Press Release-10-148, NRC Issues Draft Safety Evaluation Report for Proposed Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at Savannah River

Press Release-10-148: NRC Issues Draft Safety Evaluation Report for Proposed Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at Savannah River

ML102371259
Person / Time
Site:	07003098
Issue date:	08/25/2010
From:	Office of Public Affairs
To:
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Press Release-10-148
Download: ML102371259 (2)

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NRC ISSUES DRAFT SAFETY EVALUATION REPORT FOR PROPOSED MIXED-OXIDE FUEL FABRICATION FACILITY AT SAVANNAH RIVER The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has published its draft Safety Evaluation Report (SER) for the license application by Shaw AREVA MOX Services, LLC, to possess and use radioactive material at the Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Department of EnSavannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. The report, which has been redacted to remove security related and proprietary license application for the facility. It does not represent a decision to issue the license. A license will be issued only if the NRC verifies the applicant has properly constructed principal structures, systems and components. That stage is expected to be several years away. The report containcommitments and analyses provide an adequate basis for safety and safeguards of facility operations, and that operation of the facility would not pose an undue risk to worker and public health and safety. The NRC issued a Construction Authorization for the facility in March 2005, and construction is underway. The facility is part of an agreement between the United States and the Russian Federation to dismantle thousands of Cold War-era nuclear weapons by using the plutonium from warheads to manufacture fuel for civilian nuclear power reactors. The facility would combine plutonium and uranium oxides to make the mixed-oxide, or MOX, fuel. It is the only MOX fuel fabrication facility being built in the United States. The draft SER reviews the applicants financial qualifications, plans for protection of classified matter, organization and administration, integrated safety analysis, nuclear criticality safety, fire protection, chemical safety, radiation safety, environmental protection and plant systems. NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov Site: http://www.nrc.gov No.10-148 August 25, 2010 The redacted SER for the MOX facility is available on the NRC website at http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/mox/license-application.html. More information about the MOX review is available at http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/mox/licensing.html. ### News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.