Proliferation Resistance Optimization in Review: Lessons learned after 5 years of program successes

In 2019, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Conversion established the Proliferation Resistance Optimization Program (PRO-X), leveraging decades of technical expertise to minimize special nuclear materials (SNM) production and diversion pathways and maximize performance for stated peaceful uses. From its inception, PRO-X has worked to define and strengthen international norms, optimize nuclear facilities for experimental capabilities, and provide technical support for design review, regulatory review, and licensing and commissioning of new research reactor builds. In an age of new technology and global tensions, the mission of PROX proves that nuclear stewardship can be a “win-win-win” for operators, vendors, and regulators by developing comprehensive policy and operational frameworks that “right size” reactor footprints, scale reactor performance to reach stated peaceful objectives, and establish inherent safety and fuel management designs which optimize reactor performance, while reducing the SNM pathways. Since its establishment in 2019, the PRO-X program has expanded to work with partners in Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia and is currently working to build upon its success by expanding its project portfolio. Leveraging the technical expertise of the U.S. national laboratory complex, PRO-X has identified critical pathways toward SNM production and is developing a series of fuel shuffling matrixes that increase core performance by optimizing fuel usage and maintaining reactor power levels, while reducing SNM production. Additionally, PRO-X is working with its international partners to rescope their auxiliary facilities, ensuring that glove boxes and hot cells can meet mission objectives without enabling illicit activity.  This piece will explore the PRO-X mission space, underscoring the impetus for the program that has been reemphasized by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting desires of states to implement domestic medical isotope manufacturing. The PRO-X mission will be defined and discussed in addition to the framework of benefits – or “win-wins” – that have been lauded by PRO-X partners and the PRO-X team in the United States. The piece will look back at the last five years of PRO-X and discuss the “lessons learned” through international cooperation, highlighting future areas of growth for PRO-X and the steps being taken to refine the program’s mission. Lastly, the piece will discuss the upcoming International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) TECDOC, which provides a framework for states seeking a new research reactor with a comprehensive roadmap to integrating proliferation resistance into their reactor procurement, design, and operation.