New Mexico Plant Will Upgrade Uranium.

Publication: Rocky Mountain Construction

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COPYRIGHT 2007 Reed Business Information, Inc. (US)

By Bruce Higgins

National Enrichment Facility in southeastern New Mexico will provide new source of feedstock for nuclear fuel

Nuclear energy currently provides approximately 20 percent of the electricity in America as the second level of supply, second only to coal. The Environmental Protection Agency continues to raise the standards of emissions, increasing the cost of supplying electricity generated by coal. In addition, easily and economically mined coal sources are diminishing or increasing in other cost factors. Nuclear power generation may be entering a new era. In addition, nuclear power is called the most "eco-efficient" energy source because it is greenhouse gas emission-free. If only to meet existing demand, the current sources of enriched uranium are aging and in need of replacement and/or upgrading.

Background

On June 23, 2006, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued the first commercial facility license in 30 years to Louisiana Energy Service (LES) to construct and operate the National Enrichment Facility (NEF) near Eunice in the southeastern corner of New Mexico. After the Three Mile Island incident, all nuclear power facilities then under construction were completed, and virtually no other projects were permitted. This uranium enrichment facility represents another milestone in addition to being the first permitted in 30 years; it is the first commercial nuclear facility to receive a combined construction and operating license.

The license applications were filed with the NRC on Dec. 12, 2003. The Atomic Energy Act has very specific requirements for safety and environmental protection that must be satisfactorily addressed. The NEF application consists of approximately 3,000 pages in 11 volumes, an investment of more than 104,000 man-hours of preparation work. Besides that, the NRC requires...

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