A BAN ON THE PRODUCTION OF HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM

An international consensus has developed that the goals of nonproliferation and preventing nuclear terrorism are served when uses of highly enriched uranium (HEU) are switched to low-enriched uranium (LEU). Given the technical feasibility of converting the remaining uses and the existing large stocks of HEU from excess Cold War weapons sufficient for even a very long transition, it should be unnecessary to produce more. HEU is used to fuel research, isotope-production and naval reactors, and for medical radioisotope production targets. According to current plans, virtually all radioisotope production targets will be converted within the next few years and it appears likely that almost all of the approximately thirty remaining research reactors that consume significant quantities of HEU will either be converted or retired within the next 20 years. This would leave naval and isotope-production reactors. Currently, four countries have naval-propulsion reactors fueled with HEU: the US, Russia, UK and India, while France and China use LEU. Recently, the US naval-reactor establishment expressed a willingness to launch an R&D program to develop LEU fuel and Congress asked for a plan. Russia is designing its new icebreaker propulsion reactors to use LEU. Russia and the U.S. have between them enough HEU to satisfy current global requirements for a century. The two countries already supply fuel to HEU-fueled research reactors still operating in other countries and the US also supplies the HEU used by UK naval reactors. India does not have access to a large HEU stockpile for its naval reactors for a transition period but potentially could draw on Russia’s stock if it were willing to allow the IAEA to verify that none was being diverted to weapons. The two isotope-production reactors in Russia that are fueled with HEU are to be replaced by one reactor that also could be designed to use LEU fuel.