Nuclear Power Industry News

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration Highlights Emergency Operations, Nuclear Counterterrorism Capabilities

 - By Linton Levy -

Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman toured the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) emergency operations facility at Andrews Air Force Base yesterday to receive a demonstration of NNSA’s nuclear and radiological incident response capabilities and thank the team for the efforts to combat nuclear terrorism. NNSA’s Associate Administrator for Emergency Operations Joseph Krol highlighted several emergency response assets, which make NNSA the nation's premier responder to any nuclear or radiological incident within the United States or abroad.

“NNSA’s emergency operations and counterterrorism capabilities represent a key component of the U.S. government’s comprehensive effort to combat nuclear terrorism,” said Deputy Secretary Poneman. “We take full advantage of the extraordinary expertise of the world’s top professional scientists, engineers, pilots, medical personnel, technicians and other leading nuclear experts and cutting edge science to help keep our country safe. All Americans can be grateful for their patriotism and dedication.”

In his landmark Prague speech in April, President Obama said, “we must ensure that terrorists never acquire a nuclear weapon,” calling it “the most immediate and extreme threat to global security” and unveiling an ambitious and unprecedented nuclear security agenda.

As part of the commitment to preventing nuclear terrorism, NNSA uses the skill and expertise gained through more than 60 years of experience with nuclear weapons to provide operational planning and training to counter both domestic and international nuclear terrorism, and to respond to and mitigate nuclear and radiological incidents worldwide. In addition, NNSA provides technical support to the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, State, and Defense for nuclear terrorism events and domestic nuclear weapon accidents and incidents. The NNSA emergency response assets also provide support to nuclear site and facility accidents and incidents.

Below is a fact sheet on NNSA’s efforts to prevent nuclear terrorism.

Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science in the nation’s national security enterprise. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability, and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; reduces the global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad. 

NNSA: Working To Prevent Nuclear Terrorism
The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which has unique expertise in nuclear weapons and nuclear material, plays a key role in the U.S. government’s comprehensive effort to combat terrorism. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, NNSA has doubled spending on nuclear nonproliferation programs and has received nearly $45 million in contributions from seven countries. NNSA works with over 100 countries to fight against nuclear proliferation and terrorism, and has successfully completed the following:

Secured Nuclear Material and Warheads

• NNSA completed security upgrades at 73 Russian nuclear warhead sites containing hundreds of warheads, including 39 Russian Navy nuclear sites, 25 Russian Strategic Rocket Forces sites, and nine 12th Main Directorate sites.
• Completed Material, Protection, Control & Accounting (MPC&A) upgrades to 192 buildings containing hundreds of metric tons of weapons-useable Russian nuclear material at 11 Russian Navy reactor fuel sites, seven Rosatom Weapons Complex sites, six civilian (non-Rosatom) sites, and 12 Rosatom civilian sites.
• Completed the largest U.S.-Russian effort to secure weapons-grade nuclear material at the Mayak Production Association in Ozersk, Russia.
• Completed MPC&A upgrades to 15 nuclear material buildings outside of Russia.
• Returned 910 kilograms (enough for over 35 nuclear weapons) of Soviet-origin highly enriched uranium from vulnerable sites around the world.
• Returned 1,215 kilograms (enough for over 45 nuclear weapons) of U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium.
• Removed 187 kilograms (enough for over 5 nuclear weapons) of other highly enriched uranium and plutonium from vulnerable sites around the world.
• Helped to eliminate Libya’s nuclear weapons program by removing 1.8 metric tons of uranium hexafluoride and over 500 metric tons of centrifuge components and related materials.
• Led on-the-ground efforts to disable North Korea’s nuclear facilities at Yongbyon in support of the Six-Party Talks.
• Reached agreement with Russia on principles to sustain security upgrades after 2012, when Russia assumes full responsibility for security for its own sites.
• Completed 89% of plans to provide safe and secure long-term storage for nearly three tons of weapons-grade plutonium and ten tons of HEU from the BN-350 reactor in Kazakhstan.
• Shut down two weapons-grade plutonium production reactors in Russia.    Aggressively pursuing closure of the last remaining reactor to end weapons-grade plutonium production in Russia.

Protected “Dirty Bomb” Material

• Recovered 22,674 unwanted or excess high-priority radioactive sources in the United States.
• Upgraded the physical security at 598 vulnerable buildings around the world that contained high-priority nuclear and radioactive material. Removed or disposed of 423 Russian radioisotopic thermal generators (RTGs) in a joint effort with Russia, Canada, Norway, France and Finland.
• Repacked and removed 550 MT of uranium dioxide and 4,000 curies of radiological sources from the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Complex in Iraq.
  

Converted and Protected Research Reactors

• Converted 57 research reactors around the world from operating on highly enriched uranium to running on low enriched uranium; an additional seven reactors have been shut down prior to conversion.
• Provided security upgrades at 18 civilian research reactors worldwide.
  

Provided Security-Related Training

• Trained over 250 foreign officials every year since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on how to physically protect nuclear material and facilities.
• Trained over 300 foreign officials every year since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on nuclear safeguards and infrastructure preparedness.
• Trained over 6,000 domestic and 11,000 international export control enforcement officials and industry representatives on strategic trade controls and identification of weapons of mass destruction-related goods since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
  

Strengthened International Nonproliferation Regimes

• Completed “123 Agreements” on nuclear cooperation with India and Turkey.
• Providing leadership in the IAEA process to update and strengthen physical protection guidelines in IAEA INFCIRC/225.
  

Prevented Nuclear Smuggling and Transfer of Nuclear Expertise

• Emphasized long-term research efforts to develop improved technologies to detect weapons of mass destruction and nuclear proliferation around the world.
• Completed installation of radiation detection equipment at 23 Megaports under the Second Line of Defense Program’s Megaports Initiative and at various stages of implementation at more than 20 additional ports around the world.
• Installed radiation detection equipment at 231 Second Line of Defense Core sites (land border crossings, airports, and sea ports) in Russia and 13 other countries of concern.
• Reached agreement with Russia to complete the installation of radiation detection equipment at all Russian border crossings (350 sites total) by 2011 (six years ahead of schedule), building on the 161 crossings already equipped.
• Engaged more than 16,000 personnel at over 180 facilities in the former Soviet Union, Libya and Iraq, helping redirect their talents to civilian pursuits while preventing the flow of WMD expertise to countries of proliferation concern and terrorist groups.
• Completed over 7,380 reviews of export license applications/requests related to material, technology and equipment of weapons of mass destruction concern in 2008 and 4,618 to date in 2009.

Downblended or Disposed of Nuclear Material

• Converted into low enriched uranium 11.4 metric tons of Russian excess non-weapons program highly enriched uranium.
• Monitored the downblending of 375 metric tons (enough for 15,000 nuclear weapons) of Russian weapons-derived highly enriched uranium, which now provides 10 percent of U.S. electricity.
• Downblended or delivered for downblending more than 124 metric tons of surplus U.S. highly enriched uranium (enough for approximately 2,700 nuclear weapons) into low enriched uranium for peaceful use as nuclear reactor fuel.
• Downblending 17.4 metric tons of highly enriched uranium for the Reliable Fuel Supply Initiative, which will be used as an incentive for other countries to forego their own enrichment and reprocessing capabilities.
• Working to dispose of at least 68 metric tons (enough for 17,000 nuclear weapons) of U.S. and Russian weapons-grade plutonium by converting it into mixed-oxide fuel for use in commercial nuclear power reactors.  Continuing construction of the U.S. Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, which began in August 2007.  Operations are scheduled to begin in 2016.

Maintained Leading Emergency Response Capabilities and Training
NNSA has robust emergency capabilities with some of the world’s top professional scientists, engineers, pilots, medical personnel, technicians and other leading nuclear experts.  Using extremely sophisticated laboratories and equipment, NNSA teams are ready to respond to and resolve nuclear and radiological terrorist incidents, including supporting other government agencies, and deploying search, analysis and medical teams.

• NNSA has participated in 84 national and international exercises in 2008 to maintain its elite response standards.
• NNSA deployed multiple field teams to conduct 11 high profile special events and 49 emergency responses around the world in support of the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of State.  These include State of the Union, Super Bowl, United Nations General Assembly, 2008 Beijing Olympics, Democratic and Republican Conventions, and numerous deployments and search operations.
• NNSA worked with emergency response organizations in over 75 countries and nine international organizations to address potential radiological emergencies and nuclear incidents.  The international cooperation involves technical exchanges, mutual training events, jointly conducted exercises and emergency management assistance.
• NNSA completed the first-ever stabilization tool kit to enhance nuclear render safe capabilities.  Equipment, training and logistics were finalized for this first generation stabilization capability to be field tested in 2009.
• Provided technical training on aerial radiation monitoring for police departments in the cities of Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.