NNSA Issues Award for High Purity Depleted Uranium Production

HPDU capability will help modernize and maintain the nuclear deterrent

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration's (DOE/NNSA) competitively awarded a contract to BWXT Ordnance Tennessee, a subsidiary of BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT), for the licensing, design, and operation of a High Purity Depleted Uranium (HPDU) production capability at the contractor's site in Jonesborough, Tennessee. This capability will supply the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) with depleted uranium for production use and will ensure NNSA's ability to modernize and maintain the nuclear deterrent.

"This award enables NNSA to supply new unalloyed depleted uranium to Y-12 for its essential mission to produce depleted uranium and binary components necessary to maintain the Nation's deterrent," said Dave Hoagland, Acting Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs.

HPDU is needed to support NNSA's Life Extension Programs and joint test assemblies. In support of these missions, NNSA is responsible for sustaining the HPDU supply chain and providing feedstock for production and manufacturing processes.

This capability will leverage DOE/NNSA-owned depleted uranium oxides converted at the DOE Portsmouth site to close a critical production capability gap for NNSA and reduce overall environmental liability for the DOE Office of Environmental Management's cleanup mission at Portsmouth.