Audit Report: IG-0688

In order to dispose of surplus plutonium, the National Nuclear
Security Administration (NNSA) planned to construct two
facilities at the Savannah River Site. The first facility, the Pit
Disassembly and Conversion Facility (Conversion Facility), is
designed to convert surplus nuclear weapon pits and plutonium
metal into an oxide. The second facility, the Mixed Oxide Fuel
Fabrication Facility (MOX Facility) will convert the plutonium
oxide produced by the Conversion Facility into fuel for use in
commercial nuclear power plants. The Conversion Facility will
utilize the Advanced Recovery and Integrated Recovery System
(ARIES) developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory
(LANL) in collaboration with Lawrence Livermore and Sandia
National Laboratories to produce plutonium oxide. The ARIES
system separates plutonium from nuclear weapons components
called pits and produces plutonium oxide. The ARIES system
consists of eight modules housed in a sequential series of
gloveboxes for bisecting the pits, removing the plutonium from the
pits and converting the plutonium into plutonium oxide.Ã@€