The Federation of the American Scientists posted the recently declassified JASONS report Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) for Potential Naval Nuclear Propulsion Application and highlight a new LEU fuel concept that has higher uranium loading to limit the increase in reactor size that would otherwise result from a change from HEU to LEU.” This addresses a major concern for those opposed to HEU to LEU transition. Steven Aftergood explains, “This means that “the first practical opportunity to deploy an LEU reactor in a submarine is in the VIRGINIA-replacement class,” which is more than a decade away. But the design of that new submarine’s propulsion compartment will be determined by or before 2030.”
