NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

 Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200

 Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA

No. 03-165 December 29, 2003

 NRC RECERTIFIES TWO GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANTS OPERATED BY 

UNITED STATES ENRICHMENT CORPORATION

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recertified two gaseous diffusion plants (GDPs)

operated by the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC).

The recertifications, valid until December 31, 2008, allow USEC to continue operating the

plants near Paducah, Kentucky, and Portsmouth, Ohio. The recertifications are required under the

Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (AEA), as amended by the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which created

USEC. The certifications establish that the plants are in compliance with safety, safeguards and

security regulations established by the NRC for these facilities.

The NRC has also issued to Congress a report on the operation of the GDPs, covering the

period from October 1, 1998, to September 30, 2003. The report is required by the AEA not later than

the date on which a certification is issued. Two earlier reports were issued in 1998 and 1999, along

with previous certifications, before Congress changed the reporting and certification requirement from

annually to as long as every five years.

During the five-year period covered by the current report, the Paducah and Portsmouth GDPs

have provided adequate protection of health, safety, safeguards, security, and environmental conditions,

and have generally operated in compliance with NRC regulations. Identified violations of NRC

regulatory requirements have been adequately addressed by corrective actions. Offsite radiological

doses, as well as doses to workers, have been kept very low and well within applicable limits. There

have been only two events requiring activation of USEC’s emergency response center, at the

Portsmouth GDP, and no events resulting in a significant release of radioactive material. The NRC

conducted licensee performance reviews at both GDPs in late 2002 with acceptable results.

In May 2001, USEC terminated enrichment operations at the Portsmouth GDP. USEC phased

out most shipment and transfer operations of enriched uranium hexafluoride (UF6) at the Portsmouth

GDP in June 2002, shifting those operations to the Paducah facility, which began producing enriched

uranium at an assay of up to 5.5 percent of uranium-235 in early 2002. USEC is maintaining the

Portsmouth GDP in a standby condition under contract to DOE. The company also has applied to the

NRC for a license to construct a lead cascade gas centrifuge enrichment facility at Portsmouth.
USEC submitted applications for the recertifications last April. The NRC’s decision to grant

the recertifications was based on the staff’s assessment that USEC met the requirements for renewal, as

well as other NRC requirements such as new security measures required in orders issued on June 17,

2002. 

The report to Congress will be available through the NRC’s ADAMS document retrieval

system, at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html , using the search term

ML032901096. The letter transmitting the report to Congress, dated December 17, will be available

using ML033290172 as the search term.

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