Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors

Download or read book Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2016-02-12 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The continued presence of highly enriched uranium (HEU) in civilian installations such as research reactors poses a threat to national and international security. Minimization, and ultimately elimination, of HEU in civilian research reactors worldwide has been a goal of U.S. policy and programs since 1978. Today, 74 civilian research reactors around the world, including 8 in the United States, use or are planning to use HEU fuel. Since the last National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report on this topic in 2009, 28 reactors have been either shut down or converted from HEU to low enriched uranium fuel. Despite this progress, the large number of remaining HEU-fueled reactors demonstrates that an HEU minimization program continues to be needed on a worldwide scale. Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors assesses the status of and progress toward eliminating the worldwide use of HEU fuel in civilian research and test reactors.