“For all of our NRC licensees, we have a performance review which we perform on a periodic basis,” said Roger Hannah, senior public affairs officer for Region 2 of the NRC.
The main presentation was made by Jay Henson of the NRC who discussed the methodology of each of the inspections, allowing USEC officials to respond afterward.
Bob Van Namen, senior vice president of the uranium enrichment facility gave an introduction on behalf of USEC following the inspection report on the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, giving way to General Manager Mark Keef for the USEC Perspective on Performance. Both Henson and Keef reported that the NRC identified no areas needing improvement, and Keef said USEC maintained a strong focus on safe, compliant operations during the assessment period and he said they continue that focus as the project moves forward with current and future opportunities.
Keef also spoke on the company’s safety operations, saying nuclear safety performance continues to be integrated into daily operations, and he said significant improvements continue to be seen in the areas of Technical Safety Requirements Compliance, Event Reports and Nuclear Criticality Safety Incidents.
After the meeting, American Centrifuge Plant Vice President Paul E. Sullivan said the plant has more than 40 Lead Cascade machines in operation, with the ultimate goal of 11,520 machines operating at that facility.
He said he is hopeful about the possibility of gaining the long-awaited $2 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy.
“We’re working with DOE every day. We’re answering their questions, supplying them information and materials to answer any questions they might have,” Sullivan said. “And we are very hopeful as we move forward that they will be able to evaluate the technical information and we can move forward with the loan guarantee.”
Frank Lewis may be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 232, or flewis@heartlandpublications.com.
Post a Comment
