Group items tagged

Finding of No Significant Impact: Disposition of DOE Excess Depleted Uranium, Natural Uranium, and Low-Enriched Uranium AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Finding of No Significant Impact. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE, the Department) has completed an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Disposition of DOE Excess Depleted Uranium (DU), Natural Uranium (NU), and Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) (DOE/EA-1607). Based on the analysis in the EA, the Department has determined that the proposed action, DOE dispositioning its excess uranium inventory using one or a combination of two methods--(1) enrichment to either NU or LEU product and subsequent storage or sale of the resultant NU or LEU product (Enrichment Alternative), and (2) direct sale to appropriately licensed entities (Direct Sale Alternative)--does not constitute a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the context of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not required and the Department is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).

"Russia will provide by the end of 2010 the first batch of low-enriched uranium for an international nuclear fuel reserve bank under control of the UN nuclear watchdog, the head of Russia's state-run nuclear power corporation Rosatom said. Russia has earlier proposed to establish international reserves of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to ensure stable fuel supplies to IAEA member countries in case of emergency, including "insurmountable political difficulties." "I believe that the first part of these reserves could be formed by the end of this year," Sergei Kiriyenko said at an international conference on nuclear energy in Paris on Monday. "We want to initially build LEU reserves that would ensure the operation of at least one 1,000 MW reactor," he said. Russia proposed in 2007 the creation of a nuclear center with LEU reserves in Angarsk, 5,100 km (3,170 miles) east of Moscow, to enable countries including Iran to develop civilian nuclear power without having to enrich their own uranium."

Steve Fetter, dean of the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy, supplies an answer: If the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) has accurately estimated the planet's economically accessible uranium resources, reactors could run more than 200 years at current rates of consumption. Most of the 2.8 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity generated worldwide from nuclear power every year is produced in light-water reactors (LWRs) using low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. About 10 metric tons of natural uranium go into producing a metric ton of LEU, which can then be used to generate about 400 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, so present-day reactors require about 70,000 metric tons of natural uranium a year.

Article Highlights * With the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain seemingly dead, reprocessing again is being proffered as a way to deal with U.S. nuclear waste. * But the reality is that reprocessing neither solves the waste problem nor reduces safety risks. * Research should continue into next-generation reactors that can burn spent fuel, but until then, dry casks and repositories must be pursued. There are 104 commercial nuclear power reactors in the United States, which supply about 20 percent of the nation's electricity. These are light water reactors (LWR) fueled with low-enriched uranium (LEU), containing initially about 5 percent of the fissile isotope uranium 235. Each nuclear plant receives about 25 tons of LEU fuel annually, in the form of long pencil-thin rods of uranium oxide ceramic enclosed in thin metal "cladding", that are bundled together (in bunches of 300) to form fuel elements. Each year, nearly the same amount of spent fuel is removed from each reactor, but it's now intensely hot, both thermally and radiologically. In fact, even after five years of cooling in the "swimming pool" associated with each reactor, a fuel element would soon glow red-hot in the atmosphere because of the continuing radioactive decay of the products of nuclear fission. At this point, spent-fuel elements can be loaded into dry casks and stored at reactor sites on outdoor concrete pads with two casks added each year per reactor.

Article Highlights * With the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain seemingly dead, reprocessing again is being proffered as a way to deal with U.S. nuclear waste. * But the reality is that reprocessing neither solves the waste problem nor reduces safety risks. * Research should continue into next-generation reactors that can burn spent fuel, but until then, dry casks and repositories must be pursued. There are 104 commercial nuclear power reactors in the United States, which supply about 20 percent of the nation's electricity. These are light water reactors (LWR) fueled with low-enriched uranium (LEU), containing initially about 5 percent of the fissile isotope uranium 235. Each nuclear plant receives about 25 tons of LEU fuel annually, in the form of long pencil-thin rods of uranium oxide ceramic enclosed in thin metal "cladding", that are bundled together (in bunches of 300) to form fuel elements. Each year, nearly the same amount of spent fuel is removed from each reactor, but it's now intensely hot, both thermally and radiologically. In fact, even after five years of cooling in the "swimming pool" associated with each reactor, a fuel element would soon glow red-hot in the atmosphere because of the continuing radioactive decay of the products of nuclear fission. At this point, spent-fuel elements can be loaded into dry casks and stored at reactor sites on outdoor concrete pads with two casks added each year per reactor.

The University of Wisconsin Research Reactor and Neutron Radiography Reactor at INL have been converted from the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has now converted or verified the shutdown of a total of 67 HEU research reactors around the world. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), in cooperation with Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the University of Wisconsin, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), and the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy recently completed the conversion of the two research reactors through NNSA's Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI).

The University of Wisconsin Research Reactor and Neutron Radiography Reactor at INL have been converted from the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has now converted or verified the shutdown of a total of 67 HEU research reactors around the world. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), in cooperation with Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the University of Wisconsin, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), and the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy recently completed the conversion of the two research reactors through NNSA's Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI).

Russia's Foreign Ministry welcomed on Saturday the UN nuclear watchdog's resolution on Moscow's initiative to establish a reserve of low-enriched uranium. On Friday, the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency welcomed Russia's offer to establish on its territory a reserve of LEU to the IAEA for its member states. "The adoption of the resolution paves the way for the signing of a relevant agreement between Russia and the IAEA envisaging the establishment on the Russian territory of a reserve of low-enriched uranium," the Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website. The ministry said the reserve would be enough to produce two loads of fuel for the world's most popular 1000MW pressurized water reactor. It said the fuel could be supplied to those IAEA member countries that do not possess nuclear arms and are committed to nuclear non-proliferation. "This [agreement] will help expand the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The initiative is aimed at strengthening nuclear non-proliferation," the ministry said.

Russia's Foreign Ministry welcomed on Saturday the UN nuclear watchdog's resolution on Moscow's initiative to establish a reserve of low-enriched uranium. On Friday, the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency welcomed Russia's offer to establish on its territory a reserve of LEU to the IAEA for its member states. "The adoption of the resolution paves the way for the signing of a relevant agreement between Russia and the IAEA envisaging the establishment on the Russian territory of a reserve of low-enriched uranium," the Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website. The ministry said the reserve would be enough to produce two loads of fuel for the world's most popular 1000MW pressurized water reactor. It said the fuel could be supplied to those IAEA member countries that do not possess nuclear arms and are committed to nuclear non-proliferation. "This [agreement] will help expand the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The initiative is aimed at strengthening nuclear non-proliferation," the ministry said.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday for uranium enrichment company USEC Inc (USU.N) and the federal government in an anti-dumping case involving certain low-enriched uranium imports from France. The high court's unanimous decision was a defeat for French nuclear energy producer Areva (CEPFi.PA), which had supplied the imported uranium at issue in the case.

The US Supreme Court took its turn Tuesday in wrestling with the complexities of an eight-year-old case in which uranium supply company USEC and the US government argued that US antidumping duties should apply to low-enriched uranium exported to the US by French enricher Eurodif, a subsidiary of Areva. The critical issue in the case is whether uranium enrichment should be considered a good or a service. Under the antidumping law, goods are subject to the import duties but services are not. Part of the case's complexity comes from the unusual features of the nuclear fuel market. In most utility purchases of enriched uranium, the utility pays separately for the natural-uranium "feed" and the work by the enricher to raise the enrichment level of uranium-235 to the levels needed to fuel a nuclear power plant.

According to an Oct. 3 report by staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, about 450 Rackable Can Storage Boxes were loaded by Y-12 workers during FY2007 and '08 to prepare for the move into the new Oak Ridge storage facility for weapons-grade uranium. Based on previous information released by NNSA and B&W, the managing contractor, each of those boxes holds a half-dozen cans, and each of those cans holds up to 44 pounds of highly enriched uranium (HEU). The defense board memo said B&W plans to begin loading material into the new $549 million storage facility in fiscal year 2010. The loading is to take place in two phases. "The first phase is to de-inventory the Warehouse within about three months after start up

Russian specialist nuclear (fuel exporter Techsnab-export - better known by its brand name of Tenex - has, in just over a week, won contracts to directly supply low-enriched uranium to four US nuclear power utilities. The latest contract, signed last week, is with the Exelon Corporation, which is one of the largest electricity producers in the US, with a production capacity of 25 000 MW (of which, 17 000 MW comes from nuclear plants) plus control of another (6 500 MW through long-term contracts. During the last week of May, the Russian company signed a contract with FuelCo, which represents the interests of three US utilities, PG&E, Union Electric and Luminant. All three will use low-enriched uranium supplied by Tenex to fuel their nuclear (reactors. Although the value of the Exelon deal has not been revealed, the FuelCo deal is worth more than $1-billion. All these deals (involve long-term contracts and all will run from 2014 to 2020.

The US Department of Energy will issue a "no significant impact" finding on its plan to sell portions of its excess uranium inventory in the US uranium market, DOE's William Szymanski told officials Wednesday at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's annual fuel cycle conference. The finding stems from an environmental impact statement DOE began work on last year under the Bush administration, as the department surveyed how best to manage 59,000 metric tons of DOE-owned uranium that are now stored in cylinders. The finding soon will be published in the Federal Register, said Szymanski, the director of global nuclear fuel assurance in DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy. A statement that then-Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman issued last year states DOE believes it can sell up to 10% of the nation's annual nuclear fuel requirements on the US uranium market and "not have an adverse material impact on the domestic uranium industry." The department still "needs to cross all the 'Ts' and dot all the 'Is'" to ensure that the administration of President Barack Obama will approve such a plan, Szymanski said.

The government on Tuesday ordered 12 tons of bomb-grade uranium converted into commercial reactor fuel as backup in case another source of fuel from weapon ingredients is delayed. The highly enriched uranium, already declared surplus for the nation's nuclear arsenal, will come from the vast storage vaults at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge. The material will be converted or "down-blended" at the Nuclear Fuel Services plant in Erwin, Tenn., into about 220 tons of low-enriched uranium suitable for commercial reactors. The work will begin this year and be completed in 2012. The uranium will be shipped to Westinghouse Electric Co.'s Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina and held in reserve for utilities contracting for reactor fuel from a plutonium mixed-oxide processing plant being built at the Savannah River Site. The $4.8 billion mixed-oxide facility at Savannah River is scheduled to open in 2016. The program is on time to this point, officials said.

* Companies to withdraw all pending appeals * USEC says to realize $70 mln no earlier than Q4 * USEC shares up 6 pct May 18 (Reuters) - Uranium fuel supplier USEC Inc (USU.N) and its French competitor Areva (CEPFi.PA) said they agreed to settle pending appeals related to an anti-dumping case involving imports of French low-enriched uranium. Under the settlement, the parties will immediately withdraw or request dismissal of all pending appeals and U.S. Department of Commerce proceedings. USEC said it expected to realize about $70 million no earlier than the fourth quarter from estimated duties deposited by Areva's holding company, Eurodif SA, as a result of the settlement.