Transfer of excess nuclear material from Los Alamos to Savannah River Site for long-term disposition

Los Alamos National Laboratory is preparing excess nuclear material for shipment to Savannah River Site (SRS) for final disposition. Prior to shipment the nuclear material will be stabilized and packaged to meet strict criteria. The criterion that must be met include: (1) the DOE stabilization, packaging and storage requirements for plutonium bearing materials, DOE-STD-3013, (2) shipping container packaging requirements, (3) SRS packaging and storage criteria, and (4) DOE Material Disposition criteria for either immobilization or MOX reactor fuel. Another issue in preparing for this transfer is the DOE certification of shipping containers and the availability of shipping containers. This transfer of the nuclear material is fully supported by the EM, DP and NN Sections of the DOE, as well as, by LANL and SRS, yet a strong collaboration is needed to meet all established requirements relating to stabilization, packaging, shipment, storage and final disposition. This paper will present the overall objectives, the issues and the planned strategy to accomplish this nuclear material transfer