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U.S. Energy Department Not Doing Enough to Convert Research Reactors to LEU Use, GAO Says By Mike Nartker WASHINGTON — A U.S. Energy Department effort to reduce nuclear proliferation risks at research reactors around the world is being hindered by financial and technical concerns, U.S. congressional auditors reported Friday (see GSN, July 21). The department is working to convert 105 research reactors that use highly enriched uranium fuel, which could be used by terrorists seeking to develop crude nuclear weapons, to the use of low-enriched uranium fuel. In a separate effort to reduce security risks at research reactors, the Energy Department launched in May the Global Threat Reduction Initiative to recover fresh and spent highly enriched uranium fuel provided by the United States and Russia. Since the Energy Department began its conversion effort in the late 1970s, 39 of the 105 targeted reactors have converted, or are in the process of changing, to the use of LEU fuel, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Thirty-five of the remaining 66 reactors could convert to using low-enriched uranium, but have no plans to do so, according to the GAO report. The other 31 reactors included in the Energy Department’s efforts cannot use the LEU fuel that is now available. Eight convertible reactors are located within the United States and have not switched to LEU fuel due to lack of adequate funding from the Energy Department. The cost is estimated at between $5 million and $10 million per reactor, according to the GAO report. “Other than funding, there are no significant obstacles” at six of the reactors, located at U.S. universities, to conversion, the report says. The report quotes officials with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees private nuclear facilities, as saying that they view the conversion of the eight reactors as a “security enhancement.” The Energy Department and the reactors’ operators, though, have placed less priority on their conversion, citing security at and the small amount of highly enriched uranium used at the reactors, according to the report. The Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration did not return calls today for comment. Fourteen of 20 foreign-based reactors targeted for conversion by the Energy Department also have no plans to change, according to the report. These reactors either view conversion as too expensive or lack adequate funding, the report says. It also says that only one of seven research reactors targeted by the U.S. effort that use highly enriched uranium provided by Russia plans to convert to low-enriched uranium. The Energy Department is working on two new types of LEU fuel — known as dispersion fuel and monolithic fuel — that could be used by reactors that cannot work with the current fuel. However, these are not expected to be ready for use until 2010 at the earliest, the report says. It also warns that the department has no plans to develop other types of LEU fuel should those two be found to be ineffective, noting that dispersion fuel has experienced failures in testing to the point that the Energy Department may cancel its development. The GAO also examined the Energy Department’s efforts to replace highly enriched uranium with low-enriched uranium in the production of medical isotopes. While one small-scale isotope producer in Argentina has converted to low-enriched uranium, large-scale producers have expressed concerns about conversion costs and the increased amount of waste produced through LEU use, the report says.
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