Global Security Newswire

The United States could begin using new microwave technology within two years to help cast highly enriched uranium into the proper shapes for nuclear weapons, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported Monday (see GSN, Dec. 17, 2008).

Currently, the Energy Department's Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn., uses induction furnaces to melt uranium before casting the material, but that technique could begin to be replaced before 2011.

"The technology involves the use of microwave energy, special microwave-susceptible materials, and uniquely designed crucibles and molds in order to melt and cast metal in a microwave chamber,” said a statement from plant operators Babcock and Wilcox Technical Services.

“The biggest advantage of microwave technology is it consumes less energy, but it also requires significantly less floor space of the equipment,” added Darrel Kohlhorst, B&W; president and general manager.

That efficiency should help as Y-12 builds the Uranium Processing Facility, a plant designed to modernize U.S. nuclear warhead production (see GSN, May 30, 2006; Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel, Jan. 19).