History and Activities of the Nuclear Materials Management Team

The Nuclear Materials Management Team (NMMT), formerly known as the Inactive Actinides Working Group (IAWG), was created in April 2005 to implement lifecycle management of nuclear materials within the nuclear weapons complex. The NMMT includes Federal and contractor representatives from each of the Defense Programs sites with nuclear materials management responsibility. With the end to the Cold War, the Nuclear Weapons Complex was burdened with large inventories of nuclear materials that are excess to National Security requirements. At the same time, the Complex was, through facility transfer and site closure, losing access to the capabilities needed to process these materials. The IAWG was created in 2002 to develop policy and procedures for identification, categorization, characterization, and disposition of these legacy materials. In 2005, the IAWG was re-chartered as the NMMT, and tasked to implement the guidance developed by the IAWG. The group's charter was expanded to apply those principles to all nuclear materials. In that vein, the NMMT was tasked to support the revision of DOE Order 5660.1B, Nuclear Materials Management.