Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors

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Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS This PDF is available at http://www.nap.edu/21818 SHARE Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors DETAILS 204 pages | 6 x 9 | PAPERBACK ISBN 978-0-309-37918-2 | DOI: 10.17226/21818 AUTHORS BUY THIS BOOK Committee on the Current Status of and Progress Toward Eliminating Highly Enriched Uranium Use in Fuel for Civilian Research and Test Reactors; Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board; Division on Earth FIND RELATED TITLES and Life Studies; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Visit the National Academies Press at NAP.edu and login or register to get: – Access to free PDF downloads of thousands of scientific reports – 10% off the price of print titles – Email or social media notifications of new titles related to your interests – Special offers and discounts Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the National Academies Press. (Request Permission) Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors Committee on the Current Status of and Progress Toward Eliminating Highly Enriched Uranium Use in Fuel for Civilian Research and Test Reactors Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board Division on Earth and Life Sciences Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 This activity was supported by Grant No. DE-PI0000010/DE-DT0007443 from the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project. International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-37918-2 International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-37918-0 Additional copies of this report are available for sale from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu/. Cover: graphical images of research reactor cores (clockwise from top-left corner then center): Réacteur à Haut Flux (RHF) core at Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), Grenoble, France (Image courtesy of ILL/Symetrix); the Forschungs-Neutronenquelle Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM-II) core (courtesy of Technische Universität München); the Neutron Beam Split-Core Reactor (NBSR) core (courtesy of the National Insti- tute for Standards and Technology Center for Neutron Research); the MIR.M1 core (courtesy of the Joint Stock Company “State Scientific Center—ResearchInstitute of Atomic Reactors,” Russia); the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) core (courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory); the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Nuclear Research Reactor (MITR-II) core (courtesy of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Nuclear Reactor Laboratory); the Belgian Reactor 2 (BR2) core (cour- tesy of Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie·Centre d’Étude de l’Énergie Nucléaire); the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) core (courtesy of Idaho National Laboratory); and the Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR) core (courtesy of the University of Missouri Research Reactor Center). Copyright 2016 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2016. Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Con- gress, signed by President Lincoln, as a private, nongovernmental institution to advise the nation on issues related to science and technology. Members are elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to research. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964 under the char- ter of the National Academy of Sciences to bring the practices of engineering to advising the nation. Members are elected by their peers for extraordinary contributions to engineering. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president. The National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) was estab lished in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to advise the nation on medical and health issues. Members are elected by their peers for distinguished contributions to medicine and health. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president. The three Academies work together as the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and conduct other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The Academies also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge, and increase public understanding in matters of science, engineering, and medicine. Learn more about the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medi- cine at www.national-academies.org. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors COMMITTEE ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF AND PROGRESS TOWARD ELIMINATING HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM USE IN FUEL FOR CIVILIAN RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS Julia M. Phillips, Chair, Sandia National Laboratories (retired), Albuquerque, New Mexico Pablo Adelfang, International Atomic Energy Agency (retired), Vienna, Austria Gerald Gabrielse, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts Alexander Glaser, Princeton University, New Jersey David W. Johnson, Jr., Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Westerville, Ohio Patrick Lemoine, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (retired), Paris, France William R. Martin, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Roger Pynn, Indiana University, Bloomington William H. Tobey, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts Paul P. H. Wilson, University of Wisconsin, Madison Technical Consultant Pavel Podvig, Princeton University, New Jersey, and Russian Nuclear Forces Project, Geneva, Switzerland Staff Jennifer (Jenny) Heimberg, Senior Program Officer, Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board Darlene Gros, Senior Program Assistant, Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board Toni Greenleaf, Financial and Administrative Associate, Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board v Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors NUCLEAR AND RADIATION STUDIES BOARD Robert C. Dynes, Chair, University of California, San Diego Barbara J. McNeil, Vice Chair, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts David J. Brenner, Columbia University, New York, New York Margaret S. Y. Chu, M.S. Chu & Associates, LLC, Albuquerque, New Mexico Michael L. Corradini, University of Wisconsin, Madison Carol M. Jantzen, Savannah River National Laboratory, Aiken, South Carolina Tissa H. Illangasekare, Colorado School of Mines, Golden Martha S. Linet, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland Fred A. Mettler, Jr., New Mexico VA Health Care System, Albuquerque Nancy Jo Nicholas, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico Daniel O. Stram, University of Southern California, Los Angeles Sergey Vladimirovich Yudintsev, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow Staff Kevin D. Crowley, Director Jennifer (Jenny) Heimberg, Senior Program Officer Ourania Kosti, Senior Program Officer Toni Greenleaf, Administrative and Financial Associate Laura D. Llanos, Administrative and Financial Associate Darlene Gros, Senior Program Assistant vi Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors Acknowledgments number of individuals and organizations contributed to the successful A completion of this report. The committee wishes to thank the study sponsor, the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Admin- istration (NNSA), for supporting this project, and especially the following staff: Christopher Landers, Sr., Program Manager (previously), Office of Conversion, Office of Material Management and Minimization (M3), NNSA Jeffrey Chamberlin, Director, Office of Conversion, 3M , NNSA Sarah Dickerson, M3, NNSA Kristen Peters, NNSA Bryan Reed, NNSA Crystal Trujillo, NNSA The committee wishes to also thank Jordi Roglans-Ribas (Argonne National Laboratory [ANL]) and John Stevens (ANL) for responding to its many technical questions and data requests. The following organizations provided full cooperation with the Acad- emies on this study and provided technical and logistical assistance to the committee: • Babcock and Wilcox Technologies (BWXT): Gunes Argon, Joel Burch, John Erwin, Brenda S. Hancock, Howard Harvey, Dave Navolio, Scott Niedzialek, Harold “Chip” Shaffer, and Carl Yates vii Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS • Center for Energy and
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