Increased Fuel For US Nuclear Plants From Megatons Programme
Written by NucNet
Thursday, 06 March 2008
6 Mar (NucNet): A total of 325 metric tonnes of highly enriched uranium
(HEU) from nuclear warheads has been down blended into low enriched
uranium (LEU) for electricity generation under the "megatons to
megawatts" programme, the US enrichment corporation USEC said yesterday.
USEC said the programme had eliminated the equivalent of 13,000 Russian nuclear warheads, and that the resulting LEU could generate enough electricity to meet the annual needs of 361 million US homes.
The programme, now in its 14th year, is based on a commercial agreement implemented by USEC on behalf of the US government with Russian nuclear fuel cycle company Techsnabexport (Tenex). When the programme ends in 2013, some 500 tonnes of HEU will have been downblended into LEU.
Up to the end of 2007, USEC had paid more than 5.1 billion US dollars (about 3.5 billion euros) to Russia using a market-based pricing formula that has risen steadily since 2002 along with world prices for separative work units (SWU).
- Compiled by John Shepherd
Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Megatons To Megawatts Programme Reaches Milestone (World Nuclear Review No. 26, 30 June 2006)
Megatons Programme Provides More Fuel For US N-Plants (News No. 99, 18 April 2007)
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