IMPROVING YOUR DISPOSITION –ENRICHED URANIUM DISPOSITION THAT IS!

The HEU Disposition and Uranium Supply Program (HDUS), BWXT Y-12, develops plans and integrates the surplus highly enriched uranium (HEU) disposition activities across the Department of Energy (DOE) complex in support of the Office of Fissile Materials Disposition. Over the past two years, the HDUS re-examined disposition options for the remaining unallocated surplus offspec HEU and other HEU across the DOE complex. .For many of these materials, potential disposition through the H-Canyon facilities at the Savannah River Site (SRS) for either recovery and down blending to low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel or disposal as waste was identified as the most viable option. Another National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) initiative, in support of nuclear material disposition and consolidation, resulted in additional candidate materials being proposed to be processed at SRS. Washington Savannah River Company (WSRC) evaluated the combined lists of NNSA materials (approximately 7 MT HEU) to determine the feasibility and technical compatibility for processing the materials through the H-Canyon facilities. The published report identified the technically compatible materials and the estimated cost and schedule associated with processing them. These materials, along with other proposed materials owned by the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) for a total of approximately 21 MTU, were included in the scope of the SRS Enriched Uranium Disposition Project, for which the Deputy Secretary of Energy approved the Mission Need and the selection of continued operations of the SRS H-Canyon as the Preferred Alternative. In order to begin disposition of these additional materials at SRS, several programmatic and site issues were addressed. The issues included establishment of the item-level project baseline inventory; review of disposition options, including extension of the HEU Blend Down Program and determining the end-state disposition for the resultant LEU; review of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements associated with the applicable Environmental Impact Statements (EIS); availability of sufficient safe, secure transportation support; the packaging and storage constraints at the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12); the receipt and processing requirements and storage capacities at SRS. Integration of these additional enriched uranium materials into a disposition program through competitive bids or through their addition to the highly successful Off-Specification Fuel Program would provide mutual benefit to all stakeholders, from DOE/NNSA to the private sector.