Summary: The Energy Department (DOE) is responsible for managing the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile, including providing tritium, a gas used to enhance the explosive power of nuclear weapons in the nation's stockpile. Because tritium decays, it has to be periodically replaced in weapons, but DOE has not produced tritium since 1988 and currently has no production capacity. DOE is using tritium removed from dismantled weapons to replace decayed tritium in active weapons. That supply is limited, however, and new tritium capacity will be needed by 2005. DOE plans to build a tritium extraction facility at its Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The $383 million project is scheduled for completion in 2005. During 1997, DOE completed the project's conceptual design report and began the preliminary design for the project. Three different teams reviewed the conceptual design and related documents. This report provides information on (1) the major comments raised by the three reviews and (2) the process used by DOE to respond to those comments.
