Ceremony marks fuel conversion at UF Training Reactor

October 17, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will hold a ceremony Wednesday to mark the fuel conversion of the research reactor at the University of Florida.

This is the second domestic research reactor in the United States to convert from using highly enriched uranium to low enriched uranium fuel under the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, an NNSA nonproliferation program to return and secure nuclear fuel and convert research reactors around the world.

WHAT: University of Florida Research Reactor Conversion Ceremony

WHO: Representatives from NNSA, University of Florida, DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Florida Power & Light, Progress Energy and the office of U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala, will speak.

WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 18
9:30 a.m. – conversion ceremony
11 a.m. to noon – tours of the reactor

WHERE: University of Florida. The ceremony will be in room 282 of the Reitz Student Union, and the tour of the reactor will be in the Nuclear Science Building.

RSVP: Media interested in attending the ceremony must R.S.V.P. to UF News Bureau Director Steve Orlando at 352-392-0186 by 5 p.m. today.

TOURS: Media interested in touring the reactor must contact Steve Orlando and provide the following information in advance of the tour: full name, title, name of organization, full address, phone number and e-mail address. The information must be provided by 5 p.m. today. Photo identification is required for all tours. Recording devices and cameras are not permitted inside the reactor cell. Approved photographs will be available for media use.

CONTACT: NNSA Public Affairs Office at 202-586-7371 or University of Florida News Bureau at 352-392-0186.

Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability, and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; works to reduce global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the United States and abroad. Visit www.nnsa.doe.gov for more information.