Acceleration of the RERTR program: Scope, status, and plans

The terrorist threats demonstrated by the September 11, 2001 attacks, the promising results of the RERTR program in testing monolithic U-Mo fuel, and the advances of the Russian RERTR program in developing new LEU fuels for Russian-designed research reactors have led to a reevaluation of the speed and focus with which RERTR program goals should be pursued. In their May 2002 Summit in Moscow, President Bush and President Putin agreed to establish a joint expert group to work out proposals to reduce Russian inventories of HEU and plutonium. During currently ongoing negotiations between the United States and Russia, one important activity identified by the expert group is to 'work on accelerated development of LEU fuel for both Soviet-designed and United States-designed research reactors'. This paper addresses the scope, status and plans for activities of the RERTR program consistent with this goal. (author)