Metropolis Works receives 40-year license renewal

摘要

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on March 24 relicensed the only uranium conversion plant in the United States, Honeywell International's Metropolis Works. Metropolis Works can now operate until March 24,2060, potentially logging operations for over a century. Built in 1958 to produce uranium hexafluoride (UF_6) for the U.S. government, Metropolis Works began selling UF_6 on the commercial market in 1968. The plant's source materials license has been renewed for 40 more years, with an authorized capacity of 15,000 metric tons. The previous license renewal granted to Metropolis Works was issued in 2007 for a 10-year term. The NRC staff documented its review of Honeywell's February 2017 request for a 40-year license renewal in an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact published in October 2019 and a final safety evaluation report published in December 2019. The staff also considered alternatives, including renewing the license for a shorter term (NAT, Dec. 2019, p. 49).