The Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee (MRMTC) has coordinated the relaunch of two Working Groups: the 2023 Planning Guide Review Work Group and the Regional Tribal Engagement Work Group. The Planning Guide Review Work Group held its first meeting on June 26, 2023 during which preliminary discussions were had regarding the best practices for the review and revision of the Part II, RECOMMENDED PRACTICES in the Planning Guide for Shipments of Radioactive Material through the Midwestern States. The second meeting was held August 1 during which the team worked to refine the language employed by the guide. The final meeting was held August 21, during which final edits were discussed and the structure of the document as a whole was considered. The intention is to submit the Work Group's final draft for full committee consideration at the Fall MRMTC meeting in Carlsbad, NM. The draft report will be distributed to committee members in advance of that meeting so that all participants can thoughtfully peruse the changes proposed by the Work Group.

The Regional Tribal Engagement Work Group intended to hold its first meeting on July 31, 2023, but scheduling difficulties resulted in delays. The group finally convened on August 7 and members used the opportunity to reacquaint themselves with the purpose of the group: to help MRMTC representatives' outreach to Tribes in their states through collaboration with the Tribal Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee (TRMTC), Midwestern tribal representatives, federal agencies, and members of the MRMTC.



Additionally in August, MRMTC Co-Chair Rodney Pitchford (Illinois) and staffer Mitch Arvidson (CSG Midwest) traveled to Idaho Falls, ID, to attend the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board's (NWTRB) Summer 2023 Workshop and Board Meeting. The workshop focused on the international siting of radioactive waste facilities and the board meeting reviewed the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) consent-based siting process activities. More details are below in the Focus section of this newsletter.

Looking ahead, CSG Midwest staffers Mitch Arvidson and Melissa Shahzadeh will head to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in mid-September for the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) Duane Arnold Infrastructure site visit. A report of that visit will be included in the next issue of this newsletter.

The National Transportation Stakeholders Forum (NTSF) held another Planning Committee meeting on August 21. The structure of the 2024 meeting's agenda persists as a topic of enthusiastic discussion. A final vote on the agenda will be taken during the committee's September meeting. Additionally, whilst still nascent, details pertaining to the 2025 meeting are beginning to take shape. However, the committee does not anticipate making much headway on 2025 planning until the 2024 meeting concludes.

As the form of the 2024 and 2025 meetings continues to evolve, members are reminded that presentations from the 2023 meeting have been uploaded to the NTSF website and are available for perusal. Additionally, we are pleased to share that we are migrating NTSF webinars from previous years (2014 - 2022) to a new platform. Whilst this is a work in progress, new webinars are uploaded every week. If you fancy a walk down memory lane, you can find and view these webinars here.

The next in-person gathering of NTSF stakeholders will take place on September 6 and 7 at the Prairie Island Indian Community where the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) will be hosting its biannual Transportation Core Group Meeting. Consisting of DOE-NE employees and the leadership and staff of the state regional groups (SRG) and TRMTC, this smaller meeting will take a deep dive into DOE-NE activities and projects. Attendees will also be able to tour the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant in Welch, MN. MRMTC Co-Chair Tad Rumas (Ohio), Immediate Past Chair Greg Gothard (Michigan), and CSG-Midwest staffers Mitch Arvidson and Melissa Shahzadeh will all be in attendance.

The U.S. NWTRB's Busy 2023

The U.S. NWTRB (Board) has a unique charge: to evaluate the technical and scientific validity of activities undertaken by the DOE in the implementation of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act and to report on the management of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) to Congress and the Secretary of Energy. The Board held its Spring 2023 Board Meeting in Orlando, FL, on March 28, 2023 during which they discussed three broad areas of DOE activity: 1) the future removal of commercial SNF from nuclear power plant sites; 2) the consent-based siting (CBS) process supporting federal interim storage facilities; and 3) transportation research and development including site infrastructure evaluations, systems analysis tools, and railcar development. The Board submitted its report on these discussions to the DOE on August 24.

In the report, the Board commended the DOE's efforts on many fronts, noting that the DOE is making progress in its Integrated Waste Management (IWM) program, particularly in three major cross-cutting areas: transportation preparation, storage design and regulatory considerations, and systems analysis tools and integrations. Additionally, DOE's prioritization of Tribal government engagement in IWM and CBS organization was recognized and endorsed. The Board also noted DOE's progress in engaging Tribal, state, and local representatives on the possible modes and routes for SNF shipments and for sponsoring the as-loaded analyses needed to understand transportability of commercial SNF containers.

The Board's recommendations generally encouraged the DOE to explore ways to identify specific, key issues and develop channels for collaboration with stakeholders, experts, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). They recommended that if the DOE pursues a Package Performance Study, they should first determine the public's major safety concerns and how the public wishes to be involved. The Board recommended that the DOE engage with site personnel and cask vendors who know the specific SNF contents for each storage canister during future site infrastructure visits, and that the DOE work with the NRC to identify any challenges associated with the transportation of these canisters. Additionally, the DOE is encouraged to expand its engagement with the NRC so that it can better understand potential difficulties attendant to future storage following the transport of commercial SNF.

Shortly after the Board submitted its Spring Meeting report, it held its Summer 2023 Workshop and Summer 2023 Board Meeting in Idaho Falls, ID, on August 29 and 30 respectively. The workshop was particularly interesting as attendees heard about the lessons learned from successful and ongoing international radioactive waste facility siting efforts.

Representatives from Switzerland's Nationale Genossenschaft für die Lagerung radioaktiver Abfälle (Nagra) and Sweden's Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB) described how their respective countries went about the technical and consensus-building efforts to site their nuclear waste repositories. Additionally, a representative of Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) provided an update on their ongoing CBS process.

DOE officials in attendance took away valuable information on public outreach, public perception, and other aspects of these respective siting efforts. One thing that stood out in particular was the fact that Nagra, SKB, and NWMO are all independent agencies that are shielded from political and electoral changes, allowing them to complete these processes over long, stable periods of time.

Of course, there are factors that make this job much more difficult in the United States than in countries like Switzerland and Sweden. For instance, the sheer size of the U.S. and the greater amount of waste makes for a more logistically challenging siting process. Additionally, federalism means many more units and levels of government must consent and agree in the U.S. Regardless, the U.S. NWTRB's Summer Meetings provided a wealth of information and the necessary scrutiny and check and balances of the DOE's nuclear waste programs.

Nuclear News

Illinois' Moratorium on Nuclear Plant Construction Continues

It was announced on August 11 that Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker vetoed Senate Bill 76 that would have allowed the resumption of construction of nuclear power plants within the state. SB 76 had passed the General Assembly earlier this year after being introduced by Sen. Sue Rezin. The moratorium on construction dates to the early 1980s and was originally a response to concerns about the disposal of nuclear waste. Prtizker cited those same concerns in his veto statement, as well as expressing concern about the costs that would be borne by ratepayers. Read more about these events at NBC Chicago here.

There has been a flurry of news articles exploring the possibility of whether the legislative chamber will override the governor's veto and thus allow the bill to become law. Senator Rezin indicated on August 12 that she had already filed the paperwork needed to put the bill on the docket for the Fall veto session scheduled for late October and early November. Ms. Rezin accused the governor of yielding to special interests and suggests that the nuclear power is essential to Illinois' clear energy future.

Decommissioning of Michigan's Palisades Nuclear Power Plant Continues

It was reported on August 11 that decommissioning of Palisades continues despite a new state budget allotting $150 million toward efforts to reopen it. Holtec International, the site owner, needs approval from the NRC to reopen the facility, and until that approval is given, Holtec will continue with decommissioning efforts. Holtec Senior Manager of Government Affairs and Communications Nick Culp said that Holtec has yet to make any permanent changes to Palisades. "Nothing has been done at the site that would be irreversible, that would make operations prohibitive in the future," he said. Environmental groups oppose the reopening of Palisades due to worries about the possibility of contamination from spent nuclear fuel stored on site. The plant's close proximity to Lake Michigan is a particular point of contention. Read more at WMUK.

In contrast to what is happening at Palisades in Michigan, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved Xcel Energy's application for additional storage of SNF associated with extending the operating life of the Monticello plant. The request for expansion was reported as approved on August 25 and Xcel's President, Chris Clark, is quoted as thanking the PUC for recognizing the importance of the Monticello nuclear plant to the shared goal of clean energy. The federal license review and approval process is extensive, and a decision from the NRC is expected in late 2024 regarding the 20-year extension on the plant's operating license. Read more at MPR News.

NRC to Issue Final Rule for Emergency Preparedness for Small Modular Reactors (SMR)

The NRC announced on August 14 that it would issue a final rule and regulatory guide that utilizes an emergency preparedness framework and adopts a technologically-inclusive, consequence-oriented approach later this year. Applicants and licensees for SMRs and other new nuclear technologies will be able to use the rule in the development of a performance-based emergency preparedness program. The rule, when published, will address how facility designs and safety research apply to future operations of SMRs and other technologies. Read the NRC's announcement here.

The NRC issued this announcement only days after the Breakthrough Institute, Clean Air Task Force, ClearPath, Nuclear Innovation Alliance, and Third Way - all pro-nuclear advocates - collectively stated that the Modernization Act of 2019 directed the NRC to develop this regulation within two years and thus criticized the NRC for what they consider to be unacceptable delays in satisfying the mandate. The group claimed that the regulatory uncertainty has forced licensing applicants to change their emergency preparedness approach during the pre-application engagement process whilst also discouraging future applicants. Read more at the World Nuclear News.

DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) Invests in Tomorrow's Nuclear Workforce

DOE-EM awarded $11.7 Million to Southeast New Mexico College (SENMC) in Carlsbad, NM. The non-competitive financial assistance cooperative agreement will support educational programs at the college intended to enhance the knowledge and refine the skills of current employees of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) also located in Carlsbad. Additionally, the funding will be used to build training programs for the next generation of WIPP employees. SENMC will work closely with both WIPP and the DOE-EM to develop programs that function as "a pipeline of well trained and qualified workers for the future." Read more about this award on the DOE website.

New Mexico Publishes Final Draft of Radioactive Waste Storage Permit

New Mexico has published the final draft of a permit that will allow more waste to be stored at WIPP. Whilst the state's Department of the Environment will be holding meetings in the coming weeks to explain to the public the specifics of the permit, it is understood that the permit allows DOE and Salado Isolation Mining Contractors LLC to store more transuranic waste at WIPP than previously. The permit has been a source of contention within New Mexico, drawing both criticism and support from public officials and citizens. The Department of the Environment will issue the final permit in October 2023 and public comment is open until September 22. Read more at KRQE New Mexico.

Texas Nuclear Waste Storage Permit Invalidated

Reuters reported that the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cancelled a permit granted by the NRC to allow the construction of a temporary nuclear waste storage facility in western Texas. The license was issued in 2021 to Interim Storage Partners LLC but was then challenged by Texas as well as west Texas oil and gas interests that opposed the facility. U.S. Circuit Judge James Ho stated that the Atomic Energy Act does not give the NRC broad authority to license a private, away-from-reactor storage facility and stated that the license conflicts with Nuclear Waste Policy Act that prioritizes permanent storage solutions.