Management and disposition of excess weapons plutonium / Committee on International Security and Arms Control, National Academy of Sciences.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.). Committee on International Security and Arms Control.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nuclear weapons--Environmental aspects--United States.

Nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons plants--Environmental aspects--United States.

Nuclear weapons plants.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (287 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : National Academy Press, 1994.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Within the next decade, many thousands of U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons are slated to be retired as a result of nuclear arms reduction treaties and unilateral pledges. A hundred tons or more of plutonium and tons of highly enriched uranium will no longer be needed. The management and disposition of these fissile materials, the essential ingredients of nuclear weapons, pose urgent challenges for international security. This book offers recommendations for all phases of the problem, from dismantlement of excess warheads, through intermediate storage of the fissle materials they contain, to ultimate disposition of the plutonium.

Contents:

Intro

Preface

Contents

Management and Disposition of Excess Weapons Plutonium

Executive Summary

PRINCIPAL RECOMMENDATIONS

CRITERIA AND CONTEXT

World Stocks of Fissile Materials

The International Environment

THE PROPOSED WEAPONS AND FISSILE MATERIALS REGIME

Internationalizing the Regime

INTERMEDIATE STORAGE

Present and Planned Arrangements

A New Storage Regime

LONG-TERM DISPOSITION

Categories, Criteria, and Standards

The Preferred Approaches

The Spent Fuel Option

The Vitrification Option

The Deep-Borehole Option

Other Approaches

Beyond the Spent Fuel Standard

THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

1 Introduction: Task and Context

THE TASK

OBJECTIVES

THE CONTEXT: WORLD STOCKS OF FISSILE MATERIALS

RISKS AND STANDARDS

THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENT, SAFETY, AND HEALTH

PLAN OF THE STUDY

2 International Context

PLANNED NUCLEAR ARMS REDUCTIONS: HOW MUCH PLUTONIUM AND WHEN?

The Scope of Reductions

Reduction Schedules

THE CRISIS IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION

The Risks of Breakup

The Risks of Breakdown

The Risk of Breakout

THE ARMS REDUCTION REGIME

THE NONPROLIFERATION REGIME

Fundamentals of the Nonproliferation Regime

The Role of the IAEA

CIVILIAN PLUTONIUM PROGRAMS

3 Criteria for Comparing Management and Disposition Options

CRITERIA RELATED TO SECURITY, TIMING, AND CAPACITY

Standards

CRITERIA AND ISSUES IN ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES

Principles and Pitfalls in Cost Comparisons

ISSUES AND CRITERIA RELATING TO ENVIRONMENT, SAFETY, AND HEALTH

ES&amp

H and the Three Stages of Reductions

Dismantlement

Intermediate Storage

Long-Term Disposition

OTHER CRITERIA

4 Declarations and Dismantlement

THE CASE FOR A BROAD REGIME

IMPLEMENTING A BROAD REGIME.

Stockpile Declarations and Monitoring

Monitoring Dismantlement

Monitored Storage of Excess Fissile Material

Monitoring Assembly

A Fissile Material Production Cutoff

Adding It Up

INTERNATIONALIZING THE REGIME

MANAGING AND MONITORING DISMANTLEMENT

Current Practices

Dismantlement in the United States

Dismantlement in Russia

MANAGING DISMANTLEMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, SAFETY, AND HEALTH

RECOMMENDATIONS

5 Intermediate Storage

PRESENT ARRANGEMENTS AND PLANS FOR PLUTONIUM STORAGE

The United States

Pits at Pantex

Plutonium in Other Forms

Future Plans

Russia

Storage of Weapons Components

TECHNICAL ISSUES

Criteria for Plutonium Storage

Classes of Plutonium Storage Facilities

Forms of Plutonium for Storage

H, Costs, Schedules, and Facility Availability

Proliferation Risk

Breakout Risk

Arms Reduction and Nonproliferation Regimes

Compromise of Classified Information

Forms for Long-Term Disposition

Recommendation

Costs of Plutonium Storage

INSTITUTIONAL ISSUES

A New Regime for Secure, Safeguarded Storage

Institutional Arrangements for Physical Security

Incentives, Ownership, Location, and Management

A Plutonium Purchase

Alternatives to Outright Purchase

REDUCING THE RISK OF NUCLEAR THEFT IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION

OTHER PLUTONIUM AND HEU WORLDWIDE

6 Long-Term Disposition

INTRODUCTION

THE RANGE OF CHOICE

CRITERIA FOR DISPOSITION OPTIONS

THE OPTIONS

Indefinite Storage

Minimized Accessibility Options

Reactor Options

U.S. PLUTONIUM IN U.S. LWRs

RUSSIAN PLUTONIUM IN RUSSIAN LWRs

CANADIAN CANDU REACTORS

SUBSTITUTION FOR CIVILIAN PLUTONIUM IN EUROPE AND JAPAN

OTHER OPTIONS INVOLVING PLUTONIUM TRANSFERS.

EXISTING FAST REACTORS FOR THE SPENT FUEL OPTION

OTHER EXISTING REACTORS

CONSTRUCTION OF EVOLUTIONARY OR ADVANCED REACTORS FOR THE SPENT FUEL OPTION

Summary of Advanced Reactors for the Spent Fuel Option

Disposal Options

BURIAL WITHOUT PROCESSING

VITRIFICATION

Deep Boreholes

SUB-SEABED DISPOSAL

UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS

ENCAPSULATION WITH SPENT FUEL BUNDLES OR HIGH-LEVEL WASTE LOGS

Space Launch

Ocean Dilution

Fission and Transmutation

CONCLUSIONS

Options

Minimized Accessibility

Elimination

7 Recommendations

DECLARATIONS AND DISMANTLEMENT

DISPOSITION

TOTAL PLUTONIUM INVENTORIES

Appendix A List of Principal Briefings

Appendix B Profiles of Civilian Plutonium Programs

GREAT BRITAIN

GERMANY

FRANCE

JAPAN

RUSSIA

UNITED STATES

Appendix C Nonreactor, Nonrepository Disposal of Excess Weapons Plutonium: Technical Issues

DISPOSAL IN DEEP BOREHOLES

Description

Environmental Impact

Cost

Retrievability

Policy Issues

DILUTION OF PLUTONIUM IN THE OPEN OCEAN

SPACE DISPOSAL

DESTRUCTION WITH UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS

BRIEF SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9786612081088

9781282081086

128208108X

9780309586566

0309586569

9780585032054

058503205X

OCLC:

614577079