocate $46.1 billion for DOE. However, only $7.5 million of that would go toward commercial SNF disposal activities. This would be a significant decrease from the $20 million allocated in 2020 to begin the preliminary siting work of a consolidated interim storage facility (CISF). According to DOE's "Budget in Brief," the $7.5 million would go "to fund the Department's responsibilities for managing the [Nuclear Waste Fund] itself, administering the Standard Contract, and maintaining the security of the Yucca Mountain site."

So, who will be in charge of steering the ship and administering these plans at DOE? Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm will be the captain and offered some insight during her appearance before Congress in May. In the past, Secretary Granholm has referenced the recommendations of the 2012 Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future as a place to start addressing U.S. SNF. During the May hearing, she expanded on this and said DOE was looking to establish "a funding mechanism for interested communities, organizations, maybe tribal governments, to explore the concept of consent-based siting of federal interim storage facility."

Also leading DOE's nuclear energy operations will be Dr. Kathryn Huff. Last month, Dr. Huff was appointed Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and will also serve as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy. Dr. Huff was most recently a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering.
Dr. Kathryn Huff is the new Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy
Nuclear News
Nuclear News from Around the Region,
As the Illinois General Assembly closed out its 2021 regular legislative session earlier this week, a few key pieces of legislation were not included in the final budget and final votes. One of which was the comprehensive energy legislation that seeks to keep Exelon's Byron and Dresden Nuclear Generating Stations up and running after the utility announced it would retire the stations this Fall, 20 and 10 years earlier than they're respectively licensed. However, not all hope is lost after it was announced that Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office and Exelon had reached a tentative agreement. The Illinois General Assembly will continue to negotiate the energy legislation and there should be a vote in the coming days.

WSPY News and NPR Illinois have more details on the last minute negotiations.

Meanwhile, north of the state border, an already shutdown nuclear plant will see its final days much sooner than expected. This comes after EnergySolutions reached an agreement with Dominion Energy to buy the former Kewaunee Power Station. According to EnergySolutions, the plant, which was shut down in 2013, will be completely dismantled and decommissioned in 10 years. This is a stark change from Dominion who had planned to complete decommissioning in 40 to 50 years.

Further details, including possible economic impacts, can be found in the Green Bay Press Gazette.

Finally, Nebraska has sought to position itself as a leading state for advanced nuclear reactors. Last month, the Nebraska Legislature passed, and Gov. Pete Ricketts signed LB 84, which adds "nuclear electric power generation" to the list of renewable energy sources that qualify for the ImagiNE Nebraska Act. This act gives business tax incentives to companies that produce electricity in the state.

NuclearNewswire has more.

At the Federal Level,
Sens. Tammy Duckworth (IL), Susan Collins (ME), Angus King (ME), Ed Markey (MA), Bernie Sanders (VT), and Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) recently reintroduced the Sensible, Timely Relief for America's Nuclear Districts' Economic Development (STRANDED) Act. The bill, who's 2017 and 2019 versions failed to pass, would allocate $175 million/year for five years for communities with decommissioned nuclear power plants that still store SNF. The money would be allocated through noncompetitive grants equaling $15 for each kilogram of SNF stored at eligible sites.

EnergyCentral has Sen. Gillibrand's news release.

Also at Capitol Hill, Sens. Ben Cardin (MD), Bob Casey (PA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) recently introduced an amendment to the Clean Energy for America Act that would provide a $15 tax credit per megawatt hour for existing nuclear power plants in states with deregulated power markets, like Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania. The credit would phase down when carbon emissions fall 50% below 2020 levels and would completely end by 2030.

Reuters has more details.

And Around the World
This month's newsletter is getting a little long so we'll leave you with links to some interesting international stories.

kewaunee
Kewaunee Nuclear Power Station in Wisconsin could be decommissioned 40 years sooner than originally anticipated
Thank you for reading. Watch for the next edition to come out on
July 1, 2021.
Missed a newsletter? Past issues are archived on the committee's webpage.
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-NE0008604,
DE-EM0004869, and DE-EM0005168.

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.