By Wes Deason

Current and former executives from the nuclear security industry shared insights on the evolving role of the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) in the nonproliferation and global security community. The NNSS, once home to the Nevada Test Site where hundreds of above and below ground nuclear weapons tests were once conducted, now carries a much different role.

Focus by the NNSS has pivoted to assisting in the enforcement of the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons to terrorist organizations. However, some sub-critical weapons tests, physics tests where no self-sustaining fission chain reaction is created, continue to be held in accordance with the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. These evolving changes were discussed at the 2014 American Nuclear Society (ANS) Annual Meeting in Reno, Nevada.

Dr. Raymond Juzaitis, President of National Security Technologies LLC, emphasized the increasingly complex nuclear security environment exposed by the rising popularity of nuclear power production worldwide. To adapt to this complex environment, the NNSS currently conducts research and development activities in the fields of nuclear materials security, nuclear materials detection, pre-detonation nuclear forensics, nuclear treaty monitoring and verification, and post-detonation nuclear forensics.

The discussion also focused on the interactions with the state of Nevada which include environmental monitoring and restoration work. Additionally, collaborations currently are being pursued with the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and Reno.

By Lenka Kollar

While many in the United States might spend some time thinking of the many options for recycling household goods or food waste, few focus on the many reusable options that are available for used nuclear fuel. 

The concerns with recycling used fuel include nonproliferation issues, cost, waste management requirements, and time factors related to radioactive decay, as expressed by Emory Collins from Oak Ridge National Laboratory at a gathering of the American Nuclear Society. However, Collins says that many of these issues can be addressed. “Engineered safeguards and safeguards-by-design can be used to provide adequate proliferation resistance and ensure nonproliferation security,” said Collins. “The cost to implement fuel recycle will be an insignificant change to the cost of nuclear electricity.” 

Currently in the United States, nuclear fuel assemblies are used in a commercial reactor for about three years until they are removed and safely stored. The current plan in the U.S. is to dispose of this used fuel in a permanent geological repository. However, up to 95% of the used fuel can be recycled and used again as fuel in a reactor. Other countries, such as France, are actively recycling their fuel to “close” the nuclear fuel cycle. 

Sven Bader of AREVA Federal Services made the case that uranium is a valuable nuclear material and that “its recovery and recycling saves natural resources.” AREVA is a French-based company that manages the recycling of used fuel in France and also provides the service for other European countries. While the technology is robust, Bader admits that without building new reactors in the US, there is a lack of justification for reprocessing because the economics do not add up.