The United States Department Of Energy Nuclear Materials Loan Program

The Atomic Energy Act, as amended, authorizes the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies to distribute nuclear materials to U.S. universities and other educational institutes for the purposes of research, development, and education. DOE’s authority to loan nuclear materials is extremely limited and is generally only used with U.S. educational institutes, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensees and/or other U.S. government federal agencies. Since the Atoms for Peace initiative in the 1950s, nuclear materials have been distributed to educational institutions by multiple DOE offices and their predecessor agencies. Due to reorganizations and the elimination of offices, in some cases, DOE program responsibility for loaned nuclear materials has become uncertain and documentation of loaned nuclear materials is inconsistent. In addition, DOE has received an increasing number of inquiries from institutions possessing DOE owned nuclear materials that are interested in returning DOE loaned materials to government custody. To improve and facilitate management of DOE loaned nuclear materials, the DOE is establishing a Lead Materials Management Organization to manage a Nuclear Materials Loan Program (NMLP). The NMLP will provide a single point of contact within DOE for loan inquiries and return of loaned nuclear materials. The NMLP will manage the inventory of nuclear materials retained by NRC licensees and other U.S. federal agencies through verification and continued tracking, facilitate return or disposition, evaluate risk and prioritize requests to return and/or remove government owned nuclear materials, and establish and maintain loan agreements with the institutions. This paper will provide an overview of the history, status, and improvements underway associated with DOE nuclear materials loans.