USEC Privatization Act: Certification and Licensing of Uranium Enrichment Facilities

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations concerning the certification and licensing of uranium enrichment facilities to conform to changes made to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), by the USEC Privatization Act legislation. Although the principal effect of this legislation is to direct the Board of Directors of the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) to sell the assets of the USEC to a private sector entity, this legislation also amended the Act with respect to NRC certification of gaseous diffusion plants leased by USEC and the licensing of atomic vapor laser isotope separation (AVLIS) technology. USEC is responsible for the operation of the two gaseous diffusion plants and the development of the AVLIS technology. The legislation requires that AVLIS uranium enrichment facilities be licensed subject to the provisions of the Act pertaining to source material and special nuclear material rather than under the provisions pertaining to a production facility; provides for the issuance of civil penalties to USEC or its successor for failure to comply with regulatory requirements governing the operation of gaseous diffusion plants; prohibits issuance of a license/certificate to the Corporation or its successor if it is owned, controlled, or dominated by an alien, a foreign corporation, or a foreign government, or if its issuance would be inimical to the common defense and security of the United States or to the maintenance of a reliable and economical domestic source of enrichment services; and eliminates the annual requirement that the Commission certify that USEC or its successor is in compliance with NRC regulations. The Commission may determine how frequently USEC or its successor must submit a recertification application to the NRC, provided that the NRC recertify USEC's or its successor's compliance with its regulations not less frequently than every five years. The adopted rule changes bring the current regulatio