Notice of Receipt of Supplemental Environmental Report for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility and Notice of Public Meetings

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On July 11, 2002, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received a supplemental Environmental Report (ER) from Duke COGEMA Stone & Webster (DCS), for the proposed Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility. The need for the supplemental ER arose, in January 2002, when the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced its decision to alter its planned hybrid approach for surplus weapons plutonium disposition [65 FR 1608]. The Plutonium Immobilization Plant (PIP) that DOE had planned to build and operate as part of its hybrid approach will not be built. Instead, DOE decided that 34 metric tons of surplus weapons plutonium would be converted into MOX fuel at the proposed MOX facility. DOE's decision not to build the Plutonium Immobilization Plant (PIP) and convert all of the plutonium into MOX fuel requires design changes to the proposed MOX facility. The NRC staff found that due to these changes, DCS would be required to submit a supplemental ER. A notice of delay in issuance of the Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for the proposed MOX facility was published in the Federal Register on April 24, 2002 (67 FR 20183). This Federal Register notice also discussed c