REPORT ON IN NAVAL NUCLEAR JUNE, 1995

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which is technically acceptable for Naval fuel, to be highly desirable. Any use of this material for other
purposes, such as blending down for commercial use, would accelerate the need for construction of a very
expensive and politically sensitive HEU production facility. .
One consideration worth noting regarding the use of LEU versus HEU for Naval nuclear propulsion is that
an LEU fuel cycle produces a signficant amount of plutonium while an HEU fuel cycle does not. Thus,
having used HEU for energy production, the resulting spent fuel is in a form which is protected from
diversion through final disposal with no significant plutonium present.
ll. IMPACT ON SECURITY OF USING AN LEU VERSUS REU FUEL CYCLE
A Discussion: !
Security of nuclear material is accomplished with two complementary programs:
-Material Control and Accounting (MC&A», and
-Physical protection
There are separate requirements for both of these areas. Overall security is achieved based on the
combination of both.
B. Materia] Control and Accounting Reguirements:
Material Control and Accounting (MC&A) is the process of keeping track of the amount and location of
nuclear material. MC&A is applied in the U.S. to ~ enriched material; LEU and HEU. Thus, the use of
an LEU fuel cycle does not eliminate the need to keep track of the material through this formal accounting
process.
In general, the amount of effort needed to implement the MC&A requirements is directly related to the
amount of material being handled and the number of transfers of material between sites. An LEU fuel
cycle would require considerably more material than the HEU cycle and would have more transfers
between sites (larger cores with more fuel modules, or more cores). Thus, an LEU fuel cycle would
logically require a greater MC&A effort.
c. Phvsical Protection Reguirements:
The requirement for physical protection depends on the material which is being protected. Naval fuel
requires protection due to three potential concerns:
1. theft of nuclear material
2. loss of a high value component due to sabotage
3. loss ofU.S military technology of significant interest to other nations
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