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Secretary Richardson Dedicates ARIES

Figure 1. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson dedicated ARIES, a prototype technology housed in the Lab's Plutonium Facility. The U.S. will use ARIES to disassemble plutonium components from retired nuclear weapons and convert the resulting plutonium into a form suitable for disposition and international inspection. Looking on (from left to right) are Lab Director John Browne; Vic Reis, DOE's assistant secretary for defense programs; Dana Christensen (in back row), deputy division director for Nuclear Materials Technology (NMT); and NMT Division Director Bruce Matthews.

Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson dedicated the Advanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES) during his visit to the Laboratory September 11 (Figure 1). ARIES integrates the technologies needed to remove plutonium from the core of surplus nuclear weapon pits and convert it to unclassified metal pucks or plutonium oxide. The product of the ARIES Demonstration Line (Figure 2) will then be packaged for long-term storage and subsequent disposition. For disposition the plutonium may be blended with other materials to make mixed-oxide fuel for use in existing domestic power reactors, or it may be encased in ceramic for disposal as high-level waste. The unclassified long-term storage package and the disposition activities allow the plutonium to be inspected and its composition and quantity verified in accordance with international safeguards regimes.

The ARIES prototype is being developed jointly by Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. Sandia National Laboratory is developing some of the robotics for the system. Information gained from the ARIES Demonstration Line will be used in designing the United States' pit disassembly and conversion facility, which will probably be located at either the Pantex Plant or the Savannah River Site.

Richardson recognized the efforts of his fellow New Mexicans working on the ARIES project, saying with pride, "Their efforts to dismantle nuclear weapons are making the world a safer place."

Figure 2. The ARIES Demonstration Line integrates key components of the ARIES prototype that have been proven in earlier experiments. These modules include pit bisection, hydride-dehydride processing, conversion of the pit plutonium metal to an unclassified metal puck or plutonium oxide form, packaging for long-term storage, electrolytic decontamination of the material storage container, and nondestructive assay of the long-term storage package. ARIES Project Leader Tim Nelson explains the process to Secretary Richardson as Vic Reis, John Browne, and David Nelson (ESA-EPE) listen.


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