NRC's safety oversight program for major fuel cycle facilities includes inspections focused on reviews of safety, safeguards, and environmental protection. This program applies to gaseous diffusion plants, highly enriched uranium fuel fabrication facilities, low-enriched uranium fuel fabrication facilities, and uranium hexafluoride production facilities. The uranium mill facilities have a separate inspection program.

On this page:

How NRC Conducts its Oversight Program
Revision of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Oversight Process
Results of Oversight Program
Enforcement

How NRC Conducts its Oversight Program

Fuel cycle facility inspections focus on the areas that are most important to safety and safeguards, using approved inspection procedures. Inspections at fuel cycle facilities occur several times a year and typically cover activities such as nuclear criticality control, chemical process, emergency preparedness, fire safety, and radiation safety. Uranium mill facilities in standby status (nonoperational) are inspected every three years. Resident inspectors, living nearby, perform daily inspections at the gaseous diffusion plants. The NRC has two full-time resident inspectors at each site. Also, specialized inspections are conducted using personnel from NRC headquarters in Maryland and the Region II office in Atlanta, Georgia. Inspectors follow guidance in the NRC Inspection Manual that contains objectives and procedures to use for each type of inspection. See Inspection Manual Chapter 2604 for more information.

The inspection program for fuel cycle facilities is being revised to accommodate the use of risk insights to focus the NRC and its licensees on matters that are most important to safety and safeguards.

Revision of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Oversight Process

Industry recommended that we revise the Licensee Performance Review (LPR) process to make it risk-informed and more timely, objective, and transparent. The staff revised Inspection Manual Chapter 2604, "Licensee Performance Review," on June 28, 2002. The change was developed in consultation with internal stakeholders (e.g., NRC regional offices) and then external stakeholders.

Following completion of the LPR revision, staff began the consolidation of inspection manual chapters to make them more risk-informed. This represented the end of the current phase of the oversight revision project.

Thereafter, as part of normal maintenance of the oversight program, staff will make risk-informed revisions to the fuel cycle inspection procedures and other program components consistent with the implementation of the Part 70 revisions, as resources permit. Because the Agency and its licensees are in the early stages of implementing the new Part 70 requirements, the transformation to risk-informed oversight of fuel cycle facilities will have to be evolutionary. The agency will seek stakeholder input as it goes through the development process.

Results of Oversight Program

The results of the fuel cycle facility oversight program are documented in inspection reports. Inspection reports, correspondence, and other information about the performance of fuel cycle facilities are available to the public in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). You can locate fuel cycle facility inspection reports by searching with a licensee's name or document number.

Enforcement

As part of our oversight process, NRC issues sanctions called enforcement actions to licensees who violate our regulations. These sanctions, may include notices of violation, monetary fines, or orders to modify, suspend, or revoke a license or require specific actions because of a public health issue. See our Enforcement page for more information.