Preservation of National Nuclear Materials Archive Specimens at ORNL

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Nuclear Forensics (NA-83) has designated National Nuclear Materials Archive (NNMA) sites to identify, document, analyze, and preserve samples of nuclear material of forensic value. These specimens must be preserved in a manner that will maintain their value for forensic evaluations. The specimens must also be maintained in configurations that are easily identified and retrievable, preserve forensic signatures, and aid in immediate transportation for analysis when needed to meet the NNMA’s strategic nuclear forensic mission. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is one of the designated NNMA sites that has made progress toward identifying, sampling, analyzing, and packaging materials for NNMA storage. Collecting, packaging, and storing the specimens in such a manner that forensic characteristics are not altered are critical steps in the NNMA preservation life cycle. This paper provides an overview of preservation plans and examples of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s activities to preserve archive samples.