An analysis of plutonium immobilization versus the "spent fuel" standard
- LLNL
Safe Pu management is an important and urgent task with profound environmental, national, and international security implications. Presidential Policy Directive 13 and analyses by scientific, technical, and international policy organizations brought about a focused effort within the Department of Energy (DOE) to identify and implement long-term disposition paths for surplus Pu. The principal goal is to render surplus Pu as inaccessible and unattractive for reuse in nuclear weapons as Pu in spent reactor fuel. In the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision for the Storage and Disposition of Weapons- Usable Fissile Materials (1997), DOE announced pursuit of two disposition technologies: (1) irradiation of Pu as MOX fuel in existing reactors and (2) immobilization of Pu into solid forms containing fission products as a radiation barrier. DOE chose an immobilization approach that includes "use of the can-in-canister option.. . for a portion of the surplus, non-pit Pu material." In the can-in-canister approach, cans of glass or ceramic forms containing Pu are encapsulated within canisters of HLW glass. In support of the selection process, a technical evaluation of retrievability and recoverability of Pu from glass and ceramic forms by a host nation and by rogue nations or subnational groups was completed. The evaluation involved determining processes and flowsheets for Pu recovery, comparing these processes against criteria and metrics established by the Fissile Materials Disposition Program and then comparing the recovery processes against each other and against SNF processes.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Defense Programs (DP)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 3578
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JC-131529; GA0102011; ON: DE00003578
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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