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NNSA, TVA agree to ‘down-blend’ uranium to produce tritium for weapons

Posted at 12:15 pm August 29, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The National Nuclear Security Administration and the Tennessee Valley Authority announced Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, that they intend to enter into an agreement to “down-blend” highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium in order to help produce tritium, a key “boosting” component in nuclear weapons. The highly enriched uranium used for the “down-blending” is processed, packaged, and shipped from the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The National Nuclear Security Administration and the Tennessee Valley Authority announced last week that they intend to enter into an agreement to “down-blend” highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium in order to help produce tritium, a key “boosting” component in nuclear weapons.

The highly enriched uranium used for the “down-blending” is processed, packaged, and shipped from the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, according to the NNSA. Y-12 is the main storage facility for certain categories of highly enriched uranium, which can be used in nuclear weapons and in naval reactors.

Low-enriched uranium, or LEU fuel, is used in a commercial power reactor run by TVA at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 1 near Spring City in Rhea County, southwest of Oak Ridge. Tritium is produced there by irradiating lithium-aluminate pellets with neutrons in rods known as tritium-producing burnable absorber rods, or TPBARs.

The irradiated rods are then shipped to the Savannah River Site, an NNSA production facility near Aiken, South Carolina. The Savannah River Site extracts the tritium from the irradiated rods, purifies it, and adds it to the existing inventory, according to the NNSA’s Fiscal Year 2018 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan.

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Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that has two neutrons and one proton. It has been described as an essential component in every nuclear weapon in the U.S. stockpile. It occurs naturally in small quantities but must be manufactured to obtain useful quantities. It enables weapons to produce a larger yield while reducing the overall size and weight of the warhead in a process known as “boosting,” the U.S. Department of Energy said in an environmental impact statement about 20 years ago.

But unlike other nuclear materials used in nuclear weapons, tritium decays at a rate of 5.5 percent per year—its half-life is about 12 years—and it must be replenished periodically.

The NNSA, a separately organized agency within DOE, said the agreement with TVA that was announced last week is for management of the down-blending campaign and the resulting material. It’s separate from an existing interagency agreement for irradiation services that started in 2000 and is in effect until November 30, 2035.

“Without this down-blending campaign, we would need to accelerate the development and execution of a strategy to provide LEU fuel for tritium production by nearly a decade,” said Phil Calbos, NNSA’s acting deputy administrator for defense programs.

The new agreement follows a determination by U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry on August 21 that allows the NNSA to continue transfers of enriched uranium from DOE’s inventories in support of national security, the NNSA said in a press release.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today. 

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Filed Under: Federal, Government, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, Premium Content, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Centrus Energy, DOE, down-blend, Federal Register, Fiscal Year 2018 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan, HEU, highly enriched uranium, LEU, LEU fuel, low enriched uranium, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Phil Calbos, Rick Perry, Savannah River Site, Tennessee Valley Authority, TPBAR, tritium, tritium production, tritium-producing burnable absorber rods, TVA, U.S. Department of Energy, United States Government Accountability Office, uranium-235, USEC, Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 1, Y-12 National Security Complex

Congressmen praise consolidated contract at Y-12, Pantex

Posted at 4:58 pm October 25, 2017
By John Huotari 4 Comments

U.S. Representative Mac Thornberry, left, a Texas Republican, and Representative Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican, are pictured above after an East Tennessee Economic Council meeting on Friday, Oct. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

U.S. Representative Mac Thornberry, left, a Texas Republican, and Representative Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican, are pictured above after an East Tennessee Economic Council meeting on Friday, Oct. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Two congressmen, one from East Tennessee and other the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, praised the consolidated contract that has been used to manage and operate the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge for more than three years.

The two sites are managed by Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC. Y-12 and Pantex are involved in nuclear weapons work and nuclear nonproliferation, and providing enriched uranium for naval, research, and isotope production reactors.

The transition to the consolidated contract, one of the most complex in the history of the U.S. Department of Energy, was completed on July 1, 2014. At that time, officials said the contract included a total annual operating budget of $1.5 billion and employment of about 8,000 in Tennessee and Texas. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, National Nuclear Security Administration, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, ATK Launch Systems Inc., Bechtel National Inc., Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Chuck Fleischmann, CNS, consolidated contract, Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, DOE, East Tennessee Economic Council, House Appropriations Committee, House Armed Services Committee, Lockheed Martin Services Inc., Mac Thornberry, National Nuclear Security Administration, National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office, NNSA, nuclear nonproliferation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Pantex, Pantex Plant, SOC LLC, U.S. Department of Energy, uranium processing facility, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex

Three Y-12 protesters will discuss Oak Ridge action in first public reunion since prison

Posted at 9:17 am August 7, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Y-12 Plowshares Protesters

Pictured above are the three anti-nuclear weapons protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28, 2012, and vandalized a uranium storage building. From left, they are Michael Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The three protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex three years ago and vandalized the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility will discuss their Oak Ridge action in their first public reunion since they were released from prison in May.

Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli will speak at the Church of the Savior (UCC) in Knoxville at 7 p.m. today (Friday, August 7).

Their sabotage conviction from the July 28, 2012, incident was overturned earlier this year. Since their release from prison in May, the three protesters, who are described as nonviolent peace activists, have appeared on national and international news programs, organizers said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, 278th Armored Calvary Regiment, Church of the Savior, Greg Boertje-Obed, Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, Megan Rice, Michael Walli, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, OREPA, sabotage, Unfinished Business, uranium processing facility, Y-12 National Security Complex, Y-12 protesters

Atomic Heritage to discuss Manhattan Project interpretation with Japanese mayors

Posted at 2:18 am April 30, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Hiroshima Peace Bell

Hiroshima Peace Bell (Source: Atomic Heritage Foundation)

 

The Atomic Heritage Foundation will meet Friday with the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to discuss the interpretation of the Manhattan Project, the top-secret effort in World War II to create an atomic bomb, and its legacy for the world today, a press release said.

The meeting will be at the Institute of International Education at the United Nations Plaza in New York.

The Atomic Heritage Foundation led efforts to establish a Manhattan Project National Historical Park for more than a decade. (The City of Oak Ridge also supported the park and lobbied for it.) The park was approved in legislation that passed Congress in December, and it includes Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

“Now AHF is working on the interpretation of the park and welcomes a dialogue with the Japanese to consider this world-changing history from both an American and an international perspective,” the press release said. “The meeting with the mayors is a first step in the process.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Community, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Nonprofits, Oak Ridge, Slider Tagged With: 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, AHF, American Museum of Atomic Energy, atomic bomb, Atomic Heritage Foundation, Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association, Caroline Kennedy, City of Oak Ridge, Clarence Moriwaki, Congress, Cynthia C. Kelly, Hanford, Hiroshima, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, Institute of International Education, Japan Confederation of A- and H- bomb Sufferers Organization, Jon Jarvis, Kazumi Matsui, Los Alamos, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act, Nagasaki, National Park Service, Oak Ridge, Tomihisa Taue, U.S. Department of Energy, United Nations Plaza, World War II

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Classifieds

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Final environmental assessment available for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING FACILITY AT THE Y-12 … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Comment period extended for Draft EA for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

EXTENSION OF THE COMMENT PERIOD FOR THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING … [Read More...]

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