Westinghouse Electric Company said Thursday that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has granted the company approval to restart the Conversion Area operations at the Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in Columbia, S.C.
The area of the nuclear fuel processing plant was shut down in July while regulators and the company investigated what caused a ventilation scrubber to build up unexpected amounts of radioactivity.
Westinghouse interim senior vice president for Nuclear Fuel and Components Manufacturing Michele DeWitt said the company has been “strengthened by the rigorous effort put forth to obtain the NRC's restart approval.” She called the experience a “positive milestone in our fuel manufacturing history.” Ongoing, the focus for the plant is to prepare for a restart and a recovery in the domain of commercial operations.
The Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility is part of Westinghouse Electric Company’s nuclear fuel and components manufacturing business and is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world. The site houses commercial nuclear fuel manufacturing facilities, product engineering and testing laboratories, and fuel marketing and contract administration functions. The facility employs nearly 1,000 personnel, including manufacturing and nuclear fuel experts, and is located in Columbia, South Carolina in the U.S.