The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should enhance its oversight of source material export licensees, the agency’s Inspector General’s Office said in an audit report released Wednesday.
The report noted that from 2011 to 2015, the NRC issued 14 export licenses for source material, defined primarily as uranium or thorium or a combination of the two radioactive elements. Foreign exports of this material are intended ultimately for use as nuclear power plant fuel worldwide. Tracking them is necessary, the IG said, to ensure the uranium is not processed to produce highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.
The IG found that although the NRC’s oversight of these exports is generally effective – with a process that includes accepting license applications, coordinating with the Executive Branch for input, and confirming completion and approval of the applications – the body does not currently perform pre-licensing site visits to exporters or inspections of source material export applicants.
NRC regulations require that export licensees have an office in the U.S., maintain their export records for five years, and maintain safeguards against loss of those documents. Site visits, the IG said, would ensure the license applicants are legitimate companies with U.S. offices.
The regulator does not require such visits, but the IG said without this step the “NRC cannot confirm if export applicants are legitimate and does not have the assurance licensees are in compliance with export regulations.”
To enhance oversight, the report recommended creation of an export inspection program that would involve pre-licensing site visits and post-licensing inspections to export applicants; clarification of NRC export regulations; and creation of an export licensing officer qualification program.
Agency management did not entirely agree with the IG’s findings; it conceded that post-licensing export inspections could be improved but said in its response that conducting visits at the pre-licensing stage would be an inefficient use of resources. Still, the IG maintained that such visits would enhance the license applicant prescreening process.
The IG has asked the NRC to within 30 days provide information on actions it has taken or plans to take for each of its recommendations.
