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Important Dates
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*All times are Central Time
January 7:
January 11:
Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee (MRMTC) Regional Tribal Engagement (RTE) Work Group Quarterly Call - 2 PM*
January 13:
January 15:
MRMTC Planning Guide Review Work Group Call - 10 AM*
January 19:
January 19:
January 21:
Tribal Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee (TRMTC) Mid-Year Meeting - 11:30 AM*
January 26:
February 10:
IAEA Webinar: Integrated View of the Spent Fuel Management Steps for Decision Making - TBD
March 3:
IAEA Webinar: Women Leading Nuclear Back End Projects: Their Stories and Achievements - TBD
March 10:
IAEA Webinar: Fukushima 10 Years After: Dealing with the Accident Aftermaths - TBD
April 12:
MRMTC RTE Work Group Quarterly Call - 2 PM*
April 14:
IAEA Webinar: Chernobyl 35 Years After: Decommissioning Progress and Prospects - TBD
May 5:
IAEA Webinar: Building an International Safety Framework for Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Management, Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation - TBD
June 2:
IAEA Webinar: Experiences in Setting Up Funds for Back End Liabilities in Nuclear Power Programmes - TBD
June 14 - 17:
Annual Meeting of the National Transportation Stakeholders Forum (NTSF) - Dallas, TX
June 15:
MRMTC Spring Meeting - Dallas, TX
July 7:
IAEA Webinar: Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Information System (SRIS): Benefits for Member States, Benefits for Collaboration between International Organizations - TBD
July 21:
IAEA Webinar: Nuclear Decommissioning in the Context of Sustainability and Circular Economy - TBD
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COMMITTEE HAPPENINGS
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| | Lisa Janairo, Program Director of the MRMTP, is retiring on February 26 |
Since 1992, only three years after its inception, the Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Project (MRMTP) has been tirelessly led by Lisa Janairo. In the nearly three decades that followed her hiring, Lisa has helped turn the MRMTP and the Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee (MRMTC) into the paragon of an intergovernmental association. Originally working with just the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) to plan for future shipments of spent nuclear fuel (SNF), the MRMTP has expanded and adapted to several administration and policy changes. Now working with three DOE offices; Nuclear Energy (NE), Environmental Management (EM), and the Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO), the MRMTP focuses on a number of radioactive materials issues and even helps some member states plan for, and fund, current shipments.
After all this success, Lisa's time has come to move on. She will be retiring from the Council of State Governments Midwestern Office (CSG Midwest) and the MRMTP on February 26, 2021. She did not come to this decision lightly. A confluence of events -- her increasing engagement in her city's efforts to become more sustainable, her commitment to social justice initiatives in Dane County, and her desire to spend more time with her family (for real!) -- prompted Lisa's decision to cut the chord now while (her words) she still has the time and energy to make a difference.
While it is virtually impossible to sum up such an accomplished career, one of Lisa's closest friends and colleagues over the years will try to do just that in the March newsletter. After February 26, Mitch Arvidson will take over as the main staffer of the MRMTP. Lisa and Mitch are working on the transition now to ensure the project and committee's work continues at a high level.
Another member of the MRMTP family will also be retiring, today in fact. Phil Meraz will be leaving the Iowa Department of Transportation at the end of the day. The Midwest thanks Phil for his many years of involvement in our projects, especially his indispensable work on the MRMTC Regional Tribal Engagement (RTE) Work Group. Phil was one of our presenters during last summer's "Regional Tribal Briefing" virtual event which can be found under the "Webinars" section of this page. Enjoy your retirement, Phil!
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| | | Justin Buckler, Missouri's Alternate Member on the MRMTC | |
As is often the case, departures are accompanied by arrivals. This month is no different. As of January 1, Justin Buckler is Missouri's Alternate Member on the MRMTC. Justin currently serves as a Planning Coordinator in the Office of the Director for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Prior to joining the Director's Office, he served as an Environmental Scientist in DNR's Tanks Section. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2006 and in 2012, he earned his Masters of Science in Fisheries and Wildlife from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Welcome, Justin!
In other committee news, all Fall Meeting materials are now available on the committee's webpage, including the meeting summary and video recordings from both days. Finally, two MRMTC Work Groups will kick off their 2021 agendas next week. On Monday, the MRMTC RTE Work Group will meet to discuss its goals for 2021, including updating and expanding "Appendix E: Tribal Information" in the Planning Guide for Shipments of Radioactive Material through the Midwestern States and developing an informational campaign encouraging regional Tribes to opt-in to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) advanced notification program. Then, on Friday, the Planning Guide Review Work Group will meet to discuss how to go about editing and updating the "Recommended Practices" section of the Planning Guide. These edits will be presented to the full committee for approval at the MRMTC Spring Meeting on June 15, in Dallas, Texas.
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NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION STAKEHOLDERS FORUM
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Like the end of most calendar years, activity on the National Transportation Stakeholders Forum (NTSF) has slowed down a bit. In early December, the NTSF Planning Committee (PC) had a meeting to discuss the 2021 and 2022 Annual Meetings of the NTSF. Registration for the 2021 meeting, scheduled for June 14-17 in Dallas, Texas, is expected to launch before the end of this month. Attendees can expect an update on the Vermont Yankee shipping campaign and a session on DOE-NE's nuclear power plant site evaluations. Consideration for the 2022 Annual Meeting's location has been been expanded to include Boston, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Stay tuned for updates on both meetings in the coming months.
In addition to the annual meetings, the NTSF PC also focused on possible webinars in 2021. The next NTSF webinar, "NRC Type B Rail Cask Certification Requirements," should take place in February. Other webinar announcements will be made as they are scheduled.
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| FOCUS THIS MONTH | |
It's Easier to Write a Repository than to Site a Repository
- The work of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future (BRC), and the Midwest's influence in elevating the issue of transportation among the BRC's recommendations.
- The DOE Office of Nuclear Energy's short-lived consent-based siting initiative, and its organization of the Transportation Core Group as a demonstration of the office's commitment to partnering with states and Tribes.
- The beginnings of a new "DIY" approach to storage and transportation launched by the nuclear industry as a result of the federal government's continued failure to make progress with the federal radioactive waste management system.
- The intentional and long-overdue efforts in the Midwest to forge strong ties to the Tribes in the region for the mutual benefit of both parties.
- The progress that DOE, states, and Tribes made in refining the plans for implementing Section 180(c), and DOE's significant actions to establish a reciprocal rail inspection protocol comparable to the CVSA Level VI Inspection Program (a long-standing goal for the Midwest).
- The rise of the NTSF from the ashes of the former Transportation External Coordination Working Group.
- The singular achievement by DOE-led teams to visit and document literally everything at the shutdown sites (later the operating ones, too) to produce the "Preliminary Evaluation of Removing Used Nuclear Fuel from Shutdown Sites" - a document that, like the archive, should be on the must-read list for anyone who is engaged in the transportation of spent nuclear fuel.
Authored by Lisa Janairo, Melissa Bailey, and Mitch Arvidson, the archive is a fact-based document peppered with a smattering of informed opinion. The stated purpose of the archive - in 2010 and in 2020 - was to make it "easier for new personnel to learn about what came before" in the hope that "armed with an understanding of what was done, what worked, what did not, and why, the people charged with carrying a new program forward may have a greater chance of success." With a new administration entering office this year, the ensuing changes to DOE leadership, and the growing list of notable retirements, there is no better time for CSG Midwest to publish such an complete history of the Midwest's work on spent fuel transportation.
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NUCLEAR NEWS
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Wanted in DC: Nuclear Policy Administrators
In the coming months, there will be several new faces at the top of the federal government agencies that deal with nuclear power and radioactive material. First, President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm as Secretary of Energy. Currently an adjunct law professor at the University of California-Berkeley, Granholm is a long-time advocate for electric cars and the development of alternative energy technologies. Some find her lack of experience in nuclear energy and nuclear waste to be problematic, especially considering 75% of DOE's budget has to do with the maintenance and cleanup of America's nuclear weapons program. As Daryl Kimball, Executive Director of the Arms Control Association, puts it, "The Energy Department is actually the Nuclear Weapons Department." Granholm would enter the position at a particularly important time, with the U.S. at odds with Russia and Iran over nuclear weapons non-proliferation. Former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said, "We think the risks right now are higher than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis. We are sleepwalking toward nuclear instability." Granholm will need legislative support to accomplish many of her suspected goals, "But there'll be opposition in Congress even if Jesus Christ was nominated," said Kimball.
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| | | Former Michigan Gov., and Secretary of Energy nominee, Jennifer Granholm (photo courtesy of WXYZ Detroit) | |
Second, the head position at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will need to be filled after current Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette forced Lisa Gordon-Hagerty out of the position in November. A semi-autonomous agency within DOE, the NNSA is now led by William Bookless, Gordon-Hagerty's former deputy. Bookless was conditionally offered the job if he did Brouillette's bidding. Brouillette and Gordon-Hagerty had previously disputed over the size of the NNSA's budget.
Finally, there will need to be a new Chair of the NRC after Kristine Svinicki announced she would be leaving the position on January 20. Nominated to the NRC in 2007 by President George W. Bush, Svinicki was reappointed by President Barack Obama and made chair by President Donald Trump. Svinicki oversaw, among many other things, the NRC's rule changes that resulted from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Next Location for a Nuclear Power Plant? The Moon NASA and DOE are currently seeking proposals to build a 10-kilowatt fission surface nuclear power system that could be placed on the Moon by 2026. Fully manufactured on Earth, the system would be tested on Earth for safety before a launch vehicle and lunar lander would bring it to the lunar surface. NASA and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) believe that if the one-year demonstration proves successful, several 10-kilowatt systems could provide enough power to establish human outposts on the Moon or Mars and make large-scale exploration possible. While the 2026 target date seems extremely ambitious, Steve Johnson, director of the Space Nuclear Power and Isotope Technologies Division at INL, believes it is attainable because of recent research and development on advanced fuels, materials, and commercial space transportation.
Illinois Community Rallies Around Local Nuclear Plant
The Byron Generating Station, about 100 miles west of Chicago, plays a huge role in the local community. The plant provides 717 jobs to Ogle, Winnebago, Lee, and other nearby counties. This amounts to $97.5 million in annual compensation to the plant's employees. Furthermore, about 75% of the local taxing districts' revenue comes from the Byron Station. Community members have heard several times over the years that the station is in danger of closing. This time, however, feels different. In August of 2020, Exelon Generation announced their plans to retire both the Bryon Generating Station and the Dresden Generating Station located about 60 miles southwest of Chicago. In response, community members have formed the Byron Station Response Committee that seeks to mobilize the community and push state legislators to support the station during the upcoming Spring legislative session. While the loss of jobs and tax revenue are a major concern, community members also rue the potential loss of a reliable, carbon-free source of energy for northern Illinois.
For an International Perspective
Finally, we wanted to bring your attention to an opportunity to learn about a different perspective on the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle. Nutranstor, an international platform of trusted and independent experts in radioactive material transports, interim spent fuel and waste management solutions, is hosting a free virtual event on January 19 at 9 AM, "Decommissioning & Dismantling (D&D) - A Global Perspective." The presentation will provide an overview of the market size, the different business models developed worldwide and different national regulatory frameworks. It will identify the main financial challenges and cost components. If you are interested in attending this free event, please register here.
Thank you Catherine Shelton for sharing this opportunity.
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Thank you for reading. Watch for the next edition to come out on
February 4, 2021.
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Missed a newsletter? Past issues are archived on the committee's webpage.
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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-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.
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