As more than 1,500 meeting attendees were partaking in technical sessions during the 2021 ANS Virtual Annual Meeting, the American Nuclear Society launched a new policy engagement initiative aimed at drawing support for a segment of the Biden administration’s FY 2022 budget request. The initiative, kicked off today by an email to ANS members, urged the members to send letters to their congressional representatives asking for support of advanced nuclear research and development funding.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has sent to Congress its annual report on abnormal occurrences involving the medical and industrial uses of radioactive material. An abnormal occurrence is defined by law as an unscheduled incident or event that the NRC determines to be significant from the standpoint of public health or safety. The NRC sets specific criteria, most recently updated in October 2017, for determining which events qualify.

The American Nuclear Society was among 24 nuclear-related companies and organizations that signed a letter urging Senate sponsors of the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act (ANIA) to reintroduce and advance the legislation. The signees represent a broad range of nuclear supporters from the industrial, nonprofit, and advocacy sectors. The letter was sent to Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R., W.Va.), Mike Crapo (R., Idaho), John Barrasso (R., Wyo.), Cory Booker (D., N.J.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.). Barrasso was the original sponsor of the bill, while Whitehouse, Crapo, and Booker were original cosponsors.

Burgess

The U.S. Congress has failed to uphold its promise to fully fund Yucca Mountain, in Nevada, as a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel, Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R., Texas) writes in an op-ed article published on December 8 in the Dallas Morning News.

More than three decades after passing the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, Congress has yet to fully fund the Yucca Mountain Project. Burgess points out that while some countries have found success with reprocessing spent fuels, the fission process will always produce some amount of material that must be safely disposed, making it necessary to find a permanent solution.