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GE Laser Enrichment Facility Licensing

General Electric (GE) currently plans to use the Australian laser enrichment technology know as Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation (SILEX) to enrich natural UF6 gas in the uranium-235 isotope. 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 scheduled to be completed in late 2008 / early 2009.

On this page:

• Regulation and Legislation
• License Amendment
• Correspondence and Other Information
• Public Involvement
• 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.

License Amendment

In July 2007, GE submitted a license amendment to the NRC for research and development associated with laser enrichment to be conducted at their Wilmington, NC, Global Nuclear Fuels-Americas, LLC, facility. Depending on the results of this test facility, GE plans on submitting a full-scale commercial facility application. The full-scale commercial facility would be subject to a mandatory hearing.

Correspondence and Other Information

Some links on this page are to documents in our our Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). For additional information, see our Plugins, Viewers, and Other Tools.

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

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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Thursday, April 10, 2008