In the Matter of Purdue University (Purdue University Research Reactor); Order Modifying Facility Operating License No. R-87, 45830-45832 [E7-16070]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 157 (Wednesday, August 15, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45830-45832]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing 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, 
HEARINGDOCKET@NRC.GOV; 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 OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov.
    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, https://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 
pdr@nrc.gov.

     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]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P