Dept. of Energy Announces Plutonium Disposal Strategy

The Department of Energy last week announced a program to dispose of 50 tons of surplus plutonium and highly enriched uranium. Although the program’s goals are clear, many important aspects of how these objectives will be achieved remain unknown. Opposition is already forming to one of the key disposal strategies.

“We have a clear message to the world: we are committed to irreversible nuclear reductions and we will ensure that surplus plutonium is never again used for nuclear weapons,” declared Secretary of Energy Hazel O’Leary. A plan outlining how this could be accomplished is contained in DOE’s “Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.”

DOE proposes that strategic reserve plutonium be stored indefinitely at the Pantex Plant, TX and Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM. Strategic reserve, and disposal-bound, highly enriched uranium would be stored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN. Additional DOE facilities would hold plutonium ultimately slated for disposal.

Attracting more attention and controversy are the methods DOE would employ to dispose of surplus plutonium. After considerable study of 37 plutonium disposal alternatives, DOE settled on two possible options: immobilizing it in a glass or ceramic form for eventual placement in a geologic repository, and/or combining it as a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for use in existing nuclear power plants. DOE has not made the decision to use either of these disposal approaches. A Summary of the Impact Statement explains: “The Department’s Preferred Alternative for the disposition of surplus PU (plutonium) is to pursue a disposition strategy that allows for immobilization of surplus weapons PU in glass or ceramic forms and burning of the surplus PU as mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in existing reactors. The disposition of the surplus PU using these technological approaches would depend on the results of future technology development and demonstrations, site-specific environmental analyses, and detailed cost proposals as well as nonproliferation considerations.” The statement continues with this important qualification: “The results of these efforts and negotiations with Russia and other nations will ultimately determine the timing and the extent to which either or both technologies are deployed.” Construction decisions on facilities for plutonium immobilization, weapons disassembly/conversion, or MOX fabrication will be made in early 1998.

The MOX option is controversial, and has already attracted opposition from some House members concerned that this increases the commercial value of plutonium and the risk of theft. In a letter to President Clinton they asked him “to reject the proposed hybrid disposal plan in light of its adverse implications for U.S. nuclear nonproliferation policy, and to opt instead for the safer and more economical means of plutonium disposal through immobilization alone.”

The Final Environmental Impact Statement on Fissile Materials can be obtained by calling the Department of Energy at 1-800-820-5156. A summary of this document is located at: http://web.fie.com/htdoc/fed/doe/fsl/pub/menu/any/index.htm