Press Release-11-061, Licensing Board Admits Additional Contentions Regarding Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility License Application

Press Release-11-061: Licensing Board Admits Additional Contentions Regarding Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility License Application

ML110910482
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Site:	07003098
Issue date:	04/01/2011
From:	Office of Public Affairs
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Press Release-11-061
Download: ML110910482 (2)

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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: www.nrc.gov Blog: http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov No.11-061 April 1, 2011 LICENSING BOARD ADMITS ADDITIONAL CONTENTIONS REGARDING MIXED-OXIDE FUEL FABRICATION FACILITY LICENSE APPLICATION A three-judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) has concluded that opponents of an operating license application for the proposed Mixed-Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina have offered acceptable additional arguments that should be considered in an eventual hearing regarding the application. The ASLB is the independent body within the NRC that presides over hearings where the public can challenge proposed licensing and enforcement actions.

In its 2-1 decision, the ASLB accepted for further review the arguments from Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Nuclear Watch South, and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. The arguments revolve around the adequacy of aspects of the proposed facilitys procedures for controlling the plutonium and enriched uranium that the facility would combine to create MOX; the security-related focus of these matters means they cannot be discussed in detail. While the NRC technical staff have found the proposed procedures acceptable, the Board will now subject the facilitys procedures and the staffs position to additional scrutiny.

The Board majority rejected objections from the applicant, Shaw Areva MOX Services, and NRC legal staff that the additional arguments were offered too late in the NRCs hearing process. The Boards dissenting judge noted that, regardless of the arguments timing, the Board should take up the issues involved, given their importance. The majority agreed, and all concurred that NRC regulations would require the Board to seek Commission approval if that course of action were necessary.

Shaw Areva MOX Services submitted an operating license application for the facility in 2006 and has updated the application since then. The NRC technical staff issued its safety evaluation report on the proposed facility in December 2010. The ASLB hearing must be concluded and the staff must verify the facilitys proper construction before any license could be issued.

Documents related to the license application are available on the NRC website at:

http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/mox/licensing.html. Documents pertaining to the ASLB proceeding are available in the agencys Electronic Hearing Docket at:

http://ehd1.nrc.gov/EHD/.

More information about the ASLB can be found at: http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/organization/aslbpfuncdesc.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 website.