HOBBS, N.M. – Federal regulators have released a final environmental review of a proposed uranium deconversion plant in southeastern New Mexico.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says there are no environmental effects that would preclude licensing the plant that International Isotopes Inc. plans to build near Hobbs.
The Idaho-based company plans to deconvert the tons of depleted uranium tails produced each year by Louisiana Energy Services' National Enrichment Facility in nearby Eunice.
During the deconversion process, International Isotopes will be able to simultaneously extract fluorine gases that could be sold and used in manufacturing solar panels, computer screens and medical equipment.
International Isotopes Fluorine Products Inc., a subsidiary of International Isotopes, first applied for a license from the NRC in December 2009.
The agency held a public meeting on the environmental review earlier this year in Hobbs and collected more than 400 comments.
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