The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) produced its first enriched uranium “button” using an “electrorefining” process at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the agency said in a press release.
The electrorefining project was authorized for startup in September, and marks the first time such a process has been used in 15 years since the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility. The process involves electrochemical uranium metal purification technology, a process developed at Argonne National Laboratory to convert impure uranium metal into purified uranium metal.
The buttons made out of uranium metal will “support national security missions, including the production of nuclear weapons and supplying uranium that powers U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and submarines,” the release said.