Congress is considering whether to continue research that started in 2016 into using low-enriched uranium (LEU) to replace weapon-grade highly-enriched uranium (HEU) to fuel naval nuclear propulsion reactors. Such a switch would reduce risks of nuclear proliferation and avoid the need to restart production of weapons-grade uranium for the first time since 1992. Rapidly Closing […]
Nuclear Security
Fact Sheet: The Civilian and Military Characteristics of Plutonium
Nuclear weapons require fissile materials, that is certain isotopes of uranium and plutonium, to sustain explosive fission chain reactions. Plutonium for weapons is normally obtained by reprocessing. Reprocessing is the separation of plutonium from irradiated uranium, often in the spent fuel from a nuclear reactor. The process was originally developed in the United States as […]
Fact Sheet: Uranium Enrichment: For Peace or for Weapons
Centrifuge technology is at the heart of the enrichment process, and the line between its uses for civilian and military purposes is hard to distinguish. Once a country has mastered this technology, the centrifuges can be reconfigured into cascades to either produce fuel for an electricity-generating nuclear reactor or the 25 kilograms of weapon-grade uranium […]
Fact Sheet: The Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Nuclear energy exhibits great potential as a low-carbon energy source, but carries inherent risks of diversion to weapons-related uses. At its core, the nuclear fuel cycle includes the various industrial processes associated with the production of electricity from uranium in nuclear reactors. However, some of the industrial processes more easily open the door to produce […]
‘Sea change:’ Advanced reactors spur look at recycling waste
Research Analyst Samuel Hickey spoke with E&E News about the proliferation concerns inherent in fuel reprocessing policy conversations. Foes of reprocessing see similarities between such defunct nuclear designs and some of the advanced reactor technologies now under development. “There are some new designs, but they are not demonstrably greater, so we are still dealing with […]
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