Use of Risk Management in Implementing the Mark-18A Target Material Recovery Program

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) manages an inventory of materials that contains a range of long-lived radioactive isotopes that were produced from the 1960s through the 1980s by irradiating targets in production reactors at the Savannah River Site (SRS). These programs were established to produce special heavy isotopes for DOE programmatic use, scientific research, and industrial and medical applications. During the late 1960s, one of the production reactors was configured to operate in a very high flux mode, and >8 kg of 242Pu contained in Mark-18A targets was irradiated to produce 252Cf for use in neutron source applications. Twenty-one targets were processed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to recover the 252Cf, heavy curium, and 244Pu. Sixty-five of the Mark-18A targets were not processed and are currently in wet storage at SRS. DOE’s Office of Nuclear Materials Integration is establishing a Mark-18A Target Material Recovery Program to separate and preserve the unique materials in these targets. This report summarizes the development of the risk management plan for the program and how it is being used to guide planning for implementation of the program to reduce risk, lower costs, and improve chances of success.