Department of Energy Nuclear Materials Loan Program: Progress Removing Excess Nuclear Materials Loaned to Educational and Research Facilities

The Atomic Energy Act (AEA), as amended, authorizes the Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies to distribute nuclear materials to educational institutes for research, development, and education. Due to organizational changes over time, responsibility for much of the material became uncertain and documentation of these materials is unavailable. DOE has received increased inquiries from institutions in possession of DOE loaned nuclear materials requesting assistance to return the materials to government custody. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Nuclear Materials Integration Division (NMID) designated the Y-12 Management and Operating contractor (Y-12 M&O) as the Nuclear Materials Loan Program (NMLP) Lead Material Management Organization (LMMO) to manage the complex-wide inventory of loaned nuclear materials. Since 2020, the program has removed around 5 Metric Ton (MT) of various excess DOE loaned nuclear material in support of the facility operation to free up needed storage space. Of the 5 MT, nearly half was removed from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Nuclear Reactor Laboratory (MIT). MIT has supported DOE and its predecessor agencies, playing a key role in research and development related to peaceful uses of nuclear energy. A significant inventory of nuclear material had been stored at MIT-NRL for many decades, and have been declared no programmatic value. The NMLP LMMO removed over 2 MT of LEU test rods, numerous encased pieces of DU and NU, and is preparing to remove other mixed oxide rods stored since 1960. The uranium having no programmatic value was disposed and the depleted and natural were returned to the Y-12 for reuse. The NMLP LMMO success removing the MIT-NRL nuclear material was possible through extensive cooperation and coordination with multiple DOE and commercial organizations. The removal of these materials has improved MIT-NRL storage operational constraints and reduced risk by disposing of unneeded decades old nuclear material.