| |
|||
| Index | Site Map | FAQ | Facility Info | Reading Rm | New | Help | Glossary | Contact Us | |
|
|
|
GE Laser Enrichment Facility LicensingGeneral Electric (GE) currently plans to use the Australian laser enrichment technology known as Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation (SILEX) to enrich natural UF6 gas in the uranium-235 isotope. GE is planning to conduct the project in two phases, a test phase and a commercial-scale enrichment plant phase. The Test Loop, which is being built at GE's nuclear fuel fabrication facility in Wilmington, North Carolina, USA, will verify performance and reliability data for full scale (commercial-like) facilities. This engineering demonstration program is currently under construction. On this page:
For further information on GE laser enrichment Facility, contact us. Some links on this page are to documents in our Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), and others are to documents in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). ADAMS documents are provided in either PDF or Tagged Image File Format (TIFF). To obtain free viewers for displaying these formats, see our Plugins, Viewers, and Other Tools page. If you have questions about search techniques or problems with viewing or printing documents from ADAMS, please contact the Public Document Room staff.Regulation and LegislationIn 1990, Congress passed the Solar, Wind, Waste, and Geothermal Power Production Incentives Act. Among other things, this legislation amended the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to require licensing of uranium enrichment facilities under U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations in 10 CFR Parts 40 and 70. The act also stated that the construction and operation of a uranium enrichment facility is considered a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment for the purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) needs to be prepared for this type of facility. Under the legislation, an adjudicatory hearing on the licensing of the construction and operation is required. This hearing must be completed before issuance of a license. The act also requires the applicant to obtain public liability insurance for the facility and requires the NRC to inspect the facility before operations begin to ensure that the plant is constructed to meet the license requirements.
LicensingIn July 2007, GE submitted a license amendment request to the NRC for research and development associated with laser enrichment to be conducted at their Wilmington, NC, Global Nuclear Fuels-Americas, LLC, facility. On May 12, 2008, NRC approved the amendment. GE is currently constructing the test loop and plans to begin operations by the end of 2009. On January 30, 2009, GE submitted an Environmental Report for its proposed commercial enrichment plant. A public meeting to obtain input on areas to consider in the preparation of the EIS was held on May 19, 2009, in Wilmington, NC. On June 26, 2009, GE submitted a license application for a full-scale commercial facility. NRC has accepted the application and is beginning the technical review process. The full-scale commercial facility will be subject to a mandatory hearing. The licensing process for the GEH Enrichment Facility is described in the figure.
Environmental Impact StatementOn January 30, 2009, GEH submitted an Environmental Report (ER) for the proposed commercial facility. The ER provides the applicant’s assessment of the environmental impacts of the proposed commercial facility. The NRC has begun preparing its own assessment, which will be documented in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The EIS will be developed in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and NRC regulations at 10 CFR Part 51. Learn more about NRC’s environmental reviews for nuclear materials sites, see Materials Environmental Reviews Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Members of the public are encouraged to submit comments regarding topics the EIS should address (i.e., the scope of the EIS). Comments may be sent electronically to GLE_EIS.Resource@nrc.gov. Comments also may be sent to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Mail Stop TWB 5B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001. Please note Docket No. 70-7016 when submitting comments. NRC is extending the public comment period on the scope of the EIS. The original Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS, which was published in the Federal Register on April 9, 2009 (74 FR 16237), indicated public comments should be submitted by June 8, 2009. NRC is extending the public comment period to allow members of the public to review publicly-available portions of the license application during the scoping period. By letter dated May 5, 2009, GEH indicated it intends to submit the remainder of its license application in June, 2009. When NRC receives the remainder of the license application, NRC will conduct a 30-day acceptance review. If NRC accepts the application for detailed review, NRC will publish publicly-available portions of the license application it ADAMS under docket 70-7016. The end date for the public comment period will be determined when NRC receives the remainder of the license application. The date will be published on this web page and in a future Federal Register Notice. The public comment period is expected to extend approximately 60 days from the date NRC receives the remainder of the license application. The NRC Project Manager for the EIS is Christianne Ridge.
Correspondence and Other Information
Public InvolvementMeeting ScheduleFor upcoming meetings, see our Public Meeting Schedule. Information for the meetings on this page are available at this Web site or in ADAMS if an accession number is given. Meeting Archive
Project ScheduleThe licensing of the GE Uranium Enrichment Facility will be conducted under a 30-month licensing review schedule. Related Information
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Privacy Policy |
Site Disclaimer |
