The Navy Considers Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) for Naval Propulsion

The U.S. Navy is one of the largest non-weapons users of High Enriched Uranium (HEU) in the 1 world. In 2016 the Navy responded to Congressional prompting and proposed a research and development plan for limited use of Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) fuel for naval propulsion. This paper provides a current assessment of the status of U.S.’s LEU conversion and its potential impact on domestic and international issues.2 It also notes the relevance of experience of France in conversion from HEU to LEU for their submarines and aircraft carrier and how the French concept of reactor safety contributed to France’s conversion decision. In addition, the paper addresses the Life-of-the-Ship (LOS) reactor concept that the Navy is currently using in the Virginia class submarines and questions whether the LOS concept should be subjected to a more transparent review and analysis.