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	NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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No. 97-037

March 3, 1997

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today assumed regulatory jurisdiction over uranium enrichment plants operated by the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC). The plants are located near Paducah, Kentucky, and Portsmouth, Ohio.

USEC operates the two plants under a lease from the Department of Energy (DOE), which owns and formerly operated them. They use a gaseous diffusion process to enrich uranium hexafluoride gas in the uranium-235 isotope, so that the material can be used to produce nuclear fuel for commercial nuclear power plants.

The Energy Policy Act of 1992 directed that USEC operate the facilities and required the NRC to certify them periodically to ensure compliance with its safety, safeguards and security requirements. DOE agreed to retain oversight of the plants until the NRC finished its certification process and was ready to assume jurisdiction.

Last November, NRC issued its initial certification of compliance for the plants. The certificates provided for a transition period before NRC assumed regulatory authority--to allow USEC to complete procedural revisions and training. DOE continued regulatory oversight during this transition period, which ended at midnight last night. NRC assumed regulatory oversight at 12:01 this morning.