This contract modification is aligned with the company's new strategy moving forward towards engineering services and greater growth. Department of Energy (DOE) have signed a contract modification to perform processing operations to disposition Uranium-233 (U-233) material through 2024 on the U-233 Disposition Project located at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee. People that care about America's future should attempt to save the nation’s valuable Uranium-233 resources by asking Congress to send clear instructions to DOE to retain the small amount of this strategic nuclear material that exists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.MONTREAL, June 19, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - SNC-Lavalin's (TSX: SNC) Isotek Systems, LLC (Isotek) business and the U.S. The hope of a less nuclear waste generating Thorium nuclear renaissance depends to a significant extent on saving the nation’s supply of Uranium-233 for future use by Thorium reactors. If the United State’s total holdings of Uranium-233 is destroyed by blending down with U-238 we will remain mired in Uranium-Plutonium cycle nuclear reactor technology with a fuel efficiency of only ~2% producing large quantities of nuclear waste requiring a large geologic waste repository like Yucca Mountain for the foreseeable future.
Once destroyed, the nation’s Uranium-233 will not be available to be used by American nuclear engineers to make dramatically improved Thorium nuclear designs and the world will have to look to Russia and India to see a flowering of mature, robust, safe, and proliferation resistant Thorium reactor technology which is dependant on Uranium-233 as a start up material. The nation would benefit in retaining at least a portion of the rare Uranium-233 it possesses to hold for a day, hopefully not too far off, when political realities will permit a new safer Thorium nuclear renaissance to occur that will permit us to generate abundant safe and inexpensive electricity in thorium nuclear power plants. Thorium Reactors like the advanced generation-4 Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (MSR) can run much more cleanly when started with a core of Uranium-233. "We appreciate Ron Shaffer's work over the past two years on the Istoek project and look forward to working with Ron as he works with the EnergySolutions Performance Strategies team and will support our efforts in Nuclear operations oversight and Nuclear facilities start-up."ĭOE has put increasing pressure on Isotek in recent months because of rising costs and design schedule delays on the project that is supposed to downblend the fissile materials, removing any weapons potential, and prepare it for disposal at the Nevada Test Site.ĭisposing of U-233 is to be regretted because it will one day be needed to start Thorium reactors with many desirable characteristics including substantially reduced production of Minor Actinide nuclear waste. "With more than 30 years of nuclear project experience as the EPC of USEC's American Enrichment Plant, Nuclear Plant Decommissioning, Y-12 Enriched Uranium Operations and the U.S/ Nuclear Navy we are confident Jim will do a great job," Walker's statement said. Bolon is replacing Ron Shaffer as president of the Oak Ridge contractor organization. "We can confirm and are very pleased that Jim Bolon will lead the Isotek project," EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker said by e-mail. EnergySolutions is lead partner in Isotek, joined by Nuclear Fuel Services and Burns and Roe. of Energy contractor heading the project to downblend and disposition the stockpile of Uranium-233 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A spokesman with EnergySolutions today confirmed the management changes at the Oak Ridge-based isotek Systems, the Dept.
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