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"A recent report issued by Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) states that a possible safety concern at the Erwin facility has been resolved. In January, NFS issued an event report to the NRC regarding UF6 cylinders being stored at the facility. In this report, dated Jan. 20, 2010, NFS informs the NRC that the company had calculated some unexpectedly high pressures in some of the UF6 cylinders, which contain fluorine gas."

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled two meeting with officials of Nuclear Fuel Services in Erwin, Tenn., one to discuss the company's efforts to improve the facility's safety culture, and a second the following day to review NFS performance during the first half of 2008. The first meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Oct. 1 at the NFS Training Center on Jackson Love Highway, which is off Interstate 26 in Erwin. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the progress of the NFS Comprehensive Safety Culture Improvement Initiative, which was ordered by the NRC last year after a series of safety violations at the facility. The meeting is open to the public, and NRC officials will be available to answer questions from interested observers.

A Nuclear Fuel Services executive reported last week to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the company has taken steps to strengthen its safety culture. NFS General Manager Tim Lindstrom spoke on behalf of his company during during a public meeting Oct. 1, between NFS and the NRC.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staffers from Atlanta listened to public complaints about operations at the Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., plant here for about three hours Thursday night. Located near the Nolichucky River in Erwin, the Nuclear Fuel Services plant for decades has produced fuel for U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarines and surface ships. It also "down-blends" highly-enriched uranium to a low-enriched state suitable for conversion into fuel for Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear-power plants. A number of NFS employees, including at least one vice president, were in the audience during the meeting, but made no comments and took no direct role in the meeting. Efforts to reach NFS spokesman Lauri Turpin for comment on Friday via telephone and e-mail were unsuccessful.

The sale of Nuclear Fuel Services to a Virginia-based company could be finalized before the new year, said Tony Treadway, spokesman for the Erwin firm said Monday. NFS' sale to Lynchburg, Va.-based Babcock & Wilcox Co., a subsidiary of McDermott International Inc., and its affiliate Nuclear Operations Group, was announced in August. The sale of the 50-year-old industrial institution should be closed by Dec. 31 or Jan. 1, Treadway said, adding that he could not provide further details about what changes will be made at the company.

ome work at Nuclear Fuel Services in northeast Tennessee has been suspended as the company implements a safety initiative. All the employees returned to work last week though work was curtailed in the production operations area, commercial development line and down-blending facility. The company, which employs about 800, also initiated pay cuts for salaried workers and is reviewing such cuts for others. NFS processes nuclear fuel for the country's nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers and also converts government stockpiles of highly enriched uranium into material suitable for further processing into commercial nuclear reactor fuel.

ome work at Nuclear Fuel Services in northeast Tennessee has been suspended as the company implements a safety initiative. All the employees returned to work last week though work was curtailed in the production operations area, commercial development line and down-blending facility. The company, which employs about 800, also initiated pay cuts for salaried workers and is reviewing such cuts for others. NFS processes nuclear fuel for the country's nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers and also converts government stockpiles of highly enriched uranium into material suitable for further processing into commercial nuclear reactor fuel.

Three members of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversight panel met for more than two hours here on Wednesday afternoon with Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., officials to discuss efforts to improve the company's "safety culture." The NRC ordered NFS on Feb. 21, 2007 to improve its safety culture after a series of safety violations at its Erwin plant, according to a press release it issued last week.

The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W), a subsidiary of McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE: MDR), announced today that an affiliate of B&W has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS) of Erwin, Tenn., a provider of specialty nuclear fuels and related services. The acquisition supports B&W's strategic goal of being a leading provider of nuclear manufacturing and service businesses for government and commercial markets.

Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Related to Proposed License Amendment Authorizing the Processing of Uranium Hexafluoride in a New Process Line

ERWIN - As Nuclear Fuel Services proceeds with plans to improve safety, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has released previously withheld documents detailing incidents at the plant over a three-year period. Earlier this month, the NRC released 58 event notification reports between 2004 and 2007. Twenty-four of the documents pertain to NFS, and 34 were associated with BWXT in Lynchburg, Va.

"In the midst of initiating a federal spending freeze, it is shocking that President Obama's FY 2011 Budget Request released this week pours billions of dollars into two unnecessary nuclear weapons construction projects. There is no demonstrated requirement for either the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) at the Y-12 National Security Complex nor the Chemical and Metallurgical Research Replacement Nuclear Facility (CMRR-NF) at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). "Contrary to the spin, neither of these facilities are needed to ensure the safety, security and effectiveness of our weapons," says Peter Stockton, POGO Senior Investigator. In addition, DOE does not even have an estimated cost for completing the projects, as the budget describes their total costs as "TBD." "To Be a Disaster," is what POGO fears that term means, based on DOE's atrocious record of soaring construction costs and overruns. For example, the cost of the Highly Enriched Uranium Manufacturing Facility (HEUMF) at Y-12 ballooned from $97 million to $549 million. "

The sale of Erwin-based Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., to NOG-Erwin Holdings, Inc. (NOG), a newly-formed subsidiary of the Lynchburg, Va.-based Babcock & Wilcox Company, was finalized the last day of 2008. Jud Simmons, public affairs manager for the Babcock & Wilcox Company, confirmed during a Friday telephone interview that the transaction was finalized Dec. 31, although he said a formal announcement of the deal was not expected to be made until Monday. License Transfer Approved

Local residents used a public meeting to ask how dangerous a highly enriched uranium gas would be if it escaped from a proposed East Tennessee processing line. During a question-and-answer meeting on Thursday, officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the quantities of uranium hexaflouride proposed to be processed in the new facility at Nuclear Fuel Services are so small as to not pose a serious hazard.

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.

Weld County residents opposed to the proposed uranium mine near Nunn are still not convinced their groundwater will be protected from contamination. Two weeks ago, Gov. Ritter signed legislation to protect groundwater from contamination as a result of leach uranium mining. House Bill 1161 requires that companies using leach uranium mines restore all affected groundwater to the condition it was in before mining. A new study, however, shows that these types of regulations may not prevent all groundwater contamination. Weld residents now are using this information as their primary argument against the uranium mine. Powertech Uranium Corp., a Canadian firm, is continuing to collect samples and apply for permits. President and CEO Richard Clement said all the work applications should be completed by mid-summer. The applications take about a year and a half to process.

Probe finds executive drank on duty, faulty report by physician ERWIN, Tenn. - Nuclear Fuel Services is being ordered to correct operational deficiencies after an investigation found a senior executive with the company had consumed alcohol on duty in violation of federal rules and a physician working for the company provided incomplete information on whether the executive was fit for duty. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued orders requiring Nuclear Fuel Services and a physician it contracts with to correct deficiencies in its Unicoi County plant related to the former executive the NRC says violated its fitness-for-duty requirements. The plant also was cited for a failure to administer hearing tests to security officers.

Probe finds executive drank on duty, faulty report by physician ERWIN, Tenn. - Nuclear Fuel Services is being ordered to correct operational deficiencies after an investigation found a senior executive with the company had consumed alcohol on duty in violation of federal rules and a physician working for the company provided incomplete information on whether the executive was fit for duty. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued orders requiring Nuclear Fuel Services and a physician it contracts with to correct deficiencies in its Unicoi County plant related to the former executive the NRC says violated its fitness-for-duty requirements. The plant also was cited for a failure to administer hearing tests to security officers.