United States Navy submarines and aircraft carriers are powered by reactors that use highly enriched uranium in order to meet demanding performance requirements.  However, consistent with its national security requirements and in recognition of the nonproliferation benefits to minimizing the use of highly enriched uranium globally, the United States values investigations into the viability of using low-enriched uranium in its naval reactors.  

The Obama Administration’s focus on nuclear security is part of a comprehensive nuclear policy presented by the President in Prague in 2009. In that speech, President Obama described a four-pronged agenda to pursue a world without nuclear weapons.  He laid out new U.S. policies and initiatives towards nuclear disarmament, nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear security, and nuclear energy.

Today, the United States announces the declassification and public release of data on the national inventory of highly enriched uranium (HEU) as of September 30, 2013.  This announcement marks the first time in fifteen years that the United States has declassified and released information of this kind.  The newly declassified information shows that, from 1996 to 2013, U.S. HEU inventories decreased from 740.7 metric tons to 585.6 metric tons.  This reflects a reduction of over 20 percent.  Moreover, further reductions in the inventory are ongoing; the U.S. Department of Energy’s material disposition program has down-blended 7.1 metric tons of HEU since September 30, 2013, and continues to make progress in this area.

Ensuring the security of all weapons-usable nuclear material utilized for military purposes is an overriding national priority for the United States. In that regard, the United States has a host of measures in place to ensure that military materials remain safe, secure, and under positive control. These measures collectively form a comprehensive, integrated, layered system of physical protection, personnel reliability, training and certification, performance assessment, weapon design features, and reporting.