The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a March 30 “virtual meeting” to discuss the results of its latest performance assessment for URENCO USA’s commercial uranium enrichment plant in Eunice, N.M.
The assessment period covered the entirety of 2018 and 2019. Agency staff determined URENCO did not need to make improvements in five operational areas: safety operations, safeguards, radiological controls, facility support, and other areas.
“Overall, the staff determined that URENCO USA continued to conduct activities safely and securely and in a manner that protects public health and the environment,” LaDonna Suggs, director of the NRC’s Division of Fuel Facility Inspection, wrote in a March 2 letter to Stephen Cowne, URENCO USA chief nuclear officer and compliance manager.
Suggs said that two incidences of noncompliance with federal nuclear regulations did not represent safety- or security-significant situations relative to the performance assessment.
In June 2018, the agency cited URENCO with a Severity Level III violation for failure to sustain engineered and administrative controls and control systems for “items relied on for safety” (IROFS). Specifically, while filling a cylinder with enriched uranium hexafluoride in September 2017, operators failed to apply the correct IROFS “to limit the risk of a credible high-consequence event.”
The NRC also cited URENCO with a Severity Level III violation in September 2019. That involved a September 2016 incident in which an employee of a URENCO subcontractor removed a classified item from proper storage and placed it in a co-worker’s lunchbox. That person then unknowingly took the item home and did not find it until the following morning.
The NRC could have fined the licensee roughly $35,000 for each event, but no fines were recommended.
The meeting will be available via Skype from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time next Monday, with NRC officials taking questions following their presentation on the evaluation. A conference line will also be available for anyone without Skype access.
For details on access, contact Brannen J. Adkins, 404-997-4620 or [email protected], or Lindsey Cooke, 404-997-4836 or [email protected].
