Material Recycle and Recovery
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.