DC Briefing and Report Release: Naval Nuclear Reactors and the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium

DC Briefing and Report Release: Naval Nuclear Reactors and the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium

The United States and other countries with nuclear navies have benefited from having nuclear-powered warships. But do the continued benefits depend on indefinite use of highly enriched uranium (HEU)—which can be made into nuclear weapons—as naval nuclear fuel? Can low enriched uranium, which cannot power nuclear weapons, provide alternative fuels that meet the performance requirements of the United States Navy? What are the federal defense budgetary considerations? Is it possible to monitor and safeguard nuclear material for naval propulsion?

FAS convened an independent, nonpartisan task force of experts from the national security, nuclear engineer, nonproliferation and nuclear security fields to examine effective ways to monitor and safeguard HEU and LEU in the naval sector, and consider alternatives to HEU for naval propulsion so as to improve nuclear security and nonproliferation.

The results of this year-long study will be released in the new report, Naval Nuclear Propulsion: Assessing Benefits and Risks. FAS will host a briefing on Friday, March 20 in Washington, DC featuring task force members.

Full agenda and RSVP information is available here. http://fas.org/event/briefing-and-report-release-naval-nuclear-reactors-and-use-of-highly-enriched-uranium