THE MATERIAL CONSOLIDATION AND CONVERSION PROJECT: CURRENT STATUS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

The Material Consolidation and Conversion (MCC) Project is designed to reduce the proliferation attractiveness of weapon-usable nuclear material (e.g., converting high-enriched uranium (HEU) to low-enriched uranium (LEU). It can also be an effective vehicle for removing all of the excess weapon-usable nuclear material from Russian buildings and sites, thereby reducing the number of potential theft targets and lowering the associated long-term costs of securing that material. The MCC Project began in fiscal year (FY)99, and through June 2003, it had supported the down blending of more than 4 metric tons (MT) of HEU and had established rigorous technical monitoring regimes at the two Russian down blending sites – the Scientific Industrial Association (Luch) in Podolsk and the Research Institute for Atomic Reactors (RIAR) in Dimitrovgrad. A key element on the nonproliferation agenda between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy (MinAtom) is the expansion of the MCC Project. For instance, in September 2002, DOE Secretary Abraham and MinAtom Minister Rumyantsev endorsed a set of options devised by the Joint U.S.-Russian Expert Working Group on accelerating the reduction of weapon-usable nuclear material. These options were then forwarded to and approved by Presidents Bush and Putin. One of the HEU options called for a significant acceleration of the joint effort under the MCC Project. However, one factor impeding the full development of this project is the lack of a clear and consistent mutual understanding about its relationship to the MPC&A Agreement. This paper describes the development of the MCC Project, its activity to date, ways to usefully expand this effort, and possible approaches to clarify the MCC-MPC&A relationship to allow for the Project’s full implementation.