March 5, 2010 

MEMORANDUM TO: Thomas Hiltz, Chief 

Advanced Fuel Cycle, Enrichment, 

 and Uranium Conversion Branch 

Special Projects and Technical 

 Support Directorate 

 Division of Fuel Cycle Safety 

 and Safeguards 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety 

 and Safeguards 

FROM: Matt Bartlett, Project Manager /RA/ 

Advanced Fuel Cycle, Enrichment, 

 and Uranium Conversion Branch 

Special Projects and Technical 

 Support Directorate 

 Division of Fuel Cycle Safety 

 and Safeguards 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety 

 and Safeguards 

 

SUBJECT: JANUARY 14, 2010, PUBLIC OUTREACH MEETING SUMMARY: 

INTERNATIONAL ISOTOPES, INC., FLUORINE EXTRACTION 

AND DEPLETED URANIUM DECONVERSION FACILITY 

MEETING ON THE LICENSING PROCESS 

On January 14, 2010, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff conducted a public 

meeting in Hobbs, New Mexico, to discuss its licensing process for the proposed International 

Isotopes, Inc. (INIS), Fluorine Extraction and Depleted Uranium Deconversion Facility. 

I am enclosing the meeting summary for your use. This summary contains no proprietary or 

classified information. 

Enclosure: INIS Public Outreach Meeting Summary 

Docket No.: 40-9086 

CONTACT: Matt Bartlett, NMSS/FCSS 

 (301) 492-3119 
March 5, 2010 

MEMORANDUM TO: Thomas Hiltz, Chief 

Advanced Fuel Cycle, Enrichment, 

 and Uranium Conversion Branch 

Special Projects and Technical 

 Support Directorate 

 Division of Fuel Cycle Safety 

 and Safeguards 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety 

 and Safeguards 

FROM: Matt Bartlett, Project Manager /RA/ 

Advanced Fuel Cycle, Enrichment, 

 and Uranium Conversion Branch 

Special Projects and Technical 

 Support Directorate 

 Division of Fuel Cycle Safety 

 and Safeguards 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety 

 and Safeguards 

 

SUBJECT: JANUARY 14, 2010, PUBLIC OUTREACH MEETING SUMMARY: 

INTERNATIONAL ISOTOPES, INC., FLUORINE EXTRACTION AND 

DEPLETED URANIUM DECONVERSION FACILITY MEETING ON THE 

LICENSING PROCESS 

On January 14, 2010, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff conducted a public meeting in Hobbs, New 

Mexico, to discuss its licensing process for the proposed International Isotopes, Inc. (INIS), Fluorine Extraction and 

Depleted Uranium Deconversion Facility. 

I am enclosing the meeting summary for your use. This summary contains no proprietary or classified information. 

Enclosure: INIS Public Outreach Meeting Summary 

Docket No.: 40-9086 

CONTACT: Matt Bartlett, NMSS/FCSS 

 (301) 492-3119 

DISTRIBUTION: 

NMSS r/f FCSS r/f IYu, FSME JMoore, FSME 

ML083570061 

OFC AFCB AFCB AFCB 

NAME Matt Bartlett THristopoulos THiltz 

DATE 03/01/10 03/05/10 03/05/10 

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
Enclosure 

Summary of

AREVA NC Public Meeting on the Licensing Process

DATE January 14, 2009 

PLACE Lea County Events Center 

 Hobbs, New Mexico 

PURPOSE 

The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) 

licensing process for the International Isotopes, Inc., (INIS) Fluorine Extraction and Depleted 

Uranium Deconversion Facility (IIFP). 

DISCUSSION

Prior to the formal presentations, the NRC held an open house in which staff were available to 

informally discuss the project with the public. The participating NRC representatives were 

Mr. Mike Tschiltz, Mr. Thomas Hiltz, Mr. Brian Smith, Mr. Jay Henson, Dr. Matt Bartlett, 

Ms. Johari Moore, Mr. Mike Clark, Mr. Bob Trojanowski, Mr. Roger Hannah, and Mr. Matt 

Bernard. Handouts of the NRC application review process (ML100270170) and the NRC slides 

(ML100270155) were provided at the meeting and are available on the Agencywide Document 

Access Management System (ADAMS). 

Following the open house, Mr. Hiltz welcomed the crowd of over 100 people and introduced the 

NRC staff. Mr. Hiltz discussed the NRC’s overall mission and stated that the NRC is an 

independent agency responsible for ensuring the protection of public and worker health and 

safety in the commercial use of radioactive materials. Mr. Hiltz summarized the review process 

which involves both a safety review and an environmental review. The NRC projects that the 

review processes will take between 18 and 24 months. The schedule may potentially be 

impacted by several factors, including budget, quality of the application, timeliness of responses 

from the applicant, and the possibility of a contested hearing. 

Dr. Matt Bartlett presented the NRC’s licensing process for uranium enrichment facilities. INIS’s 

proposed deconversion plant will be located in Lea County, New Mexico, at a site about 14 

miles west of Hobbs, New Mexico. INIS plans to deconvert depleted uranium hexafluoride into 

commercially resalable fluoride products and depleted uranium oxides, for disposal. The NRC 

will perform a technical review of the application to ensure it meets NRC’s health and safety 

requirements as found in the regulations in Title 10, Parts 40, of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR). By regulation, construction would not begin until the NRC issues a 

license for construction and operation. 

Ms. Johari Moore provided information on the NRC’s process for preparing an environmental 

impact statement (EIS), as presented in Title 10 Part 51, of the 10 CFR. She explained that the 

EIS is intended to describe potential environmental impacts of proposed federal actions. Public 

input is an important part of the scoping process. Once the NRC accepts the application for a 

technical review, the NRC will conduct a public meeting in Hobbs to obtain public input on areas 

that should be included in the scope of the environmental evaluation. After completion of the 

scoping process, the NRC will prepare a draft EIS. The public will be invited to comment on the 

draft EIS and a public meeting will be scheduled 
2 

to obtain public comments. Following consideration of comments on the draft EIS, the NRC 

staff will prepare a final EIS. 

The meeting was then opened for questions and comments from the public. The comments and 

questions period lasted about 1 and 1/2 hours. Most of the comments were supportive of the 

INIS proposed facility. Several questions were asked about the final disposal of the depleted 

uranium oxide waste. The staff indicated INIS plans to ship the wastes to a licensed low level 

waste disposal facility. 

After the public comments, the NRC staff provided contact information for the project managers 

and provided web site addresses for obtaining further information on the INIS application and 

uranium enrichment. This information is available on the meeting slide presentations. For 

additional information please contact the licensing project manager Matt Bartlett via email at 

matthew.bartlett@nrc.gov or via phone at 301-492-3119. 

REFERENCED DOCUMENTS

A flow chart of the Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards (FCSS) review process was distributed at 

the public meeting. In addition, a printout of the slide presentation was provided. Each of these 

documents is available in ADAMS. 

1. NRC Handout on FCSS Safety Review for the January 14, 2010, INIS Public Meeting. 

(ML100270170) 

2. NRC Slide Presentation for the January 14, 2010, INIS Public Meeting, INIS Fluorine 

Extraction and Depleted Uranium Deconversion Plant, Facility Licensing. 

(ML100270155) 

The following stakeholders provide written comments during the public outreach meeting. 

3. Economic Development Corporation of Lea County Board of Directors (ML100290361) 

4. Hobbs, NM City Commissioner (ML100290356) 

5. State Senator Leavell (ML100290357) 

6. Lea County Board of Commissioners (ML100290358) 

7. U.S. Representative Teague (ML100290359) 

8. Hobbs, NM Mayor’s Office (ML100290360)