September-October 2018 NPJ

Nuclear Plant Journal, September-October 2018 NuclearPlantJournal.com 29 Anne Leidich At Pillsbury, Anne Leidich has represented clients in the energy industry on a variety of matters, ranging from international arbitration to practice before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Atomic Safety and Licensing Boards. In addition to litigation and arbitration, Anne provides advice on the application of 10 CFR Part 810, and assists in the negotiation of complex commercial contracts. Since the development of the civilian nuclear reactor fleet in the early 1960s, with its principal focus on LEU, the production, transportation, and manufacture of higher assays of uranium, either HA-LEU or HEU, have been conducted almost entirely by or on behalf of the DOE or its predecessor the Atomic Energy Commission. With the development of advanced reactors and fuel technologies in the civilian market, there will be a variety of areas associated with the supply of this fuel that will require the time and attention of technology developers, DOE, and the NRC. One of the greatest concerns is the development and supply of sufficient fuel transport containers that can address the expected demand for these materials. Even if Congress and the Trump Administration were able to identify appropriate domestic source(s) of HA- LEU, there remain significant challenges to transport this material in any volume due to the lack to appropriate and sufficient transport canisters. Higher assay uranium is more difficult to handle and transport due to the more complex geometric requirements needed to ensure the avoidance of accidents. As a general matter, the higher the enrichment, the smaller the volume of material that can be carried in an individual canister while avoiding criticality. The possibility of a significant increase in the need for these canisters to transport higher volumes of materials enriched above 5% U-235 – based on market demands – combined with a limited number of approved canisters could create a potentially critical gap in the ability to transport sufficient quantities of these materials. New containers may need to be designed to improve shipping ability, which may also require the development of new design methods and codes. The industry may also need to develop alternative methods of transportation such as converting the uranium hexafluoride (“UF6”) to an oxide or metal. In addition to the lack of sufficient transport containers for these materials, many of the potential containers may need recertification by regulatory authorities, including the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Licensing of these canisters can take 2 years, after the design and development work is complete. In summary, the time to take action to address this issue is short. The develop- ment of advanced reactor technolo- gies and advanced reactor fuels brings with it the potential for new and excit- ing opportunities for the U.S. nuclear industry and an op- portunity to retain the historic Ameri- can lead in the de- ployment of nuclear technologies world- wide and revital- ize its nuclear fuel cycle supply chain. In the case of advanced reactors, their size, proliferation resistance, modular de- ployment and more cost effective designs could provide “game changing” opportu- nities for both domestic and international export of these technologies. However, these opportunities could be slowed or stopped because most of the advanced reactor developers in the U.S. are plan- ning to rely on high assay low enriched uranium that is currently unavailable in the United States due an inability of the U.S. government or private industry to provide sufficient enrichment capabili- ties. Congress and the Trump Adminis- tration should undertake prompt action to address the lack of an adequate HA-LEU supply that could hinder the continued progress of advanced nuclear power plant deployment. As the infrastructure for the production of civilian nuclear fuel, as well as the regulatory processes overseeing its production and use, have all been based on the existing LWR market, virtually every element of the nuclear fuel cycle has been tailored precisely for these reactors. As development and future deployment of many of the current advanced reactor designs requires utilizing fuel with higher enrichments of uranium, appropriate sources of this material will need to be identified or created, as no commercial, domestic source currently exists. This includes the means to enrich, transport, manufacture, store and dispose of this fuel. For its part, the NRC will also need to tailor its regulatory framework to meet this need. Unfortunately, the Department of Energy, which has been the traditional supplier of these enriched levels of material, does not currently possess the high assay enriched uranium or enrichment capabilities that are needed for advanced reactors as the current inventory is dedicated to other needs such as research reactors and the Navy propulsion program. Our understanding is that DOE has identified some materials that could be modified to meet these needs. Congress has recently tried to provide helpful funding to initiate DOE’s efforts. Other pending legislation quite rightly recognizes the importance of HA-LEU in the development of advanced reactors and focuses on key issues such as the need to have DOE create an inventory of this material, the need for criticality information to develop and license transportation packages, and the need for the NRC to develop an appropriate and timely licensing framework. (Continued on page 33)