The Department of Energy (DOE) produced spent nuclear fuel (SNF) for many years for national defense and other programmatic missions. Historically, SNF was managed by reprocessing it whereby valuable material such as uranium or plutonium was chemically separated from the waste. The Hanford Site, Idaho National Laboratory, the Oak Ridge Reservation, and the Savannah River Site were the main sites involved in reprocessing the SNF. Some other sites were also involved in testing nuclear materials and fuels. As the need for uranium and plutonium decreased, it became necessary to store SNF for extended lengths of time. Therefore, in 1992, the DOE discontinued the reprocessing of SNF. This decision left a significant amount of SNF in storage at most DOE sites. This map illustrates the most significant quantities at each site.

DOE maintains a database to provide information about DOE-owned or -managed SNF. The Spent Fuel Database contains the following information:

• Inventory data by site, area, and facility
• Physical characteristics
• Chemical composition of the fuel compound, cladding, and other significant constituent components
• Burnup data
• Source term data