Nuclear Proliferation TechnologyTrends Analysis - International ...

PNNL -14480
Table 3 lists the fourteen countries that have expressed interest in acquiring gaseous
diffusion enrichment technology. Of these, five had a successful indigenous program,
and one (China) purchased the technology.
Argentina 2 Italy 2
Belgium 1 Japan 1
China 3 The Netherlands 2
France 3 Soviet Union 3
Germany 2 Spain 1
Iran 1 United Kingdom 3
Iraq 1 United States 3
1 Research and development, 2 Pilot plant, 3 Industrial facility
Table 3 Countries interested in gaseous diffusion enrichment technology
Table 4 lists the six countries that have had successful gaseous diffusion programs, and
the time frames involved in the completion of the initial phase of these programs for each
country. All of these facilities had significant problems in initial operation. So, the dates
shown are of the first reported throughput and not necessarily the first successful
production of HEU. Most of theses facilities (except in Argentina, Section 3.1.3.6) were
initially intended to produce weapons material rather than for commercial production,
were national priorities, and were funded as such.
3.1.3.1 United States
The United State had constructed three gaseous diffusion enrichment facilities by 1954.
Originally intended to supply highly-enriched uranium for weapons programs, these
facilities operated for over forty years.
Construction of the first U.S. facility began in 1943, with small quantities of enriched
uranium available in 1945. The plant, however, did not produce significant quantities of
HEU until about 1947.
Two later plants, Paducah (began construction 1950, first product 1952) and Portsmouth
(began construction 1952, first product 1956), began production of low-enriched uranium
for use in commercial nuclear fuel in the mid 1960’s 6 . During most of their operating
life, these facilities operated at over a 90% plant capacity factor 6 . By 1976, these
gaseous diffusion plants had provided more than 90% of the enriched uranium for the
western world's nuclear power plants.
As with all initial or early gaseous diffusion facilities, there were significant initial
problems to be solved before operations could proceed. Currently, only one U.S. gaseous
diffusion plant remains in operation.
Time from initial construction to first operation ranged from two to four years; for the
first facility, time from construction start to HEU was four years.
6 United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) Facilities fact sheet.
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