Uranium-233 - Fissile Material

Fissile Material

In 1946 the public first became informed of U-233 bred from thorium as "a third available source of nuclear energy and atom bombs" (in addition to U-235 and Pu-239), following a United Nations report and a speech by Glenn T. Seaborg.

The United States produced, over the course of the Cold War, approximately 2 metric tons of uranium-233, in varying levels of chemical and isotopic purity. These were produced at the Hanford Site and Savannah River Site in reactors that were designed for the production of plutonium-239. Historical production costs, estimated from the costs of plutonium production, were $2-4 million / kg. There are few reactors remaining in the world with significant capabilities to produce more uranium-233.