Commercial Disposition

Some surplus highly enriched uranium (HEU) planned for commercial disposition is unirradiated uranium that has not yet been allocated to one of the existing disposition projects.

The unallocated HEU has been divided into three groups for disposition planning.

Material currently under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards — This material is likely the first of the groups of unallocated material to be dispositioned because it is consolidated at one location, exists in an unclassified form, and has fewer logistical hurdles to overcome in the short term. Discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency also suggest the agency would rather verify this material has been downblended rather than continue to safeguard it in HEU form.

Material having classified configurations — This material is HEU metal that requires additional processing before it becomes available for disposition. The production streams that generated this material have been well characterized and certified. However, some of the chemical and radioisotope information needed for production of reactor fuel is unavailable. Therefore this material needs some additional characterization.

Miscellaneous scrap material — This material is a diverse group of scrap materials generated from reactor fuel production, weapons production, research and development activities and other uses by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The majority of this material will require additional processing prior to downblending for low-enriched uranium reactor fuel. This group also has the least amount of characterization data associated with it. It will primarily be processed through DOE's Central Scrap Management Office before being dispositioned.