Workshop on Preserving High Purity Uranium-233

Abstract

A workshop was held on at the MARC X conference to provide a forum for the scientific community to communicate needs for high-purity 233U and its by-products in order to preserve critical items otherwise slated for downblending and disposal. Currently, only a small portion of the U.S. holdings of separated 233U is being preserved. However, many additional kilograms of 233U (>97% pure) still are destined to be downblended which will permanently destroy their potential value for many other applications. It is not likely that this material will ever be replaced due to a lack of operating production capability. Summaries of information conveyed at the workshop and feedback obtained from the scientific community are presented herein.