Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire: NRC Board Set to Examine Commercial Laser-Enrichment Plant Proposal

Friday, July 6, 2012

NRC Board Set to Examine Commercial Laser-Enrichment Plant Proposal

Laser isotope separation equipment. A U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission panel is scheduled next week to hold a final, closed hearing on a proposal to establish a nuclear fuel production facility incorporating a laser-based enrichment technology that has raised proliferation concerns (U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory photo).

A controversial proposal to establish a commercial laser-enrichment facility in North Carolina will be heard at a final hearing next week by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, Nature magazine reported (see GSN, May 24).
Atomic energy giant GE-Hitachi is promoting its laser-enrichment technology as a less costly and less energy-intensive process for enriching uranium to fuel atomic energy reactors.
The NRC board is expected in September to decide whether to issue a permit for the country's first laser-enrichment plant in Wilmington, N.C. Projections are that approval will be granted, according to the scientific magazine.