ML19291A161
| ML19291A161 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07002766 |
| Issue date: | 03/27/1979 |
| From: | James Shea NRC OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS (OIP) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19291A162 | List: |
| References | |
| SECY-78-645A, NUDOCS 7904260116 | |
| Download: ML19291A161 (5) | |
Text
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i March 27,1979 SECY-78-645A COMMISSIONER ACTION i
Fo_r:
The Commissioners From:
James R. Shea, Director Office of International Programs Thru:
Executive Director for Operations' 6'
Subject:
APPROVAL OF A PROPOSED LICENSE
' EXPORT HIGH-ENRICHED URANIUM TO THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC 0F GERMANY (LICENSE APPLICATION NO. XSNM01241, SECY-78-645) 5
Purpose:
Commission review of proposed issuance of subject h
license to Transnuclear Incorporated.
j Review Dates:
60-day period expired on February 6, 1970 120-day period expires on April 7, 1979 Discussion:
In December 1977, Transnuclear filed an application E
for a license to export 22.0 kilograms of uranium i
enriched to 93.3% U-235 to the FRG.
The material,
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in the form of U,0, will be shipped to NUKEM (F.A.
9 completed) and HOBEG (F.A. completed) in the FRG for conversion and fabrication.
16.5 kilograms of the HEU will be used for the manufacture of fuel elements
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for the FRJ-1 research reactor (F.A. under negotiation) owned and operated by the Kernforschungsanlage Julich (KFA).
5.5 kilograms will be used for the manufacture
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of high temperature reactor coated particle fuel for
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the HTR Fuel Element Test Program being conducted by i
the KFA. Under this program, irradiation tests will
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be carried out in the following reactors: FRJ-2 in the FRG (F.A. under negotiation, HFR Petten in the Netherlands (F.A. under negotiation), R-2 Studsvik in Sweden (F.A.
completed), Siloe in France (nuclear weapons state, not R
subject to IAEA safeguards), and HFIR in Oak Ridge, THis DOCUMENT CONTAINS Tennessee (no F.A.).
POOR QUAUTY PAGES The FRJ-l reactor was supplied to the FRG by the
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United Kingdom. The US'has furnished HEU for this facility since it became operational in 1962.
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. In response to our December 20, 1977 request for views, the Executive Branch has (1) con-cluded that issuance of the proposed license would not be inimical to the interests of the United States, including the commen defense and security; (2) confirmed that the material will be subject to all the terms and conditions of the US-EURATOM Additional Agree-ment for Cooperation; and (3) noted that the members of EURATOM have adhered to the provi-sions of the Additional Agreement for Cooperation with the United States (State memorandum at Appendix B).
Among other things, the Executive Branch memorandum notes that:
o The President has approved the proposed export application.
Since it involves a project or facility with which the US has previously supplied HEU, no new US commitment to supply HEU would be created by NRC approval of this case.
o In conformance with policy direction to minimize unirradiated HEU inventory, the quantity under this export request is limited to that expected to be sufficient for not more than two and one-half years of reactor operation from the time of the export. This is considered a reasonable period to allow for export, transportation, and fabrication of f'uel and maintenance of a fresh fuel reserve sufficient to assure the continuous and r onomic operation of the reactor.
The written assurance (as required by 10 CFR 110.43 (a)) that physical security measures providing as a minimum protection comparable to that set forth in INFCIRC/225/Rev.
l., will be maintained has not been
. obtained from the Government of the FRG.
Instead, the FRG has provided written assurances based on the Suppliers Group physical security guidelines which the Commission determined to be acceptable on February 16.
As a related matter, the staff has recently been informed by the Department of State that written physical security assurance letters have been received from all the EURATOM states (including Italy). The staff is forwarding the assurance letter from Italy, together with clarification of certain matters regarding this assurance, and the staff's analysis of this assurance, in a separate paper.
With respect to export licensing requirements of the Atomic Energy Act, application XSNM01241 does not differ in its merits from previous exports to the FRG approved by the Comission.
Based upon its independent analysis and review of the Executive Branch submission, the staff has concluded that the requirements of the Atomic Energy Act and the NNPA of 1978 have been met and that the proposed export would not be inimical to the common defense and security of the U.S.
The staff has also examined the question of whether it would be possible to operate the FRJ-l Reactor on uranium of lower enrichment. Argonne National Labora-tory has completed an independent assessment of the need for HEU in fueling this reactor.
The assessment concluded, on the basis of currently available infor-mation, that conversion to an intermediate (45% U-235) enrichment might be possible using currently available fuel fabrication technology.
However, there currently is no cormiercial fabricator of plate-type research reactor fuel containing less than 93% U-235.
Further-more, such fuels of lower enrichment fabric;'ed with current technology have not been demonstrataa.
In a March 19, 1979 letter (attached at Appendix D) the Delegation of the Commission of the European Communities expressed urgency for material covered by the proposed license and several other HEU cases pending before the Commission (refer: SECY-78-639A, SECY-78-640A, SECY-78-641A, SECY-78-642A and SECY 643A).
They advised that in order to assure continued operation of the FRJ-l reactor, NUKEM (the fuel fabri-cator) has only 2 months in which to begin fabrication.
It should be noted that delays in obtaining fuel are causing interruption of research experiments which might develop into a cooperation agreement with the U.S.
Furthermore, the KFA facility
. will probably be the first to undertake test irradiation of prototype fuel which is enriched to less than 93% U-235.
However, in order to deter-mine the feasibility of such an approach, develop-ment of the programs and examination of the results for the use of such high density fuel will take several years, during which time HEU must be available to operate the reactor.
The Commission will note that processing of this case, and several other EURATOM HEU exports,has been delayed due to the complexities and workload involved in the analysis and staff coordination of a large number of major export applications during the past three months.
For example, Executive Branch views were received on more than 20 such applications during December.
These and other difficult cases processed during this time period have been complicated by the need to resolve a number of questions concerning whether NNPA criteria and NRC regulations are satisfied and by the need to address other matters requested by the Commission.
5 The following documents are forwarded for Commission review of the subject application:
(1) application of December 8,1977 (Appendix A); (2) Executive Branch views of December 8,1978 (Appendix B);
(3) copy of proposed license (Appendix C); and (4) letter of March 19, 1979 (Appendix D).
NMSS Technical Review.
No information has been re-ceived concerning the FRG state system of accounting and control.
No information has been received by NMSS concerning IAEA implementation activities and problems in the FRG other than from the source which was the basis for NMSS conclusions reflected in Table IV of the November 29, 1978 memorandum to Commissioner Gilinsky.
The principal conclusion of the NMSS examination is that the available information on IAEA implementation is not sufficient to permit NMSS to evaluate the effectiveness of IAEA safeguards in the FRG.
NMSS has reviewed the physical security program in the FRG and found it adequate for the purpose of this export.
. Recommendation:
That the Commission authorize the issuance of the proposed license to Transnuclear, Incorporated.
Coordination:
0 ELD has no legal objection.
NMSS views on the adequacy of the accounting and control system, the effectiveness of IAEA safeguards implementation, and the adequacy of the physical security program in the FRG are as stated above.
Yt2cv Jame hea, Director OffipeofInternationalPrograms
Enclosures:
As stated NOTE:
Commissioner comments should be provided directly to the Office of the Secretary, by c.o.b. Wednesday, April 4, 1979 Commission staff office comments, if any, should be submitted to the Commissioners NLT Aoril 2, 1979
, with an information copy to the Office of the Secrrtary.
If the paper is of such a nature that it requires additional time for analytical review and comment, the Commissioners and the Secretariat should be apprised of when comments may be expected.
DISTRIBUTION Ccmmissioners Commission Staff Offices Exec Dir for Operations Secretariat
B D
e W
APPENDIX A
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