NRC staff proposes ending reprocessing rulemaking

摘要

NRC staff has proposed to the commission that a years-long rulemaking todevelop regulations for licensing spent fuel reprocessing be discontinued,saying the lack of near-term interest in licensing a reprocessing facility inthe US means the rulemaking is not currently cost-beneficial.Commissioners approved in 2013 staff’s recommendation in itspaper Secy-13-0093 to develop a reprocessing-specific rule, followingseveral years of preparatory work that began in 2006. By focusingsolely on reprocessing, the rule would have prevented the need forexemptions to other NRC regulations while incorporating applicablerequirements at 10 CFR Part 50 and 10 CFR Part 70 and addressing thespecific safety and safeguards needs of a reprocessing facility, staffsaid in its paper.