The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California has transferred roughly two-thirds of its closely guarded "special nuclear material" to five other government sites, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced yesterday (see GSN, April 9).
The material, which receives the most protection, has been sent to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee, the Idaho National Laboratory and the Nevada Test Site.
The deliveries, completed in accordance with safety and environmental regulations, were part of a U.S. effort begun three years ago to consolidate high-security nuclear material at the five sites by 2012. Removal of the sensitive material from the Lawrence Livermore laboratory is set to wrap up that year.
“The removal of two-thirds of LLNL’s nuclear material demonstrates real progress and is the result of some very hard work,” NNSA Administrator Thomas D’Agostino said in a statement. “NNSA continues to make tremendous strides in transforming a Cold War nuclear weapons complex into a 21st century nuclear security enterprise that is smaller, safer, and more efficient. Staying on schedule in meeting our commitment to remove all special nuclear material from Livermore is a major part of that effort” (U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration release I, Sept. 30).
In cooperation with the Navy, the nuclear agency has also eliminated 18 small, outdated power generators that contained radioactive material.
The 18 Navy Radioisostope Thermoelectric Generators -- which are used for satellites and other devices -- were destroyed over the past 16 months at the Nevada Test Site, according to an NNSA press release. The machines together held more than 550,000 decayed curies of strontium 90.
“This kind of collaborative partnership means the Navy no longer needs to expend resources to secure this radioactive material,” NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator Ken Baker said in the release. “Our experts have more than six decades of history in nuclear security that they apply both to maintaining our stockpile and permanently disposing of radioactive material" (U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration release II, Sept. 30).