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NRC NEWS
U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION |
| Office of Public Affairs |
Telephone: 301/415-8200 |
| Washington, DC 20555-001 |
E-mail: opa@nrc.gov |
No. 96-102 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Monday, July 15, 1996)
NRC ISSUES FIRST IMPORT LICENSE UNDER NEW REGULATIONS
TO SIEMENS POWER COMPANY
The NRC has issued the first import license under new regulations
which require specific authorization for export or import of nuclear
materials to be used for waste treatment, storage, or disposal.
The license authorizes Siemens Power Corporation to import 1200
kilograms (more than 2600 pounds) of combustible fuel fabrication waste
material from Germany over a 10-year period. The waste, in the form of
low enriched uranium oxide powder, will be incinerated at Siemens'
facility in Richland, Washington. The resulting ash residue will be sold
to COGEMA, Inc. in France for uranium recovery, then recycled for fuel
fabrication.
NRC regulations under which Siemens received this import license
were adopted last year. Before then, any entity authorized to possess
nuclear material in the United States had general NRC authority to export
and import radioactive waste, along with other radioactive material.
The new regulations are consistent with the International Atomic
Energy Agency's International Code of Practice on Transboundary Movement
of Radioactive Waste.
A Federal Register notice on the license application was published
on May 5 and no comments were received. NRC has also consulted with the
State of Washington, which has no objection to the license being granted.
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