Reduce, Reuse, Recycle:The MOX Project at Savannah River Site

Joan S. BozzoneSite Engineering and Project Integration Division

Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation

American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) Georgia Conference September 12-13, 2012

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle:The MOX Project at Savannah River Site

• Introduction to SRS

• NNSA nuclear nonproliferation

• MOX Project overview

• Sustainability features

• Department of Energy reservation

• Site of nuclear materials production from early 1950’s to 1989

• Home to Savannah River National Laboratory

• Federal and contractor workforce ~12,000

• Annual Budget ~ $2 Billion

Savannah River Site

Savannah River Site Missions

• 310 square-mile, multi-program Department of Energy reservation with national missions:

• Environmental Management (EM) • stabilize and dispose of legacy nuclear

materials• receive and manage spent nuclear

fuels • manage and dispose of 36 million

gallons of radioactive liquid wastes• remediate soil and groundwater

• National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

• produce and recycle tritium for national defense

• convert 34 metric tons of weapon grade plutonium into mixed oxide (MOX) fuel

Weapons dismantlement

Plutonium components stored in

heavily guarded bunkers at Pantex

Plant (Amarillo, TX)

Berlin Wall comes down --

1989End of Cold War

Nonproliferation Background

• End of cold war brings arms reduction– Excess fissile materials accumulate in

U.S. and Russia– Potential for theft by terrorists and rogue

nations declared to be a “clear and present danger”

• U.S. and Russia commit to eliminate surplus fissile materials– Nearly 300 metric tons of fissile

materials declared excess to defense needs

– Material will never again be used in a nuclear weapon

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Nuclear Nonproliferation Mission

• Conversion of at least 34 metric tons of U. S. weapon grade plutonium into mixed oxide (MOX) fuel :

– Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) • Produce mixed oxide fuel elements for irradiation in domestic

commercial nuclear power plants– Pit Disassembly and Conversion Capability

• Disassemble nuclear weapon pits, remove impurities, and convert the metal into oxide for use in MFFF

– Waste Solidification Building • Process high activity and low activity waste waters from MFFF to a

form suitable for onsite or off-site disposal

• Implements international agreement with Russia to also dispose of 34 metric tons of Russian surplus weapons-grade plutonium

Recycling Weapon Grade Plutonium into Nuclear Fuel

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Weapons Dismantlement

atPantex

Interim Storageat Pantex

Pit Disassembly

and Conversion

at SRS MOX FuelFabrication

at SRS

New Facility

SurplusPlutonium

Pits

Pit & Non -Pit Plutonium*

Pu OxideFeed

Spent fuel is unsuitable

and unattractive

for use in nuclear

weapons

Enhanced/ RegularPurificationCapability

Commercial Nuclear Reactors

Waste Weapons

Dismantlementat

Pantex

Interim Storageat Pantex

Pit Disassembly

and ConversionCapability MOX Fuel

Fabrication at SRS

SurplusPlutonium

Pits

Non-PitPlutonium Storage

at SRS

Spent fuel is unsuitable

and unattractive

for use in nuclear

weapons

PurificationCapability

Metal

Pu OxideFeed

WasteSolidificationBuilding

SRS Waste ManagementInfrastructure

WIPPLiquidWaste

MOX Fuel

LLNL

LANL

Hanford

Rocky Flats

SRS

LLNL – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

LANL – Los Alamos National Laboratory

SRS – Savannah River Site

WIPP – Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

After irradiation, plutonium will meet the spent fuel standard – making it as inaccessible and unattractive for use in weapons as plutonium in commercial spent fuel

LEED Gold Certified sustainable buildings

MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility at SRS

December, 2011 Designed, Constructed, Operated by Shaw AREVA MOX Services, LLC

French Reference Facilities

PuO2Conversion

Aqueous Polishing Process

Dissolution

PurificationCycle

Powder Master Blend & Final Blend Production

PelletProduction

RodProduction

Fuel RodAssembling

MOX Mechanical Assembly Process

La Hague

Melox

Paris

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• French have been making and using MOX fuel for more than 25 years.

• More than 80% of French electrical needs are met by nuclear power

Cutaway 3-D View of Aqueous Polishing Process

3-D engineering model image shown without walls

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Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility

Fuel Manufacturing Area Looking North East

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MOX Fuel Assemblies• Identical appearance to uranium fuel

assemblies used in commercial nuclear power reactors in the United States.

• The fuel rods are inspected, decontaminated, and bundled together to form fuel assemblies.

• Each fuel assembly contains 264 fuel rods in a 17 X 17 array, 13 feet long

• Each rod contains about 360 pellets

• Average plutonium loading 4 – 5 weight percent

• Each assembly produces enough carbon emission-free electricity to power 30,000 homes for a year

MOX Fuel Assemblies

Program Level: Recycling Weapon Grade Plutonium to Nuclear Fuel

Project Level: Environmental Management System, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)Certification, Waste Management Systems

Process Level: Design recycling into systems with zero liquid effluence, Design for eventual building disposal, Optimize waste management features, Incorporate sustainable building features

Operational Level: Establish expectations, Monitor and trend energy and recycling savings, Develop and implement employee training programs, Minimize operational waste, Institute procedures

Sustainability by Design

What Does LEEDTM Mean?

A leading-edge system for certifying the DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, & OPERATIONS of the greenest performing buildings in the world

Rainwater Collection Tank for IrrigationEndangered Species Garden

Solar panels and High efficiency HVAC

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Aqueous Polishing Process Reuse/Recycling

Dissolution PurificationDecanning Canning

Oxalic Mother Liquor

Recovery

Solvent Recovery

Process Off-Gas Treatment

Acid Recovery

Organic Waste

(Mixed Low Level Waste)

Mechanical Pre-treatment (AFS)

Conversion

Stripped Uranium

(Low Level Waste)

High Alpha (Transuranic

Waste)

Distillates (Low Level

Waste)

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MOX Fuel Assembly Process

• Inspections throughout the process cull and recycle imperfect pellets

Operational Programs

employee awareness and training programs

Preferential ParkingCommitment Wall on Repurposed Building

Materials recycling has saved $130,368 in 2012

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: $ensible for the MOX Project

• Program Cost Savings

• Project Cost Savings

• Operational Cost Savings