Update on Y-12’s Efforts Supporting the Global Threat Reduction Initiative’s Gap Program

The Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) recently completed recovery missions that resulted in the return of U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Canada and France. These missions supported the goals of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) Gap Program. The Canadian HEU was from the Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL) fuel and target manufacturing facilities at Chalk River. The Canadian HEU was in the form of uranium-aluminum fabrication scraps and uranium oxides. The HEU from France was from the CERCA (Compagnie Pour L’Etude Et La Realisation De Combustibles Atomiques) Romans facility where it was being held in interim storage for the Belgian Nuclear Research Center (SCK·CEN). The HEU from France was in the form of BR2 material test reactor plates consisting of a uranium-aluminum alloy fuel core clad in aluminum. This paper will describe the activities necessary to complete the missions including NNSA contract agreements, material characterization and valuation, and the transportation process.