Press Release-11-076, NRC to Hold Public Meeting May 10 in Aiken. S.C., to Discuss Safety Evaluation Report on Mox Fuel Facility Application

Press Release-11-076: NRC to Hold Public Meeting May 10 in Aiken. S.C., to Discuss Safety Evaluation Report on Mox Fuel Facility Application

ML111240103
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Site:	07003098
Issue date:	05/03/2011
From:	Office of Public Affairs
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Press Release-11-076
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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.11-076 May 3, 2011 NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING MAY 10 IN AIKEN. S.C., TO DISCUSS SAFETY EVALUATION REPORT ON MOX FUEL FACILITY APPLICATION The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting May 10 in Aiken, S.C.,

to discuss the agencys Safety Evaluation Report (SER) for a proposed Mixed-Oxide (MOX) nuclear fuel fabrication facility now under construction at the Department of Energys Savannah River Site.

The meeting will be held at the Aiken Municipal Building, 214 Park Ave., SW, in Aiken, from 7-9 p.m. NRC staff will be available afterwards to answer additional questions.

Shaw AREVA MOX Services LLC, a contractor of the Department of Energy, applied in 2006 for a license to possess and use radioactive material at the proposed MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility. The facility is designed to produce fuel for commercial nuclear power reactors using uranium and plutonium. The SER, which has been redacted to remove security-related and proprietary information, documents the NRC staffs technical safety review of MOX Services operating 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 SER, published in December 2010, contains the staffs conclusion that the applicants descriptions, specifications, commitments 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 under way. 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 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.

The redacted SER, plus additional information on the MOX licensing review, is available on the NRC website 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 website.