NRC fines GE-Hitachi $45K over NC nuke test site, October 21, 2011 Bloomberg By EMERY P. DALESIO, RALEIGH, N.C. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has fined GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy $45,000 for multiple security violations at a North Carolina facility using classified technology to test whether lasers can be used to enrich uranium.
A redacted copy of an NRC violation letter provided to The Associated Press on Thursday following a Freedom of Information Act request said investigators identified five violations including “a significant lack of management attention.” Details of the violations described by the letter were blacked out by nuclear regulators before it was released to The AP….
The violations involved a contractor’s employee working at the GE-Hitachi’s Global Nuclear Fuels facility near Wilmington, where the company is using top-secret technology to find out whether lasers can effectively enrich uranium instead of costlier centrifuges, company spokesman Christopher White said.
“GLE became aware of an event that was outside of our normal security protocols. I can’t get into specifics because of the top-secret nature of the program,” White said….
Whatever happened, it was serious enough for the NRC to take the rare step of imposing fines, said Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist in the global security program of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“If they actually issue a fine I think it reflects a pretty serious issue. The problem is of course that we don’t know what it is,” he said.
The NRC is reviewing a licensing application by GE-Hitachi to build and operate a laser-enrichment facility…….
There are nearly four dozen redactions in the NRC’s violation notification letter. Most of the reasons given for blacking out information involve exceptions to protect confidential business information and to protect individuals if details could endanger their life or physical safety.
The violations were first reported Thursday by Global Security Newswire, which reports on nuclear and related issues.
GE-Hitachi was established in 2007 by General Electric and Tokyo-based Hitachi to serve the global nuclear industry. Enriching uranium with lasers could make it cheaper to fuel nuclear power plants that generate electricity.
“The thing about this facility is that so much of it is classified,” Lyman said. “One reason is they’re very worried about proliferation of this technology. So the issue of access to the facility, granting clearances to employees, I think is a very sensitive issue.” http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9QGODKO0.htm
