In August 2002, the Department of Energy (Department) formalized its plan to permanently disable the only
domestic facility capable of producing electromagnetically enriched stable isotopes. The Department
intended to dismantle the equipment in the facility, called calutrons, and rely on existing isotope inventories,
isotopes produced by Russia, or the adaptation of other isotope separation technologies to meet the domestic
demand for stable isotopes. This plan was based on the premise that the calutrons were excess to mission
needs and not economical.
