13 July 2006
U.S. Project Converts Weapons-Grade Uranium into Fuel
Nuclear security agency, two U.S. firms complete seven-year program
Washington –-A six-year-old effort to turn nuclear weapons material into fuel for electricity has been accomplished, according the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
The NNSA announced July 13 that, working with two U.S. companies, it has converted about 50 tons of highly enriched uranium (HEU) -– enough to make 800 nuclear warheads -– into 660 tons of low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. That is enough fuel to power a typical commercial reactor for about 34 years, or to generate enough electricity to run every household in the United States for 81 days, according to NNSA.
"We have successfully turned weapons material into something people can use to turn the lights on," said NNSA Administrator Linton Brooks.
The Department of Energy transferred the highly enriched uranium to the private United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) for disposition in the commercial fuel market. USEC, in turn, contracted with BWX Technologies to mix (the process is termed “downblending”) the highly enriched uranium with natural uranium. BWXT also manages NNSA’s Y-12 National Security Complex.
The conversion process took about seven years, according to NNSA. USEC sold the product of the process -- commercial reactor-grade low-enriched uranium fuel -- to its nuclear utility customers.
"The successful completion of this endeavor paves the way for future HEU reduction and conversion efforts,” said John Fees, BWXT’s president and chief operating officer.
NNSA's HEU Downblending Program is a major component of the agency’s nonproliferation mission to reduce quantities of excess weapons-grade nuclear materials, according to a July 13 release.
NNSA, a quasi-autonomous entity within the Energy Department, also is tasked with keeping the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile safe, secure and reliable without nuclear testing. (See related article.)
For further information on U.S. nonproliferation programs, see Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
Additional information about NNSA programs is available on the agency’s Web site.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
