IPP

The Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP), part of the Global Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention, engage scientists, engineers and technicians who formerly worked in Soviet weapons facilities to redirect their expertise to peaceful, civilian work through long-term business partnerships with U.S. companies.

Although several other U.S. Government initiatives are also aimed at preventing weapons of mass destruction proliferation, the IPP program has a unique approach. It seeks to create a phased process to move beyond cooperative research and development to eventually form commercial partnerships between U.S. industry and the former Soviet facilities.

IPP involves participation by U.S. Department of Energy Headquarters and regional offices, laboratories, plants and more than 90 U.S. companies. Participants are conducting nearly 300 collaborations with more than 200 institutes in the Commonwealth of Independent States of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

Development and Improvement of New Methods for Recycling Co-Mingled Metals — The Association of Centers for Engineering and Automation in St. Petersburg, Russia; RUSTEC, Inc., of Camden, N.J.; and Y‑12 partnered to establish a much improved process for recycling tungsten carbide components. The new process provides significantly more efficient particle size reduction, longer crusher component life and low process contaminant levels. These benefits translate into a very economical recycling process with little or no adverse environmental effect. The crusher used is of Russian design, and they supply all replacement parts.

Welding and Brazing for repair of aircraft and turbine engine components — The repair industry is in its infancy within Ukraine, Russia and other former Soviet Union Republics and is growing rapidly in the U.S. and Europe. The projected turbine engine repair industry within the U.S. — for both aircraft and land-based turbine engines — is a billion-dollar industry. Improving casting yield by introducing proper repair technologies to refurbish castings with defects can lead to potential savings of millions of dollars. The technology developed in this project can be applied to repairing turbine components in the U.S., and will be transferred through license agreements to western repair facilities.

Developing a Veterinary drug — Using Russian plants as sources, the Y‑12 IPP is in testing and researching stage of developing a broad-spectrum antiviral drug. The drug is under consideration by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for approval to improve the health of pets. It has also been accepted by the National Institute of Health for testing to identify potential applications for human diseases.