[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 157 (Wednesday, August 15, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45830-45832]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-16070]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-182; EA-07-197]
In the Matter of Purdue University (Purdue University Research
Reactor); Order Modifying Facility Operating License No. R-87
I
Purdue University (the licensee) is the holder of Facility
Operating License No. R-87 (the license) issued on August 16, 1962, by
the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and subsequently renewed
[[Page 45831]]
on August 8, 1988, by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the NRC
or the Commission). The license authorizes operation of the Purdue
University Research Reactor (the facility) at a power level up to 1
kilowatt thermal. The facility is a research reactor located on the
campus of Purdue University, in the city of West Lafayette, Tippecanoe
County, Indiana. The mailing address is Radiation Laboratories, Purdue
University, Nuclear Engineering Building, 400 Central Drive, West
Lafayette, IN 47907-2017.
II
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section 50.64,
limits the use of high-enriched uranium (HEU) fuel in domestic non-
power reactors (research and test reactors) (see 51 FR 6514). The
regulation, which became effective on March 27, 1986, requires that if
Federal Government funding for conversion-related costs is available,
each licensee of a non-power reactor authorized to use HEU fuel shall
replace it with low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel acceptable to the
Commission unless the Commission has determined that the reactor has a
unique purpose. The Commission's stated purpose for these requirements
was to reduce, to the maximum extent possible, the use of HEU fuel in
order to reduce the risk of theft and diversion of HEU fuel used in
non-power reactors.
Paragraphs 50.64(b)(2)(i) and (ii) require that a licensee of a
non-power reactor (1) not acquire more HEU fuel if LEU fuel that is
acceptable to the Commission for that reactor is available when the
licensee proposes to acquire HEU fuel, and (2) replace all HEU fuel in
its possession with available LEU fuel acceptable to the Commission for
that reactor in accordance with a schedule determined pursuant to 10
CFR 50.64(c)(2).
Paragraph 50.64(c)(2)(i) requires, among other things, that each
licensee of a non-power reactor authorized to possess and to use HEU
fuel develop and submit to the Director of the Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation (Director) by March 27, 1987, and at 12-month
intervals thereafter, a written proposal for meeting the requirements
of the rule. The licensee shall include in its proposal a certification
that Federal Government funding for conversion is available through the
U.S. Department of Energy or other appropriate Federal agency and a
schedule for conversion, based upon availability of replacement fuel
acceptable to the Commission for that reactor and upon consideration of
other factors such as the availability of shipping casks,
implementation of arrangements for available financial support, and
reactor usage.
Paragraph 50.64(c)(2)(iii) requires the licensee to include in the
proposal, to the extent required to effect conversion, all necessary
changes to the license, to the facility, and to licensee procedures.
This paragraph also requires the licensee to submit supporting safety
analyses in time to meet the conversion schedule.
Paragraph 50.64(c)(2)(iii) also requires the Director to review the
licensee proposal, to confirm the status of Federal Government funding,
and to determine a final schedule, if the licensee has submitted a
schedule for conversion.
Section 50.64(c)(3) requires the Director to review the supporting
safety analyses and to issue an appropriate enforcement order directing
both the conversion and, to the extent consistent with protection of
public health and safety, any necessary changes to the license, the
facility, and licensee procedures. In the Federal Register notice of
the final rule (51 FR 6514), the Commission explained that in most, if
not all cases, the enforcement order would be an order to modify the
license under 10 CFR 2.204 (now 10 CFR 2.202).
Section 2.309 states the requirements for a person whose interest
may be affected by any proceeding to initiate a hearing and to
participate as a party.
III
On August 13, 2006 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management
System (ADAMS) Accession Nos. ML062400495 and ML070920272), as
supplemented on May 3 (ADAMS Accession No. ML071410299) and June 18,
2007 (ADAMS Accession No. ML071700633), the NRC staff received the
licensee's conversion proposal, including its proposed modifications
and supporting safety analyses. HEU fuel assemblies are to be replaced
with LEU fuel assemblies. The fuel assemblies contain fuel plates,
typical of the Materials Testing Reactor design, with the fuel
consisting of uranium silicide dispersed in an aluminum matrix. These
plates contain the uranium-235 isotope at an enrichment of less than 20
percent. The NRC staff reviewed the licensee's proposal and the
requirements of 10 CFR 50.64 and has determined that public health and
safety and common defense and security require the licensee to convert
the facility from the use of HEU to LEU fuel in accordance with the
attachments to this Order and the schedule included herein. The
attachments to this Order specify the changes to the license conditions
and technical specifications that are needed to amend the facility
license and contains an outline of a reactor startup report to be
submitted to NRC within six months following return of the converted
reactor to normal operation.
IV
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 51, 53, 57, 101, 104, 161b, 161i,
and 161o of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and to
Commission regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR 50.64, It is hereby
ordered that:
Facility Operating License No. R-87 is modified by amending the
license conditions and technical specifications as stated in the
attachments to this Order (Attachment 1: MODIFICATIONS TO FACILITY
OPERATING LICENSE NO. R-87; Attachment 2: OUTLINE OF REACTOR STARTUP
REPORT). The Order becomes effective on the later date of either (1)
the day the licensee receives an adequate number and type of LEU fuel
assemblies to operate the facility as specified in the licensee
proposal dated August 13, 2006 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML062400495 and
ML070920272), as supplemented on May 3 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML071410299) and June 18, 2007 (ADAMS Accession No. ML071700633), or
(2) 23 days after the date of publication of this Order in the Federal
Register.
V
Any person adversely affected by this Order may submit an answer to
this Order, and may request a hearing on this Order, within 20 days of
the date of this Order. Any answer or request for a hearing shall set
forth the matters of fact and law on which the person adversely
affected relies and the reasons why the Order should not have been
issued. Any answer or request for a hearing shall be filed (1) by first
class mail addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking
and Adjudications Staff; or (2) by courier, express mail, and expedited
delivery services to the Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852,
Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Because of possible
delays in delivery of mail to the United States Government Offices, it
is requested that answers and/or requests for hearing be transmitted to
the Secretary of the Commission either by e-mail addressed to the
Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
[email protected]; or by
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facsimile transmission addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, Attention: Rulemakings
and Adjudications Staff at 301-415-1101 (the verification number is
301-415-1966). Copies of the request for hearing must also be sent to
the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and to the Assistant
General Counsel for Materials Litigation and Enforcement, Office of the
General Counsel, with both copies addressed to the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and the NRC requests
that a copy also be transmitted either by facsimile transmission to
301-415-3725 or by e-mail to [email protected].
If a person requests a hearing, he or she shall set forth in the
request for a hearing with particularity the manner in which his or her
interest is adversely affected by this Order and shall address the
criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309.
If a hearing is requested by a person whose interest is adversely
affected, the Commission shall issue an Order designating the time and
place of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered
at such hearing shall be whether this Order should be sustained.
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.10(d), this Order is not subject to
Section 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act, as amended.
The NRC staff notes, however, that with respect to environmental
impacts associated with the changes imposed by this Order as described
in the safety evaluation, the changes would, if imposed by other than
an Order, meet the definition of a categorical exclusion in accordance
with 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9). Thus, pursuant to either 10 CFR 51.10(d) or
51.22(c)(9), no environmental assessment or environmental impact
statement is required.
For further information see the application from the licensee dated
August 13, 2006 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML062400495 and ML070920272), as
supplemented on May 3 (ADAMS Accession No. ML071410299) and June 18,
2007 (ADAMS Accession No. ML071700633), the staff's request for
additional information dated March 13, 2007 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML070680273), and the cover letter to the licensee, attachments to this
Order and the NRC staff's safety evaluation dated August 9, 2007 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML071920168), available for public inspection at the
Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint
North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor),
Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible
electronically from the ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room on the
Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who have problems in
accessing the documents in ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR reference
staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to
[email protected].
Dated this 9th day of August 2007.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
James T. Wiggins,
Deputy Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E7-16070 Filed 8-14-07; 8:45 am]
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