Marketing the Department of Energy's Surplus Uranium Inventories

The Department of Energy (DOE) maintains large inventories of uranium in various forms that it no longer requires for national security purposes, such as nuclear weapons or fuel for naval nuclear propulsion reactors. A portion of DOE's inventories is in the form of depleted uranium hexafluoride, otherwise known as "tails"—the leftover byproduct of decades of processing natural uranium into enriched uranium. About 700,000 metric tons of tails are stored at DOE's uranium enrichment plants in Portsmouth, Ohio, and Paducah, Kentucky. Although the tails have historically been considered a waste product and an environmental liability, recently an about tenfold increase in uranium prices may give DOE options to use some of the tails in ways that could provide revenue to the government.

In a March 2008 report, GAO estimated that DOE's tails could be valued at approximately $7.6 billion if re-enriched, assuming February 2008 uranium prices and uranium enrichment costs. Although declines in uranium prices in recent months have reduced the tails' potential value, the government could still receive significant revenue by marketing this material, in addition to other inventories of natural and enriched uranium DOE manages. However, DOE must act carefully to avoid negative effects on the commercial uranium market by introducing additional supply. To this end, GAO recommended that DOE develop a comprehensive uranium management assessment as soon as possible that contains detailed information on the types and quantities of depleted, natural, and enriched uranium the department currently manages and an assessment of DOE's options for this material. DOE has not acted on GAO's recommendation to date.

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Nuclear Material: Several Potential Options for Dealing with DOE's Depleted Uranium Tails Could Benefit the Government

GAO-08-613T, April 3, 2008

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Nuclear Material: DOE Has Several Potential Options for Dealing with Depleted Uranium Tails, Each of Which Could Benefit the Government

GAO-08-606R, March 31, 2008

Summary (HTML)   Full Report (PDF, 20 pages)   Accessible Text   Recommendations (HTML)