Nuclear Fuel Services Inc. (NFS) is an American company that has been a major supplier of

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...

for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

's fleet of nuclear-powered vessels since the 1960s. In recent years it has also reprocessed weapons-grade uranium into

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a Nuclear fission, fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for Nuclear power, commercial electricity, nuclear marine propulsion, marine propulsion, Weapons-grade plutonium, weapons ...

fuel. It operates a gated complex in

Erwin, Tennessee Erwin is a town in and the county seat of Unicoi County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,083 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Johnson City metropolitan area, which is a component of the " Tri-Cities" region. History The tow ...

. NFS's original facility was based in

Ashford, New York Ashford is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 1,974 at the 2020 census. The town is on the county's northern border. History The town was first settled ''circa'' 1816, and was founded in 1824 from Elli ...

from 1964 to 1972, a site now known as the West Valley Demonstration Project. NFS is a subsidiary of

BWX Technologies BWX Technologies, Inc. is a company headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia that supplies nuclear components and fuel internationally. Overview On July 1, 2015, BWX Technologies Inc. began trading separately from its former subsidiary Babcock & Wil ...

, Inc. The company has emerged as America's leader in converting surplus weapons-grade uranium from U.S.

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

stockpiles into valuable low-enriched uranium fuel material to power commercial nuclear power plants. Known as downblending, the proprietary NFS process is currently being used to convert about 40 metric tons of

highly enriched uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238 ...

(HEU) into fuel material for the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

. In 2007, the company was also awarded a contract by the

U.S. Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear we ...

's (DOE)

National Nuclear Security Administration The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is a United States federal agency responsible for safeguarding national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, and ef ...

to convert 17.4 metric tons of HEU into material for America's Reliable Fuel Supply Program. The company's downblending is also an important resource for the round up of other nuclear materials around the world to reduce the chance of proliferation by rogue nations or terrorists. NFS is also engaged as a team member at important nuclear projects at other DOE sites, such as the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility at Savannah River and the cleanup of an old laboratory at the

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1943, the laboratory is sponsored by the United Sta ...

NRC events

On May 11, 2008, the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with protecting public health and safety related to nuclear energy. Established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the ...

released information on emergency notification of two 2006 incidents at the Erwin plant. The first incident involved a leak of liquid containing highly enriched uranium, which could have resulted in a criticality incident. The second incident involved an unmanaged 'accumulation point' - where a

critical mass In nuclear engineering, critical mass is the minimum mass of the fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction in a particular setup. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specific ...

of uranium could have accumulated - was discovered while reacting to the first incident. In other words, no system protections were in place to prevent a solution leak from entering the bottom of an elevator shaft in the plant. The result of material accumulated in a confined space could be a criticality incident.

References

External links

Nuclear Fuel Services company website
{{Authority control Companies based in Tennessee Nuclear fuel companies Nuclear technology in the United States