Y-12 Subsampling Of National Nuclear Material Archive Uranium Samples For High Precision Analysis

The National Nuclear Materials Archive (NNMA) program managed by the National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation- Nuclear Forensics makes use of the wide range of uranium materials processing knowledge and onsite materials at the Y-12 National Security Complex to identify, collect and preserve materials for nuclear forensics purposes. In 2019 Y-12 undertook the identification, subsampling, and shipping of ~5g pieces of highly enriched uranium metal from 24 existing NNMA samples to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for analyses. These samples are representative of different weapon system components produced by Y-12 over an approximate 50 year period that were collected during ongoing dismantlement activities and accepted previously into the NNMA. The purpose of the LLNL analyses will be to provide the NNMA program with higher precision data on these materials than what is currently available from historical Y-12 production stream information. An additional 24 NNMA uranium metal samples from weapon system components are planned for shipment to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2020 for similar analyses.