ML25104A082

American Centrifuge Plant (ACP) - Core Inspection Report 07007004/2025001

ML25104A082
Person / Time
Site:	07007004
Issue date:	04/14/2025
From:	Bradley Davis NRC/RGN-II/DFRSS
To:	Snider M American Centrifuge Operating
References
IR 2025001
Download: ML25104A082 (9)

Text

Mathew Snider General Manager American Centrifuge Operating, LLC (ACO) 3930 U.S. Route 23 South P. O. Box 628 Mail Stop 7560 Piketon, OH 45661

SUBJECT:

AMERICAN CENTRIFUGE PLANT (ACP) - CORE INSPECTION REPORT 07007004/2025001

Dear Mathew Snider:

On March 31, 2025, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an inspection at American Centrifuge Plant (ACP) and discussed the results of this inspection with you and other members of your staff. The results of this inspection are documented in the enclosed report.

No violations of more than minor significance were identified during this inspection.

This letter, its enclosure, and your response (if any) will be made available for public inspection and copying at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and at the NRC Public Document Room in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 2.390, Public Inspections, Exemptions, Requests for Withholding.

Sincerely, Bradley J. Davis, Chief Projects Branch 1 Division of Fuels, Radiological Safety, and Security Docket No. 07007004 License No. SNM-2011

Enclosure:

As stated cc w/ encl: Distribution via LISTSERV April 14, 2025 Signed by Davis, Bradley on 04/14/25

ML25104A082 X

SUNSI Review X

Non-Sensitive

Sensitive X

Publicly Available

Non-Publicly Available OFFICE RII/DFRSS RII/DFRSS RII/DFRSS NAME Leonard Pitts Nick Peterka Bradley Davis DATE 4/10/25 4/14/25 4/14/25

Enclosure U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Inspection Report Docket Number:

07007004 License Number:

SNM-2011 Report Number:

07007004/2025001 Enterprise Identifier:

I-2025-001-0073 Licensee:

American Centrifuge Operating, LLC (ACO)

Facility:

American Centrifuge Plant (ACP)

Location:

Piketon, Ohio Inspection Dates:

February 03, 2025 to February 07, 2025 Inspectors:

N. Peterka, Sr. Fuel Facility Project Inspector Approved By:

Bradley J. Davis, Chief Fuels Oversight Branch 1 Division of Fuels, Radiological Safety, and Security

2

SUMMARY

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) continued monitoring the licensees performance by conducting a core inspection at American Centrifuge Plant (ACP), in accordance with the fuel cycle facility inspection program. This is the NRCs program for overseeing the safe operation of licensed fuel cycle facilities. Refer to https://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac.html for more information.

List of Violations No violations of more than minor significance were identified.

Additional Tracking Items None.

3 INSPECTION SCOPES Inspections were conducted using the appropriate portions of the inspection procedures (IPs) in effect at the beginning of the inspection unless otherwise noted. Currently approved IPs with their attached revision histories are located on the public website at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/insp-manual/inspection-procedure/index.html. Inspections were declared complete when the IP requirements most appropriate to the inspection activity were met consistent with Inspection Manual Chapter (IMC) 2600, Fuel Cycle Facility Operational Safety and Safeguards Inspection Program. The inspectors reviewed selected procedures and records, observed activities, and interviewed personnel to assess licensee performance and compliance with Commission rules and regulations, license conditions, site procedures, and standards.

SAFETY OPERATIONS 88015 - Nuclear Criticality Safety The inspectors evaluated selected aspects of the licensees Nuclear Criticality Safety program to verify compliance with selected portions of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 70, including 70.24, 70.61, 70.62, and Chapter 5, Nuclear Criticality Safety, of the facilitys license application, and applicable licensee procedures.

Criticality Analysis (IP Section 02.01)

The inspectors interviewed licensee staff and reviewed nuclear criticality safety evaluations (NCSEs), and associated assumptions and calculations, to verify compliance with 10 CFR 70 and applicable sections of the license application. Specifically, the inspectors interviewed licensee staff and reviewed the following NCSEs:

1.

NCSE-CAS-003, "Evacuation Vacuum and Purge Vacuum Systems," Rev. 5, including the review of the what-if analysis, normal conditions, and credible upset cases involving moderator and geometry upsets 2.

NCSE-FWS-002, "Withdrawal Operations," Rev. 5, including the review of the what-if analysis, normal conditions, and credible accident sequences 3.

NCSE-GEN-002, "Portable Gulpers," Rev. 4, including the review of the what-if analysis, normal conditions, and credible accident sequences 4.

Integrated Safety Analysis (ISA) information for the systems covered by the NCSEs listed above Criticality Implementation (IP Section 02.02)

The inspectors selected controls from the licensees ISA summary to verify proper implementation through a review of process and system descriptions, plant walkdowns, and operator interviews to verify compliance with 10 CFR 70 and applicable sections of the license application. Specifically, the inspectors interviewed licensee Nuclear Criticality Safety (NCS) staff, reviewed the following related to NCS controls, and their related management measures, and conducted the walkdown described below:

1.

Item Relied on for Safety (IROFS) Surveillance IS-H-057 Rev. 2; which documents the verification of IROFS 7.3.6.2.1.8 NCSE-CAS-003, Vacuum Pump and Centrifuge Oils (other than EV/PV Pumps)

4 2.

ACP 05.02.31, "NCSE Training Module for Gulpers," Rev. 2; which provides training to operators on the IROFS established in NCSE-GEN-002 3.

Active Engineered Control, latest surveillance/maintenance for IROFS 7.3.6.4.2.4, Cold Box Temperature 4.

Active Engineered Control, latest surveillance/maintenance for IROFS 7.3.6.4.2.3, Cold Box Fan Disconnect 5.

walked down a number of passive and active engineered controls associated with the gulpers, vacuum system, and withdrawal stations; including the passive controls on the gulper carts and active engineered controls on the withdrawal stations Criticality Operational Oversight (IP Section 02.03)

The inspectors assessed the NCS staffs oversight of plant operators, procedures, and operations of systems involving special nuclear material to verify compliance with 10 CFR 70 and applicable sections of the license application. Specifically, the inspectors performed the following activities:

1.

reviewed ACP05.02.31, "NCSE Training Module for Gulpers," Rev. 2 2.

interviewed a licensee NCS engineer concerning the conduct of NCS Walk-Throughs and reviewed the most recent NCS Walk-Through Reports (e.g.

NCS-WTR-24-015) 3.

observed a licensee NCS engineer conduct a NCS Walk-Through of the Portable Gulpers 4.

reviewed the schedule of NCS Walk-throughs for 2025 Criticality Programmatic Oversight (IP Section 02.04)

The inspectors reviewed NCS program procedures, audits, and assessments to verify compliance with 10 CFR 70 and applicable sections of the license application. Specifically, the inspectors interviewed licensee NCS staff and reviewed the following documents:

1.

qualification records for a qualifying NCS engineer 2.

qualification records for the NCS manager 3.

recent annual management assessment of the licensee's NCS program which are documented in ACP-MA-2024-01, "Annual Fissile Material Operations Manager Assessment" 4.

the most recent revision to NCS program procedures, including:

a.

ACP2-EG-010, "Nuclear Criticality Safety Program," Rev. 13 b.

ACP3-EG-701, "Nuclear Criticality Safety Engineering," Rev. 12

5 Criticality Incident Response and Corrective Action (IP Section 02.05)

The inspectors reviewed the licensees criticality accident alarm system (CAAS) and corrective action program (CAP) to verify compliance with 10 CFR 70 and applicable sections of the license application. Specifically, the inspectors observed equipment, reviewed documents, and interviewed licensee staff concerning the following:

1.

the CAAS and NCS-related PIRCS entries listed in the "Documents Reviewed" section of this report.

2.

2024 CAAS evacuation drill report 3.

procedures that would be used to respond to a criticality event:

a.

ACP2-SH-002, "ACO Site Response Actions," Rev. 5 b.

FBP-EM-PRO-00041, "Criticality and Radiation Emergencies," Rev. 7 RADIOLOGICAL CONTROLS 86740 - Inspection of Transportation Activities The inspectors evaluated select aspects of the licensees Transportation Activities program to determine whether the licensee has established and is maintaining an effective, management-controlled program; to ensure radiological and nuclear safety in the receipt, packaging, delivery to a carrier and, as applicable, the private carriage of licensed radioactive materials.

At the time of the inspection, the licensee was not authorized to conduct transportation or shipping activities of licensed material greater than standard quantities. The inspectors discussed the following with the transportation manager:

1.

excepted shipments of uranium hexafluoride samples in 2023 including the bill of lading and pre-shipment radiological surveys 2.

implementation of applicable transportation procedures INSPECTION RESULTS No issues were identified.

EXIT MEETINGS AND DEBRIEFS The inspectors verified no proprietary information was retained or documented in this report.

On February 6, 2025, the inspectors presented these inspection results to Mathew Snider and other members of the licensee staff.

6 DOCUMENTS REVIEWED Inspection Procedure Type Designation Description or Title Revision (Rev.) or Date Procedures ACP2-PT-009 On-Site Transportation of Inventory and Radioactive Material Shipment and Receipt Rev. 9 23-ACO-HP-0357 ACP Radiological Survey, Prior to Shipping Hard Sample

1. PT000111 dated 10/15/2023 Radiation Surveys 23-ACO-HP-0360 ACP Radiological Survey, Prior to Shipping Hard Sample

1. PT000118 dated 10/16/2023 231015-01 Straight Bill of Lading dated 10/15/2023 86740 Shipping Records 231029-01 Straight Bill of Lading dated 10/29/2023 Corrective Action Documents Issue #11813, 11839, 11938, 11971, 12074, 11808, 11883, 11932 NCS-related CAP entries and associated documents various IC-NCSE-GEN-002R4 NCSE Implementation Checklist for NCSE-GEN-002, Portable Gulpers dated 01/14/2025 IS-H-057 IROFS Surveillance Form for 7.3.6.2.1.8 NCSE-CAS-003, Vacuum Pump and Centrigue Oils (other than EV/PV Pumps) dated 01/09/2023 LA-3605-0003A Addendum 1 of the Integrated Safety Analysis Summary for the American Centrifuge Plant - HALEU Demonstration in Piketon, Ohio Rev. 41 NCSE-CAS-003 Nuclear Criticality Safety Evaluation for the Evacuation Vacuum and Purge Vacuum Systems Rev. 5 NCSE-FWS-002 Nuclear Criticality Safety Evaluation for Withdrawal Operations Rev. 5 Engineering Evaluations NCSE-GEN-002 Nuclear Criticality Safety Evaluation for Portable Gulpers Rev. 4 ACP05.02.31 NCSE Training Module for Gulpers Rev. 2 88015 Miscellaneous FY24-EM-DE-39 CAAS Evacuation Drill dated 05/20/2024

7 Inspection Procedure Type Designation Description or Title Revision (Rev.) or Date ACD2-OP-033 Operation of the Portable Gulper Rev. 6 ACP2-EG-010 Nuclear Criticality Safety Program Rev. 13 ACP2-SH-002 ACO Site Response Actions Rev. 5 ACP3-EG-701 Nuclear Criticality Safety Engineering Rev. 12 ACP4-EG-704 Nuclear Criticality Safety Incident Response Rev. 1 Procedures FBP-EM-PRO-00041 Criticality and Radiation Emergencies Rev. 7 ACP-2024-A03 American Centrifuge Program - Piketon Independent Audit Report dated 01/09/2025 ACP-MA-2024-01 Annual Fissile Material Operations Manager (FMOM)

Assessment dated 05/13/2024 Self-Assessments NCS-WTR 015 NCS Walk-Through Report dated 06/20/2024 PM-23000001636 IROFS SURV, IS-H-050, and IS-H-051 ISA 7.3.6.4.2.3 dated 10/1/2024 PM-2300000458 IROFS SURV, IS-H-050, and IS-H-051 ISA 7.3.6.4.2.3 dated 04/15/2024 PM-2400000023 IROFS SURV, IS-H-048, S-H-049, IS-H-050, and IS-H-051 dated 08/05/2024 Work Orders PM-2400000026 IROFS SURV, IS-H-048, S-H-049, IS-H-050, and IS-H-051 dated 10/17/2024