TN Nuke Plant Cleared For Restart
The Nuclear Fuel Services plant in East Tennessee has been cleared to restart its last idled processing line.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission notified the company in a letter on Tuesday, according to the Johnson City Press.
Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the federal agency, says the go-ahead was issued after an NRC inspection concluded the uranium hexafluoride line could be operated safely.
Production lines at the plant in Erwin were shut down in December 2009 following two incidents in which no employees were injured.
NFS had earlier been allowed to restart three process lines, including one that manufactures nuclear fuel for the U.S. Navy.
Company spokeswoman Lauri Turpin said the uranium hexafluoride line will not resume production immediately, but preparations will be made for a restart.
