Search Results for weapon materialstag:fissilematerials.org,2024:/cgi-bin/mt//feed/weapon materials2024-03-29T00:21:38ZMovable Type 6.3.630130U.S. plutonium pit production: Key updatestag:fissilematerials.org,2020:/blog//13.34012020-11-09T09:38:34Z2021-08-31T08:18:14ZAdmin
By Greg Mello Fundamental technical and political issues remain unresolved in plans to produce new plutonium pits for U.S. nuclear weapons. These plans aim at building and operating two pit factories to meet an Administration requirement (pp. 1, 5-6), subsequently...
United States to down-blend HEU for tritium productiontag:fissilematerials.org,2018:/blog//13.33112018-10-01T13:37:17Z2021-08-31T14:50:16ZAdmin
The United States will down-blend 20.2 tons of highly-enriched uranium to use the resulting LEU in reactors of the Tennessee Valley Authority that produce tritium for the U.S. nuclear weapon program. The cost of the six-year contract, awarded to Nuclear...
Declaring more U.S. weapon-grade uranium excess could delay the need to build a new national enrichment planttag:fissilematerials.org,2018:/blog//13.32812018-04-04T10:37:02Z2021-08-31T14:50:14ZAdmin
Frank von Hippel The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched an initiative to build and begin operating by 2038 a new small-capacity national military uranium enrichment plant. Its initial mission would be to produce low-enriched uranium (LEU) to fuel...
Russia to decommission a metallurgical plant in Seversktag:fissilematerials.org,2016:/blog//13.31682016-08-12T10:22:15Z2021-08-31T14:50:08ZAdmin
Rosatom is planning to shut down and decommission the Chemical-Metallurgical Plant (KhMZ) of the Seversk Chemical Combine (SKhK, formerly Tomsk-7). According to the report, the plant, also known as "M" Plant or Object 25, was established in 1961 to produce...
Ongoing transfers of weapon materials between the United States and the United Kingdomtag:fissilematerials.org,2016:/new/blog//13.30872016-03-01T16:47:47Z2024-02-20T14:18:36ZAdmin
According to UK Ministry of Defense official answer to a parliamentary request about flights that carry nuclear materials, the United Kingdom and the United States regularly transfer weapon-related material between the two states: In the last five years, 23 flights...
Contractor's attempt to justify high cost of U.S. MOX program falls shorttag:fissilematerials.org,2015:/new/blog//13.30652015-09-24T14:05:03Z2021-08-31T14:50:05ZAdmin
Frank von Hippel On 21 September 2015, the High Bridge consulting group issued a report that presented the contractor's view of the cost of the MOX plutonium disposition route. The work was funded by MOX Services, the CB&I-AREVA joint subsidiary...
"Red Team" report confirms high cost of MOX option for disposal of U.S. excess plutoniumtag:fissilematerials.org,2015:/new/blog//13.30572015-08-23T17:42:46Z2021-08-31T14:50:04ZAdmin
Frank von Hippel In 2013, when it submitted its proposed budget for fiscal year 2014 to Congress, the Obama Administration declared, that the "current [U.S.] plutonium disposition approach may be unaffordable." This approach has been, in parallel to Russia, to...
United Kingdom transfers "breeder material" from Dounreay to Sellafieldtag:fissilematerials.org,2015:/new/blog//13.30492015-06-01T08:37:38Z2021-08-31T14:50:04ZAdmin
U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) completed the shipment of 11 tonnes of "breeder material" from the Dounreay site to Sellafield. The material consists of natural uranium fuel rods that were irradiated in the Dounreay Fast Reactor before it was shut...
Independent review on escalating MOX plant costs and DOE reversal of MOX option for surplus plutoniumtag:fissilematerials.org,2015:/new/blog//13.30462015-05-16T21:15:47Z2021-08-31T14:50:04ZAdmin
Shaun Burnie, with Mycle Schneider Two U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reports published 8 May 2015 on the U.S. plutonium disposition program are a major setback for the prospects for the operation of the yet to be completed plutonium Mixed...
Russia removed weapon-grade plutonium from Seversktag:fissilematerials.org,2015:/new/blog//13.30432015-04-17T12:12:23Z2021-08-31T14:50:03ZAdmin
Russia has completed transfer of all weapon-grade plutonium from the Siberian Chemical Combine in Seversk to the Federal Fissile Material Storage Facility, which is probably the storage in Zheleznogorsk. The plutonium stored in Seversk as plutonium oxide, is part of...
Pakistan's Chashma reprocessing plant may be completedtag:fissilematerials.org,2015:/new/blog//13.30282015-02-23T09:23:13Z2021-08-31T14:50:02ZAdmin
New satellite imagery, published by the Institute for Science and International Security, suggests Pakistan may have completed its Chashma reprocessing plant. Work on the reprocessing plant stated in 1974 when Pakistan signed a contract with the French company Saint-Gobain Techniques...
Fourth plutonium production reactor in Pakistan appears operationaltag:fissilematerials.org,2015:/new/blog//13.30262015-01-19T11:21:53Z2021-08-31T14:50:02ZAdmin
A report by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) provides evidence that Pakistan's forth plutonium production reactor in Khushab is now operational. Construction of the reactor was reported to begin in 2011. The third plutonium production reactor in...
Pakistan begins operating third Khushab plutonium production reactortag:fissilematerials.org,2014:/new/blog//13.29892014-06-30T11:54:14Z2021-08-31T14:49:59ZAdmin
Satellite imagery from 2013 suggests that Pakistan has started operating its third plutonium production reactor at the Khushab site. A fourth reactor appears to be still under construction. Work on the Khushab-III reactor started in 2005 or 2006. Imagery from...
Rokkasho reprocessing plant expects to begin operations in October 2014tag:fissilematerials.org,2014:/new/blog//13.29592014-01-07T09:25:50Z2021-08-31T14:49:57ZAdmin
On January 7, 2014 Japan Nuclear Fuels Ltd. (JNFL) filed a request for safety screening that, when completed, would permit the plant to begin operations in October 2014. The request appears to follow an approval of the safety standards that...
UK nuclear warhead dismantlement programtag:fissilematerials.org,2013:/new/blog//13.29312013-08-26T12:59:37Z2016-07-29T11:46:02ZAdmin
The UK Ministry of Defense revealed some details about its nuclear warhead dismantlement program in its response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by journalist Rob Edwards (pdf copy of the MoD letter). The warhead dismantlement program is...
Special nuclear material removed from Livermoretag:fissilematerials.org,2012:/new/blog//13.28852012-09-21T08:24:41Z2022-03-13T16:24:22ZAdmin
The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced on September 21, 2012 that it completed removal of all Category I and Category II special nuclear material from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The removal of material from LLNL is part of...
Unprecedented security breach at the key U.S. HEU storage facilitytag:fissilematerials.org,2012:/new/blog//13.28802012-08-03T15:20:00Z2021-08-31T14:49:53ZAdmin
In the morning of July 28, 2012 three activists from the "Transform Now Plowshares" group gained access to the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility (HEUMF) building, which is part of the Y-12 Complex in Oak Ridge. The activists were able...
United States releases an update of its plutonium inventorytag:fissilematerials.org,2012:/new/blog//13.28722012-06-29T16:44:33Z2021-08-31T14:49:53ZAdmin
The United States released a report The United States Plutonium Balance, 1944-2009," which updated the information about the U.S. plutonium inventory first published in February 1996 in Plutonium: The First 50 Years. According to the document, as of September 30,...
Russia to complete separation of weapon-grade plutoniumtag:fissilematerials.org,2012:/new/blog//13.28452012-03-06T10:21:53Z2021-08-31T14:49:51ZAdmin
The radiochemical plant at the Mining and Chemical Combine at Zheleznogorsk, began reprocessing of the last batch of fuel irradiated in its ADE-2 reactor on March 6, 2012. The reactor, which was shut down in April 2010, was the last...
India plans new research reactorstag:fissilematerials.org,2012:/new/blog//13.28412012-02-13T22:23:31Z2022-03-13T16:24:21ZAdmin
The director of India's Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has announced that there is a proposal to construct two new reactors under the next five year economic plan. These are the High Flux Research Reactor (HFRR), which is to be a...
Pakistan is seen as building fourth plutonium production reactortag:fissilematerials.org,2011:/new/blog//13.27792011-02-10T16:12:01Z2022-03-13T16:24:18ZAdmin
Institute for Science and International Security obtained new satellite images of the Khushab site in Pakistan that indicate that construction of a fourth plutonium production reactor might be underway there. In February 2010 IPFM reported that the second reactor at...
Project 816 - Unfinished plutonium production complex in Chinatag:fissilematerials.org,2010:/new/blog//13.26812010-06-05T16:39:43Z2022-03-13T16:24:14ZAdmin
Guest contribution by Hui Zhang China has been known to have two plutonium production facilities - the Jiuquan and Guangyuan complexes. As it turns out, it built another one - The "816 Nuclear Military Facility" is located near Baitao in Fuling...
U.S.-Russian Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreementtag:fissilematerials.org,2010:/new/blog//13.26702010-05-11T17:46:32Z2022-03-13T16:24:14ZAdmin
International Panel on Fissile Materials obtained the text of the 2000 U.S.-Russian Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) as amended by the 2010 Protocol, signed on April 13, 2010 (and agreed upon in 2007). Comparison of the amended agreement with the original...
United States and Russia sign protocol to plutonium disposition agreementtag:fissilematerials.org,2010:/new/blog//13.26592010-04-13T20:27:49Z2022-03-13T16:24:13ZAdmin
On April 13, 2010 Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Lavrov signed the Protocol to the 2000 U.S.-Russian Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA). (See earlier report.) According to the State Department press release, the Protocol confirms the earlier agreement reached...
Pakistan may have completed new plutonium production reactor, Khushab-IItag:fissilematerials.org,2010:/new/blog//13.26422010-02-28T12:13:06Z2022-03-13T16:24:13ZAdmin
On 20 February, Pakistan's Prime Minister visited the Khushab nuclear complex, along with senior military officers and top officials from the country's nuclear weapons program. The Prime Minister is reported to have congratulated Khushab engineers for completing important projects, announced...
Tritium production and recovery in the United States in FY2011tag:fissilematerials.org,2010:/new/blog//13.26352010-02-05T12:17:47Z2016-07-29T11:45:40ZAdmin
According to the plan outlined in the NNSA FY2011 budget request, in 2011 the United Sates will continue its Tritium Readiness program, which involves irradiation of Tritium-Producing Burnable Absorber Rods (TPBARs) in the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Watts Bar nuclear reactor. Also,...
U.S. administration requests funds for nuclear weapons facilitiestag:fissilematerials.org,2010:/new/blog//13.26272010-02-05T08:51:47Z2016-07-29T11:45:39ZAdmin
The FY2011 NNSA budget request includes funding of the Readiness in Technical Base and Facilities program. As part of this program, NNSA plans to complete design and begin construction of two fissile-material handling facilities - the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) facility...
TVEL will supply fuel pellets to Indiatag:fissilematerials.org,2009:/new/blog//13.25292009-02-11T14:38:21Z2016-07-29T11:45:32ZAdmin
TVEL corporation signed a contract to supply fuel pellets for India's nuclear reactors. The total cost of contracts is reported to be "more than $700 million". Earlier it was reported that a Rosatom representative estimated the cost of the contract...
U.S.-Russian agreement on plutonium disposaltag:fissilematerials.org,2007:/new/blog//13.25312007-11-19T09:14:32Z2016-07-29T11:45:32ZAdmin
DoE and Rosatom signed an agreement that outlined the framework of the plutonium disposal program in Russia. According to the agreement, Russia would get to use the plutonium in fast reactors. It "would begin disposition in the BN-600 reactor in...
U.S. removes nine tonnes of Pu from weapon stockpiletag:fissilematerials.org,2007:/new/blog//13.25972007-09-17T17:42:27Z2022-03-13T16:24:09ZAdmin
On 17 September 2007, Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman announced that the U.S. will remove 9 metric tons of plutonium from its weapon stockpile. This most recent declaration is a 20 percent reduction of the amount of plutonium in the...