|
|
SRNS Executive Vice President Roger Eshelman speaks to
employees. |
Milestone Uranium Shipment Fulfills
SRS Contract with TVA
With a milestone shipment, SRS has completed
a significant commitment to TVA for low-enriched uranium (LEU)
solution that will be converted into commercial reactor fuel.
Shipments began in 2003, and 282 shipments
have since been safely completed.
The uranium material began as highly enriched
uranium (HEU) used in the nuclear weapon production process.
When the Cold War ended and SRS’s production facilities
ceased making plutonium, the uranium was determined to be
surplus legacy material. To meet nonproliferation objectives,
and to convert the material to a useful peacetime form, the
HEU Blend Down Program was established, utilizing facilities
and people at SRS such as H Canyon, the Savannah River National
Laboratory, K Area and the F/H laboratories. Here, SRS’s
HEU is processed, purified and blended to meet the specifications
established by TVA and render it non-weapons usable.
All told, SRS has shipped enough LEU to power every home in
the United States for 55 days, or every home in South Carolina
for 11 years. This project saves taxpayers an estimated $750
million in storage and disposal costs for the legacy uranium,
saves TVA about $150 million in uranium costs, and supports
efforts to reduce dependency on coal-produced electricity.
And, the uranium converted through the HEU Blend Down program
is equivalent to the elimination of approximately 450 equivalent
nuclear weapons.
“SRS and its talented people have demonstrated
again that the Site is a national asset, capable of performing
nearly any nuclear material disposition mission necessary,”
said Chuck Munns, SRNS president and CEO. “SRS is the
answer to the Complex’s nuclear material disposition
challenges.”
The material that has already been shipped
to TVA represented the last of SRS’s legacy uranium,
but the agreement with TVA is expected to continue under the
DOE Enriched Uranium Disposition Project.
|
