Declassification of Today's Highly Enriched Uranium Inventories at Department of Energy Laboratories

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1 FAQs Site Map Contact Us SEARCH OPENNET DATABASE GO HOME OPENNESS POLICY OPENNESS INFORMATION RESOURCES HOW TO ORDER OPENNESS DOCUMENTS LOGIN FOR DATA SUBMISSION Advanced Search Scope Office of Classification U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Press Secretary, Washington, DC Declassification of Today's Highly Enriched Uranium Inventories at Department of Energy Laboratories Specifically Background Benefits Who Are the Key Stakeholders Contact Attachment Questions and Answers Table of Contents The Department of Energy has declassified information identifying the total highly enriched uranium inventory at the Department of Energy national laboratories. Highly enriched uranium is defined as having an enrichment above 20 percent of the fissionable isotope uranium-235. For uniformity, we are including in this public announcement some inventory numbers that were already unclassified. Specifically Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, has 0.2 metric tons of highly enriched uranium, mainly in the form of irradiated fuel. The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory facilities near Idaho Falls, Idaho, including Argonne National Laboratory West, Idaho Chemical Processing Plant, Naval Reactors Facility, and other reactor and test sites, have an inventory of 26.2 metric tons of highly enriched uranium. The Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory research and reactor facilities, near Schenectady, New York, have an inventory of 1.6 metric tons of highly enriched uranium. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, has 0.2 metric tons of highly enriched uranium. This material consists of metal, compounds, radioactive sources, and other forms. Page 1 of 6

2 uranium. This material consists of metal, compounds, radioactive sources, and other forms. Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, has 3.2 metric tons of highly enriched uranium. Los Alamos' highly enriched uranium is stored or used as reactor fuel, metal, solutions, and various compounds. Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has 1.4 metric tons of highly enriched uranium, mainly in the form of operating and spent irradiated fuel. Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has 0.9 metric tons of highly enriched uranium. The material is stored or used as metal, reactor fuel, oxide, and various other solutions and compounds. The attached chart summarizes today's highly enriched uranium inventories at Department of Energy sites. Background The substantial amounts of highly enriched uranium stored or used at the Department of Energy laboratories is used in research reactors, criticality facilities and for research purposes. Part of Lawrence Livermore's highly enriched uranium is used in the study of long-term uranium storage and surveillance relevant to nuclear weapons. Los Alamos has used uranium in nuclear reactors, critical assemblies, and for space power work. It has carried out much basic work on metals, alloys, and ceramics. It also develops nuclear safeguards instrumentation which is used to measure quantities of highly enriched uranium and that requires the availability of nuclear material for testing and calibration. Sandia National Laboratories has carried out work using highly enriched uranium to produce neutron pulses to simulate weapons effects. Work has been carried out on nuclear reactors of various types over the years, including work on space propulsion and reactor safety, and on uranium metallurgy and ceramics. Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory have used uranium as fuel for research reactors, that have been used in materials science research, nuclear physics, and medical and reactor research. Brookhaven National Laboratory has worked on safeguards technologies to support nuclear materials accounting of uranium. The Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory facilities use enriched uranium in prototype Naval Reactors and for research purposes as part of the analysis of Naval Reactors. The facilities at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory use the highly enriched uranium for reactor development and analysis of a variety of reactor types. Some highly enriched uranium in the inventory is related to past reactor operations. The quantities listed here are based on the evaluation of the records available. The quantities may be updated or revised in the future after re-evaluation of the methodology used originally. Benefits As part of the Secretary of Energy's Openness Initiative, the Department of Energy is declassifying information regarding the amounts of highly enriched uranium stored at the Department of Energy laboratories. As a result of this declassification, the American public will have information that is important to the current debate over proper management and ultimate disposition of uranium. The release of this information should encourage other nations to declassify similar information. The quantities may aid in public discussions of issues related to uranium storage safety and security. The data will be of some aid to regulators who will oversee environmental, health and safety conditions at the national laboratories. The data may permit more environmentally relevant information to be provided to stakeholders and the public. Page 2 of 6

3 Could have valuable nonproliferation benefits by making potential International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards arrangements easier to implement. Who Are the Key Stakeholders The Public. Data will be provided for a public discussion of uranium quantities and disposition. Public Interest Organizations. Stakeholders include environmental, safety and health groups, historians, archivists, researchers, scientists and industrial workers, as well as State and Federal personnel. With this declassification, those interested in oversight of highly enriched uranium related activities will have additional information regarding today's highly enriched uranium inventory at Department of Energy national laboratories. Public interest organizations which have expressed such an interest include (but are note limited to): Ban Waste Coalition; California Public Interest Research Group; East Bay Peace Action; Energy Research Foundation; Environmental Information Network; Friends of the Earth; Greenpeace; League of Women Voters; Livermore Conversion Project; Military Production Network; National Security Archive; Natural Resources Defense Council; Nevada Desert Experience; Physicians for Social Responsibility; Rocky Mountain Peace Center; Sierra Club; The Foundation for Global Sustainability; Tri-Valley CARE's; and Western States Legal Foundation. Freedom of Information Act Requesters. The requesters will receive more of the data that they requested. Contact U.S. Department of Energy Office of Public Affairs Contact: Sam Grizzle (202) Attachment Page 3 of 6

4 U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Press Secretary, Washington, DC QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Q. How safe is the uranium storage at the Department of Energy laboratories? A. Onsite reviews indicate that the uranium storage is safe. The Department's Laboratories store uranium in secure locations, such as research reactors and specially-designed storage vaults. These facilities and uranium movements have been subjected to rigorous safety analysis, and security and accountability reviews. Storage and operations are controlled by procedures that are based on nuclear safety analyses. These facilities and operations are regularly reviewed by both Department of Energy and contractor independent safety oversight personnel. With the exception of spent nuclear fuel, there are no known vulnerabilities associated with uranium storage at the laboratories. To verify this, we are planning to conduct a vulnerability assessment for storage of highly enriched uranium beginning in October Spent nuclear fuel vulnerabilities were addressed in a report issued last November. Q. Does the presence of uranium in the workplace or in the environment that results from the operations of the National Laboratory facilities represent a health hazard to the workers or the public? Page 4 of 6

5 A. The Department of Energy is addressing this question by sponsoring a comprehensive package of health studies of workers and community residents. Surveillance of illness among workers is being performed at four laboratories: Brookhaven National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories. This program is designed to identify patterns of illness and injury by occupation and age groups, for each sex. Patterns are then used to discover the existence of specific workplace exposures and lead to exposure control measures. Medical surveillance is conducted for workers exposed to uranium metal at all laboratories supported by the Department of Energy. The workers, identified by their unique exposures or occupations, are monitored for early signs of organ damage known to be associated with heavy metals such as uranium. Workers at Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven has no potential for either plutonium or uranium exposures. In calendar year 1993, there were 42 workers and scientists included in the internal dosimetry program. Of 731 urine bioassay samples taken on these 42 individuals, 186 were positive, defined as being greater than 10 mrem committed effective dose equivalent, the 50-year dose to the body tissues on the exposed individual. The range of doses for single uptakes monitored by urine bioassay was from 10 mrem to 110 mrem committed effective dose equivalent. The maximum dose to an individual from multiple uptakes is about 300 mrem committed effective dose equivalent. Workers at Idaho National Laboratory During calendar year 1993 at Idaho National Laboratory, there were 5,145 individuals monitored by whole body counting and 3,116 individuals monitored with urine/fecal analyses. Record summary data does not permit differentiation of how many who have whole body counts may have also had urine/fecal analyses. Of these individuals monitored, six had positive doses for plutonium and one had a positive dose for uranium. Positive recordable at Idaho is defined as greater than 10 mrem committed effective dose equivalent. The 6 positive plutonium doses ranges from 14 mrem to 53 mrem committed effective dose equivalent. One uranium dosed was 11 mrem committed effective dose equivalent. Workers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory there are about 100 workers monitored by urine bioassay for tritium (H-3), about 100 workers who receive annual lung counts for uranium and about 100 workers who are monitored by urine bioassay for plutonium. During calendar year 1993, only doses above 100 mrem committed effective dose equivalent are candidates for formal dose assessment and recording of internal dose. Using this criteria, there was no individual with a committed effective dose equivalent dose that was greater or equal to the investigation level of 100 mrem committed effective dose equivalent. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is currently tracking annual internal doses for 25 individuals who had uptakes of radioactive materials prior to calendar year Almost all of these doses resulted from intakes of plutonium or americium. The total annual (calendar year 1993) effective dose equivalent from these uptakes is distributed as follows: Intake Location Percent of 1993 effective dose equivalent (Approximate) Rocky Flats 30 percent Mound Laboratories 40 percent Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 30 percent Workers at Sandia National Laboratories During calendar year 1993, Sandia National Laboratory monitored approximately 650 individuals for potential internal doses. There were no positive doses at the Sandia National Laboratory, New Mexico location. At the Sandia National Laboratories, California, chronic tritium (H-3) doses are followed. Fifteen individuals had positive doses in excess of 1 mrem committed effective dose equivalent. Doses ranged from 1 mrem committed effective dose equivalent to 19 mrem committed effective dose equivalent with 3 individuals with internal doses in excess of 10 mrem committed effective dose equivalent. There is no potential for plutonium exposure at the Sandia National Laboratories, California, and only very small, if even measurable uranium dose potential. There were no reported uranium doses. An internal dosimetry program at Sandia National Laboratories (except for Sandia National Laboratories, California) has only been implemented since Previous to that time, internal dosimetry data was only collected on an informal basis to ensure workers were not being significantly exposed. Some routine uranium monitoring was performed for heavy metal toxicity. Since no doses exceeded 100 mrem committed effective dose equivalent, followup was not considered necessary. Page 5 of 6

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