The Need for US Actinide Enrichment Capability?

There is a need to reestablish the capability to enrich actinide radioisotopes in the United States (US) to support national security, nuclear nonproliferation, and basic research programs. The US inventory of enriched actinides was produced via electromagnetic separation in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) calutrons, producing gram quantities of numerous valuable enriched actinide isotopes that are being used today. Unfortunately, the ORNL calutrons used to produce these actinides were shut down in the late 1970s, and their restart is no longer possible. The US inventory of enriched actinides is being depleted, and attempts for over a decade to obtain critical supplies from foreign sources have been unsuccessful. Significant strides have been made recently in the development of new and improved enrichment technologies to replace the previous electromagnetic separations techniques. This paper discusses the actinide enrichment needs and basic requirements for future actinide enrichment capabilities. A workshop with the various user communities is recommended to identify current and future actinide enrichment needs and to obtain additional input on the requirements for actinide enrichment.