Precious Metal

The Pentagon's latest industrial capabilities report highlights a project begun in 2011 that resulted in the development of a facility that would allow a regular supply of high-quality beryllium metal:

This project allows the United States and its allies to be assured of an uninterrupted supply of primary (high-purity) beryllium metal. Current inventories of National Defense Stockpile beryllium ingots are projected to be exhausted in the near future. Imports of beryllium cannot meet the purity levels required for many defense applications. Essential strategic uses, where there is no suitable substitute for high- purity beryllium, include: airborne Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) systems for fighter aircraft and attack helicopters; guidance systems on existing strategic missiles; surveillance satellites; ballistic missile defense systems; and reflectors for high flux, nuclear test reactors.

The Title III Program entered into a partnership with Materion Corporation (then Brush Wellman, Inc.) in November 2005, thereby initiating construction of the beryllium “Pebbles Plant” in Elmore, Ohio. Since project award, Materion has successfully established the infrastructure, facilities, and equipment necessary to support a production capacity of 160,000 pounds per year of high-purity beryllium metal. Today, the completed plant stands 73 feet tall, contains three levels, has a 51,045 sq. ft. footprint, and contains 124,358 total square feet of floor space. The plant produced its very first batch of beryllium pebbles on 15 April 2011. Beryllium pebble qualification and the Initial Operational Capability of the plant were achieved in December 2011, with normal plant operations beginning in January 2012.

Initial funding was provided through DoD increases to the DPA Title III budget. Additionally, Congressional increases were added to accelerate the restoration of this critical domestic production capacity. Total Title III funding on this project was $73.23M. Materion provided an additional $26.4M in company cost share for the project. Materion's cost share consisted of the building, supporting infrastructure, tie-ins, and ancillary laboratory equipment. This was a sole source solicitation as a single domestic source was identified for the specific technology of interest.

Click here to view the report.