A Roadmap for Materials Removal and Disposition through the GTRI Gap Materials Program

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) mission is to to identify, secure, remove and/or facilitate the disposition of high risk vulnerable nuclear and radiological materials around the world. Recently, the DOE NNSA-GTRI has identified a category of material in foreign countries that is not covered by the current programs and policies for the repatriation of the U.S. origin and Russian origin HEU fresh and spent fuel and yet can pose a potential threat to nonproliferation goals because of inadequate disposition options. This category of materials, termed as Gap Materials, includes certain fresh and spent HEU nuclear fuel and plutonium materials. This paper focuses on the project execution steps in Gap Materials removal. It provides the roadmap to Gap Materials removal typically consisting of concurrent phases of Materials Assessment, Materials Characterization, Container/Package Certification, Regulatory Approvals and Mission Execution. (author)