SAN ONOFRE, Calif. (AP) — Federal regulators are allowing operators of a closed Southern California nuclear power plant to resume transferring nuclear waste to a storage facility.

GRANTS, N.M. (AP) — Uranium plumes in a major aquifer in western New Mexico believed to be coming from a closed mine aren't growing, U.S. officials said in a report released last month.

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts officials raised major concerns Wednesday about Entergy's proposed sale of the soon-to-be-closed Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth to another company for...

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — A developer trying to buy an unfinished nuclear power plant in Alabama has sued the Tennessee Valley Authority, accusing the federal utility of illegally blocking the sale.

The North Carolina Utilities Commission has approved the proposed merger of troubled South Carolina utility SCANA with Dominion Energy.

The utilities announced the commission's approval in a news release Monday. The merger remains contingent upon approval from the Public Service Commission of South Carolina.

HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — Federal regulators are seeking more information from developers who have proposed building a storage facility at a site in southeastern New Mexico for spent fuel from commercial reactors around the United States.

Holtec International, a New Jersey-based company specializing in nuclear storage, has applied to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to construct the nuclear waste storage facility about 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Carlsbad.

LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — The owner of what was considered to be America's oldest nuclear power plant until its shutdown last week says it has removed the nuclear fuel from the reactor.

Chicago-based Exelon Corp. has notified the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it removed the last of the fuel rods from the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey on Tuesday.

The material was placed into a spent fuel pool where it will cool down for at least two years.

ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — A national consumer advocacy group is joining the fight against a proposed nuclear waste storage site in southeastern New Mexico

The Roswell Daily Record reports the Washington, D.C.-based Public Citizen announced last week it had filed to intervene in the license application submitted by Holtec International to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A deal to merge troubled South Carolina utility SCANA with Dominion Energy cleared another hurdle this week, moving a step closer to an agreement that could mean more than a billion dollars in rebates for utility customers.

HOPKINS, S.C. (AP) — Federal regulators are planning to take a closer look following a uranium leak at a South Carolina nuclear fuel plant.

Media outlets report the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission made that decision after a community meeting Thursday.

LOGAN, Utah (AP) — A small commercial nuclear reactor that a Utah energy cooperative wants to build in Idaho would be game-changing for energy customers if the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves the project, a high-ranking federal official said this week at a conference.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — Las Cruces has become the latest community in New Mexico to voice opposition to building a nuclear waste storage facility in the southeast corner of the state.

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont Public Utility Commission is postponing its decision on the sale of Vermont Yankee until after it receives federal approval.

Vermont Public Radio reports the PUC said in a ruling Friday that the deal with potential buyer NorthStar will have to wait until the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issues a ruling on the license transfer.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A small amount of radioactive, weapons-grade plutonium about the size of a U.S. quarter is missing from an Idaho university that was using it for research, leading federal officials on Friday to propose an $8,500 fine.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Idaho State University can't account for about a 30th of an ounce (1 gram) of the material that's used in nuclear reactors and to make nuclear bombs.

ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — Federal regulators have scheduled a series of public meetings as they consider a plan to temporarily store spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear reactors around the United States at a proposed site in southern New Mexico.

The first meeting hosted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be Monday on the Eastern New Mexico University campus in Roswell.

Another meeting will follow Tuesday in Hobbs and a third will be May 3 in Carlsbad.

CHATHAM, Va. (AP) — The federal government has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a lawsuit over Virginia's ban on uranium mining.

Attorneys for the Department of Justice and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission filed a brief with the high court earlier this month supporting a Virginia company's bid to have its challenge to the ban heard.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Concern over whether a South Dakota site has historic, cultural and religious significance to Native Americans has further stalled a company's plan to mine for uranium.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a license in 2014 to Powertech, which has been pursuing a project to drill for uranium near Edgemont for 13 years.

DELTA, Pa. (AP) — A control room operator at a Pennsylvania nuclear power plant has been barred from the controls after failing a drug test.

A spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station employee tested positive for a controlled substance.

The commission is investigating after being notified of the failed test last week by the plant's owner, Exelon.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A Wyoming uranium mine halted some operations following two spills of water tainted with relatively low levels of the radioactive element, including one spill that was among the biggest on record for the industry in the top uranium-producing state.

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has allowed a company to resume transporting toxic sludge from Wyoming to Utah after spills last year halted the operation.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Valley Authority has struck an agreement with federal regulators who found a chilled work environment at a TVA nuclear plant.

A U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection last fall found TVA's Watts Bar Nuclear plant from November 2014 to August 2016 didn't follow orders to review whether actions against employees or contractors satisfied employee protection requirements or negatively affected the workplace.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Canadian mining company Cameco has taken steps to prevent a repeat of two radioactive sludge leaks from a truck along a route from Wyoming to Utah and shouldn't be fined for the spills, company officials told U.S. regulators Thursday.

The measures will include putting the barium sulfate waste into bags inside a shipment container that has a wide lip at the top to prevent any loose material from sloshing over the edge.

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — The only nuclear power plant in Massachusetts won't have to comply with certain safety requirements as it prepares to shut down, getting a pass on precautions put in place after the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — A report from a federal agency says Duke University researchers mishandled radioactive material during an experiment last month.

The Duke Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/2lEivtr) that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said a sample of Uranium-235 was "compromised and assumed to be leaking" during an experiment on Feb. 11. The incident was not reported until Feb. 15.

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The businesses involved in the transfer of licenses of the Vermont Yankee power plant have filed a formal request with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

In the request, filed earlier this month, the applicants ask that the NRC consent to the transfers of the licensed possession, maintenance and decommissioning of the plant.

Entergy Nuclear wants to sell the closed plant to NorthStar Group Services Inc.

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Several members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's staff are scheduled to meet with citizens to answer questions about safety at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth.

Staff on Tuesday will discuss the NRC's preliminary findings and status of a recent inspection of the state's only nuclear power plant. The public will have the opportunity to ask questions and make comments.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Oregon company has asked federal officials to approve its design for a small commercial nuclear reactor that a Utah energy cooperative wants to build in Idaho.

NuScale Power delivered a 12,000-page application last week to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the modular reactor, starting a review process expected to take more than three years, the company said in a statement.

It said it's the first such commercial design submitted to the commission.

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Oregon-based NuScale Power has submitted its design to federal regulators for a new kind of nuclear power plant, designed to be smaller and more affordable.

The company on Thursday submitted its 12,000-page application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The agency must approve the design before the small modular reactors can be built.

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority has asked federal nuclear regulators to deny Florida Power & Light's request for two new reactors at Turkey Point.

The Citizen reports (http://bit.ly/2iyUovx ) that aqueduct authority officials sent a letter last week to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission criticizing operations at the nuclear power plant just north of the island chain.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A proposed medical radioactive isotope plant in Columbia would have little environmental impact, although it does pose a small threat of increased runoff into nearby water systems, according to a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission report.

GRANTS, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has identified five "apparent violations" at a former uranium mill in western New Mexico.

The Gallup Independent reports (https://goo.gl/54JWc1) the commission said in a recent letter to Homestake Mining Co. of California that it is considering escalated enforcement action. The letter cited a failure to obtain monthly composite samples and the discharge of liquids among the alleged violations.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A letter from the chief executive of Omaha Public Power District says the utility will permanently shut down its nuclear plant at Fort Calhoun this fall.

The Omaha World-Herald says (http://bit.ly/2c6yPyE ) that comes from correspondence it obtained from OPPD President and CEO Tim Burke to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The letter, dated Thursday, says the Fort Calhoun plant will be shuttered Oct. 24.