Disarmament Diplomacy

Issue No. 67, October - November 2002

News Review

Green Light for US Tritium Production Plan

US plans to resume domestic production of tritium - a hydrogen isotope used in nuclear weapons - received a boost on September 23 with licensing approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Committee (NRC) for the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Watts Bar Nuclear (WBN) station to gather supplies of the element in its reactors. Describing the licensing approval as a "significant milestone" in the US nuclear stockpile management programme, a September 24 press release from the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) explained that the Watts Bar facility now had the authority to "irradiate Tritium Producing Burnable Absorber Rods (TPBARs) in the power reactor during normal operation." Acting NNSA Administrator Linton Brooks underlined the practical importance of the step (September 24):

"We haven't had a domestic source of tritium since we shut down the 'K' Reactor at Savannah River in 1989, and we have been recycling our supply of tritium in order to meet our needs. Since that time, the tritium inventory has decayed at about 5.5% per year and we must begin producing tritium to maintain the stockpile. Producing tritium is a key element in the US national security strategy to maintain an effective nuclear deterrent... A safe, secure and reliable stockpile requires that all warheads have tritium to operate as designed".

Note: on September 20, the NNSA announced the latest step on its path to restoring US production of "plutonium pits" for nuclear warheads - a declaration of "intent to prepare a Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Stockpile Stewardship and Management for a Modern Pit Facility." The NNSA statement continued:

"This notice is the first step in carrying out recommendations to develop a modern capability to manufacture plutonium pits. Pit production was shit down in 1989 at the Rocky Flats Plant [in Colorado], and no pits have been produced since. The NNSA's strategy calls for a new facility to be in production by approximately 2020. The United States is the only nuclear power without the capability to manufacture a plutonium pit, a crucial component of a nuclear weapon that functions as a trigger to allow a modern nuclear weapon to function. A new facility would reestablish the capability to manufacture all pit types in the nation's current nuclear stockpile and meet any future requirements in an environmentally compliant manner. The action supports a recommendation in the Bush administration's Nuclear Posture Review, which states that the ability to produce pits is important to ensure the future of the nation's nuclear deterrent. ... The Supplement to the Programmatic EIS will support two decisions: (1) whether to proceed with a Modern Pit Facility; and (2) if so, where to locate it. Five potential locations will be evaluated in the EIS: (1) Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) at Los Alamos, New Mexico; (2) Nevada Test Site, north of Las Vegas, Nevada; (3) Pantex Plant at Amarillo, Texas; (4) Savannah River Site at Aiken, South Carolina; and (5) the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant at Carlsbad, New Mexico. The EIS will also evaluate the no-action alternative of maintaining current plutonium pit capabilities at LANL, and the reasonableness of upgrading the existing facilities at LANL to increase pit production capacity."

Reports: Notice of intent issued for supplemental programmatic EIS regarding a Modern Pit Facility, US National Nuclear Security Administration Press Release NA-02-17, September 20; NRC approves NNSA tritium production at TVA's Watts Bar nuclear station, US National Nuclear Security Administration Press Release NA-02-21, September 24.

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© 2002 The Acronym Institute.