DOE has identified 17 countries with Russian-origin fuel, 14 of which have  HEU fuel that DOE has included under the Russian fuel return program. Eleven of the 23 Countries with U.S.- Origin HEU Do Not Have Plans to Return It to the United States or Dispose of It Domestically

DOE has not reached agreement with research reactor operators in 11 of  the 23 countries that still have U.S.-origin HEU to return all of the HEU to  the United States. DOE is considering offering incentives to reactor operators to  convert to LEU and return their HEU to the United States but thus far has  not determined what incentives it will offer and to which countries. In  contrast, reactor operators in 12 of the 23 countries that still have U.S.- origin HEU either have signed contracts with DOE to return all of the HEU  to the United States by 2009 or are developing their own means to dispose  of HEU fuel. However, DOE reserved the right to change the fees  in response to changes in circumstances. DOE Plans to Complete the Return of HEU to Russia by 2009 at a Cost of about $100 Million

DOE plans to complete the Russian fuel return program by 2009 and  estimates the program could cost about $100 million, but this estimate and  time frame may not be reliable because of uncertainties associated with  planning future fuel shipments. The program is facing delays in returning  spent HEU fuel because Russia is planning to conduct an environmental  assessment for each shipment of spent HEU fuel, and complex  negotiations are needed to arrange some shipments. DOE has asked Russia to conduct a single  environmental assessment for all spent fuel in all of the countries  participating in the program, which would help expedite future shipments  of spent fuel, but so far, Russia has not agreed to this. DOE is considering ways to accelerate  the Russian fuel return program that could also increase the cost of the  program by more than $30 million. While lowering the fees for returning HEU may  encourage additional countries to participate in the fuel return program,  re-evaluating the fees for accepting LEU fuel, taking into account DOE’s  proposed extension of the program, may show that DOE could raise the  fees and recover a greater portion of the total disposal costs for accepting  LEU from high-income countries. Recommendations for Executive Action

We recommend that the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of the  National Nuclear Security Administration take the following two actions:    consider offering incentives to foreign research reactors to return HEU to  the United States, including lowering the fees that DOE charges for  accepting HEU fuel from high-income countries; and   evaluate raising the fees for accepting LEU fuel from research reactors in  high-income countries to recover as much of the cost for disposing of the  fuel in the United States as possible, if doing so would not adversely affect  the conversion of reactors to LEU and the return of HEU or create  unmanageable financial burdens for the reactors. In addition, DOE provided  documentation on shipments of fresh HEU it has supported to date.
Why GAO Did This Study

Many foreign nuclear research reactors use highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel. Because HEU can be used in nuclear weapons, the Department of Energy (DOE) has two programs to return HEU from foreign reactors to either the United States or Russia. The U.S. fuel acceptance program includes HEU exported by the United States to 34 countries, 11 of which have returned all of their HEU. The program also includes low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel, which would be very difficult to use in a nuclear weapon. DOE imposes a fee on high-income countries to partially offset the cost of disposing of HEU and LEU fuel in the United States. Under the Russian fuel return program, DOE assists in the return of Russian-origin HEU from 14 countries to Russia. GAO was asked to examine (1) the status of DOE efforts to recover remaining inventories of U.S.-origin HEU and the extent to which the fees imposed on high-income countries support these efforts, and (2) the cost and time frame for completing the Russian fuel return program.

What GAO Found

For a number of reasons, including the cost of converting reactors from HEU to LEU fuel, DOE has not reached agreement with reactor operators in 11 of the 23 countries that still have U.S.-origin HEU to return all of the HEU to the United States. In contrast, reactor operators in 12 of the countries either have signed contracts with DOE to return all of their U.S.-origin HEU or are developing their own means of disposal. DOE is considering offering incentives to foreign research reactors to return their HEU to the United States but so far has not determined what incentives it will offer and to which countries. DOE has not revised the fees imposed on high-income countries since establishing the fuel acceptance program in 1996. However, DOE reserved the right to change the fees in response to changes in circumstances. While lowering the fees for returning HEU may encourage additional reactors to participate in the program, DOE could recover a greater portion of the disposal costs by raising the fees for accepting LEU. DOE plans to complete the Russian fuel return program by 2009 and estimates the program could cost about $100 million, but this estimate and time frame may not be reliable because of uncertainties associated with planning future shipments. The shipments to date have all consisted of fresh (unused) HEU fuel, which DOE considers the highest priority for returning to Russia because it is more vulnerable to theft. DOE is facing delays in returning spent HEU fuel, which has been used in a reactor, in part because Russia is planning to conduct an environmental assessment for each shipment. DOE has asked Russia to conduct a single environmental assessment for the spent HEU fuel in all of the countries participating in the program to expedite future shipments of spent fuel, but so far Russia has not agreed to this. DOE is considering ways to accelerate the program that could also increase the cost of the program by more than $30 million.