Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) is seeking expressions of interest from entities that can convert enriched lithium chloride and enriched lithium hydride to lithium metal for the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee, according to a notice posted last week.
Lithium is used for the manufacture of nuclear weapons components; the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) lithium operations are carried out at the Y-12 site.
A Government Accountability Office report last summer found that an increasing demand for lithium has outpaced existing capabilities; it said the demand for purified lithium had tripled and that Y-12 could run out of the material by 2018.
The NNSA then said earlier this year that it had found other sources of purified lithium for nuclear weapons work and that Y-12 now has enough enriched lithium to meet its needs through 2028.
The agency said in its newest Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan released in March that it would name a lithium strategic material manager in 2016. The report also said the agency will continue using Y-12’s Beta-2 facility to meet near-term needs “while developing a plan for the lithium production capability to address long-term capability requirements.”
The latest sources sought notice outlined several requirements, including that lithium processing must be carried out in the United States; that the material be processed and transported to and from the processing site by CNS; and that all lithium must be returned to CNS at the end of the performance period.
Interested parties must submit a response by July 30 through Y-12’s procurement website at y12.doe.gov/suppliers/procurement.
