Summary of a joint US-Japan study of potential approaches to reduce the attractiveness of various nuclear materials for use in a nuclear explosive device by a terrorist group
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 4-49 Muramatsu, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki 319-1184 (Japan)
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box L-168, Livermore, CA 94551 (United States)
- National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave, SW, Washington, DC 20585 (United States)
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 3-2-2 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8959 (Japan)
This paper summarizes the results of a joint US-Japan study to establish a mutual understanding, through scientific-based study, of potential approaches to reduce the attractiveness of various nuclear materials for use in a terrorist nuclear explosive device (NED). 4 approaches that can reduce materials attractiveness with a very high degree of effectiveness are: -) diluting HEU with natural or depleted U to an enrichment of less than 10% U-235; -) storing Pu in nuclear fuel that is not man portable and with a dose rate greater or equal to 10 Gy/h at 1 m; -) storing Pu or HEU in heavy items, i.e. not transportable, provided the removal of the Pu or HEU from the item requires a purification/processing capability; and -) converting Pu and HEU to very dilute forms (such as wastes) that, without any security barriers, would require very long acquisition times to acquire a Category I quantity of Pu or of HEU. 2 approaches that can reduce materials attractiveness with a high degree of effectiveness are: -) converting HEU-fueled research reactors into LEU-fueled research reactors or dilute HEU with natural or depleted U to an enrichment of less than 20% U-235; -) converting U/Al reactor fuel into U/Si reactor fuel. Other approaches have been assessed as moderately or totally inefficient to reduce the attractiveness of nuclear materials.
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22257858
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: GLOBAL 2013: International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference - Nuclear Energy at a Crossroads, Salt Lake City, UT (United States), 29 Sep - 3 Oct 2013; Other Information: Country of input: France; 7 refs.; Related Information: In: Proceedings of GLOBAL 2013: International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference - Nuclear Energy at a Crossroads| 1633 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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