WASHINGTON (10/05/06) -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received an operating license application from Duke, Cogema, Stone & Webster (DCS) for a proposed mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facility to be constructed at the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The application, submitted Sept. 27, will soon be available for public viewing online. 

The facility, which will be owned by the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, is part of a bilateral effort between the United States and the Russian Federation to convert supplies of surplus weapons-grade plutonium into more proliferation-resistant forms by blending it with uranium. Converting the plutonium into MOX fuel will enable it to be used in commercial reactors to generate electricity. In the United States, only those reactors authorized by the NRC will be permitted to use MOX fuel.

The NRC issued a construction authorization for the facility March 30, 2005. During that licensing review, the NRC staff completed an Environmental Impact Statement on the construction and operation of the proposed facility. 

Information on various public meetings held regarding the MOX facility is also available online.