Human health impacts avoided by blending highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium for commercial nuclear fuel

Journal Article · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1996 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:436829

Zuo, Tan; Blauer, H M ^[1]

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1. Tetra Tech, Falls Church, VA (United States)

The end of the Cold War and subsequent Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties have resulted in surplus stockpiles of weapons-usable fissile materials in the United States. If not managed properly, these excess stockpiles could pose a danger to national and international security with potential for environmental, safety, and health consequences. The United States has declared 200 tonnes of fissile materials surplus, of which 165 tonnes is highly enriched uranium (HEU). Uranium with {sup 235}U enrichments of 20% or greater is considered HEU. The U.S. Department of Energy proposes to blend the surplus HEU to low-enriched uranium (LEU) to eliminate the risk of diversion for nuclear proliferation purposes and, where practical, to reuse the resulting LEU in ways that recover its commercial value. This paper presents the human health risk assessment results for each proposed blending alternative and compares the health impact to that of the commercial nuclear fuel cycle.

• OSTI ID: 436829
• Report Number(s): CONF-9606116--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 74; ISSN TANSAO; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
FISSILE MATERIALS
FUEL CYCLE
HEALTH HAZARDS
HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM
PROCESSING
PROLIFERATION
RISK ASSESSMENT
SECURITY
SLIGHTLY ENRICHED URANIUM
STOCKPILES