Fissile Materials Working Group: Focus on R&D to Replace HEU in Naval Propulsion

The United States and the National Nuclear Security Administration should increase funding for research and development aimed at replacing the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU) in naval reactors with the use of low enriched uranium (LEU), according to Andrew Bieniawski, vice president of material security and minimization at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Bieniawski presented findings from the Fissile Materials Working Group’s new report, “Policy Recommendations for the Nuclear Security Summit,” at a Center for Strategic and International Studies panel yesterday. The working group seeks to eliminate the use of HEU for civilian applications and encourages the international community to “convert all remaining civil HEU fuel reactors to LEU by 2035,” Bieniawski said.

 

The group recommends an increased focus on naval propulsion through the launch of a “national or multinational research and development effort to replace HEU in naval propulsion,” according to Bieniawski. This effort would advance the group’s goal of minimizing HEU use while allowing LEU in naval reactors. “The U.S. and NNSA really need to take the lead in allocating additional research and development funds, particularly in the [Fiscal Year 2017] budget, so that we can go ahead and work on that R&D in enough time to make decisions about possible conversion,” Bieniawski said. He also noted, “there’s quite a bit of support for this on [Capitol Hill].”