Supporting the Global Threat Reduction Initiative through Nuclear Material Recovery: Collaboration between NNSA and AREVA

Conference · Sun Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2007

OSTI ID:20979697

Bieniawski, Andrew; Sheely, Ken ^[1]; Hunter, Ian; Louvet, Thibault ^[2]

---

1. NNSA, Global Threat Reduction US Department of Energy (United States)
2. AREVA NC (France)

The Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) was established by the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in response to the growing need to comprehensively and internationally address the potential threat posed by vulnerable high-risk nuclear material. GTRI's mission is to foster international support for national programs to identify, secure, remove and/or facilitate the disposition, as quickly and expeditiously as possible, of vulnerable, high-risk nuclear and other radioactive materials around the world that pose a potential threat to the international community. Specifically, GTRI establishes international partnerships to address this global issue. To achieve these objectives, GTRI works with international, regional, and domestic partners to: (1) minimize and, to the extent possible, eliminate the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU) in civil nuclear applications worldwide by converting research reactors to LEU fuels; (2) accelerate the removal or final disposition of vulnerable nuclear material throughout the world; (3) accelerate securing and/or removing vulnerable high-risk radiological materials throughout the world; and (4) address the 'gaps' of other programs by identifying throughout the world, recovering and facilitating permanent disposition of vulnerable high-risk nuclear material not previously addressed by other threat reduction programs. DOE desires to work with more partners, both government and industry, to develop options for the disposal of nuclear material in the most expeditious manner. This paper will present the recent success of the first Plutonium Gap Material recycling contract signed by AREVA thanks to the collaboration developed between NNSA and AREVA. Another item which will be presented and illustrates how GTRI supports government-to-industry partnership, is the willingness to consider the treatment option for Gap Materials used-fuel. This new step represents another broadening of the collaboration that already exists between NNSA and AREVA for achieving the goal of GTRI. Such collaboration was already illustrated in 2006 by the recovery of more than 45 Kg of HEU from facilities within Europe and another 15 Kg of fresh HEU were transported from Europe to the U.S. An additional 40 Kg of fresh HEU will be transported from facilities within Europe to the AREVA-CERCA facility before the end of 2007. (authors)

• Research Organization: American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
• OSTI ID: 20979697
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
EUROPE
HAZARDS
HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM
MATERIALS RECOVERY
NUCLEAR FUELS
SECURITY
SLIGHTLY ENRICHED URANIUM
US DOE