Year
2008
Abstract
Russia is presently processing 30 MT of high enriched uranium (HEU) per year to produce low enriched uranium (LEU) to fuel the World’s nuclear power reactors. The U.S.-Russian HEU Agreement that made this possible has been very successful, but substantial inventories of HEU will remain when the agreement terminates in 2013. NTI, through its project with the Russian institute, FSUE TSIIAtominform, has examined options for increasing the amount of HEU down-blended, and for overcoming the constraining limitations in processing capacity, most particularly with the uranium enrichment capacity required to produce the blendstock. This paper outlines the technology for HEU down-blending in Russia, describes the technological issues that must be confronted in order to increase the rate of HEU down-blending, and discusses the options for resolving them. These options include adding new industrial facilities in Russia, two stage blending regimes that could leverage the Russian capacities or make possible the use of U.S. facilities, and taking advantage or the revised isotopic limits in the most recent ASTM specification for commercial grade UF6 to allow alternative, and less enrichment intensive, blendstocks to be used. In addition, the paper discusses the potential optimization to make best use of the existing capabilities, while minimizing overall investments needed and the timescales for implementation. The paper concludes by setting out a number of scenarios on which to base the financial analysis and discussion presented in the accompanying papers.