Request for Information (RFI) Regarding Planning for Establishment of a Program To Support the Availability of High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) for Civilian Domestic Research, Development, Demonstration, and Commercial Use, 71055-71058 [2021-26984]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 14, 2021 / Notices
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ADDRESSES:
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appropriate information needed to make
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Signed in Washington, DC, on December 9,
2021.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S.
Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2021–27005 Filed 12–13–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
Request for Information (RFI)
Regarding Planning for Establishment
of a Program To Support the
Availability of High-Assay LowEnriched Uranium (HALEU) for Civilian
Domestic Research, Development,
Demonstration, and Commercial Use
Office of Nuclear Energy,
Department of Energy.
ACTION: Request for information.
AGENCY:
The U.S Department of
Energy (DOE or the Department) is
issuing this RFI to invite input on the
planning for establishment of a DOE
HALEU Availability Program and to
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gather information to consider in
preparing the required report to
Congress describing actions proposed to
be carried out by DOE under the
program. The Energy Act of 2020
authorized the Department to establish
and carry out, through the Office of
Nuclear Energy, a program to support
the availability of high-assay lowenriched uranium (HALEU) for civilian
domestic research, development,
demonstration, and commercial use.
DATES: Written comments and
information are requested on or before
January 13, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons may
submit comments by any of the
following methods:
1. Email: rfi-haleu@hq.doe.gov.
Submit electronic comments in
Microsoft Word or PDF file format and
avoid the use of special characters or
any form of encryption. Please include
‘‘Response to RFI’’ in the subject line.
2. Postal Mail: This option is not
available.
3. Hand Delivery/Courier: This option
is not available during the COVID–19
pandemic.
4. Online: Responses will be accepted
online at www.regulations.gov.
Instructions: All submissions received
must include the agency name for this
RFI. No facsimiles (faxes) will be
accepted. Any information that may be
business proprietary and exempt by law
from public disclosure should be
submitted as described in Section IV of
this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information
should be sent to: rfi-haleu@hq.doe.gov
or Dr. Daniel Vega, daniel.vega@
nuclear.energy.gov, (202) 586–0235, or
Michael Reim, michael.reim@
nuclear.energy.gov, (202) 586–0509.
Please include ‘‘Question on HALEU
RFI’’ in the subject line.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
SUMMARY:
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The Department is working to enable
the development and deployment of
advanced nuclear reactors as part of
meeting the Administration’s job
creation, energy security and climate
goals. DOE’s Advanced Reactor
Demonstration Program was established
to partner with domestic private
industry to help accelerate the
development and demonstration of
advanced nuclear reactors in the United
States. Most advanced reactors,
including several designs selected for
the Advanced Reactor Demonstration
Program, are designed to be fueled by
HALEU. The Secretary of Energy was
authorized in Sec. 2001 of the Energy
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 14, 2021 / Notices
Act of 2020 to establish and carry out,
through the Office of Nuclear Energy, a
program to support the availability of
HALEU for civilian domestic research,
development, demonstration, and
commercial use (HALEU Availability
Program). A HALEU Availability
Program, leading to the deployment and
commercialization of clean energy
technologies and infrastructure, could
secure a critical domestic supply chain
for meeting the Administration’s
climate, economic, and energy security
goals. This program would include
substantive engagement by stakeholders,
including State, local, and Tribal
governments. The program would
prioritize addressing long-standing and
persistent energy justice issues and be
responsive to President Biden’s
Justice40 Initiative 1 by targeting 40
percent of the benefits of climate and
clean infrastructure investments to
disadvantaged communities,
considering rural communities and
communities impacted by the marketbased transition to clean energy, and
include substantive stakeholder
engagement.
Currently, there is very limited
domestic capacity to provide HALEU
from either DOE or commercial sources.
This lack of capacity is a significant
obstacle to the development and
deployment of advanced reactors for
commercial applications.
Specifically, DOE’s National Nuclear
Security Administration (NNSA)
provides highly enriched uranium
(HEU), HALEU, and Low Enriched
Uranium for its defense and
nonproliferation missions. Most of
NNSA’s HEU is reserved for the Naval
Reactors program and for use in the
nuclear weapons stockpile, and is
therefore unavailable for down-blending
to use in advanced reactors used for
commercial applications. Other HEU in
the inventory is allocated to supply
research reactors and medical isotope
production facilities worldwide, and to
meet critical defense and space
requirements. After accounting for these
requirements on the inventory, the
remaining amount of HEU to be downblended to HALEU for advanced
commercial reactors is very limited. If
these supplies were redirected to fuel
advanced commercial reactors, they
would not be sufficient to meet the
projected near-term demands for
advanced reactor demonstration and
deployment. Furthermore, diverting
these resources to support advanced
reactor demonstration and deployment
1 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/
presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-orderon-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/.
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would compromise vital nuclear
security and nonproliferation missions.
Likewise, on the commercial side,
there is no domestic assured source of
HALEU to be used to produce fuel for
advanced reactors in sufficient
quantities to meet anticipated demand.
In turn, uncertainty regarding the
commercial deployment of advanced
reactors and future demand for HALEU
undermines private investment to
develop an assured HALEU supply
capability and related infrastructure.
The HALEU Availability Program
envisioned in the Energy Act of 2020 is
intended to address this problem by
temporarily securing a supply of
HALEU to support research,
development, demonstration, and
equitable deployment of advanced
reactors for commercial applications.
This action, in turn, could spur demand
for additional HALEU production and
private investment in nuclear fuel
supply infrastructure and ultimately
remove the government from any role as
a supplier of HALEU for industry. The
development of a viable domestic
commercial supply of HALEU for
advanced commercial power reactors
could also supply the needs of medical
isotope producers and civilian research
reactors. The program outlined in Sec.
2001 of the Energy Act of 2020 would
sunset on September 30th, 2034, or 90
days after adequate supply is
established.
II. Specific Questions on Which
Information Is Requested
Public input is requested on
information the Department should
consider as it plans a program to
support HALEU availability for civilian
domestic research, development,
demonstration, and commercial use.
The information gathered in response to
this RFI will be considered by DOE in
planning for the HALEU Availability
Program and other relevant planning
and reporting purposes as needed. In
providing information in response to
this RFI, please include the data,
analysis, and/or other justification for
the responses, where applicable. Please
note that any information that may be
business proprietary and exempt by law
from public disclosure should be
submitted as described in Section IV of
this document.
To facilitate public input, this RFI
includes a set of specific questions on
which the Department would appreciate
input. These questions are listed below.
Establishment of a HALEU Consortium
& Market Development
(1) Sec. 2001 of the Energy Act of
2020 directs the establishment and
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periodic updating of a HALEU
Consortium to partner with DOE to
support the availability of HALEU for
civilian domestic demonstration and
commercial use. Among other things,
the Act envisions that the HALEU
Consortium could: provide information
to DOE for purposes of biennial surveys
on the quantity of HALEU needed for
commercial use for each of the
subsequent five years; purchase HALEU
made available by the Secretary for
commercial use by members of the
consortium; and carry out
demonstration projects using HALEU
provided by the Secretary under the
program.
What types of organizations or other
entities should be included in the
HALEU Consortium? If your
organization or entity might be
interested in becoming a member of a
HALEU Consortium, please describe the
contribution your organization or entity
could provide to the consortium. The
description should include examples of
the type of activity or activities for
which your organization or entity is
interested in partnering with the
Department. Please also provide a point
of contact for your organization or
entity, including name, affiliation,
email, and phone number.
(2) Please identify any issues,
including energy justice concerns, that
may affect the implementation of the
HALEU Availability Program under Sec.
2001 of the Energy Act of 2020, in an
equitable manner that would further the
development and deployment of
advanced reactors and the establishment
of a domestic commercial source of
HALEU.
(3) What are the most significant
barriers to the establishment of a
reliable market-driven, commercial
supply of HALEU for advanced reactor
research, demonstration, and
commercial deployment? Please
describe these barriers in detail, identify
potential actions to address these
barriers, and include the timeframes in
which the issues should be addressed.
(4) If the Department were to address
the objectives of Sec. 2001 of the Energy
Act of 2020 related to the creation of a
fuel bank to supply HALEU for civilian
domestic research, development,
demonstration, and commercial use:
• What is the quantity (in metric
tons/assay) of HALEU necessary for
domestic commercial use for each of the
next five years (2022–2026)?
• If a ‘‘stockpile’’ of HALEU were
established to build confidence in the
supply of HALEU supporting early
orders for the deployment of advanced
reactors in the commercial market, how
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large (in metric tons/assay) a stockpile
would be needed?
• What siting and energy justice
issues should the Department take into
account as it considers the development
of a program and how might the
Department address those issues?
(5) Please identify any additional
specific actions that would provide
confidence in the short-term supply of
HALEU and thereby to ensure the
development of a commercial market for
advanced reactor orders.
• What actions might be most useful
for the U.S. Government to carry out?
• What actions might be most
appropriate for the private sector to
carry out?
(6) What level of market demand for
HALEU over what timeframe is needed
to stimulate investment in the
infrastructure required to support a
HALEU supply chain?
(7) On what basis should HALEU be
priced or valued? Please consider the
options for the pricing of HALEU based
on enrichment, weight, and/or
separative work units and provide the
pros and cons for each option or
combination of options. Please discuss
how pricing options would provide
DOE with reasonable compensation and
commercial entities with sufficient
incentive to deploy domestic capacity to
supply HALEU. What is your long-term
estimated ‘‘price point’’ for the range of
assays/enrichment (2030 and beyond)?
Please consider and note the form of
HALEU (e.g., metal, oxide, UF6, etc.) in
your response.
HALEU Supply Chain Development
(8) Advanced reactors under
development (including awardees under
the Advanced Reactor Demonstration
Program) would utilize HALEU in
various chemical and physical fuel
forms, including oxides, metals, and
potentially salts. Additionally,
centrifuge enrichment requires uranium
in hexafluoride form. What additional
fuel cycle infrastructure, or additions or
modifications to existing infrastructure,
would enable the deployment of
commercial HALEU production and
assure the availability of different forms
of HALEU in sufficient quantities for
use in advanced reactors?
(9) How do you envision a HALEU
supply chain as being responsive to the
President’s Justice40 Initiative—a plan
to deliver 40 percent of the overall
benefits of climate investments to
disadvantaged communities and inform
equitable research, development, and
deployment within DOE? Please provide
specific actions and the type of benefits
(e.g., employment, educational
opportunities, etc.) that could be most
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useful to the targeted communities in
response to the Justice40 Initiative.
(10) What are some approaches or
contracting vehicles that could be used
by the Department to help enable the
necessary commercial deployment of a
domestic HALEU supply chain,
including but not limited to mining,
conversion, enrichment, deconversion,
transportation, and fuel fabrication? For
each, please discuss potential federal
versus private sector actions; in
addition, discuss leveraging robust
partnerships for co-development of subelements of the supply chain.
Possible approaches that might be
considered include:
• Production contracts (of what
volume and length);
• Take-or-pay contracts (U.S.
Government agrees to take specified
volume of goods and/or services for a
specified time period);
• Partnerships and/or cost-sharing of
infrastructure development, including
with allies and partners; and
• Payment-for-production milestones.
(11) What specific technological,
regulatory, and/or legal gaps or
challenges currently exist for
transporting HALEU in various
chemical forms (e.g., oxide,
hexafluoride, metal) throughout the
HALEU fuel supply chain? How do
these challenges change depending
upon the enrichment level? What
actions could be taken, when, and by
whom, to address the identified gaps or
challenges?
(12) Questions specific for
transportation packaging companies:
(i) What actions, either federal or nonfederal, might help incentivize the
development and delivery of a new or
modified 30-inch cylinder? Please
discuss incentive amounts and
incentive areas (design, licensing,
certification, overpack re-certification,
etc.) as appropriate that would be most
helpful to accelerate the delivery date.
(ii) If your company were to receive
an order for a 30-inch transportation
package that is certified by NRC to
contain enriched uranium hexafluoride
up to 19.75 wt. percent Uranium-235,
what do you expect would be the
earliest delivery date possible? What do
you anticipate would be its maximum
loading?
(13) Co-location of facilities for the
front end of the fuel cycle (such as
enrichment, and conversion/
deconversion, and fabrication) may be a
practicable solution to address some
HALEU transportation issues. Is colocation considered otherwise
beneficial? Are there other solutions
that should be considered?
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71057
(14) What factors affect the ability of
U.S. uranium producers to provide
uranium for advanced reactor fuel?
Please indicate the importance of such
factors and how they may be addressed.
Regulatory Issues
(15) What are the technical barriers
and/or regulatory requirements (e.g.,
safety, security, material control and
accountability) to licensing front-end
fuel cycle facilities (e.g., enrichment,
deconversion, and/or fuel fabrication
facilities) for the production and
availability of HALEU?
• For existing facilities to upgrade to
a HALEU capability?
• For new facilities?
(16) What, if any, additional criticality
and/or benchmark data is needed to
meet U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) safety and regulatory
requirements that must be met in order
to establish a supply chain capable of
making HALEU available for the
development and deployment of
advanced reactors? Please consider and
address both front-end fuel cycle
facilities and transportation packages
(including for metal, gas, and pertinent
chemical forms).
(17) What, if any, additional
challenges or considerations may be
associated with a HALEU lifecycle
(including disposition), beyond those of
a traditional light water reactor fuel
cycle, and how can they be can be
identified early and addressed?
(18) What other legal, funding, and
other issues should be addressed to best
enable the development of a HALEU
availability program and promote
private sector deployment of domestic
HALEU production capacity?
Financial Barriers
(19) Please describe the financial
challenges associated with developing a
sustainable commercial fuel supply
chain for HALEU. Specifically, what are
the challenges related to the acquisition
of funds for investment in HALEU
production infrastructure? How might
these challenges be mitigated?
Human Resources
(20) What are the human resourcerelated considerations related to the
buildout of commercial HALEU
production?
• Are there specific recruitment and/
or training challenges that must be
overcome?
• What types of skillsets are needed
to develop and deploy the domestic
commercial production of HALEU?
Would this increase the number of
union jobs?
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 14, 2021 / Notices
• Please describe the nature of any
anticipated shortage in subject matter
expertise and its potential impact.
Other
(21) Are there additional
considerations or recommendations,
including the timing of various actions,
that should be considered with respect
to key challenges to HALEU availability
for civilian domestic research,
development, demonstration, and
commercial use in the United States?
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III. Submission of Comments
DOE invites all interested parties to
submit, in writing by January 13, 2022,
comments and information on matters
addressed in this RFI. Any information
that may be business proprietary and
exempt by law from public disclosure
should be submitted as described in
Section IV of this document.
IV. Business Proprietary Information
Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any
person submitting information they
believe to be business proprietary and
exempt by law from public disclosure
should submit via email two wellmarked copies: One copy of the
document marked ‘‘Business
Proprietary’’ including all the
information believed to be proprietary,
and one copy of the document marked
‘‘Non-Proprietary’’ deleting all of the
information believed to be business
proprietary. DOE will make its own
determination about the business
proprietary status of the information
and treat it according to its
determination. Factors of interest to
DOE when evaluating requests to treat
submitted information as business
proprietary include: (1) A description of
the items; (2) whether and why such
items are customarily treated as
business proprietary within the
industry; (3) whether the information is
generally known by or available from
other sources; (4) whether the
information has previously been made
available to others without obligation
concerning its business proprietary
nature; (5) an explanation of the
competitive injury to the submitting
person which would result from public
disclosure; (6) when such information
might lose its business proprietary
character due to the passage of time; and
(7) why disclosure of the information
would be contrary to the public interest.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of
Energy was signed on December 8, 2021,
by Andrew Griffith, Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Nuclear Fuel Cycle and
Supply Chain, Office of Nuclear Energy,
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pursuant to delegated authority from the
Secretary of Energy. That document
with the original signature and date is
maintained by DOE. For administrative
purposes only, and in compliance with
requirements of the Office of the Federal
Register, the undersigned DOE Federal
Register Liaison Officer has been
authorized to sign and submit the
document in electronic format for
publication, as an official document of
the Department of Energy. This
administrative process in no way alters
the legal effect of this document upon
publication in the Federal Register.
Signed in Washington, DC, on December 9,
2021.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S.
Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2021–26984 Filed 12–13–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL–9336–01–OW]
Notice of Request for Nominations of
Candidates to the Environmental
Financial Advisory Board
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of request for
nominations.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) invites
nominations of qualified candidates to
be considered for appointment to the
Environmental Financial Advisory
Board (the Board or EFAB). The Board
provides advice to EPA on ways to
lower the costs of, and increase
investments in, environmental and
public health protection. The Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law (signed November
2021) provides funding to EPA that
includes more than $50 billion for clean
water projects, more than $5 billion for
Superfund and brownfields cleanup
work, $5 billion for decarbonizing our
nation’s school buses, and $100 million
for pollution prevention. Board
members will provide recommendations
on ways EPA can implement these
funds to advance environmental justice,
tackle the climate crisis, and protect
public health. Appointments will be
made by the Administrator and will be
announced in June 2022.
DATES: Nominations should be
submitted in time to arrive no later than
January 18, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Nominations should be sent
via email to efab@epa.gov.
SUMMARY:
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Any
member of the public who wants further
information concerning the nomination
process may contact Sandra Williams at
202–564–4999 or efab@epa.gov. General
information concerning the EFAB can
be found on EPA’s website at https://
www.epa.gov/waterfinancecenter/efab.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The EFAB is an EPA
advisory committee chartered under the
Federal Advisory Committee Act
(FACA), 5 U.S.C., app. 2, to provide
advice and recommendations to EPA on
innovative approaches to financing
environmental programs, projects, and
activities. Administrative support for
the EFAB is provided by the Water
Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance
Center within EPA’s Office of Water.
The Board was established in 1989 to
provide advice and recommendations to
EPA on the following issues: Reducing
the cost of financing environmental
facilities and discouraging polluting
behavior; creating incentives to increase
private investment in the provision of
environmental services and removing or
reducing constraints on private
involvement imposed by current
regulations; developing new and
innovative environmental financing
approaches and supporting and
encouraging the use of cost-effective
existing approaches; identifying
approaches specifically targeted to
small/disadvantaged community
financing; increasing the capacity of
state and local governments to carry out
their respective environmental programs
under current Federal tax laws;
analyzing how new technologies can be
brought to market expeditiously; and,
increasing the total investment in
environmental protection of public and
private environmental resources to help
ease the environmental financing
challenge facing our nation.
The Board meets either in-person or
virtually two times each calendar year
(two days per meeting) at different
locations within the continental United
States. In addition to the bi-annual
meetings, additional virtual meetings
may be held during the year to ensure
timely completion of the Board’s work.
Board members typically contribute
approximately 3 to 8 hours per month
to the activities of the Board. This
includes participation on one or more of
the Board’s active workgroups. Members
serve on the Board without
compensation; however, Board members
may receive travel and per diem
allowances where appropriate and in
accordance with Federal travel
regulations.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 237 (Tuesday, December 14, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71055-71058]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26984]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Request for Information (RFI) Regarding Planning for
Establishment of a Program To Support the Availability of High-Assay
Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) for Civilian Domestic Research,
Development, Demonstration, and Commercial Use
AGENCY: Office of Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy.
ACTION: Request for information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) is
issuing this RFI to invite input on the planning for establishment of a
DOE HALEU Availability Program and to gather information to consider in
preparing the required report to Congress describing actions proposed
to be carried out by DOE under the program. The Energy Act of 2020
authorized the Department to establish and carry out, through the
Office of Nuclear Energy, a program to support the availability of
high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for civilian domestic research,
development, demonstration, and commercial use.
DATES: Written comments and information are requested on or before
January 13, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons may submit comments by any of the
following methods:
1. Email: [email protected]. Submit electronic comments in
Microsoft Word or PDF file format and avoid the use of special
characters or any form of encryption. Please include ``Response to
RFI'' in the subject line.
2. Postal Mail: This option is not available.
3. Hand Delivery/Courier: This option is not available during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
4. Online: Responses will be accepted online at
www.regulations.gov.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
for this RFI. No facsimiles (faxes) will be accepted. Any information
that may be business proprietary and exempt by law from public
disclosure should be submitted as described in Section IV of this
document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be sent to: [email protected] or Dr. Daniel Vega,
[email protected], (202) 586-0235, or Michael Reim,
[email protected], (202) 586-0509.
Please include ``Question on HALEU RFI'' in the subject line.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Department is working to enable the development and deployment
of advanced nuclear reactors as part of meeting the Administration's
job creation, energy security and climate goals. DOE's Advanced Reactor
Demonstration Program was established to partner with domestic private
industry to help accelerate the development and demonstration of
advanced nuclear reactors in the United States. Most advanced reactors,
including several designs selected for the Advanced Reactor
Demonstration Program, are designed to be fueled by HALEU. The
Secretary of Energy was authorized in Sec. 2001 of the Energy
[[Page 71056]]
Act of 2020 to establish and carry out, through the Office of Nuclear
Energy, a program to support the availability of HALEU for civilian
domestic research, development, demonstration, and commercial use
(HALEU Availability Program). A HALEU Availability Program, leading to
the deployment and commercialization of clean energy technologies and
infrastructure, could secure a critical domestic supply chain for
meeting the Administration's climate, economic, and energy security
goals. This program would include substantive engagement by
stakeholders, including State, local, and Tribal governments. The
program would prioritize addressing long-standing and persistent energy
justice issues and be responsive to President Biden's Justice40
Initiative \1\ by targeting 40 percent of the benefits of climate and
clean infrastructure investments to disadvantaged communities,
considering rural communities and communities impacted by the market-
based transition to clean energy, and include substantive stakeholder
engagement.
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\1\ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/.
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Currently, there is very limited domestic capacity to provide HALEU
from either DOE or commercial sources. This lack of capacity is a
significant obstacle to the development and deployment of advanced
reactors for commercial applications.
Specifically, DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
provides highly enriched uranium (HEU), HALEU, and Low Enriched Uranium
for its defense and nonproliferation missions. Most of NNSA's HEU is
reserved for the Naval Reactors program and for use in the nuclear
weapons stockpile, and is therefore unavailable for down-blending to
use in advanced reactors used for commercial applications. Other HEU in
the inventory is allocated to supply research reactors and medical
isotope production facilities worldwide, and to meet critical defense
and space requirements. After accounting for these requirements on the
inventory, the remaining amount of HEU to be down-blended to HALEU for
advanced commercial reactors is very limited. If these supplies were
redirected to fuel advanced commercial reactors, they would not be
sufficient to meet the projected near-term demands for advanced reactor
demonstration and deployment. Furthermore, diverting these resources to
support advanced reactor demonstration and deployment would compromise
vital nuclear security and nonproliferation missions.
Likewise, on the commercial side, there is no domestic assured
source of HALEU to be used to produce fuel for advanced reactors in
sufficient quantities to meet anticipated demand. In turn, uncertainty
regarding the commercial deployment of advanced reactors and future
demand for HALEU undermines private investment to develop an assured
HALEU supply capability and related infrastructure.
The HALEU Availability Program envisioned in the Energy Act of 2020
is intended to address this problem by temporarily securing a supply of
HALEU to support research, development, demonstration, and equitable
deployment of advanced reactors for commercial applications. This
action, in turn, could spur demand for additional HALEU production and
private investment in nuclear fuel supply infrastructure and ultimately
remove the government from any role as a supplier of HALEU for
industry. The development of a viable domestic commercial supply of
HALEU for advanced commercial power reactors could also supply the
needs of medical isotope producers and civilian research reactors. The
program outlined in Sec. 2001 of the Energy Act of 2020 would sunset on
September 30th, 2034, or 90 days after adequate supply is established.
II. Specific Questions on Which Information Is Requested
Public input is requested on information the Department should
consider as it plans a program to support HALEU availability for
civilian domestic research, development, demonstration, and commercial
use. The information gathered in response to this RFI will be
considered by DOE in planning for the HALEU Availability Program and
other relevant planning and reporting purposes as needed. In providing
information in response to this RFI, please include the data, analysis,
and/or other justification for the responses, where applicable. Please
note that any information that may be business proprietary and exempt
by law from public disclosure should be submitted as described in
Section IV of this document.
To facilitate public input, this RFI includes a set of specific
questions on which the Department would appreciate input. These
questions are listed below.
Establishment of a HALEU Consortium & Market Development
(1) Sec. 2001 of the Energy Act of 2020 directs the establishment
and periodic updating of a HALEU Consortium to partner with DOE to
support the availability of HALEU for civilian domestic demonstration
and commercial use. Among other things, the Act envisions that the
HALEU Consortium could: provide information to DOE for purposes of
biennial surveys on the quantity of HALEU needed for commercial use for
each of the subsequent five years; purchase HALEU made available by the
Secretary for commercial use by members of the consortium; and carry
out demonstration projects using HALEU provided by the Secretary under
the program.
What types of organizations or other entities should be included in
the HALEU Consortium? If your organization or entity might be
interested in becoming a member of a HALEU Consortium, please describe
the contribution your organization or entity could provide to the
consortium. The description should include examples of the type of
activity or activities for which your organization or entity is
interested in partnering with the Department. Please also provide a
point of contact for your organization or entity, including name,
affiliation, email, and phone number.
(2) Please identify any issues, including energy justice concerns,
that may affect the implementation of the HALEU Availability Program
under Sec. 2001 of the Energy Act of 2020, in an equitable manner that
would further the development and deployment of advanced reactors and
the establishment of a domestic commercial source of HALEU.
(3) What are the most significant barriers to the establishment of
a reliable market-driven, commercial supply of HALEU for advanced
reactor research, demonstration, and commercial deployment? Please
describe these barriers in detail, identify potential actions to
address these barriers, and include the timeframes in which the issues
should be addressed.
(4) If the Department were to address the objectives of Sec. 2001
of the Energy Act of 2020 related to the creation of a fuel bank to
supply HALEU for civilian domestic research, development,
demonstration, and commercial use:
What is the quantity (in metric tons/assay) of HALEU
necessary for domestic commercial use for each of the next five years
(2022-2026)?
If a ``stockpile'' of HALEU were established to build
confidence in the supply of HALEU supporting early orders for the
deployment of advanced reactors in the commercial market, how
[[Page 71057]]
large (in metric tons/assay) a stockpile would be needed?
What siting and energy justice issues should the
Department take into account as it considers the development of a
program and how might the Department address those issues?
(5) Please identify any additional specific actions that would
provide confidence in the short-term supply of HALEU and thereby to
ensure the development of a commercial market for advanced reactor
orders.
What actions might be most useful for the U.S. Government
to carry out?
What actions might be most appropriate for the private
sector to carry out?
(6) What level of market demand for HALEU over what timeframe is
needed to stimulate investment in the infrastructure required to
support a HALEU supply chain?
(7) On what basis should HALEU be priced or valued? Please consider
the options for the pricing of HALEU based on enrichment, weight, and/
or separative work units and provide the pros and cons for each option
or combination of options. Please discuss how pricing options would
provide DOE with reasonable compensation and commercial entities with
sufficient incentive to deploy domestic capacity to supply HALEU. What
is your long-term estimated ``price point'' for the range of assays/
enrichment (2030 and beyond)? Please consider and note the form of
HALEU (e.g., metal, oxide, UF6, etc.) in your response.
HALEU Supply Chain Development
(8) Advanced reactors under development (including awardees under
the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program) would utilize HALEU in
various chemical and physical fuel forms, including oxides, metals, and
potentially salts. Additionally, centrifuge enrichment requires uranium
in hexafluoride form. What additional fuel cycle infrastructure, or
additions or modifications to existing infrastructure, would enable the
deployment of commercial HALEU production and assure the availability
of different forms of HALEU in sufficient quantities for use in
advanced reactors?
(9) How do you envision a HALEU supply chain as being responsive to
the President's Justice40 Initiative--a plan to deliver 40 percent of
the overall benefits of climate investments to disadvantaged
communities and inform equitable research, development, and deployment
within DOE? Please provide specific actions and the type of benefits
(e.g., employment, educational opportunities, etc.) that could be most
useful to the targeted communities in response to the Justice40
Initiative.
(10) What are some approaches or contracting vehicles that could be
used by the Department to help enable the necessary commercial
deployment of a domestic HALEU supply chain, including but not limited
to mining, conversion, enrichment, deconversion, transportation, and
fuel fabrication? For each, please discuss potential federal versus
private sector actions; in addition, discuss leveraging robust
partnerships for co-development of sub-elements of the supply chain.
Possible approaches that might be considered include:
Production contracts (of what volume and length);
Take-or-pay contracts (U.S. Government agrees to take
specified volume of goods and/or services for a specified time period);
Partnerships and/or cost-sharing of infrastructure
development, including with allies and partners; and
Payment-for-production milestones.
(11) What specific technological, regulatory, and/or legal gaps or
challenges currently exist for transporting HALEU in various chemical
forms (e.g., oxide, hexafluoride, metal) throughout the HALEU fuel
supply chain? How do these challenges change depending upon the
enrichment level? What actions could be taken, when, and by whom, to
address the identified gaps or challenges?
(12) Questions specific for transportation packaging companies:
(i) What actions, either federal or non-federal, might help
incentivize the development and delivery of a new or modified 30-inch
cylinder? Please discuss incentive amounts and incentive areas (design,
licensing, certification, overpack re-certification, etc.) as
appropriate that would be most helpful to accelerate the delivery date.
(ii) If your company were to receive an order for a 30-inch
transportation package that is certified by NRC to contain enriched
uranium hexafluoride up to 19.75 wt. percent Uranium-235, what do you
expect would be the earliest delivery date possible? What do you
anticipate would be its maximum loading?
(13) Co-location of facilities for the front end of the fuel cycle
(such as enrichment, and conversion/deconversion, and fabrication) may
be a practicable solution to address some HALEU transportation issues.
Is co-location considered otherwise beneficial? Are there other
solutions that should be considered?
(14) What factors affect the ability of U.S. uranium producers to
provide uranium for advanced reactor fuel? Please indicate the
importance of such factors and how they may be addressed.
Regulatory Issues
(15) What are the technical barriers and/or regulatory requirements
(e.g., safety, security, material control and accountability) to
licensing front-end fuel cycle facilities (e.g., enrichment,
deconversion, and/or fuel fabrication facilities) for the production
and availability of HALEU?
For existing facilities to upgrade to a HALEU capability?
For new facilities?
(16) What, if any, additional criticality and/or benchmark data is
needed to meet U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) safety and
regulatory requirements that must be met in order to establish a supply
chain capable of making HALEU available for the development and
deployment of advanced reactors? Please consider and address both
front-end fuel cycle facilities and transportation packages (including
for metal, gas, and pertinent chemical forms).
(17) What, if any, additional challenges or considerations may be
associated with a HALEU lifecycle (including disposition), beyond those
of a traditional light water reactor fuel cycle, and how can they be
can be identified early and addressed?
(18) What other legal, funding, and other issues should be
addressed to best enable the development of a HALEU availability
program and promote private sector deployment of domestic HALEU
production capacity?
Financial Barriers
(19) Please describe the financial challenges associated with
developing a sustainable commercial fuel supply chain for HALEU.
Specifically, what are the challenges related to the acquisition of
funds for investment in HALEU production infrastructure? How might
these challenges be mitigated?
Human Resources
(20) What are the human resource-related considerations related to
the buildout of commercial HALEU production?
Are there specific recruitment and/or training challenges
that must be overcome?
What types of skillsets are needed to develop and deploy
the domestic commercial production of HALEU? Would this increase the
number of union jobs?
[[Page 71058]]
Please describe the nature of any anticipated shortage in
subject matter expertise and its potential impact.
Other
(21) Are there additional considerations or recommendations,
including the timing of various actions, that should be considered with
respect to key challenges to HALEU availability for civilian domestic
research, development, demonstration, and commercial use in the United
States?
III. Submission of Comments
DOE invites all interested parties to submit, in writing by January
13, 2022, comments and information on matters addressed in this RFI.
Any information that may be business proprietary and exempt by law from
public disclosure should be submitted as described in Section IV of
this document.
IV. Business Proprietary Information
Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any person submitting information they
believe to be business proprietary and exempt by law from public
disclosure should submit via email two well-marked copies: One copy of
the document marked ``Business Proprietary'' including all the
information believed to be proprietary, and one copy of the document
marked ``Non-Proprietary'' deleting all of the information believed to
be business proprietary. DOE will make its own determination about the
business proprietary status of the information and treat it according
to its determination. Factors of interest to DOE when evaluating
requests to treat submitted information as business proprietary
include: (1) A description of the items; (2) whether and why such items
are customarily treated as business proprietary within the industry;
(3) whether the information is generally known by or available from
other sources; (4) whether the information has previously been made
available to others without obligation concerning its business
proprietary nature; (5) an explanation of the competitive injury to the
submitting person which would result from public disclosure; (6) when
such information might lose its business proprietary character due to
the passage of time; and (7) why disclosure of the information would be
contrary to the public interest.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on December 8,
2021, by Andrew Griffith, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Fuel
Cycle and Supply Chain, Office of Nuclear Energy, pursuant to delegated
authority from the Secretary of Energy. That document with the original
signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes
only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the Federal
Register, the undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been
authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic format for
publication, as an official document of the Department of Energy. This
administrative process in no way alters the legal effect of this
document upon publication in the Federal Register.
Signed in Washington, DC, on December 9, 2021.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2021-26984 Filed 12-13-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
