TO DISCUSS DOE TRITIUM PRODUCTION PROGRAM

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will hold a public meeting on October 2 with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Evensville, Tennessee, to discuss the DOE's planned tritium production program and requests from TVA for license amendments to permit production of tritium at the Watts Bar and Sequoyah nuclear power plants for use by the DOE. The Watts Bar facility is located near Spring City and the Sequoyah plant is near Chattanooga.

The October 2 meeting will be held at the Rhea County High School Auditorium, located at 405 Pierce Road in Evensville, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., with an open house starting at 6 p.m.

The United States has not produced tritium -- a radioactive form of hydrogen used in the fusion stage of nuclear weapons -- since 1988, when DOE closed a special production facility at its Savannah River Site. Current short-term tritium needs are being met by recycling tritium from dismantled nuclear weapons. The DOE is responsible for establishing the capability to produce tritium by the end of 2005, in accordance with a Presidential directive.

For more information on the meeting, please contact Mark Padovan at 301-415-1423, or via e-mail at LMP@nrc.gov

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Thursday, February 22, 2007