U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Press Secretary, Washington, DC 20585
Declassification of the United States Total Production of Highly Enriched Uranium
Table of Contents
SpecificallyBackground
Benefits
Who Are the Key Stakeholders?
Contact
Attachment
Questions and Answers
The Department of Energy has declassified the total amount of highly enriched uranium that was produced at the K-25 Site (formerly known as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant) at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant at Portsmouth, Ohio. Highly enriched uranium is defined as uranium having an enrichment above 20 percent of the fissionable isotope uranium-235.
Specifically
- The United States total production of highly enriched uranium from 1945 to 1992 was 994 metric tons.
- The K-25 Site in Oak Ridge produced 483 metric tons of highly enriched uranium. Highly enriched uranium production started at the K-25 Site in 1945 and terminated in 1964. The site was placed on standby in 1985 and shut down in 1987.
- The Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Portsmouth, Ohio, produced 511 metric tons of highly enriched uranium. Portsmouth production of highly enriched uranium began in 1956 and stopped in 1992.
- The attached map shows the quantities and locations of the production.
Background
- The two gaseous diffusion plants produced almost all the highly enriched uranium used by the nuclear weapons program and by the Naval Reactors program. Highly enriched uranium is also used for space power and for research reactors. In addition, small quantities were produced by other technologies prior to 1947.
- The quantity listed here is based on the evaluation of the records available. The quantity may be updated or revised in the future after re-evaluation of the methodology used originally.
Benefits
- As part of the Secretary of Energy's Openness Initiative, the Department of Energy is declassifying information regarding the U.S. total production of highly enriched uranium. As a result of this declassification, the American public will have information that is important to the ongoing radiation dose reconstruction studies and other issues relating to proper management and ultimate disposition of highly enriched uranium. The release of this information should encourage other nations to declassify similar information.
- The data may permit more environmentally relevant information to be released to stakeholders and the public about historic activities at Portsmouth and K-25.
- Could have valuable nonproliferation benefits by making potential International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards arrangements easier to implement.
Who Are the Key Stakeholders?
- Regulators. The States of Tennessee and Ohio; also the Environmental Protection Agency may be assisted.
- The Public. Data will be available for a public discussion of uranium quantities.
- Public Interest Organizations. Stakeholders include environmental, safety and health groups, historians, archivists, researchers, scientists and industrial workers, as well as State personnel. With this declassification, those interested in oversight of highly enriched uranium related activities will have additional information regarding United States total production of highly enriched uranium. Public interest organization which have expressed such an interest include (but are not limited to): Friends of the Earth; Military Production Network; National Security Archive; National Association of Atomic Veterans; Natural Resources Defense Council; Physicians for Social Responsibility; and Sierra Club.
- Freedom of Information Act Requesters. Specific requesters will have access to more of the data that they are seeking.
Contact
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Public Affairs
Contact: Sam Grizzle
(202) 586-5806
Attachment
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Press Secretary, Washington, DC 20585
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q. What are the disposition plans for these old enrichment plants?
A. The K-25 Site is maintained in a safe, shutdown mode pending results from the study regarding the costs, technologies, and priorities associated with the disposition of the plants. The Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant continues to work, producing commercial reactor fuel.
Q. How safe is the uranium storage at Portsmouth? Does it represent a hazard to the workers?
A. Onsite reviews indicate that the uranium storage is safe. The Portsmouth and Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plants started operations in the early 1950's, and have been operated continuously since then. Uranium storage at the plants is primarily in the form of depleted, nonfissile "tails." These tails are stored in 10-ton and 14-ton cylinders in the form of uranium hexafluoride (UF6). Portsmouth currently has approximately 15,000 cylinders in storage, and Paducah has approximately 30,000 cylinders in storage.
The primary hazard associated with UF6 is toxicity, not radioactivity. When exposed to water and air, UF6 quickly converts to uranyl oxyfluoride (a white powder) and releases hydrogen fluoride. There have been inadvertent, small, localized releases of UF6. However, workers are routinely trained on procedures for responding to these releases.
To ensure the integrity of the stored cylinders, they are regularly inspected for deterioration. Cylinders that are determined to be substandard are removed from the storage area and refurbished or replaced. Studies are underway to determine the best way to convert the UF6 tails into an oxide that could be stored for long periods without the risk of chemical toxicity.
In addition to the tails, Portsmouth has residual highly enriched uranium as a result of enriching operations. This material is kept under regular surveillance in high security areas. Highly enriched uranium production stopped in 1992. The Department of Energy is currently studying options for disposition of the remaining highly enriched uranium.
Click
to return to the
table of contents for this fact sheet.
Click here to return to the list of fact sheets.
Click here to go to the previous fact sheet.
Click here to go to the next fact sheet.