Status of nuclear fuels technologies activities in the fissile material disposition program

Approximately 2 yr ago, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) formed the Office of Fissile Material Disposition, DOE/MD, whose charter was to develop plants and technologies for the disposition of excess fissile material from the U.S. nuclear weapons program. The major focus of the Fissile Material Disposition (FMD) Program has been to gather the data necessary for the preparation of programmatic environmental impact statements and records of decision (RODs) for fissile material storage, highly enriched uranium disposition, and plutonium disposition. During 1996 and 1997, significant effort will be expended on technology development and implementation, including a major effort in nuclear fuels technologies. This paper presents the status of the primary activities being pursued in the nuclear fuels technologies area