GAO Report: Y-12 Purified Lithium Could Run Dry by 2018 if Additional Actions Aren’t Taken

The Y-12 National Security Complex could run out of the purified lithium needed to refurbish nuclear weapons components as early as 2018 if additional actions aren’t taken to replenish the supply of top-grade material, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Monday. The GAO report criticized the National Nuclear Security Administration for perhaps focusing too much of its attention on a new lithium production facility at Y-12 – proposed to come online around 2025 – and not enough on other alternatives while developing a lithium strategy and revving up lithium capabilities for the near term.

 

According to the GAO report, the projected demand for lithium-6 for weapons use has tripled over the past few years, putting unanticipated pressure on existing operations at Oak Ridge. The lithium-6 processed at Y-12 has to be certified by Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories to ensure it is “suitable” for weapons use, the GAO report stated. NNSA has acknowledged that changes in dismantlement and disassembly schedules within the U.S. nuclear weapons complex could “delay or reduce the availability of lithium source material,” the GAO report states.