OAK RIDGE OFFICIALS DISCUSS U-233 REMOVAL WITH SECRETARY CHU

Officials from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge office met with Secretary Steven Chu yesterday to discuss the status of efforts to remove uranium-233 being stored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Oak Ridge acting Assistant Manager for Environmental Management Sue Cange and U-233 Federal Project Director John Krueger traveled to DOE headquarters to give an update on the 450 kilograms of the fissile material stored in approximately 1,100 containers at the ORNL’s aging Building 3019. DOE has already started removing about half of the inventory by either transferring the material to other Department programs or direct disposal at the Nevada National Security Site. The Department is expected to make a decision soon on the fate of the second half of the material. The Oak Ridge officials also discussed yesterday the necessary collaboration between EM, the National Nuclear Security Administration and DOE’s Office of Science to make the project successful.