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GE Laser Enrichment Facility Licensing

General 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:

• Regulation and Legislation
• Licensing
• Environmental Impact Statement
• Correspondence and Other Information
• Public Involvement
• Opportunity for Hearing
• Project Schedule
• Related Information

For further information on GE laser enrichment Facility, contact us.

Regulation and Legislation

In 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.

Licensing

In 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 mid-2010.

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.

On November 19, 2009, NRC sent GEH publically releasable Requests for Additional Information on the license application to address questions that developed during the technical review of the application.  On December 28, 2009, GEH provided responses to these Requests for Additional Information.  On December 4, 2009, December 16, 2009, and January 11, 2010, NRC sent GEH additional Requests for Additional Information that contained proprietary, security-related, and Export Controlled Information.

The licensing process for the GEH Enrichment Facility is described in the figure.

Environmental Impact Statement

On 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).

On April 9, 2009, NRC published a Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS (74 FR 16237).  This notice included a public comment period on the scope of the EIS.  On May 19, 2009, NRC staff held public scoping meetings for the EIS in Wilmington, North Carolina.  On July 24, 2009, the scoping comment period was extended to August 31, 2009, in a Federal Register Notice (74 FR 36781) to allow the public to consider the license application, which GEH submitted on June 26, 2009.  After consideration of the public comments, on November 25, 2009, NRC staff issued its scoping report.  The Project Manager for the EIS is Jennifer Davis.

On July 13, 2009, GEH submitted Supplement 1 to its Environmental Report.  On November 13, 2009, GEH submitted Supplement 2 to its Environmental Report.

Correspondence and Other Information

Public Involvement

Meeting Schedule

For 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

Opportunity for Hearing

On January 13, 2010, NRC published a Federal Register Notice offering the public an opportunity to petition for a hearing.  Petitions are due on March 2, 2010.  Instructions for submitting a petition are provided in the Federal Register Notice

Project Schedule

The licensing of the GE Uranium Enrichment Facility will be conducted under a 30-month licensing review schedule.

Related Information

• Standard Review Plan for the Review of a License Application for a Fuel Cycle Facility - Final Report (NUREG-1520)

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Monday, January 25, 2010