weapons production

Y-12 recycles and recovers enriched uranium from retired weapons and other excess or salvage materials, including some retired fuel elements and nuclear materials from other countries. This mission ensures that excess materials from Y-12 and other parts of the world are processed to a safer form for long-term storage or reuse. Recycled material is used for such things as feedstock for the Naval Reactors Program or for research reactors that produce medical isotopes.

Y-12 ensures safe, secure and compliant storage of the nation’s strategic reserve of nuclear materials at Y-12.

Our Nuclear Materials Management and Storage Program receives, stores, protects, dispositions and manages strategic and special nuclear materials and provides programmatic planning, analysis and forecasting for national security material requirements supporting Stockpile Stewardship and other DOE programs.