January - March 2002 Contents Highlight

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Highlight

Elimination of Weapons-Grade Plutonium Production project initiated in Russia

In mid-February Dr. James Turner and Jimmie Mulkey of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and James Wiborg of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) traveled to Russia to meet with representatives of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation (Minatom) to initiate the Elimination of Weapons-Grade Plutonium Production program.

Jim Wiborg, Jimmie Mulkey, and James Turner at Sosnovoborsk - touring the site of the Mining and Chemical Combine's (MCC) new fossil-fueled heat and power generating facility. District heat distribution piping shown in the background.

The effort will focus on two sites - the Mining and Chemical Combine (MCC) at the city of Zheleznogorsk, and the Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC) at the city of Seversk. The MCC and SCC house a total of three plutonium production (ADE) reactors. The three annually generate 1.2 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium - enough to produce more than 120 nuclear weapons each year. In addition, the design of these reactors precedes the Chornobyl RBMK design and is the least safe type of reactor in operation today.

The program focuses on replacing the ADE reactors with fossil fuel-powered central heat and power generation facilities - referred to by Russians as TETs facilities. This program will also support some reactor safety upgrades until the reactors can be safely shut down. The safety upgrades performed will be limited to those minimizing accident risk while replacement power is being completed. The Department of Energy has mandated that for every upgrade, the duration for design, procurement, installation, and acceptance testing must be less than 24 months. Each upgrade must demonstrably reduce the reactor core damage frequency and reduce the release of radiation in the event of an accident. All upgrades must be consistent with shutting down the reactors at the earliest possible date and will be carefully evaluated to assure they do not extend the life of the reactors. The project is scheduled for completion in 2007. (James Wiborg, PNNL, 509-375-2692; Jimmie Mulkey, NNSA, 301-903-5481)

Khmelnytskyy NPP full-scope control room simulator awarded

The Annual Ukraine National Academy of Sciences Award was given to the Khmelnytskyy Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) full-scope control room simulator. The award is given annually to the best investment project in Ukraine. There were over 20 projects in the competition. The simulator was built by GSE Systems, Inc. (GES) with its Russian and Ukrainian partners through a contract administered by Brookhaven National Laboratory and funded by DOE. The criteria for the award are quality of the project, impact on safety and the environment, timeliness and scheduling of the project, and beneficial and effective use of the product. The Khmelnytskyy NPP full-scope simulator was the first simulator project started and completed in the Soviet-designed Reactor Safety (SDRS) program. Its success contributed to the support received for all subsequent simulator projects managed by the program. (John Yoder, DOE, 301-903-5650; Peter Kohut, BNL, 631-344-4982)