Nearly a decade of development and performance evaluations of new nuclear fuels will be needed before work can begin on converting the remaining six US research reactors that use highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low-enriched uranium (LEU), Department of Energy officials say.
Research reactors that use HEU present a nuclear terrorism risk, since their fuel is enriched to up to 93% fissile uranium-235, sufficient for a nuclear explosive device. Research reactors, particularly those at universities, are lightly guarded compared with weapons facilities. Low-enriched uranium contains less than 20% 235U. Natural uranium contains 0.7% 235U.
Peter Hanlon, assistant deputy administrator for material management and minimization in DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration, says the US reactor conversion process is set to occur between 2026 and 2032. By 2035 work on the two European reactors that use US-origin HEU should be completed. As recently as 2009, the NNSA had projected a...
