The Athena project aims to reinvigorate and sustain U.S. expertise in the nonproliferation challenges associated with material recovery from irradiated nuclear fuel. The primary goals involve modernizing facilities and equipment across the multilaboratory team and leveraging the equipment to build expertise and leadership across the complex through innovative science and technology (S&T).

Under the Athena project, we will build or modernize the necessary infrastructure and execute the relevant science and technology to cultivate the nonproliferation experts in processing of spent fuel and targets for the recovery of plutonium and other fissile materials.

The ATHENA project is a collaboration led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with collaborators at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), and Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL).

The ACES project will advance fissile materials production models and reduce risk of nuclear proliferation.  Uranium enrichment is central to providing fuel to nuclear reactors, even those intended only for power generation. With minor modifications, however, this process can be altered to yield highly enriched uranium (HEU) for use in nuclear weapons. The world’s need for nuclear fuel coexists with an ever-present danger—that a nonnuclear weapons nation-state possessing enrichment technology could produce weapons-grade fissile material to develop a nuclear arsenal or supply radiological materials to others.

The Adaptive Computing Environment and Simulations (ACES) project will augment and modernize the Laboratory’s ability to serve this mission through three thrusts:

• New computer models and simulations of fissile materials enrichment using the gas centrifuge-based method. 

• Create a new computational infrastructure to support and sustain this modeling capability. 

• Recruit and develop a trained workforce to carry out nonproliferation work that requires a detailed understanding of centrifuge enrichment technology. 

The Uranium Science & Technology Center (USTC) is an initiative to design, fabricate and operate pilot-scale equipment for the uranium fuel cycle processes. The equipment will represent historical, current, and emerging processes and technologies. The USTC will help develop a new generation of scientists and engineers with the necessary expertise in both the nuclear fuel cycle processes and its relevance to nonproliferation missions. The USTC will include a suite of state-of-the-art characterization equipment to study uranium materials and processing parameter impacts on products. Collaborating National Laboratories and universities will be able to utilize the equipment for training, process development and nonproliferation work. The USTC will operate as a “user center” which enables utilization by the entire U.S. government (e.g., OGA, DoD, etc.) as well as academia.

USTC is a project led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.