2 The Nuclear and Related Industry

During the more than half-century history of the U.S. weapons programs, a vast research, production, and testing network was developed that came to be known as the “nuclear weapons complex..” The DOE and its predecessor agencies have been responsible for most of these facilities. DOE-owned plants and equipment include:

- Facilities for uranium milling and refining

- Gaseous diffusion plants for producing weapons-grade uranium

- Facilities for fabricating and testing weapons

- Nuclear reactors for testing materials and equipment components

- Nuclear reactor prototypes

- Cyclotrons

- Hot Cells

- Research laboratories

They also included reactors for making tritium, plutonium, and radioactive and stable isotopes of many elements; and chemical separation facilities for extracting uranium, plutonium, and other radionuclides.