Megatons To Megawatts Program - Status of Program As of 2012

Status of Program As of 2012

In July, 2012 USEC (http://www.USEC.com); announced that the Megatons to Megawatts program had reached a new milestone—450 metric tons of Russian HEU warhead material, equivalent to 18,000 nuclear warheads has been eliminated. From 1993 to date 450 metric tons of Russian warhead HEU have been diluted and converted in Russia to 13,258 metric tons of LEU—low enriched uranium—fuel for nuclear power plants. The fuel is purchased from Russia by USEC for use in many of America's 103 commercial nuclear power plants to produce electricity.

Nuclear warheads that were once on Russian ICBMs aimed at American cities are now providing 50% of the electricity produced by America's nuclear power plants—nuclear power generates about twenty percent of America's total electricity production. The mission of the U.S.-Russian agreement and commercial implementing contract will be completed in 2013. At that time it is expected that a total of 500 metric tons of warhead HEU will have been converted in Russia to LEU and purchased to fuel U.S. nuclear power plants. The Megatons to Megawatts program will have eliminated material equivalent of 20,000 nuclear warheads.

During this period, on a comparatively modest basis, the U.S. government has also been converting some of its excess nuclear warhead HEU into power plant fuel. Efforts have also been undertaken to demonstrate the commercial feasibility of converting warhead plutonium into fuel to augment nuclear fuel for U.S. power plants.

Completion of the Megatons to Megawatts agreement may leave a gap in the supply of uranium fuel at a time when the global use of nuclear power is increasing. In the United States, there are 103 nuclear power reactors currently operating. New construction and operating permits for 15 nuclear power reactors are under review by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. According to government and industry sources, seventeen companies are preparing license applications for as many as 31 new U.S nuclear reactors. Since the Megatons to Megawatts program is scheduled to end in 2013, demand for other sources of uranium supply will be necessary to meet current and future demand.