American Nuclear Society recommends NNSA use surplus plutonium for clean energyANS urges National Nuclear Security Administration to reconsider drafted rulePress ReleasesFebruary 1, 2021, 11:16AM|ANS StaffLa Grange Park, IL – The American Nuclear Society (ANS) is recommending that the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) consider using surplus plutonium from nuclear weapons as fuel for advanced reactors to generate carbon-free energy, rather than diluting and disposing 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico as proposed by the NNSA.In the Jan. 29 letter to the federal agency, ANS’s President Mary Lou Dunzik-Gougar and Executive Director/CEO Craig Piercy told the NNSA that using the excess plutonium “as reactor fuel would produce a valuable and useful product – clean energy – from the material that was produced at great expense to the American people. In contrast, dilute and dispose produces no useful product.”“The surplus plutonium could be an attractive source of fuel for advanced reactors, particularly those with a fast neutron spectrum,” continued Dunzik-Gougar and Piercy. “Advanced reactors offer many potential advantages as a clean, safe, and reliable energy source, and there is considerable public and private investment in bringing designs into operation. The surplus weapons plutonium could be a reliable initial fuel supply for some designs.”ANS’s comments are in response to the NNSA’s Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program (SPDP), which proposed the “dilute and dispose” approach as its preferred alternative for dealing with the surplus plutonium. Published in December 2020, the notice of intent identified no alternatives to dilute and dispose other than “no action.”Along with recommending that the NSNSA consider the use of surplus plutonium as advanced reactor fuel, ANS said the NNSA ought to refrain from identifying a preferred alternative at this time and let the evaluation process identify the best approach.From a nonproliferation perspective, ANS noted that dilute and dispose does not destroy or degrade any plutonium while the use of plutonium as reactor fuel would actually destroy some of the material and render much of what is left as undesirable for nuclear weapons.Further, ANS said the use of dilute and dispose for all of the surplus plutonium would significantly impact WIPP, the United States’ only geological disposal facility for transuranic waste (TRU), thereby reducing the country’s TRU disposal capacity. ANS requested that the SPDP EIS address this and all other impacts that would result from a decision to implement dilute and dispose. Finally, ANS noted that Russia “made it clear it did not approve of the dilute and dispose approach.” In 2016 Moscow suspended the U.S.-Russia plutonium disposition agreement, which had been in effect since 2000.The use of surplus plutonium for advanced nuclear energy production could “foster renewed and much needed cooperation” in nonproliferation between the U.S. and Russia by offering the Biden administration a policy position “that is more acceptable to Russia,” said ANS.A semi-autonomous agency of the U.S. Department of Energy, the NNSA is tasked with overseeing and safeguarding America’s nuclear weapons stockpile.Visit ans.org for more information. Follow our Twitter account at twitter.com/ANS_org.Media ContactAndrew Smith 202-235-6998 | media@ans.orgEstablished in 1954, ANS is an international professional organization of engineers and scientists devoted to the peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology. Its more than 9,500 members represent government, academia, research laboratories, medical facilities, and private industry. ANS’s mission is to advance, foster, and spur the development and application of nuclear science, engineering, and technology to benefit society.Tags:national nuclear security administrationnnsaplutoniumpress releasewaste isolation pilot plantwippShare:LinkedInTwitterFacebook
Statement on the successful landing of NASA's Perseverance rover on MarsANS congratulates NASA for the successful landing of Perseverance on Mars. We look forward to watching from afar its exploration of the Red Planet and search for past microbial life. This is a proud moment as well for nuclear science and technology as a multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator will be powering the rover to mission success.Go to Article
Granholm confirmed as new DOE headGranholmThe Senate earlier today confirmed Jennifer Granholm as the nation’s 16th secretary of energy. The final tally was 64–35, with several Republicans joining Democrats in support of the former Michigan governor. Granholm becomes the second woman (after the Clinton administration’s Hazel O’Leary) to hold the post.Picked to helm the Department of Energy last December by then president-elect Biden, Granholm testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on January 27, and on February 3, the committee voted 13–4 to advance her nomination.Go to Article
Task force issues assessment of U.S. nuclear energy R&D funding for 2020sLa Grange Park, IL –A task force commissioned by the American Nuclear Society (ANS) issued an assessment of U.S. nuclear energy research and development funding needs for the 2020s. The study is a prospectus for appropriations as Congress and the Biden administration consider ways to support and expand America’s largest carbon-free energy technology, nuclear energy.Go to Article
ANS weighs in on NNSA’s Pu disposition planThe American Nuclear Society is urging the National Nuclear Security Administration to rethink its “dilute-and-dispose” plan for managing surplus weapons-grade plutonium. In comments submitted to the NNSA, ANS notes that a better solution for the agency’s inventory of surplus plutonium is to convert it to nuclear fuel for advanced reactors, as was originally intended.The comments are in response to a December 16 Federal Register notice by the NNSA that it intends to prepare an environmental impact statement on the scope of its Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program. According to the notice, the NNSA intends to dispose of the entire 34 metric tons of surplus plutonium using its dilute-and-dispose approach, whereby the material will be downblended and shipped as transuranic waste to the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico.Under the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement, signed by the United States and Russia in 2000, the 34 tons of plutonium was to be converted to mixed-oxide nuclear fuel using the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site, in South Carolina. However, the Obama administration, citing rising costs, halted construction on the facility in 2016, and the project was eventually canceled in 2019.Go to Article
Statement on the death of Secretary George P. ShultzANS remembers the life of George P. Shultz and mourns his passing. A nonproliferation hero and renowned statesman, Shultz leaves behind a legacy that will continue to inspire for generations to come. As U.S. Secretary of State, Shultz was paramount in achieving a peaceful end to the Cold War and shepherding landmark arms control agreements with the Soviet Union, including the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987.Go to Article
NNSA extends comment period on scope of “dilute and dispose” EISThe Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration has extended to February 18 the public comment period for the scoping of its planned environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program, which would dilute and dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus military grade plutonium.The NNSA on December 16 announced its intent to prepare the EIS, which will examine the agency’s preferred alternative, “dilute and dispose,” also known as “plutonium downblending,” and other alternatives for disposing of the material. The NNSA has been pursuing the dilute-and-dispose approach to managing the surplus plutonium following the cancellation of the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility at the DOE’s Savannah River Site.Go to Article
NNSA to hold virtual public meetings regarding Surplus Plutonium Disposition ProgramThe Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration will hold two virtual public meetings on a new environmental impact statement for its Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program (SPDP). The meetings will be held on Monday, January 25, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. (ET) and Tuesday, January 26, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. (ET). Participants can join by computer, telephone, or other device. A Notice of Intent contains a full description of the proposal and other options for providing public comment until February 1.The program: The SPDP EIS will analyze alternatives for the disposition of 34 metric tons of surplus plutonium using the capabilities at multiple sites across the United States. The NNSA’s preferred alternative, the dilute and dispose approach (also known as plutonium downblending), includes converting pit and non-pit plutonium to oxide, blending the oxidized plutonium with an adulterant, and emplacing the resulting transuranic waste underground in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), in New Mexico. The approach would require new, modified, or existing capabilities at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the Pantex Plant in Texas, and WIPP.Go to Article
Initial Los Alamos comingled TRU waste delivered to WIPPWorkers at LANL's RANT facility load the first comingled TRU waste shipment from the DOE and the NNSA. Photo: DOEThe Los Alamos field offices of the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management and the National Nuclear Security Administration have completed their first comingled shipment of transuranic (TRU) waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico."Comingling NNSA and EM waste allows for more efficient shipments to WIPP," Kirk Lachman, EM Los Alamos field office manager, said on January 14. "Reducing LANL’s above-ground waste inventory is an important issue to our local communities and is one of our mission priorities.”The comingled shipment consisted of one Transuranic Package Transporter Model 3 container with a total of 28 drums and containers inside.Go to Article
Kim Budil selected as director of Lawrence Livermore LabBudilKim Budil has been named director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The announcement was made to laboratory employees today by Charlene Zettel, chair of Lawrence Livermore National Security (LLNS), which manages the laboratory for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.Budil will begin her new role on March 2.Details: Budil is the 13th director of LLNL since it was established in 1952 and its first woman director. She will also serve as president of LLNS, replacing Bill Goldstein, who announced his plans to step down last July, pending the successful search for his successor.Go to Article
ANS member Joyce Connery appointed as DNFSB chairPresident Biden has appointed Joyce Connery as chair of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). Connery, an ANS member since 2012, was appointed to the board in August 2015 for a term ending in October 2019. She was confirmed again by the Senate as a DNFSB member on July 2, 2020, for a term expiring on October 18, 2024. Connery previously held the chairmanship from August 2015 until January 2017.Go to Article