Proposals for regional management of spent fuel and high level waste: their potential for assisting the disposition of excess Russian weapons plutonium

Conference · Wed Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 1999

OSTI ID:23142280

Bengelsdorf, Harold D.; McGoldrick, Fred ^[1]

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1. Bengelsdorf, McGoldrick and Associates, 123 Clear Pond Drive, Walpole, Massachusetts, 02081 (United States)

One of the major problems facing the international non-proliferation regime is the pressing need to reduce and eventually eliminate the risks stemming from the growing quantities of plutonium emerging from the dismantlement of thousands of nuclear weapons from the arsenals of the United States and the Russian Federation. The U.S. and Russia have initiated a program of cooperation to help Russia dispose of plutonium excess to its military needs largely by burning it in existing reactors as mixed-oxide fuel. Other states are also engaged in efforts to help the Russians burn this plutonium as fuel. However, significant political and financial obstacles lie in the path of any program to dispose of excess Russian weapons plutonium. Most importantly, the Russian Federation simply does not have the resources to finance the disposition of its own excess weapons plutonium. At the same time, civil nuclear power programs around the world are confronted with serious obstacles in managing spent fuel and high level wastes. Several proposals have recently been put forward for regional or international approaches for the storage and disposal of spent power reactor fuel and high level waste as a means of solving problems with the back-end of the fuel cycle. Some of these proposals call for the establishment of facilities for storing foreign spent fuel in Russia and the use of the proceeds for financing the disposition of Russian excess weapons plutonium. This paper will assess some of the recent proposals for regional solutions to the back end of the fuel cycle and their prospects for success as well as their potential for assisting the disposition of Russian excess weapons plutonium. The paper will review past efforts to establish regional answers to fuel cycle problems. In light of these past experiences, the paper will identify the political, legal and financial obstacles that face recent proposals for regional or international spent fuel storage and disposal. Finally, it will identify a range of considerations that must be met if such proposals are ever to be achieved.

• Research Organization: American Nuclear Society - ANS, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
• OSTI ID: 23142280
• Resource Relation: Conference: Global'99: International Conference on Future Nuclear Systems - Nuclear Technology - Bridging the Millennia, Las Vegas, NV (United States), 29 Aug - 3 Sep 1999; Other Information: Country of input: France; available from American Nuclear Society - ANS, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (US)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
FUEL CYCLE
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
LEGAL ASPECTS
MIXED OXIDE FUELS
NUCLEAR POWER
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
PLUTONIUM
POWER REACTORS
PROLIFERATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
SPENT FUEL STORAGE
SPENT FUELS