Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility in Bonneville County, Idaho
Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance
May 20, 2011
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Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility in Bonneville County, Idaho
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to issue a loan guarantee to Areva Energy Services, LLC (AES), to provide funding for construction of the Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility (EREF) Project. The facility would be located in a rural area in western Bonneville County, Idaho. The EREF would be an advanced uranium enrichment facility utilizing centrifuge technology for the production of commercial nuclear fuel. In December 2008, prior to DOE Loan Programs Office (LPO) involvement in the EREF project, AES submitted an application for the construction and operation of the EREF to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). As required by Section 193 of the Atomic Energy Act (42 USC § 2243), the NRC prepared an environmental impact statement (EIS) which analyzes the impacts of the proposed plant. NRC issued a final EIS in February 2011 (see NUREG-1945, at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/nuregs/staff/srl945D).