Overview of the nuclear weapons activties of U.S. Department of Energy for state energy office staff who deals mainly with energy efficiency and renewable energy

1. 1 The Other Part of the USDOE James D. Werner April 2010

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7. 7 B-61 Nuclear Bomb

8. 8 U.S. Department of Energy* Cold War Legacy Facilities Workers at more than 200 facilities in 37 States were exposed to radiation, beryllium, and other toxic substances supporting Cold War nuclear weapons activities (See Attached List for Details) 15 12 2 1 6 2 4 1 2 2 1 4 2 2 5 3 3 3 2 3 1 1 1 1 5 9 2 1 1 1 5 5 1 2 6 2 2 3 2 2 3 8 2 6 4 9 3 5 9 7 5 2 2 3 2 3 Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be 11 Weapons Research & Design Testing Nuclear Weapons Production Former industrial sites contaminated with radioactivity, some but not all of which contributed to nuclear weapons production. = N o n n u c l e a r U r a n i u m P l u t o n i u m F u e l a n d C o m p o n e n t s R e p r o c e s s i n g t o A s s e m b l y U r a n i u m U r a n i u m M i n i n g P r o d u c t i o n U r a n i u m T a r g e t S e p a r a t e N u c l e a r a n d E n r i c h m e n t F o u n d r y a n d M i l l i n g R e a c t o r s R e f i n i n g F a b r i c a t i o n P l u t o n i u m C o m p o n e n t s Former sites contaminated with beryllium, some but not all of which contributed to nuclear weapons production. D i s m a n t l e m e n t = D e p a r t m e n t o f D e f e n s e Uranium and plutonium are further processed for warhead triggers Chemical separation is used to extract plutonium from irradiated targets Warhead triggers, neutron generators, and other electrical and mechanical components are assembled into complete warheads Uranium target elements are irradiated to create plutonium Uranium metal is formed into fuel and target elements for reactors Uranium gas is converted into metal Uranium is processed into low enrichment uranium, highly enriched uranium & depleted uranium Uranium is mined and refined from ore Number indicates how many sites were or are located in the State. = Hanford Site Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Burlington Assembly Plant Mound Plant Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Rocky Flats Plant Portsmouth Plant Kansas City Plant Fernald Plant Nevada Test Site Paducah Plant Weldon Spring Los Alamos National Laboratory Pantex Plant Oak Ridge Reservation Sandia National Laboratories Savannah River Site Pinellas Plant Amchitka Island * U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor organizations including the Atomic Energy Commission and the Energy Research and Development Administration. Rev. 2, 5/18/00, 07:00

9. 9 HOW NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE MADE

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21. 21 James Werner: Hematite, Missouri Fuel loading facility

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25. James Werner: Uranium hexafluordie cylinders at Oak Ridge K-25 site (K-1066-K storage yard).. The site stores 5,000 cylinders. Worker inspects cylinders using ultrasound. Jan 9, 1994.

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28. 5 9 2 = = 4 = A = U The U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex Hanford Site Fuel Fabrication, Irradiation, and Chemical Separation; Component Fabrication 2 Mound Plant Actuators, Ignitors, Detonators 3 Idaho NationalEngineering Laboratory 9 2 2 Chemical Separation BurlingtonAssembly Plant 2 7 7 Central Nevada Test Areaand Shoal Test Site Fernald Plant 4 Rio Blanco and Rulison Sites Uranium Refinery, Metal Foundry and Machining Plants U 4 U Kansas City Plant LawrenceLivermoreNationalLaboratory Portsmouth Plant Rocky Flats Plant Uranium Enrichment Electronic, Mechanical, and Plastic Components A 10 Plutonium Warheads NevadaTest Site 4 Weapons Research and Design Paducah Plant Gasbuggy Weldon Spring Uranium Enrichment 2 U Uranium Refinery and Metal Foundry Los Alamos NationalLaboratory 2 Oak Ridge Reservation 2 Components of Highly Enriched Uranium, Depleted Uranium and Lithium Deuteride and Uranium Enrichment Weapons Research and Design 2 Pantex Plant 3 Sandia National Laboratories 5 Savannah River Site Weapons Engineering High-Explosives Fabrication, Final Warhead Assembly and Disassembly Fuel & Target Fabrication, Irradiation, Chemical Separation; Tritium Production Gnome-Coach U Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Salmon Site AmchitkaIsland U Pinellas Plant Neutron Generators Former industrial sites contaminated with radioactivity, some but not all of which contributed to nuclear weapons production. Number indicates how many sites were or are located in the State. Atmospheric Testing Underground Testing U Bikini andEniwetokAtolls A

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45. 45 DOWNTOWN FUSRAP ST. LOUIS SASH AND DOOR WORKS

46. 46 DOWNTOWN FUSRAP BUILDING 51

47. 47 DOWNTOWN FUSRAP PIT 1, BUILDING K - OCTOBER 2000

48. 48 Enrico Fermi

49. 49 First Man-made Sustained Nuclear Chain Reaction; Inside Squash Court Under the Spectator Stand at Stagg Field, University of Chicago, December 1941.

50. 50 Burial Marker for Fermi Reactor, State Park outside of Chicago.

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52. 52 WELDON SPRING SITE CHEMICAL PLANT - 1956 to 1967

53. 53 James Werner: 18. Sampling the DerbyThis woman drills holes in new derbies and sends the uranium metal shavings to a lab that measures their radioactivity. The metal gives off alpha, beta, and gamma radiation. At the surface of the derby, the radiation levels are 260 millirem/hr of beta and 10 millirem/hr of gamma. The woman wears a flower in her hair because it is the week before Christmas.

54. 54 James Werner: 19. Ingots of Fernald at AshtabulaThese ingots, made at Fernald by remelting uranium metal derbies, have been trucked 300 miles northeast to Ashtabula, Ohio, for further processing. Here they will be submerged in molten salt until they reach a red-hot 1100F. Then thy will be inserted into the Ashtabula uranium metal extrusion press. The sign in the background reads "Caution: Radioactive Materials." Reactive Metals, Incorporated, Ashtabula, Ohio. June 19,1984.

55. 55 James Werner: 17. Cooling the Derby The hot cylinder containing new uranium derby metal is lowered into water for cooling. Feed Materials production Center, Fernald, Ohio. December 17, 1985.

56. 56 Weldon Spring Uranium Processing Plant - 1982

57. 57 Weldon Spring Uranium Processing Plant - 1982

58. 58 WELDON SPRING SITE WASTE DUMPED IN THE QUARRY

59. 59 WELDON SPRING SITE QUARRY

60. 60 WELDON SPRING SITE 1985

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66. 66 “Institutional controls will fail.” National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council, Board on Radioactive Waste Management, Committee on the Remediation of Buried and Tank Waste, Long-Term Institutional Management of the U.S. Department of Energy Legacy Waste Sites, August 2000, at page 97.

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71. 71 509 Bomb Wing

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77. James D. Werner DNREC

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