Department of Energy FY 2012 Congressional ... - The FIRE Place

Detailed Justification
FY 2010
Actual
Approp
(dollars in thousands)
FY 2011
Request
FY 2012
Request
U.S. Surplus Fissile Materials Disposition
(O&M) 126,662 304,925 301,225
U.S. Plutonium Disposition 91,659 278,940 274,790
• MOX Irradiation, Feedstock, and
Transportation 27,217 107,787 83,527
Funding supports programmatic activities that are not part of the line item construction projects but are
necessary to support the overall program to dispose of surplus weapon-grade plutonium as MOX fuel.
These activities include: The MOX fuel qualification and irradiation, obtaining plutonium feedstock
from LANL, and depleted uranium oxide feedstock, storage of feed materials, and transportation.
Irradiation—Funding supports qualification, licensing, and irradiation of MOX fuel in existing nuclear
reactors. In FY 2012, funding will support completion of studies of MOX fuel use in TVA reactors,
submission of topical reports to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and qualification of MOX fuel
designs for pressurized water reactors and boiling water reactors from multiple fuel suppliers, and
execution of fuel supply agreements with TVA and potentially other utilities.
Feedstock—Funding supports activities necessary to characterize and convert plutonium and depleted
uranium into chemical forms that can be used to fabricate MOX fuel. In FY 2012, LANL will continue
to disassemble limited quantities of nuclear weapon pits and convert the resulting plutonium metal into
an oxide form using the Advanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES) process.
Operations of ARIES is part of the 7 year campaign to produce 2 MT of feedstock to be used during
start-up and initial operation of the MFFF. Activities to support the conversion of DOE-owned depleted
uranium hexafluoride to uranium dioxide necessary for MOX fuel fabrication will continue in FY 2012.
Activities to further characterize non-pit feed materials for MFFF will also continue.
Storage—Funding supports safe storage of surplus weapon-grade plutonium, both pits and oxide,
including surveillance and monitoring activities. FY 2012 activities include continuing to store surplus
plutonium at Pantex and LANL; and continuing to package surplus pits for shipment from Pantex to
LANL for ARIES conversion activities.
Transportation—Funding supports the development, certification, and maintenance of containers and
fuel loading equipment to transport pits, plutonium oxide, and fresh MOX fuel necessary for plutonium
disposition. In FY 2012, work will continue to develop a MOX fresh fuel shipping container and a new
Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation/
Fissile Materials Disposition Page 380
FY 2012 Congressional Budget