Bush administration to continue down-blending.

The Department of Energy last week announced its latest plans to provide access to nuclear fuel for civilian reactors to countries that agree not to pursue their own enrichment and reprocessing. This is done by taking highly enriched uranium and down-blending it into far safer low enriched uranium which can be used in nuclear power reactors to generate electricity. The concept behind this is to limit the spread of fuel cycle capabilities needed for producing nuclear fuel that can also be used for manufacturing nuclear weapons.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is now seeking proposals to down-blend 17.4 metric tons of highly enriched uranium into reactor grade fuel for use in its so-called 'Reliable Fuel Supply' program.
"This will help countries to pursue nuclear power confidently, without the burden of producing their own fuel, while curbing the spread of sensitive technology," said Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman.

The material will be down-blended to about 290 metric tons of low enriched uranium, worth approximately $750 million.  The fuel will be available to qualifying countries that face a disruption in supply that cannot be corrected through normal commercial means, according to the NNSA.

NNSA today published on the website www.fedbizopps.gov a notice of intent to request proposals from companies interested in competing for the contract to down-blend the material. The material is expected to be down-blended and available as a back up reserve in 2010.

Click here for more information from the NNSA.

- David Adams