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13 July 2006 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), USEC Inc. and BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT) recently completed a nonproliferation initiative that converted weapons-grade highly enriched uranium into low-enriched uranium fuel used by commercial nuclear power plants to produce electricity.
The U.S. HEU Downblending Program is a component of the NNSA's nuclear nonproliferation mission to reduce quantities of surplus weapons-grade materials. Accordering to USEC, converting highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel makes the material proliferation-proof; reduces costs associated with storing, inventorying and safeguarding it; and recovers its inherent economic value.
The Department of Energy (DOE) transferred the HEU to USEC for disposition in the commercial fuel market as part of USEC's privatization from the U.S. government. USEC contracted with BWXT to downblend the surplus HEU with natural uranium at BWXT's facility in Lynchburg, Va. The conversion process began in 1999 with HEU shipments from DOE's Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant and NNSA's Y-12 National Security Complex managed by BWXT, where the material was stored. USEC sold the resulting commercial reactor-grade LEU fuel to its nuclear utility customers.
USEC reported that approximately 50 metric tons of weapons-grade HEU has been converted into nearly 660 metric tons of LEU fuel. The U.S. HEU Downblending Program eliminated HEU equivalent to 800 nuclear warheads. It also produced enough LEU fuel to power a typical commercial nuclear reactor for approximately 34 years.
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