WHO NEEDS NUCLEAR WEAPONS, ANYWAY? Y-12′s Oxide Conversion Facility remains out of operation. “The Oxide Conversion Facility at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant has scarcely operated in recent years, and it’s not operating now. A recently released report by staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said there was a plan to resume operations in early April. But that didn’t happen, and a federal spokesman at Y-12 didn’t offer much detail about what’s going on with OCF. . . . Oxide conversion is an essential part of processes used to recycle weapons-grade uranium and get it ready for reuse in nuclear warheads or put on the shelf for other projects.”