Press Release-97-020, NRC Extends License Term for Most Nuclear Materials Licensees
| ML003705511 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 02/06/1997 |
| From: | Office of Public Affairs |
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| Category:Press Release | |
| References | |
| Press Release-97-020 | |
| Download: ML003705511 (1) | |
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United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Public Affairs Washington, DC 20555 Phone 301-415-8200 Fax 301-415-2234 Internet:opa@nrc.gov No.97-020 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Thursday, February 6, 1997)
NRC EXTENDS LICENSE TERM FOR MOST NUCLEAR MATERIALS LICENSEES The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is extending to ten years, from five, the license term for most nuclear materials licensees.
The extension will reduce the administrative burden of license renewals for both the NRC and the licensee and will support NRCs goal of streamlining the licensing process.
It also will bring materials license durations into line with uranium mill licenses and fuel cycle facility licenses.
The NRC may issue some licenses for shorter terms, if warranted by the individual circumstances of license applicants.
The current five-year term is not set out in the NRCs regulations in most cases.
Thus the longer term will be implemented immediately by NRC decision for most new licenses and renewals.
For licensed medical users of nuclear material, however, the five-year term was established by regulation.
For those licensees, the NRC plans to develop a rule change that would permit the license term to be lengthened.
The Commission estimates that about 4000 licenses will be affected by the license term change.
These include, for example, universities that use radioactive materials in research, companies that use moisture density gauges containing radioactive material in road construction, and other industrial users.
The extensions do not apply to nuclear power plant licenses, which are issued for a 40-year term.